MY BIKING BACKGROUND
Allow me to start off by saying that this Frontier was my second bike. My first bike (my training bike) was a 20" Magna Rip Claw (also known as Magna Turbo). The Rip Claw was a very basic bike. It had only one speed- slow. It had pedal brakes, and very tiny wheels.

I got my Frontier from my uncle. When I got it from him, it was almost in pristine condition. He bought it for my cousin (his son) to learn how to ride on. My cousin never learned, because he never rode it after he decided to go out for soccer. In March of 2006, it had been sitting in my uncle's shed for almost three years. We took it to the shop for a servicing, and it was smooth sailing from there.

TIRES AND BRAKES
Schwinn really does know how to make and design a tire. When I got the bike, there was a simple thorn in it. I pulled it out, but that left a hole in my tube. So, I got a patch for the front tire, and I never worried about it again.

One day, five hundred miles later, the back tire is looking bald from braking. I went to rotate the tires, since the back one typically gets more wear than the front. (On a bike, this is true due to the braking system, on a car, the front tires get more wear due to turning.)I discovered that the infrastructure (sidewall) was on its way out, and I needed to get two brand new 24" x 1.75 size tires. The day is gloomy when I go to my shed to get my father's 2007 Schwinn Clear Creek (that bike ticks me off to no end and back), and I see my poor Frontier upside down, missing a wheel and have a bald tire on it.

The tire installation process was rather easy. For the front, just take off the axle nuts and the wheel will slide out. After that, just change the tire as you would on any other bike. Changing the back tire is trickier. I remember having to undo the back brakes (but not the front), and I had to take the chain off of the sprockets, because the sprockets are mounted to the wheel. On my father's 2007 Schwinn Clear Creek, you have to undo all the brakes. However, you do not have to take the chain off, the chain stays in its gear. On his bike, you can take the entire wheel assembly and change the front wheel to the back and vice versa. Due to the sprocket assembly on the Frontier, this will never happen.

Seeing as the tires had done 500+ miles, and the fact they were six years old, I can understand doing maintenance and getting new tires for my bike.

The brakes on the Frontier are about average. When they are working and they are tight, they are EASILY the best brakes of my all of the bikes I have ever ridden, including, off the top of my head, a (1) Magna Rip Claw, (2) 2007 Schwinn Clear Creek, (3) Schwinn Aluminum Comp, (4) Huffy Stone Mountain, (5) Mongoose Judge, (6) a Rhino, but I am unclear of which model, (7) a Giant Sedona,(8) an Epic, (9) Magna Imposer,(10) Huffy Backwater, (11) GT Avalanche, or (12) Trek MT220.

I have done brake tests with all of these bikes (I own the Frontier and the first two, and have ridden the rest. If I have to make an emergency stop, and I am going 20 miles per hour on the Frontier, I can stop in about 12 feet. If the brakes are loose to any degree, this figure goes up DRAMATICALLY.

THE DRIVETRAIN: GEARS, SHIFTING, AND THE CHAIN
My Frontier is equipped with the Shimano SIS (or 515 because I couldn't tell if the symbol was a 5 or an S)10 SPD transmission. The derailleur, the shop noted, was messed up from the beginning. and I think that may be why my left shifter never worked (see elsewhere). In my eyes, the main improvement of the Frontier over my Rip Claw is the gears. The right-hand side gearshift works really well, but requires muscle to shift from second to first. To make a note, on this bike, fifth is the position closest to you, first is furthest away. By the way, there is another little adjustment on the right shifter. It is located under the shifter 'knob' itself. If this adjustment is in the position toward you, you can hear the gears shift into place. If it is set toward the left, the shifting gets really smooth and you cannot tell when you have entered the next gear. I leave mine so I can actually hear the gears shifting.

The shifter on the left side, I have found, is rather pointless. If I shift it away from me, then i feel there is ever so slightly more grip, but not much. I also find it pointless on hills- up or down. If I am going up a hill, I simply stand up to pedal and move the shifter to first. I use fifth (position closest to rider) and my brakes to go downhill.

While I am discussing gears, allow me to direct your attention to the fact that there is no way to tell what gear you are in, so you have to memorize the positions. I think that for a beginner's shifting bike there ought to be gear labels. Because of this, it took me over a year to shift. I also like the fact that I push or pull a 'knob' to shift- on my friend's Huffy Stone Mountain, you have grip shifts, and, if you are not paying attention to the handlebars, you will shift the bike unintentionally. This has led me to some sticky situations, being as I would not be able to go or I would not be able to stop.

Sometimes, the chain falls off. This happens on almost every bike. On my Frontier, it happens in any gear, in any condition. The chain, when it comes off, is somewhat easy to get back on, but it is an inconvenience. This can happen to me about once a week (in my case, about every 70-80 miles), or be good for a year (this is my third year of driving the Frontier).

COMFORT AND ERGONOMICS
The seat is about average. I am of average size, and it is not wide enough. I think the seat is really hard, but that's probably a good thing on a bike. You don;t want to sink into your seat, which I find happens when I put on a gel pad. I had no complaints on the Rip Claw, even though I may have been smaller then.

Schwinn advertises this bike as a all-terrain bike. I find that this bike rides well on pavement, in snow, on trails of mulch and in mud less then an inch deep. On ice (I have HAD to ride on ice), and on gravel, it is less then perfect. In mud, the wheels will spin to the point where you have to get off the bike and walk, which is not something I like to have to do. On gravel, the tail slides all over, but it can still clear the gravel trail. Either way, pedalling is a snap, unless I am spinning.

It puzzles me that there are no shocks. My dad's 2007 Schwinn Clear Creek, a road bike, has shocks, so why shouldn't an all-terrain bike? I think Schwinn has given the Frontier a redesign with shocks, but I am not sure. I think true shocks would do wonders.

SAFETY
The brakes are excellent, even if I'm going triple the speed I would have been doing on the Magna, I will stop in 1/4 the distance that I would have. I find myself continually riding over 20 miles per hour, and I come to a complete stop in about 10-15 feet. If the brake cable snaps, it is because you were breaking WAY too hard. I have had the cables break three times- twice on the back, once on the front. If they brake, you must have really jammed them to the handlebars, or they were not tightened. I get my brakes tightened once a week.

OTHER NOTES
I am no easy rider. Build quality is about par. I have some decals starting to flake, some spots without paint due to rubbing against trees, and I have lost the back reflector and a pedal reflector. And its a SCHWINN!

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 0.00
Component Package: Shimano SIS/515 10SPD Trans
Recommended Use: Daily Rides