Hiland 26'' Aluminum Mountain Bike with Quick Release Wheels Disc-Brake Kickstand 24 Speeds,16.5/18 /19.5 Frame Size

Day one: The bike came partially assembled in a cardboard box wrapped in plenty of foam and plastic to prevent scratching. Total assembly (with a few distractions) took about an hour. It came with a typical cheaply made multitool stamped from aluminum to help assembly, the hex keys are also cheap -I warped one of them fairly soon into the process. I ended up having to tighten front caliper cable too (it’s not uncommon to need to tune a mass manufacturers bike prior to first ride). I attempted to leave the driveway and the chain snapped on the third stride, I was very upset but decided to sleep on it and purchase a new chain from a local store (I didn’t cross-chain either).Day two: I replaced the chain and rode cautiously around the neighborhood and was satisfied with the thought that I now in theory should have a more durable chain. After a few miles around the neighborhood with some shifting on flat paved roads, under cruising and under load, I felt the issue has passed. The shifters also need to be tuned again even though the replacement chain is the same length. I haven’t rode a bike in about a decade so it felt much lighter than the bikes I’ve had in the past, or maybe this bike I’m just getting accustomed to.Day three: I found a bike park with trails, jumps, dirt, ramps, mud, rocks and the like to see what this bike can do. I went on a couple blue square trails (2nd Level “moderate” of four levels, 4th level being the most advanced) and the chain only came off once. The bike seemed to maintain and handle fairly well. I was able to comfortably ascend with ease and attack jumps and obstacles without issue -now I appreciate this bike being lighter. I’m not sure how I feel about the seat or tires but I’ll add more once I get more trails and time with this bike.Potential future: I intend to ride MTB trails often with this bike, and potentially use it for work inner-city for some security related tasks so I’ll have to see what there is around for challenges. More to come.

I liked it on my first outing, quite comfortable.

First of all, I'll say that I did not have grand aspirations for this bike. I was looking for a modest, entry level mountain bike for some casual riding to get me off the couch while nursing a running injury. That being said, I have ridden about 20-25 miles so far (all VERY rough trails in Texas hill country -- rocks, roots, climbs, etc) and feel like this bike is worth every penny spent.#1. Build quality -- the build quality is decent for an entry level bike. Make sure you tighten everything up (I made a lot of adjustments anyway -- handlebar location, seat positioning etc so tightening everything up was part of the process of getting it ready for ME to ride.) --- NOTE: The chain SNAPPED within 1/4 mile of first riding -- fortunately I had read someone else's review and recognized that this may be a weak link (pun intended) and had already picked one up at the local bike shop. Quick change and we were off and running.#2. Adjustments -- as you can (or at least SHOULD) expect. You will need to make some adjustments to the derailleur and brakes. This thing ships from China... it will need some tweaks after all the banging around.#3. Look and feel -- this bike handles very well. I'm a beginner but I've ridden enough to know how a bike should feel and this one (while it could be better) isn't bad at all. It's actually a pretty good ride (keep in mind you need to adjust the thing to fit YOU, don't just jump on it and expect it to adjust itself to you).#4. Braking -- yeah, this is a weak point. They are cheap components and could definitely be better, I still haven't gotten them quite right. Likely replace the pads soon.Overall --- this is well worth the $250 or so. Great base to build off of. If I get "deeper" into the mtb lifestyle I may level up, but for now, this is a good bike for what I am looking to do.

I originally bought this bike as a commuter for winter. Here in northern New Hampshire, a mountain bike is really the only way to go for snowy hill climbs. I have yet to use it for this purpose, but have no doubt that it will perform adequately. What I have used it for, so far, is a fair bit of trail riding. It handles easy green and blue single-track runs nearly flawlessly, and my skills are the only thing holding me back from black runs. When descending, the bike is nimble, and responsive, but the brakes do leave a bit to be desired in the strength department. Technical climbs are a bit more challenging since the center of gravity seems to be pretty far back, but I think that this is pretty typical of mountain bikes. In case you couldn't tell, I am only a beginner mountain biker, but I do have a good bit of experience with bikes from road riding.The bike is perfectly adequate for what I am using it for, but, not surprisingly, there are some quality issues that more advanced riders might want to consider. First are the brakes. As I already mentioned, they are somewhat weak, especially for disk brakes, and they also need to be adjusted before riding. In addition, the rotors on my particular bike came warped from the factory. This is not as big a deal as it sounds. All you need to do is bend them back into shape with an adjustable wrench or disk brake truing tool. Finally, the brake pads are already wearing out, after less than 50 miles of riding, which means I will likely go ahead and upgrade them before long.In addition to brakes, the drive-train also has issues. Not surprisingly, it uses the lowest tier of components sold by Shimano. Shifts are routinely late, the chain will skip gears, and will even fall off the cogs completely if you are putting too much pressure on it. Part of this is probably just derailleur adjustment issues. I haven't gone through the drive-train yet, but the rest of the bike is not assembled well at the factory. It ships with just the handlebars, seat, and front wheel needing to be installed, but I would recommend checking every bolt and adjusting the front and rear derailleurs, yourself, before any hard riding, since I have had both the handlebar stem, and the rear wheel come loose on me.All in all, this is a great bike for the price. The components aren't the best in the world, but they will do for a beginner, and can be upgraded in the future. The fact that it comes with disk brake mounts and front suspension makes this a great starting point for building a custom hard-tail mountain bike. I would certainly recommend this bike to anyone just starting out riding, as long as they are willing to use a wrench.