GMC Topkick Dual Suspension Mountain Bike

Last month, a cager came rolling out of a driveway while looking the wrong way and crossing over to the wrong side of the road, bumping me off my old dual suspension bike. The old bike probably could have been fixed, but it would have cost me more in repairs than the bike was worth. So an hour later, I was off to Amazon to find me a new steed. After about 30 minutes of ogling and comparing, this bike caught my eye with its familiar dual suspension and dual disc brakes. I paid around $320 for the bike, and it was on my doorstep 3 days later, 2 days ahead of schedule. As I tried to curb my excitement while opening the box, I lifted the frame out and gave it a cursory once-over. Everything seemed to be just dandy until my eyes swept over the rear derailleur/dropout- it was bent inward to the point of interfering with the spokes and rendering the bike completely useless. Could I have bent it back into place? Probably, but I wasn't going to risk botching the job and ending up with a wonky ride, so I went and clicked the return button to schedule a replacement. My replacement bike showed up 2 days later, but this one had a dented front rim. As I facepalmed in frustration, I took the dented rim off and swapped it with the good rim on the first bike. I naively thought my problems had ended. Next came the tuning of the brakes and derailleurs. The brakes took me a good 3 hours to figure out and get spot on. Even though they seemed pretty alien at first, I would say that anyone who has experience tuning rim brakes should warm up to them pretty quickly. Tip: If your back brake rubs no matter what you do, the problem is that your back wheel isn't aligned properly; unscrew it and put it back in place. That said, the brakes work surprisingly well given the small pads. However, I will probably end up upgrading the calipers to something a little more professional and with more contact area. The derailleurs were a bit of a nightmare, especially the one up front. Even thought I could have saved myself trouble by just adjusting the 2 small limit screws on top, I decided to unbolt the entire cable from the derailleur. For minutes, I unscrewed, unscrewed, and unscrewed, but the bolt and nut weren't coming any further apart. Obviously the thing had been screwed on so tight at the factory that the bolt threads had been stripped clean. I lost my patience at this point, so I got some pliers and just yanked the nut and bolt apart with the intention of getting them replaced at my LBS (local bike shop). I didn't mind this so much since I wanted to replace the knobby tires with some narrow city slicks (Kenda Kwest), as I commute 20 miles daily between Brooklyn and Queens. The mechanics managed to get these two jobs done in 30 minutes for less than $100. I was thrilled with the new feel of my bike, but there were still a few more things I wanted to modify. First up was the rear derailleur, which had been refusing to shift into the highest or lowest gear. IIRC, I quickly accomplished this by unscrewing the rear derailleur cable, setting the chain to the highest gear, and then clicking the shifter up to match. I then screwed the cable back into place, and it was pretty much set. You can make finer adjustments by turning one of the side screws to move the derailleur left or right as needed. There are some very good videos on Youtube explaining the finer details about this, so go have a look. The next thing that I find to be a slight bother was the very wide 25" handlebars. Living in NYC, I not only felt like my arms were just spread way too wide, but I also felt like I was thrashing my way through traffic with a Japanese fighting staff (cue Keanu Reeves). Next stop was Home Depot for a $15 tube cutter. It was very simple to use, and after I lubed my handlebars with alcohol and twisted the grips off, I managed to cut 2 inches off each side for a handlebar that was a little more wieldy, but not to the point of feeling or looking ridiculous. Since I scavenged a few parts off my my old bike, I decided to put at least a few of them to use. Since the shock that came with this bike seemed uselessly stiff, I replaced it with the tried-and-true suspension from my old bike. Needless to say I also did this just to know that some of my trusty old bike had managed to live on, but the bike was noticeably more comfortable. TL;DR: Pros: 1. Great lookin' bike. I've barely had this bike a month, and several roadies have rolled up next to me at red lights to check out my ride to figure out whether it's a mountain bike or a fellow speed demon, which brings me to #2: 2. As I cheerfully wished them a good morning and rode away in style, it turns out that aside from this bike's stunning appearance, these roadies had also been using me as a pace-setter, so this bike seriously moves once you get her set up properly. But then again, that's with the narrow city slick tires. If you're riding around in the city, dump the knobbies like an ugly girlfriend. For a solid time and distance figure, my morning commute is 10 miles to the inch. Even though I obey traffic signals and have to ride up and down quasi-mountainous terrain between Brooklyn and Queens, I make the run between 45 and 52 minutes. I might be able to shave a few minutes off with a road bike, but only at the dire expense of bludgeoning my nuts (and I don't mean the metal ones), which brings me to #3: 3. Don't care what the purists say about dual suspension bikes not being suitable for commutes. This bike gives me a buttery smooth and silent ride around New York's notoriously neglected and often hilly roads. I average anywhere from 50-100 miles a week, and I feel great after riding this bike, notwithstanding a 30 pound messenger bag. A little heavy going up hill, sure, but if you use proper cycling technique (i.e. high cadence and a medium gear with not much pressure on the pedals), you will float up right up. If you want a lighter mountain bike, feel free to pay $100s-1000s more for the luxury. You want a decent mountain bike with enough inertia to soak up the road? This one might be for you. 4. Aside from being swift, this bike is also pretty maneuverable and has quickly gotten me out of the path of cagers who obliviously attempt to door me or sideswipe me while unparking. 5. The brakes are very effective, and have slowed me in the blink of an eye from a medium coasting speed to a dead stop on one occasion where two jaywalkers suddenly popped out from in front of a van (had less than 3 feet to stop). The brakes didn't whine or squeal, and simply performed admirably. Just make sure to burn them in properly for more friction. Cons: 1. I really wonder what geniuses put this bike together at the factory. One major issue I had with this bike is that almost everything was screwed/bolted on so tight that is was seized up: wheels, axles, joints, you name it. My first order of business was to completely disassemble the bike and relube everything. Having to do this isn't such a bad thing, but when parts are assembled too tightly, they can be damaged, especially when it comes to things like bearings. 2. The only parts of the bike that weren't assembled too tightly were the rim spokes, which were just too loose (albeit not dangerously so). It took me a couple of weeks to realize this, when the resultant metallic pinging and popping began to ruin my en route enjoyment of the masterpieces of Mssrs. Wassenaer, Mendelssohn, and Schubert. Easy way to fix this is just by gradually twisting the little silver nipples (haha) until the spokes are firm and don't rattle or jiggle when grabbed. It might take a few tries to get all the spokes adjusted just right, considering that there are about 72 of them. 3. As someone who has been using grip shifts since 1998, the paddle shifters on this bike are a little bizarre. Each shifter technically has 2 shifters, one for shifting up and another for shifting down, for a grand total of 4. They're surprisingly usable, but the down shifters keep rubbing on my thumb knuckles, which has resulted in some unsightly mystery bruises/callouses. I've had my revenge by taking my Dremel circular saw to the offending protrusions, and murderously hacking them into submission. I will eventually see about getting some good grip shifts installed when I decide to upgrade the brakes. 4. Pedals are kinda cheap and I was concerned about the spikes ripping up my shoes, but so far haven't had trouble with them. But then again, I could do with a new pair of shoes anyway. 5. This bike requires a huge array of tools, so you might need to head off to Home Depot/Lowe's for an Allen key set. Never before have I encountered a bike that needed much other than a wrench, screwdriver, and one or perhaps two Allen keys. Since I already have more tools than any one person could possibly need, this wasn't a problem for me, but might be for you. 6. Stiff suspension that will take time to break in. 7. Handlebars might be a little too wide for urban users. Even with my bars cut down to 21", I still nearly get clipped in the bike lane by drivers who overzealously try to squeeze past when a double-parker is in the way. 8. Instructions were not model-specific, and therefore useless. 9. Expect some amount of shipping damage to your bike. Others have warned before me, but I thought I would luck out. Maybe you can request extra padding while placing your order. 10. Overall, this bike required A TON of work, finagling, and farting around even for an intermediate-level cyclist, so I've deducted one star for the initial trouble. I could deduct two, but this such a good product that I don't think it would be fair. However, expect to visit the LBS and spend days or weeks muttering and cursing under your breath as I did. BUT! Once you get this bike tuned up (which can take about a month once you figure out all the parts), it's going to be well worth it.

Good value for money therefore. I feel this is an excellent value best invention ever Seller emailed me to check if I received the item and asked me idea for improvement. These are very nice. The quality of this product is very good, After I bought it and use found no problems, I believe it is very durable.I often recommend friends to buy