Review of Anza Ridge Way Men's Comfort Bike

Anza Ridge Way Men's Comfort Bike
By: Anza
More Information

Great bike for a first time owner

On: 2007-11-29

Got this bike a few months ago because I live in beach town so a bike is very convenient. Ive never owned a bike before, but out of the box the Anza Ridge looked very well crafted. Took me a few days to learn how to ride it, and now I use it all the time. People always comment on how good it looks, all sleek and silver, and when I tell them that I got it for 175 bucks at Amazon they just stare open mouthed =) Have no complains about this one, tho being a first time owner I might be missing something. Got the womens version for my sister as a birthday present and she loves it too.

Nice solid bike

On: 2007-09-17

This bike met all my expectations and more. It has a very well built frame and was easy to assemble when it arrived. I am 62" and this bike fits me well. At the price of $127.00 it more than surpasses all the other bikes in this price range.

An excellent bike, although its price has skyrocketed.

On: 2007-06-16

This bike has seemingly become so popular that Amazon has raised its price to more than twice what I paid just 3 weeks ago. So I will base my review on that price (about $140).

At the time, I was looking for a good bike so that I can get to work and back. I found this bike amongst the Amazon specials at the time and it seemed like a good deal compared to the other bikes available on Amazon or bike shops. True, bike shops offered better bikes, but they were much more expensive than this bike.

All in all, I am very pleased with the bike. It has a good aluminum frame, good gears, a cushy seat, and front and rear suspensions. Given that it is a "comfort bike", it is a sort of hybrid between a cruiser and a mountain bike: not as aggressively built for rugged terrain as a mountain bike, but with similar styling that is mixed with a cruiser bikes styling. This makes it somewhat versatile as it can ride pretty well on the streets and still be somewhat competent on the trails.

The bike is manufactured by Dynacraft, a company that says that it makes good, high-quality bikes and sells them for a lower price. It uses parts from other manufacturers to complement what I believe is their own frame.

The good things:
- The price at the time (about $140) was exceptional for what I got.
- The free shipping is a godsend. It would have cost me $35 and higher otherwise.
- The bike was pretty much put together for me before shipping. Only the front tire, handlebar, seat, and pedals needed to be put on the bike. That made the process 20 times easier.
- The aluminum frame is very nice.
- The front and rear suspensions makes for a a much cushier ride, as does the cushioned seat.
- The gears work well enough, but I would suggest an adjustment at your local bike shop to get them to work better.
- The brakes are good when are in working condition.

The bad things (and not that bad, but in need of fixing):
- As a comfort bike, I find it a bit weird that the bike still has mountain bike-esque tires on them. But I think all comfort bikes have those. And I think the only other choice right now is road bike tires, which dont seem to fit well with the bike. Of course, I dont profess to be a bike expert at all, so its all speculation.
- Though the bike is essentially put together for you, the job that the assemblers do is obviously not top notch. No real complaints from me, since it made putting the rest of the parts on a lot easier. Plus the bike mostly worked well anyway. But...
- Besides an adjustment of the gear shift, I would suggest an adjustment of the brakes also from a local bike shop.
When all assembled, everything on the bike worked except for the brakes. Why? The cables were kinked, so the brakes couldnt snap back after being depressed. Whether it was because of the assemblers or the shipping, I dont know. But I do know that it has cost me $23 extra at my bike shop to get them working.
- All the parts on the brake seem to be of above-average quality, except the brakes. The gears and gear shift are made by Shimano. The front suspension is made by Capa. The brakes are made by a Taiwan company, Chang-Star. After taking brake handles apart to figure out what was wrong (before bringing it to a bike shop), I found the parts in them to be so cheap and a flimsy-looking that I wondered if I had to replace the whole brake system. Luckily for me, the problem was with the kinked cables, and the brakes themselves are not bad at all despite the cheap parts.

All in all, its a very good bike for what I paid. But is it a good deal at the $300 Amazon charges right now? It certainly is not the bargain that I got. And looking at comparable bikes at my bike shop, you can find similar bikes around the same price (most likely higher, but not that much higher).

So right now, it is only a decent bike for the price. But for what I paid, it was a an absolute bargain. To put things into perspective, this bike was going for less than $100 according to a question and response I found
on this page. If Amazon was trying to draw interest to this bike by doing that, it has definitely succeeded.

But now the company is assuming that its customers are willing to buy a bike sight-unseen that is similar to bikes they would find and could try out and and examine up-close at their local bike shop. And it is assuming that they are willing to pay not that much less than what they would be paying at the bike shop.

I am questioning the companys reasoning, strategy, and tactics. But Amazon is the one with the experience of selling things, not me. So I can only guess at what they are trying to do.

Anyway, it is a very good bike that is worlds away from your Walmart Huffy.

Womans Bicycle

On: 2007-05-17

Great price on a good all around bike. Nice and comfortable brakes are a bit cheap though.

Anza Ridge Way Men's Comfort Bike

On: 2007-03-26

I like the bike! Ive never owned a true quality bike before. I only wish there was a simple enclosure with the bike, meant for a common layman, on how to adjust the brakes...how to adjust the gears.