Best Learsport Mountain Bikes
This mountain bike has been rock solid! – Had this bike for 16 years and it's been fantastic for bike trails and tracks. Such a reliable and dependable bike. Had to replace rear tyre and seat… Read more
but its been a great bike and now it tows my youngest behind with a tag along bike. Will upgrade soon and give this to my brother. Paid 600 dollars for it. It did have some upgrades like better wheels and mudguards. Apparently it was a special order bike for the Jehovah witnesses and was surplus. At the time it was great value. No longer make these bikes but wouldn't hesitate to buy another if they did.
Excellent – Have had this bike for approx 9 years and use it for mountainbiking, commuting and shopping and it's only just starting to need a few repairs (gears… Read more
will need replacing). Very happy with the performance. I also find the riding position very comfortable. Bought it with Judy C front shock. Robust. Granny gear low enough to get you up the biggest hills. Runs out of gears on the road.
Very good money value – Good value...Good quality...Everything working as should..... I have ridden a lot more expensive bikes and find this bike measured up very well.... … Read more
Built strong enough to stand most rough terrain and suspension performed well ironing out most severe shock..
The gear change system is good, especially once you get used to it....
Great value bike – I bought one of these bikes new in about 2005/6 (2014 now... ~8 years use). I paid aud $1399 (australian dollars) During my research i made the… Read more
mistake of riding the bikes with 'xt' quality bearings/running gear and comparing the smoothness with 'lx', 'deore' etc,(these are all products within the shimano range). Unfortunately, i could feel the extra smoothness (you pay more too) and just had to have 'xt' quality. ('xtr' is better again, but at around the lx/xt point price starts doubling for ever decreasing gains in strength, lightness and tolerances.)
If you follow what is meant by 'a feeling of quality', this (for me,) starts at the lx/xt point.
(i just googled and cut and pasted the shimano (mountain-bike) range, see below. Acera is the basic starting point and the quality increases up to xtr
Acera
Alivio
Deore
Deore lx
Deore xt
Xtr
Now that the background info is out of the way, i can tell you that the 'fittings' make up a large component of the quality and smoothness of a bike and that to get the same components (and i mean exactly the same components, ie; shimano lx front derailleur, shimano xt rear derailleur, lx wheel and crank bearings) on a 'brand-name' bike of the same weight was going to cost between $400 and $1000 more. In some cases i could get a heavier bike, with lower quality running gear (but with a great big 'insert brand name here' sticker!) for between $1800 and $2000... (now that's an expensive sticker!) for me, if i pay more, i want to buy decreased frictional losses.
Of course, sometimes a group of girls walks past me on my black and grey bike, and my mate on his hot-pink neon-yellow, dayglo-green whizz-bang 'thunder' bike and 99/100 go: "ooooh! Look at that one! It's pretty!" (he's better looking too, so that helps...) but if any of them actually knows anything about bikes, she gives the discerning nod to me, saying: "xt gear...Nice!" ...Which i value as much, if not more.
That's the pros, now the cons.
After a year or two the front shock started to not operate as it should and now only travels an inch instead of four inches. It might just need to be serviced, i haven't even looked at it 'coz it doesn't worry me.
That's the cons, back to the pros.
The [censored word removed] thing hasn't broken in any way, and has never really been serviced, i've put about three sets of tires on it (i fit them myself), and each time i just wash it, give it some oil if i feel like it, check the tune of the derailleurs (they haven't needed adjusting.... And keep pedaling!) this is a long lasting bike.
On the subject of longevity: the frame came with a lifetime warranty, (might be 15 years now...) but i haven't needed it, despite some pretty good crashes (eg: endo over double jump, leaving two hillclimb bar 'horn' marks in the ground, jumping off stairs etc.)
Modifications:
I put wider bars on mine (i have wide shoulders). I also put a brake stiffening bracket on the rear brake. (i got -v- brakes on mine, i forget why exactly, ...Something to do with weight savings and wanting to do 'stoppies'... Now that i'm older i'd just get the disk brakes.)
All in all, great value, for the reasons given.
My next bike will be a 29er with xt or xtr gear, a bike with low rolling resistance has to be felt to be understood. Best price for the equipment level. By a large margin. Forks, (rock shocks brand, not learsport) lost travel.
Awesome bike – I’ve been hammering this bike for 17 years and never had a problem yet. Ive upgraded the suspension and drive train and that’s it. The geometry is not to bad either Show details
Excellent – The bike is so solid, steady and smooth. I am also surprised that it is not heavy at all. well, seating a bit hard for me, so I got a very thick seating pad ..now, excellent. Show details
Good – Good recreational bike. I got it for my birthday about 3 years ago. It's the first bike i have owned since the bmx when i was a kid. It's easy to… Read more
maintain, though i remember i had a lot of problems trying to put it together when i first got it but the good people from Learsport were more than happy to help out with that. I just wish i had more time to ride these days. This is a good, basic, bike for someone who likes to ride around the street or the park etc Nothing in particular
Bad – This bike will just go and go and go and it won't really break down a lot. I've had it for 5 years now and it's had only minor problems until a few… Read more
days ago when the dérailleur snapped due to the gears. It is quite well priced and looks great but it has poor suspension and the saddle is extremely uncomfortable to me.-+ Reliability, pricing, looks Gears, suspension, saddle