New 2018 Diamondback Cobra 20 Complete Bike

I'm an avid mountain biker with multiple bikes and above average repair skill. I very much care about value when it comes to bikes. That being said, I also feel like there is a diminishing return on investment when it comes to very high end bikes. (much like TVs and PCs)I bought this bike for my 7 year old son. He's above average in bike handling skills. His previous bike was a nice $350 haro bmx that I had no issues with. He didn't take very good care of it so I figured I'd buy one of these as they had shimano parts but still were a reputable brand. He wanted a mountain bike to try to ride trails and stuff with me. I was looking at $400-$600 specialized and other name brand bikes but didn't feel like he'd value it.When i got this bike I was very disappointed. There's nothing special about this bike over wal-mart bikes. There were several at my wal-mart in the $100-150 range that were exactly the same value and pricepoint. I was hoping getting the bike from a direct brand (new trend in the bike industry) would yield a better bike at the same pricepoint.I first noticed the bike had a threaded headset. Not a dealbreaker but very heavy and cheap. Looking at the saddle, handlebar, stems and crankset I found it to be of very cheap quality and heavy. Weight matters much more on kids bikes as they are very heavy compared to body weight.The tires were very hard and wore out very quickly. Of course a kid is going to skid. Before I could yell at him to stop, one 3ft skid wore the tire down past the tread. His rear tire is completely done after riding it to school and back (less than a mile round trip) for a couple months.The wheels and cranks develop play in the cup and cone bearings. I've had to re-grease and adjust them a couple times . the wheel assemblies are heavy and soft, he's dinged up the rear wheel and added some flat spots to the rims. I've had to re-true the rear wheel to fix brake pad rubbing several times as he knocks it out of true fairly often.The front shock has had all the coating worn off the stanchions from normal use. The fork barely telescopes due to the amount of wear and pitting. I've cleaned it several times and tried to fix the large grooves but it still binds in normal use.Not to mention the bike in person is very ugly with the comically large downtube.He now thinks that he doesn't take care of the bike very well because of all the problems we've had with it. he asks to ride his old bike but takes much better care of things. He's learned a lesson here that will be a valuable life lesson. He now appreciates nice things and treats them well.

I had my kid test ride $450 trek bike, $330 Haro, GT, a few dick's sporting goods bikes priced 100 bucks more then this diamondback cobra. I was hesitant to order it due to some poor reviews but decided to do it anyway after researching on other sites. It's a great little bike, especially for the price, simply can't beat it! I'm not mechanically inclined, but was able to assemble it, adjust the factory installed breaks and my kid was out riding within 35 min of me opening the box. Very smooth Shimano 7 speed shifter, solid breaks, I'm estimating it weighs 28-29.5 lbs and the 450 dollar trek was 24lbs. My kid is really happy with it and so am I. If I could change anything, it would be not having the front shocks on the fork as they are not very smooth/useful and add additional weight and do not lock. But for 140 bucks it's not s big deal.

I wanted to get my son a bike with gears so he could better keep up with me when we ride. Fits my 44 inch tall 7 year old just fine. For the money I am very happy with the bike. Assembly was easy and only took me a few minutes to do. I've built a few bikes over the years so I knew what I was doing. I felt the instructions were adequate regardless. There's instructions for a few different types of bikes, just follow yours along.If you're mechanically inclined but have never built a bike before, I recommend you give it a try and save yourself from paying someone to assemble it for you. Every tool you need for assembly comes in the box, minus a phillips screwdriver for attaching the reflectors. It's not that hard at all. The only parts I could see someone getting hung up at is adjusting the brakes and the rear derailleur as I found out on my bike. My rear derailleur was off a little. The bike was clicking and would not shift gears. I found a video on YouTube and had it running perfect in about 2 minutes. I also found videos for adjusting the brakes.Things to note I've seen in other bike reviews:Regarding the hand brake levers, they come with adjustment screws that allow you to get the lever closer to the bar so children with smaller hands will be able to actuate the lever if they have the hand strength.Does not come with a kickstand. Be careful what you buy. Amazon recommended me one "often bought together with this bike" and I blindly bought it. It's too long.Bike actually has 7 gears, not 6 like stated.Does not have a water bottle cage mount. You'll need to get one that bolts to the seat post or handlebars if you want one.