Schwinn Admiral 700cc Women's Bike

I bought this bike about a year ago. I have used it for leisure, commuting, and exercising. I've logged a ton (up to 50 miles/week) of miles on it and have had zero problems (I even bought mine off the sales floor, no special build or modification from the bike mechanic in store)! It totally fits the retro style that is popular and I get looks and compliments on it all the time. My favorite part is that it looks like a cruiser but has the functionality of a road bike. I also like the hybrid tires - they are perfect for road and trail with the occasional ride through the grass/rocks. Just for a size comparison I am 5' 6" ish and weight about 145. This bike fits me splendidly with no accommodations. My husband and I travel with the bikes on our car bike rack and it is light enough for me to lift by myself, and I'm not terribly burly! Overall, a great bike and a lot better quality than I expected for low-end priced bike from Wal-Mart!

This bike is a Schwinn Wayfarer, Gateway City, or Admiral depending on where you buy it. I have the Gateway, cream with brown accents. I asked for this bike for my birthday February 2011 and started out riding it break times at work in Florida, we moved and now I commute 12 miles daily with it in Oregon. Anyone who dislikes this bicycle due to poor assembly or very easily fixable problems like a flat tire tube- shame on you! That stuff can happen to any bike. This bike is wonderful to own for a lot of reasons. It's inexpensive. Cost was very important to me, and I think this bike is worth every penny. It's gorgeous. No matter what version I see in stores, I always recognize the lines of my bike and admire it on the rack. It gets complimented a LOT. It's fast- I've only had mountain bikes before and I felt like I was flying my first ride on this! It's comfortable. The seat is great straight out of the box, no need to switch it out for a different one like every mountain bike out there. The handlebars are nice to hold on to, the grips are smooth so I don't have textured impressions left behind, they don't get hot in the sun and frost wipes right off. There is plenty of space for a light, bell and cup holder. I get an upright riding position- good for comfort and looking around near traffic. I love the chain guard so pants don't get caught or dirty. The fenders keep dirt, water or snow off so I have no worries. My rear rack is great for hauling things- I attached a crate. The frame itself is wonderfully easy to step through for mounting and dismounting. The gears being only on the rear means it is easy to figure out for someone new to gearing, but having 7 means you can get a pretty good range. I would agree that they might be a little hard- I can now use 3-4 on flat road to cruise and I never use 7 (hardest) yet. I've ridden through plenty of broken glass by accident with a cringe, but only had one flat due to a tiny wire. The tube is 27inch, easy to find, if you need to replace a tube but mine patched perfectly. Brakes and gears are very easy for a newbie to adjust after just a couple Youtube videos, too! If you are interested in cycling, but not ready to lay down big money for a bike you may not use, or if you are ready to steer clear from the mountain bikes you were graduated to as a child and want something comfortable and great for any purpose, I highly recommend this bike. Pacific Cycle has great customer service if something isn't quite right (bike was shipped to me, I emailed them for a wobbly rear wheel). I wish I'd had this bike ages ago! Also, I've heard lots of people have trouble with seat height, toes hitting tires during a turn, or not being able to touch the ground while seated. I had to learn how to properly mount and dismount to solve all this! It is now easier to pedal because my seat is high enough (put your heel on the pedal at it's lowest point while seated- leg should be completely straight). My feet are in the right spot with the ball of my foot on the pedal also (instead of foot centered on pedal like before), so I don't have to worry about toes getting hit with the tire. And maybe the best thing I've learned is how to stop and start. While braking shift down to an easy gear- it's easier to take off that way. When you are almost stopped you put one pedal lowest and use it to step down off the seat at the stop. Once you are standing, hook the same pedal with your toe and move it forward to a horizontal position. You're straddling your bike with one foot on the ground then and one foot on a pedal. When ready to go, just step down on that pedal and up onto the seat- its easier to balance with the momentum, and find the pedal with your other leg to just take off, too. Easy!

My dad bought this bike for my birthday. Initially, we worried that the tires would be too thin to endure the mostly dirt roads where I live, but surprisingly it did. We also worried that once the tires did go bad, we wouldn't be able to replace them. However, amazon.com and several other online stores resolved this problem. Even Walmart had some 700c tires in stock. Overall, it is a gorgeous bike with a classic feel that can't be beat. It also rides easy, so this is not by any means a bike you would use for work-out purposes. It is a bit difficult to put together, but once it is assembled, the trouble ends there. This bike does demand to be noticed, so it can unfortunately, be the first to be stolen in any sketchy areas.

It took my husband over half an hour to put together the bike. There's not a clear, step by step assemble manual so you just have to figure it out yourself. I love the look. Though I did not have any problems with the tires, the chain fell off once when I was biking around my neighborhood, and that's the second time I used the bike. TIPS: For ppl who have trouble with the tires, please make sure you measure the tire pressure and it should not go over 55. Otherwise I think Schwin should do a recall or something. I'm 5'3, I lowered the seat to the lowest and I still have to point my toes to reach the ground at a stop. So not recommanded for petite ppl.

Its very flashy, had 4 compliments the 1st day, so make sure you have a good lock!! Its heavy (45lbs) to carry up/down, but Im not used to the 3 floors of my bldg... Came with a bell, but broke the 2nd time I rode... :( Comfy handlebars, wide seat. The gears are too hard to change though, but I hardly change it to 3rd speed... dont know if this can be adjusted.... Shipped to my apt, so was pre-assembled. But youtube helped me figure out the rest! Or you can go to your local shop and get brakes/chain adjusted>> VERY IMPORTANT! Cause they seem fine, but the're not! The worst part is the squeaking sound of the front brake. Since the rim is painted smooth. Was told that with time, the brake would scratch the rim til its silver, and then could stop better/ no sound.

orderd bike for my wife after attempting to locate one at a local store. Bike was shipped the next day and arrived the following day. Assembly instructions are a little vauge, but anyone with a little mechanical ability should have no problem. I would recomend going over evry nut, bot and screw as most were not tight. Shifter and brakes needed adjusting, but are easy to do. After assebling and riding the bike, went back and ordered a second for myself.

I bought this bike, ostensibly for my wife, just because I liked the looks and concept of it so much. The white frame and red rims look mighty cute to my eye, but more important were functional features like the rear rack and the fenders and the good brakes. In my opinion it is a shame that most bicycles sold in America are nothing more than fair-weather toys... I lived in Japan a couple years and had the great pleasure to ride to work and do all my grocery shopping with a 3-speed bicycle of what Americans would term a "women's" design. In reality the step-thru frame design is great for men with older joints, or anybody who has a large box strapped onto their rear rack. I should mention that I also bought a Schwinn "Point Beach" bicycle for my wife's older daughter at about the same time as I bought this bike. The Point Beach is similar in many respects, but has an aluminum frame and fatter tires. In my opinion, both of these bikes are rather well made. The frame welds are good quality, unlike virtually all "Huffy" brand bicycles I have looked at. The tapered fork of the "Admiral" is really a classy touch. We have had no problems with the tires on either of them. Many bicycle purists will no doubt bemoan the "heavy" weight of these Wal-Mart bikes, but in my estimation most Americans should be a lot more concerned about getting 10 pounds off their bodies than about getting 10 pounds off their bicycles. After all, what is your reason for cycling? Do you really expect to compete in racing at an elite level where a few pounds will affect your results? Or do you want exercise or a utility bike? Anyway, the main problem I have found with this Admiral bicycle is that the frame geometry is bad. The tube of the frame that the seat post slides into is too close to vertical, so that your hips are almost straight above the crank bearing area. This means, however far the pedals are away from you, the ground will always be much farther away. So you have a choice to either put the seat dangerously high above the ground, or put the seat uncomfortably close to the pedals. It is actually bad for your knees to pedal with the seat set too low... your legs should very nearly straighten out at the bottom of the stroke. Schwinn should have slanted the seatpost back a lot more, so your butt could be far from the pedals without being too far from the ground. The handlebars on this bike also leave a lot to be desired. The shape is not at all ergonomic, unless you tilt them back at an angle that looks very bizarre and spoils the bike's looks. Worse yet, the stitched-together grip covers are slippery, loose, and lack durability. They are seriously gimmicky. There has been a problem on both the Admiral and Point Beach bikes with keeping the brakes from dragging. I cannot adjust the spring balance enough to eliminate it... I think the RH and LH springs are too much different in tension to adjust out. It is a shame, because otherwise the brakes on these bikes are a big advancement over the horrible weak caliper brakes common on cheaper bikes 20 or 30 years ago. These are very powerful and stop the bike very positively. I do not like the derailleur shift mechanism on these bikes. The Admiral has a single sprocket in the front, and 7 rear cogs from 13 to 28 teeth. I calculate a total transmission range of 215%. In my opinion an internally-geared-hub type transmission would fit the utility-bike concept a whole lot better, requiring less adjustment, less maintenance, and less mechanical ability to use. For example, the SRAM brand 5 speed hub would give a total range of about 250% and be much more reliable than this cheapo 7 speed derailleur. And unlike more expensive derailleurs, this shifter's parallelogram linkage is not tilted to follow the overall contour of the sprocket cluster. The result is that the idler sprocket nearly rubs against the 28-tooth cog when in lowest gear, and shifting overall is not very good. I would rather see a good troublefree 3-speed hub on here than any derailleur. It was my secret plan to change this bike over to a 3- or 5-speed hub originally, but now I feel the bike is not worth it because of the bad frame geometry. With its good frame welds, powerful brakes, handy rear rack and step-thu frame, this bike is so very close to the practical bike I dream of having. Unfortunately it seems very uncomfortable to pedal due to the flawed frame geometry, so I can't recommend it except for very casual use.

I love the features, especially the Hybrid style. Unfortunately I only rode about half a mile before the front tired popped and when I tried to replace the tube, I discovered that the tire size is a bit obscure at 700cc (28 inch). The only brand offering that size used a Spectra valve rather than the standard valve most pumps work with. Finally I found an adapter for this valve, filled up the tires, and the rear tube immediately popped and irreparably damaged the tire and rim at only 65 psi. Due to the poor quality of the tires and the unique tire size, I would not recommend this product.

I tried 3 tubes. The 1st and 3rd being schwinn tubes.they all failed with blow outs.after thelast one caused me to carry the bike I gave up and returned it to Walmart. I felt the sidewall to the tire wasthe actual problem, it. Didn't seemto fit far enough into the rim

I purchased this bike yesterday. Today, when putting air in the tires, I noticed the front tire had a different valve than the back (presta instead of schrader). I thought that was odd, but filled both tires to the recommended pounds. 20 seconds later, front tire blew. Went to Walmart for replacement inner-tube. It blew. Went to Target for another brand, this time Schwinn instead of Bell... it blew after riding it for 10 minutes. I noticed several other reviewers have had the same problem. I weigh 125 pounds, so I don't think my weight is the issue. In hindsight, Walmart had already replaced that inner tube before we bought it, that's why the valves were different. Returning the bike. Since several reviewers have had the problem, it must be design related. Disappointed.