Schwinn Meridian

For about a year I have looked at 3 wheel bikes(trikes)intending to get one for my lady friend. I ride road bikes for exerciser and pleasure and wanted her to accompany me when I leisurely explore small country towns or cruise bike paths. She has balance problems and is not able to ride a 2 wheel bike at this time and I felt she could ride a trike.. To be honest, I choose this trike because it was the cheapest deal I could find on line.. Sorry honey.. I never expected this much quality for the price though.. The Low Price and the fact that it's a trike is the only reason I bough it.... Being this cheap I felt it may be light duty and not very well made. I hoped it would get her riding before we trashed it and she got on a two wheeler.. BOY was I SHOCKED. I opened the crate, saw this trike and fell in love.. The trike arrived UPS, no damage, none what so ever, zilch but there was one hole in the box where an axle rubbed.. The box had been opened and taped closed.. Everything was in the box, no missing parts to my surprise due to the fact all the staples had been pulled loose on top of the heavy card board box and it was clear to see someone had taped it closed again using packing tape.. I have mechanical skills so assembly was no sweat..Someone who has less skill may need to ask a few questions. There is an 800 number supplied. I did not call it so I can't say if it works or not. For assembly you will need metric tools. I recommend sockets and metric allen wrenches.. A strong Phillips screw driver may be handy too.. My trike had two flat tires but there is nothing wrong with the tires. New rubber can be expected to slowly leak at times because before rubber ages a tiny bit of air can seep through the rubber even when there are no holes in the tube. No telling how long those tires had sat in storage. I squirted some slime in the tubes (like I always do with new bikes ) and inflated the tires. They are holding air well.. The instructions are a single page tucked in the owners manual. Hard to find and not really good when you do. There was NOTHING mentioned about trikes in the owners manual. Strange.. BUT if you insert the back part to the bike to the main frame and bolt it together using the 4 bolts and nuts provided you will get past the hard part. I hear complaints about the fenders...Mine are great..The fenders will need to be adjusted to cover the tires.. Do not bend the nice shiny metal braces. After the fenders are installed you can slightly bow the center brace to line the fender with the top of the tire..with an adjustable wrench you can grasp and slightly bend the bottom part of the fender braces outward to line the fenders up with the tires..If you are careful you can get them almost perfect.. Someone could drill the fake lights ( red reflectors ) located on each fender from behind and install LED's through the back.. Fill the hole with something to keep water out. Hook up a battery and have red lights for night riding..Done correctly this would be nice.. When you assemble the two main parts..Think of the front of the bike as the bike and the part with the long axle as THE REAR PART. The rear part attaches to the bike where the rear wheel normally goes. It has flanges that GO INTO not over the matching flanges on the main bike frame.. Put them INSIDE where the back wheel normally goes. They fit tight and may not be easy to get INSIDE. A ball bat or other heavy wooden object, covered with rags to protect the pain will help bang the parts in place.. You will also need to connect a short chain during assembly but do not fear. It comes with a master link that you clip in place using pliers. I have a chain tool and I replaced the factory short chain with a better chain that I had on hand. I made a replacement short chain out of a long chain using my chain tool.. I recommend that everyone buy a chain tool and learn how to use it..All bike and trike riders should know how to splice a bike chain. The photo's do not do this bike justice. The basket is strong and BIGGER than I thought it would be. My 5 year old grandson loves riding in it. Place more weight slightly to the right because the right back tire does the pulling and needs the weight for traction especially going up hills.. It will coast down hills very FAST... you may want to hold slight pressure on the hand brake at times.. Always be careful costing big hills and use the brakes to keep your speed in a safe range. I feel safe on the trike at about 17 MPH.. Install a bike computer.. Keep up with your miles. This will encourage you to ride more. Gives you goals.. Yes. I Recommend this bike and I recommend people get it from Amazon. They have always treated me well and they have the best deals on line. I love this product and I am impressed with Amazon's service.. My lady friend is very happy with her new trike. We have ridden it tonight all over the farm.. I believe it will be good for some park trails too. I regret now that I did not get one for myself so when she rides hers I can leisurely ride along side.. Did I say, I love this trike? The seat is big, soft, comfortable and nice too.. The angle of the seat in relation to the peddles makes it fun and easy to ride. It almost feels like riding a stationary bike.. Comfortable with more leverage.. The ONLY thing I did not like about the entire package is the cheap plastic peddles. Ouch. They are NOT what I know as cruiser peddles and they will not spin freely when I give them a spin.. That is how I check my peddles. If I spin them I expect them to rotate at least 10 times on their own before slowing to a stop.. I suspect these peddles NOT have BEARINGS at all.. They look like Cheap Mountain bike peddles that retail for about 7 bucks a set.. They are Really cheap crap for a Schwinn. But when you saved 200 bucks, you can expect something to be cheap.. We will just replace them and not look back.. Wallyworld sells Cruiser peddles with bearings for about 12 bucks.. I like THEM much better but in all fairness the Mountain Bike Peddles may not allow your foot to slip off due to the way they are made... Quality like this, sold this cheap, is a bargain. Cheap plastic peddles and all...Better get you one while you can.. Good luck Chief.

Many of the negative comments you may read are posted by people who are not bicycle mechanics and have little/no experience putting together a bicycle. If you think putting a bicycle together might be challenging for you then you probably want to steer clear of an un-assembled Schwinn Meridian. Even knowing what I'm doing it took about 2.5-3 hours to get the trike assembled and that is only the basic assembly. It took 2-3 days of riding and fiddling with things to get everything adjusted properly. I've seen a few complains about Schwinn (Pacific Cycle's) warranty but I had no issues at all. The first hub unit stripped out the very first time I tried to ride it and the freewheel would just spin on it and the trike wouldn't move. I called up Schwinn warranty services and literally in under 5 minutes I was off of the phone and they were sending me out a new hub unit, freewheel and rear sprocket (just in case). As soon as the new hub unit and freewheel were in and installed I was riding in style. The seat that comes with the bike may be comfortable for lighter (under 200lbs) riders but for larger folks like myself I found it too "bouncy" and it always felt like I was leaning too much with the trike in corners. I replaced it with a Schwinn ultra-wide comfort seat with memory foam from my local Targer (I always use that exact seat on every bike I own). Speaking of corners, a trike is NOT a bike and therefore there is some learning to do. - Firstly you have to remember that you have wheels sticking out that can get caught on something, so no cutting corners close because either you will clip something and get into a terrible collision or your wheel will dip into the corner and cause you to flip/lose control. Just stay a couple of feet away from road edges and such and you're fine. - Also you'd think that you don't have to lean with it because it has three wheels, but it still has some play in it and when you turn (especially at any speed) I find that leaning with the trike helps the handling quite a bit. - Lastly, remember that it IS a three wheeler with one wheel in the front and two in the back, don't turn the front wheel really hard while going too fast or you can flip it. This seems to be a moot point since it's not a terribly fast bike anyway, but if you're booking it down a big hill or something at 20+ mph it's something to consider. As for fine tuning the assembly, you'll probably have to fiddle with the brakes for a while to get them just right and the fenders can be quite challenging to get lined up properly where they don't rub, you're best bet is to just leave them off honestly. My only real CON with this bike is the way it's geared, it's geared low but not super low. I find that it's hard to ride long distances because of this. At the speed I normally ride a bicycle (probably 5-7mph) I'm having to do a lot more pedaling than normal. If you ride very slow it's fine, or if you ride really fast and take little breaks and coast for a while it's ok, but I do wish it was geared differently. I will probably eventually replace either the rear sprocket or the freewheel for a larger model that will allow me to cruise at the speeds I like (moderately slow), it will greatly limit my top speed but I'm ok with that since I seldom break 10mph on this trike. All in all it's a great bike that I will end up keeping for a very long time. It's like having a little truck that you can throw things into and carry around. You can transport dogs, a small child (with a helmet of course), groceries, things you bought at a local garage sale, all kinds of things easily with this trike. Ride and handles great, Schwinn customer service is great. The only reason I'd say to steer clear of buying it is if you aren't committed to putting it together and taking the time to get it right. If that's the case then buy it from a local re-seller pre-assembled, even though you'll likely still have to do some tweaking.

So, I read the reviews and shopped around local bike shops and the internet. Who could go wrong with Amazon and the free shipping? I was concerned about UPS getting it to my home in a reasonable condition. Schwinn really needs to package this bike better, it's very heavy to ship and handle and we all know that they get thrown about in the process of shipment. When I pulled the bike from the Box, it had a few scratches on it due to the packaging falling apart in transit but it wasn't too bad. Assembly was easy but for the missing parts that had fallen off the bike and out of the box. I paid a visit to my local Ace hardware store to replace the missing pieces. I was lucky enough to have the symmetrical nuts and bolts still in place on the bike to know what I needed at the store. Probably better that this bike has more professional and clearer instructions for the home builder with the nuts and bolts in bags, but I guess this is supposed to be assembled by bike shops who know what they are doing and have the pieces at hand that they need should any bits be missing. If you are not handy with little nuts and bolts, bribe the local scout leaders to build it for you. It is a VERY sturdy Bike, the frame is put together so well I can't image it ever failing due to build quality and as long as you put it together properly, it should last you a very long time. Even though the neighborhood chuckled at it when I first brought it out on to the street, I find myself having a hard time getting a turn on it now. Even my 7 Year old son can get this moving along safely (with seat and hand bar adjustments with a Allen Wrench). There are no gears on this model and it is set at a higher gear than you might be used to, but with the sturdy 3 wheel foot print, it's not hard to get rolling and up to speed, which isn't slow at all. If you've not ridden a 3 wheeler it's a little different when you turn corners and over uneven surfaces, you feel a little taken by surprise when going from the road to the side walk. It's worth getting used to though. The Brakes are very good and you can refine the adjustments to avoid rubbing pads easily. The rear brake is a shaft pad thingy and isn't as good at keeping it stopped (for parking brake) but is good enough bringing it to a halt safely, the front is excellent though and doesn't need too much effort on the fingers to stop quickly. The Basket on the back is a little rattly since it's designed to fold down to make room for large boxes. The Blue Color is quite brilliant and a splendid look, comes with reflectors front and back. All I need now is a Bell for it and it's popularity to drop off so I can ride it more. I love this Bike.. I need to buy another one (or three)

I was a little worried about assembly, after reading some of the reviews, because I'm not very mechanically inclined, but I didn't have too much trouble with it. The manual that comes with it isn't great, but there are some good videos on YouTube--just search "schwinn meridian assembly." I watched a couple of those before I started putting it together, and apart from the well-known fender issue (I joined the "just leave the fenders off" club), the only times I had trouble were when I forgot how something was supposed to go and decided to just wing it instead of coming back inside to look at the video again. I did eventually get it all sorted out, and I'm kind of a klutz, so if I can do it, you probably can too! It comes with several things already put together: the gears and main chain, both the front and rear brakes, and the wheels/tubes/tires. There is a second, shorter chain that you do have to attach, but it isn't difficult. You will also have to unhook the front brake to put the front wheel on.(This was one of the things I tried to guess how to do it and messed up, but the correct way is actually very easy.) The tires will probably be flat when you take them out of the box, but the tubes are in there--you just have to fill them up. Another nice thing is that most of the hardware comes attached to one of the things it will be holding together. That way, you just remove the bolt (or whatever it is), fit the two pieces together, and put it back--you don't have to sort through a bag of nuts, bolts, washers, and screws and figure out which one is Part 1A and which one is part A1. Just make sure you pay attention to what came from where when you're taking it off--another difficulty I had was when I found out that the bolts for the right and left sides of the rear axle piece were not identical; I'm not sure why the documentation doesn't mention this. Another thing that isn't in the manual is that the tilt of the seat is adjustable. If the bolts on the underside of the saddle (where you attach the post to the saddle) are not tight enough, it could tilt while you are sitting on it. This happened on my first test ride, and it was a little alarming because I didn't know that it did that. Once you are assembled and going on your first ride, it does take a few minutes to get used to how it handles--it isn't quite the same as a two-wheeler. I kept feeling like I was off-balance and trying to correct it by leaning the opposite way, and the steering felt like it was pulling to the right. One of the videos I watched says that that's common, because the drive wheel is on the right. The other thing that's different from a two-wheeler is that you steer only from the handlebars--not by leaning. I found a flat spot with plenty of room and nothing to run into and spent about ten minutes doing straight lines and circles, and I pretty much had the hang of it.

EDIT: I wrote this review about 16 months ago, and I still ride this Trike. It is still very, very strong and has proven its high quality. I ride 3 times weekly, and have lost about 40 pounds during the time I’ve been riding. It has no mechanical problems whatsoever, and is a blast to ride. I repeat what I said 16 months ago — BUY THIS TRIKE!! I'm an aging former bicyclist (68 yoa) that gave up two-wheeled transportation about 3 years ago. I bought this machine because of my desire to ride again, and my need for exercise. I chose the Schwinn Meridian single-speed because both "expert" reviews and user reviews are overwhelmingly positive, and at 6'3" of height/260 lbs this is one of the few trikes that I could fit on, without spending $1000+. Negatives: -- The front wheel is slightly out of true. Since it's the front wheel, that's not a biggie. It's very slight, not enough to affect braking, and probably won't get any worse because the wheel is not stressed. Both rear wheels are in true. -- There was one scratch on the frame, but after 3 days of use I've already forgotten where it is. It's about a half-inch long, not a deal breaker. I figure I'll probably scratch it up eventually anyway! Neutral: -- After about 35 years of serious, hard-core road cycling, it is surprisingly difficult to learn to ride a Trike! It's almost like learning to ride a bike for the first time, all over again. Turning is completely different tactically on a Trike, and riding straight on a slanted surface presents its own set of difficulties. Most of the learning curve is to figure out how to **not** lean, and remain upright, when turning. Positive: -- Workmanship and quality of the bike is excellent (except for the above-mentioned wheel). Everything is beefy, strong, and fits. Nothing was missing from the box, and the box was not damaged. -- The Trike rides very smoothly, with no noise other than the slight rattle from the basket and the tires on the road. -- Brakes on both ends are very good, but need to be adjusted during assembly. **Take the time to get them adjusted!** -- Assembly took 2 hours and 15 minutes, and was pretty easy. The caveat is that I already understood the basics because of my cycling experience (adjusting brakes, seat/seat post, bars, etc.) so for the uninitiated it may take longer. I worked slowly and did things carefully, so if you're a fast worker it may take less time. -- We Cyclists usually steer away from large, foamy, plush saddles like this one. They usually end up as torture devices. However, I have to say this big, pillowish thing is the most comfortable seat I've ever used on a bike. There, I said it. Yes, I'm surprised. -- Buy from Amazon. I ordered the Trike on a Monday, was promised free delivery for the following Sunday (6 days) and the bike arrived Wednesday - only 48 hours after I ordered it online. Amazon is really good at this stuff, folks.

Background: I am a "value bike" fan in general, have owned a couple of Schwinn bikes previously, and numerous other not-too expensive bikes, which I mostly maintain myself. I have had quite an adventure with this trike. I purchased it for my father who is getting quite old and has balance issues to accompany me and his grandkids on the local, mellow bike path. One feature I really appreciated that I didn't notice when I purchased it is the "locking/parking brake" which allows you to ensure the bike doesn't move when parked on a hill or while mounting/dismounting. The basket is also huge and sturdy, as is the frame (though kinda heavy). The assembly was fairly straightforward, although you will need various-sized wrenches (17mm, 15mm, and smaller) and a screwdriver and such. I got mine put all together, and we rode it around a bit, but after a few hundred yards, the pedals started "slipping" and wouldn't drive the wheel. Further inspection, and talking to Schwinn customer support revealed it was a defective freewheel. They offered to send me a replacement for the whole forward drive axle (brake, freewheel, secondary chain drive)... but said it was backordered, and would take a while. In the meantime, I looked and found one I thought would work on Amazon: ACS 22T X 3/32 Crossfire Gun Metal and a "spanner wrench" tool to remove the old one: Park Tool SPA-6 Adjustable Pin Spanner . Good news, that worked, and the new freewheel seems to be a bit more sturdy than the old one. So, this bike ended up costing me a little bit more than I expected, but now that it's working I only have a couple of complaints: It only has one gear, of course... but I expected that, and the rear fenders are a bit ill-conceived, they aren't well supported by the struts to the frame, and wiggle a lot while riding... which isn't that big of a deal, except for the bolts used to secure the rear reflectors, etc. protrude and can scrape the tire as they wiggle, causing wear. I guess you can leave off the reflectors or the entire fenders if you want, to remedy this. There is also a slight "pull" to one side on the handlebars I haven't been able to quite figure out, but I think is due to a manufacturing defect in the fork. Minor, but annoying. Also, I saw reviews saying the tubes were cheap... and they are right, the rubber is oddly not very "expandable". One actually ruptured when I pumped them up to the prescribed pressure. So... as always, you get what you pay for, and this really is one of the cheapest tricycle options out there... expect to live with a few annoyances and possibly invest some additional time/money... In general though, it's a perfectly fine adult trike... nice design for older folks, especially.

IT'S AMAZING AS I WAS JUST LOOKING AT A PICTURE OF MYSELF AND MY AUNT SITTIN ON A GENUINE SHCWINN ROCKET FLYER IN SHREVEPORT LOUSIANA IN 1954 AND WHAT A WELL MADE IN THE U. S. A. BIKE IT WAS I SHOULD HAVE A T-SHIRT MADE OF IT. I WAS FIVE NOW I AM 65 HERE IN CALIFORINA, I DECIDED TO POST THIS PHOTO WITH THIS REVIEW, WHAT A WELL MADE BKE IT WAS. FIRST THE BAD THEN THE GOOD WORDS. I MUST SCOLD SCHWINN FOR MOVING IT'S OPERATIONS TO CHINA. I REALLY COMMEND AMAZON FOR GETTING THE BIKES HERE WITH OUT DAMAGE WHICH I FEARED. PUTTING THE BIKES TOGETHER WAS NOT HARD AT ALL. YES TWO PERSONS ARE BETTER BUT I MANAGED. I DO WISH THAT SCHWINN HAD A PARTS BREAKDOWN AND MAINTENCE MANUAL WITH THE BIKE A MORE THOUROUGH MANUALWOULD BE NICE.. I ALSO THINK THE MASTER LINKS FOR THE CAHINS THAT ARE SUPPLIED ARE A HUGE JOKE, I PREFER THE OLD STYLE- ONE PIECE MASTER LINKS WITYH THE SOLID LINK AND CLIP WOULD BE MUCH STRONGER. I HAD ONE CHAIN "REAR SPROKET'' JUST BREAK AFTER INSTALLING IT WHAT'S UP WITH THIS?? LOCKED BOTH CLIPS ON EACH SIDE ANDTHE CHAIN JUST BROKE. I JUST CONVERTED THE BIKES OVER TO DIAMOND CHAIN MADE IN THE U. S. A. I BET THESE WON'T BREAK? THE BIKE THOUGH IS REALLY A GREAT WELL THOUGHT OUT DESIGN. IT'S GREAT FUN TO RIDE AND LOVE THE BASKET IN BACK WHICH COMES APART WITH TWO PULL PINS AND LAYS FLAT IF WANTED. THE BAND DRUM BRAKE IN BACK IS OK BUT THY NOT PUT A DISC BRAKE SETUP ON THE FRONT ANTD THE BACK? IT'S TIME TO MODERNIZE BRAKING ON ALL BIKES AS SMALL DISC BRAKES WOULD BE A REAL PLUS.A small hydraulic cylinder would do the job as the motorcycles have of course. NOW FOR THE GOOD. THE BIKE IS REALLY NEAT AND A JOY TO RIDE. I WISH THAT SCHWINN WOULD HAVE PUT AT LEAST A FOUR SPEED HUB ON THIS BIKE AS THE HILLS GET A LITTLE ROUGH AT TIMES. YOU CAN CONVERT IT TO THAT THOUGH AS KITS ARE AVALIBLE. I PLAN SOON TO INSTALL AN ELECTRIC FRONT HUB MOTOR KIT AS MY WIFE AND I ARE IN OUR SIXTIES SO A LITTLE HELP WILL BE GOOD AT TIMES. SO YOU CAN PEDAL AND CRACK A LITTLE THROTTLE AT THE SAME TIME IF NEEDED. IN ALL SHWINN SHOULD HAVE NEVER LEFT THE U. S. IT'S SAD TIMES FOR OUR INDUSTRY. "BRIBG IT BACK" BUT THE BIKES SHOULD DO ALL WE DREAMED AND ARE GREAT FUN TO RIDE THANK YOU!

---UPDATE 6/25/2014---- To make a long story short I am returning the bike today (will take it apart pack it and ship it believe it or not). Reason being that all the issues below are still a problem, but today my son was riding the bike and the seat let loose (even though we had just tightened it and done a safety check of the entire bike two minutes before. The whole bike flipped over and on top of him. This has gone from annoying and aggravating to downright dangerous. Cannot believe this is a Schwinn product, but happy to be a Prime member so that Amazon is paying for the return shipping. --------Original Review---------------- I bought this based on the reviews, but I have to say I am very disappointed with the quality of the materials, assembly instructions, and functionality of this bike. Most reviewers complained that the item arrived with damage or missing pieces and that the assembly instructions were not too great, but I am handy so I took the risk. My bike arrived very well packaged and will all needed parts. As for the instructions, I agree there needs to be more detail and better images so that you can figure out the more difficult parts, but it was not as bad as many had indicated. That being said, it took me two days and three trips to the hardware store to get this together. The delay was not due to lack of instructions, but because several bolts that I needed to be removed in order to attach the front fender could not be removed from the bike (i.e. they were stuck solid). No amount of WD40 would loosen them and to make it worse the bolts are such soft metal that any attempt to use a ratchet, screwdriver, pliers, adjustable wrench, you name it, resulted in the bolt totally stripping. I overcame the bolt issues by using wire to attach the fender to the bike (not high tech or professional but it worked). Then after I attached the rear fenders, I realized that as you spin the wheels, the fender shifts position and rubs against the wheels. The bolts holding the fenders just keep loosening up, so I eventually had to get plastic ties to attach the fenders to the basket so they would not vibrate loose and rub the tires. Next was all the squeaking! I got the bike together, got the fenders stabilized, got the brakes adjusted (that took about two hours alone!) then I go to ride it and the squeaking and rattling of the bike drove me nuts. Had to spray the whole underside of the seat with WD40 to get it to finally stop squeaking every time I moved the slightest bit. Then I oiled and greased every moving part and it still rattles when I ride it. Needless to say for an almost $300 bike I am not happy at all. But it is not worth sending it back because I will not take it apart and shipping it fully assembled will be ridiculous. Aside from all the construction, assembly, and noise issues, I personally found that when riding the bike it follows the angle of the road. So unlike a regular bike where you balance the bike and can shift your weight to compensate for the grade of the road, on this bike if the road is really tilted you will tilt with it because the two back wheels are following the grade of the road and you cannot compensate for this. So if you are only riding this on very straight flat roads, no problem, but if you want to ride on a park trail (like me) or on roads that have a tilt, it will not be that comfortable or easy. It also does not handle hills well at all. When you hit a hill there is just too much drag in the back and you have to get off and walk it up the hill. Finally, the wheels do not brake if you turn them backwards, so you have to rely on handbrakes alone. This is not a big deal unless you are looking for foot breaking as well, which is what I was expecting. In conclusion, the concept is great but really cheap bolts, bad instructions, and design flaws.I would not recommend this bike at all.

Found the rear fenders badly damaged as received but the shipping box was OK indicating the fenders were packaged knowingly damaged by Schwinn. Tried to have just the fenders replaced but Amazon required the tricycle be returned and send me my money back. Also, the rear axle assembly seemed tight to turn and it required quite an effort to pedal. The tricycle itself was made out of quality parts and it was nice otherwise. Still no funds returned after a week and a half after it was returned.

Es un excelente artículo, w de armar y muy cómoda, fue una excelente compra

c’est beau mais les frein étaient brisés j’ai acheter des nouvelles qui mon couter 120 $ et c’est difficile à monter mais j’aime faire le vélo