The Vilano City is essentially the same exact Chinese bike as Pacific Cycle's SCHWINN GATEWAY & Pacific Cycle's SCHWINN WAYFARER models WITH THE EXCEPTION THAT THE Vilano bike has a NO-NAME Rear Derailleur, whereas the Pacific Cycle SCHWINNS have a Shimano rear derailleur!!!
The Vilano City's handlebar differs slightly in shape, being more closely related to mountain bike shape than classic tourist style.
I have followed these bicycles for more than five years, and the handlebar shapes are the only real difference, other than the Vilano having the NO-NAME derailleur.
I suspect that the people that are marketing the VILANO are sourcing from the exact same Chinese factory and except those marketing the VILANO are sourcing the NO-NAME rear derailleur because its unit cost is less than the Shimano rear derailleur. The VILANO bikes have typically have been seen as having those $7 generic NO-NAME rear derailleurs that look like the XUNDAH ( UPC code 072774025794 buildyourbike EBAY ) which is sort of a Chinese knock-off of a 1968 Shimano Lark )
The NO-NAME retro Chinese knock-off probably is more durable than the black lighter weight Shimano rear derailleur on the Pacific Cycle Schwinns.
That NO-NAME chrome looking metal Chinese knock-off will shift fine, as will the lowest model black Shimano unit that is on the Pacific Cycle schwinns.
The VILANO marketers probably realized that those Chinese 1968 Lark knockoffs are reasonably durable and it is typically what the economy DIY consumer purchases to replace a black oem base model Shimano that came on their Wallyworld/Tar-Jay pacific cycle or huffy or kent bicycle. The black Shimano oem base model is quite good for what it is but like you might imagine dumb-azz folks that throw their bikes down and lay them or drop them down in the pickup truck bed on the drive side(derailleur side) really beat the hell out of them. The NO-NAME retro unit is heavy at 300+ grams but it is less likely to get bent or deformed, at least will survive more abuse from somebody like the American Tourister Gorilla who just treats their bike worse than an airport baggage handler tossing luggage.
The VILANO marketers have done well at selecting a "chic" name which sounds european cool, and they have done what they can to differentiate theirs from the PACIFIC CYCLE products but it is essentially the same product.
Are they good bikes? They are all decent enough and ride well IF PROPERLY ASSEMBLED AND GREASED! There will be very minimal greasing if any (usually almost none, certainly not adequately done) from the factory. There are two basic reasons for this: (1) reduces unit cost (2) it guarantees that the bike will have a much shorter lifespan than if it were properly and adequately lubricated with decent grease!. They all want folks to be repeat customers, as probably 88% of ordinary bike buyers only know how to put air in the tires when needed and absolutely nothing else, but these same ordinary folks do understand that the Labor/Parts charges for their Local Bike Shop to do any minimal repair other than replacing an inner tube, etc.... will exceed the cost of buying a brand new same type of Wallyworld/Target/Internet bicycle.
Now for folks that can read and comprehend written instructions & are willing to watch an hour or so of various YOUTUBE videos, YOU CAN DO EVERYTHING & YOU CAN ASSEMBLE and MAKE said VILANO/Pacific Cycle schwinn/Kent/Huffy..... 7 speed LAST MORE THAN A DECADE & MORE THAN 4000 miles, but you have to properly lubricate said bicycle with a sufficient amount of synthetic waterproof grease (the grease itself is INEXPENSIVE)..... I would also highly recommend going old-school on these EL-CHEAPO INEXPENSIVE vilano/pacific cycle/huffy/kents and USE AUTOMOTIVE MOTOR OIL on the chain and freewheel gear cogs and front chainwheel and rear derailleur. WHY? Because the metal quality of the gear cogs IS NOT as durable/robust as the metal quality on a low cost Kmart Japanese made ten speed or five speed from 1971 - 1976. Yes, doing the old-school OIL the chain & gears WILL REQUIRE THAT YOU CLEAN THE CHAIN WITH SOMETHING LIKE LIGHTER FLUID / KEROSENE / Formula 87 (what those across the pond call petrol ), AT LEAST EVERY SIX MONTHS, OR MORE FREQUENTLY IF A LOT OF DIRT & GRIME BUILDS UP... Don't Worry, There is NO NEED TO REMOVE YOUR CHAIN, Just get some RUBBER GLOVES to protect your skin, and Safety Glasses to protect your EYES.................work outside, out doors away from buildings, children, pets, fire, flames, sparks, sources of ignition.... OLD RAGS, SOCK,Q tips/ old toothbrush that You Will Discard after use. These are incredibly dangerous and how you dispose of them is OF PARAMOUNT IMPORTANCE!!! I will not say any more. Do your own research and know what you are dealing with. You probably will want to buy one of those $3 fifty-pound bag of Children's Sand Box SAND to have on hand, as the rags/sock/etc , after use, should at least be immediately in something like an empty soup can(metal can, not plastic) and immediately totally covered with at least three inches of Sand Box Sand.
Those Vilano/PacCycle/Kent/Huffy 7 speeds are decent enough IF ASSEMBLED PROPERLY & IF THERE ARE NO DAMAGED OR MISSING PARTS IN THE CARTON. The wheels are actually pretty good for such a low priced bicycle. The brakes function very well IF PROPERLY ADJUSTED..... Yes, the TWIST SHIFTER is prone to breaking if mistreated and the Twist Shifter WILL LIKELY break before the bicycle reaches the 6 year old mark of significant, daily use, even if the bike receives the best care as the quality of the twist shifter's parts is not designed to last a decade. Again, replacement Twist Shifters are about $12 on the web and it is relatively simple for any DIY person to do, but if you were to inquire at your local bike shop to replace the Twist Shifter, they would charge you what you'd pay for a new bike like yours.
Are these bikes worth $200 or so? Heck yes, if you want a decent enough , good riding, slow upright city bicycle, IF YOU AREN'T TOO LARGE(tall) because these bikes typically come ONLY in one men's frame size and one slightly smaller step-through Women's, although the PacificCycle Schwinn ADMIRAL is a women's mixte frame, but it is indeed the same bicycle as these previously mentioned above. PacificCycle has also had other whatever-name following schwinn, as in Schwinn what-ever as they have had many names, some of which have been exclusive to certain big box retailers like Target etc.
THESE ARE GOOD BIKES IF PROPERLY ASSEMBLED & PROPERLY GREASED! They all WEIGH about 34 to 35 POUNDS. None of them weigh any more than that unless they have a rear rack. Some of the NOV 2021 negative, 35 reasons not to buy one, reviews of these bikes are totally WRONG when they claim that these weigh 40 pounds. ARE THESE Chinese 7 speed bicycles AS GOOD AS A 1964 - 1977 chicago made SCHWINN COLLEGIATE five Speed or a 1970 - 1976 SCHWINN SUBURBAN five speed that was made in Chicago? -----ABSOULUTELY NOT !!! ---- The old steel wheeled 40 pound Chicago SCHWINN five speeds have BETTER, Wide RANGE gearing than any of these current day 7 speeds. Yes, fewer gears but better HILL CLIMBING due to larger rear 1st gear sprocket. The sixties & seventies 5 SPEED SCHWINNS are more durable. You will not easily break any fifty year old Schwinn derailleur, any fifty or sixty year old WEINMANN brake caliper, or fifty or sixty year old WEINMANN tourist brake lever.......You will Not break the old Schwinn Single STIK shifter, and the ancient Schwinn's chrome is second to none and is less likely to show as much rust after 55 years as today's Chinese bikes' steel handlebars, cranks, fenders do after 4 Months.
THE MORE SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE IS THAT THE ANCIENT chicago electroforged FIVE SPEEDS of the sixties & seventies CAME IN MANY DIFFERENT FRAME SIZES, AND NOT ONLY THAT BUT THE RELAXED GEOMETRY.....you see both the SEAT TUBE & HEAD TUBE are about exactly parallel and slanted towards at least the 11 O'clock hour position on a clock's face.....................this gives the ability that a great many of these various old ancient electroforged SCHWINNS can accomodate a great variety of different height persons just by raising the seat post.............THERE AREN'T MANY BIKES THAT CAN DO THAT...........extra long seat posts are available. Another thing is that you will find that the 19 inch WOMEN's frame step through of the 1966 to 1980 chicago electroforged SCHWINN is larger than these Men's chinese VILANO & PacificCycle schwinns & huffys. The wheelbase is longer & the effective top tube length from head tube to seat tube IS AT LEAST AS LONG OR LONGER ON THE ANCIENT Women's (19 inch) chicago Schwinn frame. Hey, that old (19 inch) women's step through WAS the MEDIUM SIZED Women's frame during the SEVENTIES. You had 17 inch , 19 inch, and 21 inch WOMEN's step through frames from SCHWINN in the Seventies. BOTH the 19 inch and 21 inch ancient WOMEN's stepthrough frames ARE BIGGER THAN what you get on these New Today mens frames from VILANO, Pacific Cycle or HUFFY. Don't Believe that this is true, well compare them with a tape measure, as that is just the ancient Women's chicago made frames being larger and more accomodating than these NEW chinese Box Store bikes. THE ancient chicago Men's diamond frame (20"), (22"), and (24") bicycles ARE A HELLUVA LOT BIGGER THAN these Chinese VILANO, Pac Cycle, Huffys etc. ------That is something to really think about------, Yes, the old steel wheeled ancient Schwinn 5 SPEEDS will not stop very well if you ride in the RAIN but this is not a problem as you should be riding slower and cautiously and not like you are leading the tour de france with only 3 miles remaining.
There ain't nothing like an ancient electroforged 5 Speed SCHWINN from the in terms of durability and quality of construction. Superb riding and yeah they are heavy but the gearing is superb on 1970 -1977 5 speeds. You will not find a more durable, pleasant riding, slow pace, city cruiser than a vintage COLLEGIATE or SUBURBAN 5 SPEED from the NIXON, & FORD era. You may think wrong that 7 speeds is better than the old 5 speed of the Seventies era Collegiate/Suburban five speeds.
Count the teeth and do the simple math to calculate GEAR inches. FIVE POUNDS LIGHTER is not gonna significantly matter too much, although the lighter wheels are probably the best part of these new Chinese bikes, although their freewheels etc aren't as good as the ancient ones. If assembled properly and greased the new Chinese bikes will be more than okay. They are a good value for the cost and will provide you a huge number of happy miles if you follow the recommendations. Folks that own and work at local bike shops obviously have a vested interest in severely bashing these bicycles with ridiculously negative reviews because they don't want you to buy from Wallyworld, Tar-Jay or the net. These new Chinese bikes are fairly simple. The ancient chicago SCHWINN 5 speeds are fairly simple. These new Chinese bikes have components that are more fragile than the ancient Bombproof chicago SCHWINNS but with proper assembly, lubrication, and reasonable care that you should get a decade or more of many many miles, possibly having to replace a twist shifter after four years....