abaez

Hi,

I've used an old Gary Fisher Marlin MTB for about 14 years now. It's a great bike and I love it, but I'm ready to move to more of a road bike because it's not that great riding on regular streets. I'm no pro-biker, and I'll be riding maybe once or twice a month and I'm looking to sometimes ride for 20 mile jaunts max (usually much shorter). I'd like the bike to be able to handle some light gravel trails too, and I can go to the Gary Fisher for rougher trails. So if it was a scale of 0 - pro mountain bike to 10 - tour de france bike, I'm looking at getting a bike that's maybe a 7 ish.

I saw that this online store has a great deal on the Daimondback Insight 3 - https://www.diamondback.com/bikes/per.../insight-3-10/ for $439 +shipping/tax (about $500 total). Which is about $200/300 off the MSRP?

I did a search on these forums here and Google and did not find much info on it. It looks like it has decent components (Shimano stuff) and the only thing I've read is that the brakes might be too squeaky. Anyone have any opinions on it or perhaps another suggestion? I'm open to spending a little more if the bike is worth it.

Thanks

droobieinop

If you find little to no reference to a bike in question, that might be a negative indicator.

wunderkind

Lots of user feedback over at redflagdeals.com

Bontrager

We have 2 insight/clarity 1's (girly graphics) and love them. The higher number indicates better componentry.

Squeaky brakes are a fact of life on any hybrid brake setup. Mine only squeak when the front rim is wet. Don't let that sway you at all. I actually use it as a horn

Get it. Let me know if u have any ?'s about ours. We put fenders, bells, lights, and a rack/basketband ride them much more than any of our other bikes that cost a lot more due to the db's versatility and cheap price.

abaez

Anyone have any opinions on a Mongoose Croix Comp: https://www.mongoose.com/int/eng/mtn/...OCO-Croix-Comp ? It's about $100 more, but looks to be a step up?

Bontrager

This is a cyclocross setup. While you can basically ride it on the same surfaces, there are some fundamental differences including body position, standover height (it's not a compact frame), drop bar/brifters vs. flat bar and MTB style shifters.

While I don't have one myself, a cyclocross bike is a kind of the do-it-all bike. See that list of bikes in my signature? The could all be replaced with 1 cyclocross bike. Performance Bike sells some Mongoose Cx bikes so if you're thinking about it, they have a great return policy in case its not your thing.

In reality, the diamond back insight 3 is very similar (without getting into discussions about cable routing and less ability to shoulder a compact frame in a cx race situation) except it has a flat bar instead of drop.

quattroG

You most likely are talking about BikeNashbar's end of year sale. I just purchased the Insight 2. I love it. Diamondback makes good bikes. The reason they are slightly less expensive from others is that you don't get a choice of color. For each model, there is just one color. I really wanted the Insight 3, but they didn't have one in my size. So I went with the 2. I purchased this bike in addition to my recent purchase of a Specialized Crosstrail. That bike is better at off road stuff. The Insight is better for on road riding. Just know that if you purchase from online, you will need to assemble the bike. Not much really to assemble. But you will most likely need to also do some tune up as well. I needed to tru the wheels and adjust spoke tension. I also needed to adjust the derailures both front and back.