I really wasn't looking for a bike. After all, I cancelled my fancy gym membership to save money and pledged I would join one of those 10 dollar a month workout places. That was 5 months ago and about 15 lbs later. My favorite Bianchi racing bike had spent the last 6 years in the basement, hosting weaving parties with every spider known to man and before that, gently reminding me that my expanding upper body makes the palms of my hands numb when I lean on them for more than 15 minutes. But I needed a bike and I needed a bike for who I am now, not who I was ten years ago. This bike ended up being $!80 with free shipping as a Gold Box sale, so really a great price for what you are getting.

The large double box arrived with a nearly assembled black bike inside, there really was very little to add, other than the pedals, handlebar to the joint and adjust the linear caliper brakes (that took a little while with help from a decent youtube video like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQXCokUwaYk).. The instruction booklet is just OK when it comes to describing how to adjust the bike's many cables, stems, and screws, but largely the factory adjustments worked out fine. Brake adjustments need the most work, but as I am a novice in bike maintenance, this took longer than most, about 90 minutes.

Once the bike was adjusted for my 6'2" height and braking needs (heavier people will need to adjust the brake wire tension and for the symmetry of the pull cable, which changes as you adjust the former), I put on an old roller derby helmet and went for a test ride.

The first thing I noticed were the gears, there's 21 gears but not all of them are usable because the largest and smallest gear combinations are not reachable. Fortunately, the lowest gear is quite easy to pedal and the upper gears easy to adjust with a few clicks. It did take me a while to figure out left versus right handle-mounted.shifters as they are left/right reversed from older levers or punch-button shifters and larger gears are up versus down for smaller. In effect, I can use the front derailleur more often for routine changes and the rear for minor adjustments, so really I don't mind the new learning curve. It also took me a little while to get used to the stiff front handlebar springed struts and seatpole strut which, unlike a mountain bike, are designed for comfort rather than maximum shock absorption. Mostly, while moving the bike around and mounting it, you notice its heft. It is a heavy bike, aluminum frame or not, with sturdy components. I was glad to see that they included a rat trap bracket but found that it really isn't that strong to hold anything fast, but just for relatively flat bags not side paniers. I wouldn't rely on them for grocery shopping, but maybe a light sweatshirt. The mud guards are a nice touch and the 700C wheels are mighty sharp looking. The quick-release stock seat is nothing special, padded but really not made for your weight-bearing tailbone in mind. I still wear my old Perl Izumi bike shorts while riding it as long as my overhanging belly has a bigger shirt to hide in. This is not a great bike seat, but one that I could leave at the commuter rail for the day and not worry about too much.

Some things I recommend buying even for the casual rider are a LED bike light and mount for the handlebar, a good up-to-date helmet sized for your head. (I chose the Bern Unlimited Watts for 2XL for my big head), and definitely a new seat (like the Hobson Pro Hub X2, for my narrow ass with a bit too much stomach above it), and padded gloves I opted for Ohuhu LED turn signal gloves, rather than gel gloves, because the bike keeps you mostly upright and lean less on your palms than mountain or racing bikes.

Anyway, time to get off my butt and and ride!

This is the first bike I've owned in about 25 years. Looks great, came beautiful packages everything mentioned in the manual was included for $200 brand new this is a great entry level bike. Happy with it overall BUT

The instructions weren't bike specific so the manual covered things my bike didn't have and I am not 100% sure I put it together correctly. The final boss for assembling the brakes line didn't work out for me so I'll have to take it in to get the tires inflated and have the assembly adjusted.

If this is a first time usage for you, expect to take it in for inspection because I'm surprised I got it together but without better tools for assembly and bike specific instructions . I feel like I'm on a fools errands getting this thing together 3 1/2 to 4 stars

I am 5'6" female and this bike is perfect! It is comfortable and a great height. I wanted the look of the cruisers, but wanted to be able to keep up with my husband while biking. This bike fits the bill perfectly - it has the mud guards and the cute back rack, but it can keep up too! There are a lot of gears, I don't change them too much, but I do like having them instead of just 1 or 3 options like a cruiser would offer. I've ridden this bike to work (~ 7 miles one way) and it was a great ride. The seat is comfortable too. I would highly recommend this bike if you want a cute, sophisticated bike that can ride well too.

Just know that you will have to take this to a bike shop unless you're a professional. It pretty much comes assembled, so my husband put it together, seemed easy enough - unfortunately he put the handle bars on backwards (looked normal to me! lol) and the fender in the front kept rubbing on the tires - also the gears felt weird and it was hard to pedal -- once we had the bike shop do the adjustments (~ $50) it was like a completely different bike! I would highly recommend just taking the bike to the bike shop and asking them to assemble it - that way they can't make fun of how you (or your spouse) assembled it in the first place lol.

UPDATE 7.6.2013
I want to provide an update to my review and respond to a few of the comment threads/questions here.

I've now had this bike for 2 & 1/2 years and it is still working great! I love my bike and have been mostly happy with my purchase with just a few (minor) exceptions.

I did not purchase any baskets or accessories so I can't comment or make recommendations on those (sorry), however, I will mention the back of the bike does have a piece that you can put a small bag and it will hold it down via spring action (i.e. Walgreens bag, small messenger bag, small zipped up purse, or similar).

As for it being too tall for some people, I can understand why it may seem so and I do have to jump off the bike to dismount when I stop - I cannot touch the ground to stop, but as mentioned previously that would mean the bike is too small. I believe this is a good comfortable ride for someone of my size - I think if you are shorter (5'4" or under) than this bike will be too big. If I were to make a guess, I would say it is meant for someone between 5'5"-5'9". The seat does sit a little high.

I definitely do NOT think this bike is good for off road riding. I had thought the same as others - that a hybrid could go off road. This thinking got me several flat tires :( and was very uncomfortable ride off road. This could be the type of tires that are on it - maybe if you changed the tires out it would work but honestly I would have just opted for a mountain bike if I was going to take it off pavement. I would consider this more of a leisure ride bike.

The issues I have had with the bike are:
1) The tires - I've had to have them replaced - this is probably common and I used a Living Social Deal for new bike tires when mine went out.
2) The fender piece on the front comes loose and rubs on the tires no matter how many times I've had a bike shop "fix" it and my husband has to tighten it occasionally while we are riding. Keep in mind that when I received my bike it was missing the bolt and nut that is suppose to hold the fender on. Instead of sending it back I took it to the bike shop for the assembly mentioned above and they said it was no big problem and they put a bold and nut on it. I've continued to have problems with it though so I thought it was worth mentioning.

Other than that I've been super happy with my bike. I think for the price it is a well made bike that has functioned how I wanted it to. If you are looking for more intense bike riding - for speed or off-road - then you will probably land up spending more than this bike costs. If you are looking for a great bike to take out on paved trails for sight-seeing and such then this is perfect. Good luck in your bike search!

The bicycle seems very good so far (I've put about 10 miles on it). The features, fit and finish seem excellent for a bike in this price range. I ended up paying $215 for it instead of $269 after several unannounced promotions were applied to it when I went to check out. Before buying I went to a couple of bicycle shops in town, both of which tried to sell me a $500+ bicycle which appeared to have about the same features as this one. Perhaps they were a little lighter, but more likely the markup was just a lot heavier. One salesman let it slip when I questioned him about the price that manufacturer of the brand they were selling (electro something) "protects" the dealers. I took the word "protect" to mean that what was being protected was the dealers' profit margins.

As far as the bike itself is concerned, everything worked right out of the box and all the parts were there. The only downside and the reason I didn't give it five stars is that the assembly instructions leave quite a bit to be desired. They aren't exactly written in pig English like some things you get from overseas where the instructions were originally written in another language and someone just ran them through a translator program and printed the result, but they are generic instructions for several different models, meaning that there are a lot of pages that say stuff like: If you have this model, do this, if you have this other model do that, and if you have anything else do this instead. Unfortunately, they don't list the models but instead you have to look over the bike and the parts that you have and figure it out for yourself. It's not all that difficult, but just time consuming (it took me 2 1/2 hours to do the assembly and get the brakes adjusted). Also be aware that in order to insert or remove the front wheel you must release the brake cable at brakes themselves which necessitates re-tensioning and readjusting the front brakes after you put the front wheel back on, which is sort of a pain. Also, make sure you put the front fender on right away when you put on the front wheel. The instructions have you do everything, adjust the brakes, etc., and then later on it says if you have a front fender take off the wheel and put on the fender, necessitating the whole thing with the brakes again. As I said, the instructions leave quite a bit to be desired, but they aren't so bad that you won't be able to assemble the bike; they are just a nuisance.

I've ridden about 10 miles now and I'm happy with how the bike rides. It shifts nicely, although at first they don't tell you that the shifter for the gears by the pedals works differently than the one in the back. The one in front is more like the old shifters from the 1970s ten speed bikes in that you just have to keep turning the left handle until the chain jumps into the sprocket you want. The shifter for the back has ratcheted presets that if you set to to say "3" it will automatically go to the third sprocket without you having to manually tweak it to make sure the chain didn't get caught between gears. This works pretty well. The quick release seat adjustment is nice, although the seat seems a bit uncomfortable to me, but then again it could be the 40 years since I last rode a bike and the extra pounds I'm sporting since then which are more to blame than the seat itself. I also read reviews saying that this bike could be a problem for people who aren't tall, but I haven't found that to be true. I'm 5'9" with a 31 inch inseam and it works just fine for me. I'm able to stand with my feet fully on the ground in front of the seat without the bar ruining my day (or upcoming evening).

All in all I'm happy with my purchase and I'm very glad I didn't get suckered into paying over $500 to a bicycle shop for what seems to me to be a similar bike. Now perhaps an avid rider would disagree if the ones in the bicycle shop in that price range are truly that much lighter, but for someone like me who just wants a bicycle for casual exercise riding and an occasional trip to the store, this model fits the bill nicely.

I recently purchased and received this bike from Amazon. I haven't spent much time on it yet (still tweaking and adjusting) but here are my first impressions - as a few other reviewers have commented, I was reluctant to buy a bike sight-unseen, but it's nicer than I expected especially for the price ($280). I did a lot of road biking in my 20s and 30s (the 1980s and '90s) but I started having knee troubles ten years ago and I had to hang up my old touring bike (literally - it's been hanging in the garage for about ten years). I bought that bike new in '88 and am keeping it for sentimental reasons (I also still have the ten speed I got for Christmas of '73 - what a tank), but there's no way I can ride that style of bike anymore with its aggressive seating position.

I've wanted to get back into cycling for a while, not long distance cross country touring as in the old days, but just riding around the neighborhood to stay in shape. I looked and researched and considered for weeks and finally decided to take a chance on this Schwinn Discover "hybrid/comfort" bike. Based on my shopping and research, it has a lot of features commonly found on more expensive hybrid bicycles, such as an aluminum frame and full suspension, and a few things that are typically extra cost add-ons, such as fenders and a luggage rack.

Shipping was quick (less than a week to the Midwest) and assembly was easy and uneventful. In fact, the bike was more put together than the instruction manual expected, so several pages could be skipped. So far, I'm impressed. It's definitely several cuts above typical big box store bikes. I also like the styling - it's like a light weight, multi-geared, full suspension, modern interpretation of a classic city cruiser.

As for the name, like most people my age I have fond memories of Schwinn (sponsor of Captain Kangaroo in the '60s), but the old Schwinn company has not existed for years and the company that makes the Discover has nothing in common with the original Schwinn company. The original Schwinn began outsourcing their production to Japan and Taiwan (the same company that made Giant) in the '80s in an effort to lower production costs and stay competitive, but in 1992 they went out of business and eventually the rights to the Schwinn name were purchased by the same Canadian company (Dorel Industries) that also owns the Cannondale, GT, Mongoose, Caloi, IronHorse, SUGOI, Pacific, Dyno, RoadMaster, PowerLite, Fabric, and InSTEP brand names. Production of the Discover is in Changzhou, China. I include this information only for those who might be disappointed to realize they're not getting an actual, "real" Schwinn bike manufactured by the same company they remember from their childhood. Regardless of the name, this is a great bike especially for the price.

Edit on 9/21/16: I've had the bike for a little over a month now and have put an increasing amount of time and miles on it. So far I've had no problems at all. Most of my adjusting and tweaking is now done, and I added a pack for the pannier, a rear view mirror, and since I do most of my riding at night, front and rear lighting and reflective tape stripes. It's a very smooth, comfortable bike. I noticed that as of today the price is down about $50 less than what I paid for it ($230's vs $280's), which makes it even more of a nice deal.