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.

This bike is amazingly awesome! I was born with a genetic disorder (EDS) that has my bones aging three times as fast as my body. That being said even at only 24 I have MAJOR joint problems, including a sprained PCL, but I wanted something that would be easy on my bones while helping me keep active. I received this as a Christmas present from my mom- AKA she gave me her card and said buy yourself a trike. I did not want to buy something super expensive and at the time this was on sale for about $275, so my mom agreed it would be good for the price. The shipping was fast and I was not home when it arrived, luckily my apartment maintenance guys love me because it was in my third floor apartment when I got home from my trip. This box is heavy- it took two guys to carry it up three flights. I have a 100 pound dog who I carry fifty pounds of dog food up three flights of stairs every two weeks, and yet I still found myself scooting the box around the apartment because of its heaviness. I could not put this bike together- I took it apart three times over a week before a co-workers husband took it during his bonding night with his son and put it together in less than three hours. I have always been handy challenged, but I would still recommend not spending the money on labor and just bring someone handy the bike, some beer, and a pizza because it is do-able. Once it was put together, it was still too heavy to bring back upstairs daily, so if you don't live in a trusty neighborhood take that into consideration. As for the riding, I LOVE this bike because it's super easy to ride. So far my longest ride was 12 miles with a 300ft elevation- in total during the past few months this bike has seen me through a total of over 50 miles and 700ft elevation in weather up to 100 degrees plus humidity- and this bike has held up. I ride to the store all the time, load up one of my five gallon bins with $100 worth of groceries, stick it in the basket, and ride home easily. I live in a very humid extremely hilly area of south Texas, and this bike handles both the hills and my weight extremely well. When I received this bike I did not like the seat and upgraded to one without a horn, which I do suggest looking into. I was 5.4 and 220 pounds when I received this bike, and have already lost 10 pounds by riding this bike for fun. This was my first bike ever, and I didn't know how to ride the first time I got on this bike, yet I have never fallen nor crashed- even coasting down a steep hill at 10mph. I would highly recommend this bike for older adults who have bone issues like myself, mobility challenged individuals, or anyone who wants a cargo type trike that is easy on the ecosystem. If this bike ever fails me, I would not even think twice about spending the asking price for this trike, it has quickly become my child and new favorite hobby.

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.

This review is technical and rather lengthy. For a concise review, skip to [The Bottom Line...] Amazon advertised this Schwinn Meridian 7 Speed tricycle with an irresistible price when I searched for tricycles. The intention of buying this tricycle was for a rider with balancing issue. The red theme might not be everyone's favourite. However, the intended rider feels this colour is best to be seen in traffic ~ a safety feature. Schwinn has styled the Meridian as a "Retro" hence many components equipped were "a couple of eras behind". For example, instead of the current trend's thread-less fork, stem and headset, the Meridian is equipped with a quill stem and threaded fork and headset. The bottom bracket is a "cup and cone" type instead of a cartridge. They will do the job but they do need some attention on adjustments. ~~~ Below is a collection of my observations while putting the tricycle together and later the test ride: [Parts] Most parts arrived safely. There were minor dents and scratches on the two rear fenders. They're minor enough with nothing to scream about. [Assembly] Despite of watching "How to Assemble a Meridian Tricycle" video on Schwinn's own website, it is still difficult to assemble and much fine tuning is required. An average consumer might be able to assemble this tricycle with some degree of struggle. However, much more tools then the instructions indicate are needed to have this tricycle functioning properly. [Fine tuning] All the bearings are NOT adjusted. They are all TOO TIGHT as shipped. The bearings at the headset, bottom bracket, front & rear hubs, and the rear drive axle all need to be adjusted with proper tools (like cone wrenches, headset wrenches, and bottom bracket hook wrench). The derailleur mounting is tricky and require proper adjustments to clear the largest cog of the freewheel. Shifting range and cable adjustments are also required to have the gear shifting working properly. Many reviews on the internet have commented on the possibility of a bent rear axle. The one I received does have a minor bent. The instruction video on Schwinn's web site is questionable and being overly generalized for all models of their tricycles. There is no specific instructions for the 7 speed model. Best to have a professional bicycle mechanic fine tune this tricycle after assembly. [Test Ride] Most rider will think a tricycle would be more stable. However, this 7 speed Meridian has the tendency to power steers itself into the direction of steer. It is a very undesirable characteristic. Recalling from my childhood days, tricycles don't steer on its own. I inspected more closely and found the steering problem explained below in [QI 1] & [QI 2]. Although the Meridian is a supposedly a relaxed, up-right posture, leg slightly forward ride, the faraway handlebar disrupts this characteristic and causes the rider to reach forward. Once forward, the weight distribution is too far upfront. Part of the instability is due to this fact. - - - Questionable Implementations: - - - [QI 1] - Frame Geometry The effective top-tube length on this cruiser like step over frame is long. The saddle and seat tube are set back like a cruiser. However, the handlebar is too far away for a relaxed reach. [QI 2] - Steering Components The steering is UNSTABLE. This could be caused the combination of the head tube angle, rake, trail, handlebar, stem and tire profile. The stem is short. The handlebar is narrow and far in reach (for this tricycle). With its 30+ degrees of back sweep, it literally cancels all the effective stem extension. What that means is that the hands of the rider are literally turning the handlebar with no stem extension making the steering overly sensitive. The front tire's super fat round profile makes things worse by having gravity swaying the steer with its roundness. What this translates to, is that if the front end is not steered straight, any slight steering will force pull the steering towards that direction. It's a shock to any rider with this uncalled-for "power assisted steering" while riding. [QI 3] - Out of True Wheels All three wheels were found to be out-of-true. With my sample, the worst is the drive wheel. Next, it's the front. Then last is the idle wheel. They appear a bit warped. However, they are true-able. [QI 4] - Ineffective Rear Brake The rear band-brake does nothing when pulled. It feels firm to the pull and mushy at the end. It does not slow nor stop the tricycle. No matter how it is adjusted, this rear band-brake has yet to show any effectiveness. [QI 5] - Weak Saddle Clamp The clamp that holds the saddle to the post is inadequate. The saddle is way too large in proportion. Hence the clamp won't keep the saddle in place when a twisting force, like getting off the tricycle, is applied. It takes more than the usual torque on the saddle clamp bolt to keep the saddle from twisting. It is better to replace it with a unified seat post with an integrated saddle clamp. [QI 6] - Inappropriate Tire Size Besides what was mentioned in [QI 2], the 26" x 2.3" semi-slick tires are too wide and keep rubbing fender supporting beams in the rear. These tires weigh ~1.23 Kg (~2.7 lbs) each. [QI 7] - Too Heavy a basket. The basket alone weighs 5 Kg (11 lbs). [In the End...] To counter its shortcomings, I had already adjusted all bearings, trued the wheels, straightened the axle, changed the handlebar, stem, tires, seat post and rear brake to make this tricycle a far better ride with stable steering and functional rear braking. This tricycle, fully assembled weighs (as reported) 33.5-35 Kg (74-77 lbs). It make sense to reduce some weight. By replacing the equipped tires with 26" x 1.75" tires, the total weight is reduced by ~1.8 Kg (~4 lbs). Replacing the steel basket with a suitable substitute plastic basket takes off another 4 Kg (8.8 lbs). [The Bottom Line...] As is, this tricycle is not good for recommendation to the average consumer. This tricycle can be assembled by the average consumer but must be fine tuned by a professional. It has unstable steering due to poor choices of components to go with its geometry. It also requires specialized tools for fine tuning. However, this tricycle can become a great ride by replacing the components in question with ones that have appropriate parameters suitable for the frame's geometry. That could be an enjoyable project for some DIY enthusiasts.

Came disassembled, but building it was quite straightforward. Only real gripe I had was that one of the rear rims was wonky and had to be trued at a bike shop, who had to order some special tool because the back tires don’t have an axle attached to them as they bolt on to the trike’s main axle. Having 7 speeds really helps to get going as it is quite heavy.

I made this purchase for my 90y old mother. She wanted to ride it so bad but in the end it wasn't for her. It was just too difficult for her to pedal and steer. So she decided to return it. We had it assembled for her to ride it, then disassembled to return it. Here is the kicker. We had to pay to ship it back to the warehouse. The cost to return this $600 bike was $400. Yes you read that correctly. I had to source our own transport company and ship it with the Amazon return label. My mother is sick to her stomach because of it. This info on the return is not clear anywhere in the policy. So beware.

Very good quality