After having this bike for 4 years, 2,000+ miles, & 3 States, its time to give my thoughts on this sub $1,000 hardtail mountain bike.
Diamondback Hook 2017 Mountain Bike Review
A whole lot of bike for a budget price!
I been riding a lot of miles on this
Diamondback Hook 2017 bike hard since I first purchased it back in
march 2017. Putting over 1000+ miles on it from Pennsylvania, New York to New Jersey, I
think its time to express what I think about this Diamondback bike.
Its not my first bike, I owned another hardtail previously which is a Cannondale
Catalyst. However I felt like my first bike held me back a bit.
The one-by drivetrain system and slack geometry on the Hook initially drove me to this bike as I wanted a more
aggressive hardtail for my type of riding..and I got that hardtail
without breaking the bank.This bike comes with all your modern tech
and features you would expect from a modern mountain bike. It has disc
brakes, a one-by drivetrain, doubled butted 700m+ diamondback pro bars
& 27.5 inch tires.
As you can see I have sticker slapped the
hell out of the bike to customize the look. I also spray painted the
blue rim on the front tire to make mine look more unique without buying a
new rim.
The Drawbacks
Most seasoned bikers are weary of an under
$1000 hardtail bike like the Diamondback Hook because there is going to
be parts the manufacture usually cheaps out on. However these parts
aren’t too much too replace and upgrade yourself.The most obvious drawback on the
Diamondback Hook are the tires and derailleur. The Kenda tires look like
their made out of cheap rubber compound which makes them grip well in
loose terrain and not as much in hard packed chucky terrain.
The derailleur is a stock entry level Sram
X-3. For your first bike its not a bad derailleur, but ive replaced it
with a X-7 within the first 2 weeks. Im sure the X-3 would still hold up
with proper tuning and maintenance.
The stock pedals are alright that come with
the bike besides the reflector built into them, so I swapped em with my
red origin8s off my other bike. Also the seat is really stiff and not
comfortable at all so I swapped that out as well with my other bikes
seat.
Another is the gear ratio which seems like a
cost cut is close to bare with the one-by and 8-speed cassette setup.
Its what you get for under $800. However, the hook gets the job done as
the more fit I become, the less I feel like the gear ratio holds me back
from climbing, etc. Since I bought the bike, I been in the best shape
of my life. Every week getting faster, pedaling longer & conquering new climbs.
As of writing I went from 6 miles in an hour and half to 12 miles in an hour and a
half with no breaks on my local xc trails.
16 сен 2024
