Axis Sport Mountain Bike with 27.5-Inch Wheels

Box perfectly undamaged but rear derailleur was bent out of shape. In hindsight I don't think it was a good idea to buy a bike online. I'll update later on what diamondback's response is about this. My 100 dollar bike from big box store was in a better state than this. Its a hassle to ship something back like a bike. Also, all the reviews about how easy it is to assemble the bike are wrong. I'm very good at assembling and fixing mechanical things and assembling this bike correctly was not easy I'll probably have to spend another 100 to get it fixed by a local bike shop. Edit 1/26/15: I contacted Diamondback today. Gave then the serial number and they are going to ship the rear derailleur hanger (small alloy piece which fits between the frame and the derailleur). No charge to me. Bumping rating to 3. If everything works out then I will probably bump up the rating more. Edit 4/13/16: The replacement derailleur went in fine with quite a bit of work adjusting everything. However after using the bike 4-5 times, the main pedal has this bothersome knock every rotation. I was not expecting this from a $500 bike. taking off another star.

Just to answer a few questions. Size, I purchased the 18" frame, 5'10", maybe a little short inseam 29"-30", but it all depends on shoes, how you stand, etc. All the sizing guides indicate I should be on 18" or maybe even 20". Definitely not 20", if anything I might have even liked to try the 16". Another bike I was looking at classified theirs as sm/md. with 17" frame, that would probably be about perfect. But there are many factors, when you are actually riding, the issue is distance from seat to pedals, so if you go with too small of frame your seatpost has to be out considerably further. Also smaller frames also are shorter so that may be a consideration. When riding this bike feels like the right size, and a lot of it is preference. The standover height listed of 29" is actually right in front of the seatpost so to me that is not a true stand-over height. The top tube slants fairly steeply up, so 31.5" is probably more accurate. Weight, I weighed it on two scales without reflectors, it comes in at 31 pounds almost even. I tried it on my fish scale from ceiling of garage (bike only) and also on bathroom scale, me first, then me holding bike. Both were almost exactly the same. I was hoping for a little lighter as I saw someplace somebody said 28 for the 16" frame. But this isn't bad and feels balanced well. Hydraulic brakes are nice, but on recent cold rides I've noticed the fluid inside must change as the response is just slightly more sluggish, not enough to really matter, just something I've noticed. Front fork tubes are showing just the slightest of hairline scratches in the travel area, so you may want to keep up with cleaning them, it could be normal as well. But to be safe, I'd keep the dirt off of them as much as possible. Got a tire pump for seat tube, presta adapters at Walmart, spoke wrench & chainstay protector at REI. Added some old lights. Packed well not a single scratch or anything. Overall good bike.

At $700 this bike is probably not gonna be on top of your wish list. But you can find it readily for $600 and less (mine was less than $500). At the $500-600 price point this bike is really worth looking at. First off, the 27.5" wheels are awesome, I shopped for an entry level 29er and all I found were ill fitting frames with exaggerated standover heights forcing me to a smaller bike. Hydraulic brakes are a nice touch and the fork has been pretty nice so far... lets face it, you are not going to get a $400 fork on a $500 bike. I can see myself making a few upgrades on this bike over time and putting a lot of miles on it. Last but not least, this is a really nice looking bike.