Well I got my Dawes Lightning 1200 and put it together today. It wasn't that hard to put together though a stand would of been very helpful. Getting everything just right is what took the longest. It's not quite as light as the Trek 1000 SL that I was looking at 25 lbs versus 22 lbs, but they are both slightly different. The Trek is a 56cm and the Dawes is a 54 compact which supposedly equals to a 58-60cm.
The bike is pretty fast, though the only thing I can compare it too is a late 1960's Schwinn Varsity. I'd say for the money, it's a far better buy than a LBS bike if your just getting back into biking. I'd say the only thing that could stand to be of better quality is the brake pads. While these ones are fine and will stop you, they don't have the power of the ones on the Trek 1000.
I'll have to take some pictures now that I have it ready to go, the only thing I'm not sure about is the Presta valves as I don't have a tire gauge that will fit that. I didn't have a tire pump that worked either *Schrader valve* so I had to go to the LBS and buy that, though they didn't have any tire gauges at all.
The bike is pretty fast, though the only thing I can compare it too is a late 1960's Schwinn Varsity. I'd say for the money, it's a far better buy than a LBS bike if your just getting back into biking. I'd say the only thing that could stand to be of better quality is the brake pads. While these ones are fine and will stop you, they don't have the power of the ones on the Trek 1000.
I'll have to take some pictures now that I have it ready to go, the only thing I'm not sure about is the Presta valves as I don't have a tire gauge that will fit that. I didn't have a tire pump that worked either *Schrader valve* so I had to go to the LBS and buy that, though they didn't have any tire gauges at all.