First off, let me fill you in on how I ended up with this bike in the first place. I had been looking at bikes in the $300 price range for a while (Hoffman Disrupter EL2, BK Six Pack), but when I was ready to buy it, my dad stepped in and told me he didn’t want me spending “that much” on my first bike. He told me that I should check out the local bike shop first, and I did. I went with him and I somehow ended up walking out with the $210 dollar Diamondback Joker. It wasn’t exactly what I wanted to buy, but what the heck, it’s all I could get and it’s better than nothing.

Anyways, on to the review. There is one major problem with this bike, and this is the reason why I was so hesitant to buy it. It is made completely of Hi-Ten steel. Not an ounce of Chro-Moly on this thing. I’ve owned the bike for about a month and a half now, and the frame isn’t really showing and major problems. Then again, I’ve been using it for mostly flatland, so that kind of contributes to it being in pretty good condition still. I haven’t really done any grinds so I can’t really tell you about the pegs.

The complete bike weighs 35 pounds (about 16 kilograms), but with that being said, it feels perfect to me. Not too light, not too heavy. I know there are going to be some weight weenies out there that are going to say, “Holy crap! That thing is about 10 pounds too heavy for my taste!” That’s their problem. I’m about 6’0” and I’m a pretty scrawny kid, and this bike still seems pretty light to me. Maybe it’s just because it’s my first bike. Anyone who isn’t too concerned about the weight of their bike will be fine with the Diamondback Joker.

One thing that I really like about this bike is the geometry. The top tube is 19.5”, and even with me being six feet tall, it feels fine. The chainstay is about 13.75”, and this all feels just right. It’s pretty easy to get the front wheel off the ground and manual with this bike, which I really like, even if I personally can’t manual more than about 10 feet. I don’t know the headtube angle, but it does seem pretty comfortable. Combine this great geometry with the good looks of this bike and you’re pretty set. Here is a picture of the complete bike:

            Another thing that I like about this bike is the pedals and cranks. The pedals have a pretty good grip on my worn-out shoes, and they take a pretty good beating. I’ve been really angry and thrown my bike across the parking lot and have it land on the pedals and while they are pretty scratched up, they haven’t broken yet. I was really surprised to find decent 3-piece cranks on a sub-300 dollar bike, but I did. The cranks on this bike are pretty strong. I’m pretty sure that they are made out of Hi-Ten, but they still seem to be holding up pretty well. Here is a picture of the pedals:

Okay, now that I’ve gone over all of the things that I like on the bike, I’m going to throw out the crappy things on the bike that I definitely don’t like.

First off, THE STOCK BRAKE SETUP ABSOLUTELY BLOWS!!!!!! I can’t stress that enough! I can sit on my bike with both the front and the rear brakes fully depressed and I can use my feet to push myself forward with the tires still moving. Now, I’m sure that part of the problem is the absolutely terrible stock rims. They come with a grey finish, and that is wearing off pretty easily. I’ll elaborate on that more later. If I try to do a flatland trick where I need to have the rear brake locked, I try and it still rolls and I end up falling on my ass. I hate the brakes, and the gyro sucks. The gyro is an SST Oryg and the top cable is a split dual cable which absolutely sucks the big one. The levers are just okay, they’re really nothing special. The finish is wearing off of them pretty easily, though. That’s one thing I don’t like about them. A few weeks ago I even set aside a few hours and dialed the brakes in, and they still suck. I’m getting a new brake setup, so hopefully that will help a LOT. Oh, and just for the heck of it, here is a picture of the gyro:

Another thing that I don’t like about the bike is the 44-tooth sprocket. This thing is absolutely enormous, and it really gets in the way. It’s a decent sprocket, and it holds up well, I just HATE the size of it. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gotten my clothes caught in it just because of its sheer size. If there was one minor thing about this bike that I would change, it would definitely be the sprocket. Here is a picture of the sprocket so you can see how huge it is:

Now, I said I would elaborate more on the wheels, so here I am elaborating. They are black with a machined sidewall in a grayish color and they absolutely suck. The finish is wearing off and is showing the black color of the rim underneath. The freewheel on the rear wheel is pretty good though, so I won’t complain about that. The stock tires are pretty good too; they seem to be holding up pretty well.

The last thing that I’m going to complain about is the grips and crappy plastic bar ends. They’re throttling pretty bad, and I swear one of these days I’m going to wear all the way through the plastic bar ends. I’ve already jacked up about half of each bar end, but I’m not going to complain too much because they are keeping me from getting violated by the 7/8” Hi-Ten bars which are pretty good by the way, just not worthy of a whole paragraph. The grips are pretty comfortable, however. Even if they are throttling pretty bad they keep my hands from being jacked up and they are pretty soft. Here is a picture of the grips/ bar ends.

Now, while this bike definitely isn’t the best out there, it is a bike and it’s better than having nothing. For a beginner like myself, I’d say that at $210 dollars it is a pretty good choice, but I already own it and this review is for you, so I’ll let you decide if you think you will be getting one or not. If you’re a beginner and you’re short on cash then I’d say that this bike is for you.

 
Pros:
+ Good geometry
+ Good looks
+ Only $210 dollars
+ Good, comfortable weight at about 35 pounds (16 kilograms)
+ Freewheel serves its purpose pretty well
+ Good tires
+ Good, grippy pedals
+ Okay brake levers
+ Comfortable bars
+ 3-piece cranks

 
Cons:
-THE BRAKES SUCK!!!!!! AND SO DOES THE GYRO!!!!!!
-Completely Hi-Tensile steel
-Crappy, machined sidewall rims
-44T sprocket not great in my eyes (IT’S UGLY!!!!)
-Grips (They are throttling really bad)
-Plastic bar ends (They’re plastic, what do you expect?)

 
In its price range, I give it an 8.5/10

Overall, I give it a 6/10

I would recommend it for beginners, but for the die-hard BMX veteran I say this bike is not a good choice for you.      

Costs: around $210 USD