Is a 400$ discounted to 200$ diamondback bike from a large sports retailer(dick's sporting) a good deal?

I browsed through Dick's sporting goods bike section and saw some bikes that were originally 400$ and were 200$ off. I was wondering how reputable is the brand diamondback in the world of bikes.

How does a 400$ diamondback bike compare with a similarly priced trek or specialized bike? any thoughts?

Diamondback makes some very fine quality bikes. I have an ancient steel Diamondback that continues to give good service.

In any case, the bicycle industry is highly competitive. Each company like: Diamondback, Trek, Specialized, Giant, etc. builds bikes to meet particular pricepoints. At any given pricepoint, all bicycles will be pretty comparably built and outfitted. Thus, there isn't really going to be a lot of difference in the quality of the construction or components between different brands at the dollar value you are looking at.

What is different is how any given bike feels and rides for you. Just because the quality of construction and components may be similar, it doesn't mean one bicycle won't feel better to you. So, I suggest you try several bikes and pick the one that feels best.

Furthermore, I suggest you look at your local bicycle store, as well. While poking around the bike area at Dick's I have heard their sales people giving some terrible advice. I have had to bite my tongue to keep from marching up and telling their customers that what they just heard was dreck. BTW - I am sure some Dick's people are good, I just haven't been impressed by the folks in the local store.

One of the services a bike shop will offer is getting a bike set up nicely for you. Just having a properly sized bike will make a lot of difference in how it feels. I wouldn't count on the people at Dick's to get your bike setup properly.

Most bike shops will also give you a free tune up after a couple of months. This is important because the cables on all new bikes will stretch. You need to have cable tensions adjusted after a short while to maintain shifter and brake performance. A good bike shop will do this for you and show you the barrel adjusters so you can keep it tweaked.

Hope this helps you.

It sure beats department store bikes (no matter what brand).

Give you a surprise son Diamondback is another division of Raleigh Bikes ! Also Bikes are made of components and if strip the famous names of the frame you get the same thing a bicycle !(Brand makes no difference !)

Through my experience working as a bike mechanic I have realized that Diamondback is not too bad for a department store brand. If you look to do just nominal riding then it would probably be alright. If you're planning on logging somewhat significant miles I would definitely suggest going to a bike shop to find a bike, or at least go there and do a few test rides. What you're going to find with department store bikes as they just aren't as high quality as bike shop bikes like Trek. They are made with cheap components that will wear out faster and are harder to adjust properly. Also a lot of bike shops have breaks on maintenance prices and you can always take it back there if you have issues with your bike.
A 400$ Diamondback might have a few more bells and whistles than a Trek or Spec bike but like I mentioned before, the parts on the Trek and Specialized bikes are going to be much more durable.
I would recommend trying to find a decent deal on a higher quality brand than diamondback, especially if you want to do a bit more riding.