Now that I've spent a good amount of time on this bike and riding others' bikes, I thought I'd give a little more helpful review.
As far as parts go, I can't really complain except for the stock brake cable that got frayed very quickly. I like the feel of the big(er) bars and plastic pedals, and everything is still working nicely. In the future I'll probably get a bigger front tire and a new stem, just out of personal preference.
While the parts are all good, I'm not so stoked on the frame anymore. First of all, its very short and allows only a small balance point for manuals. Second, the position of the brake tab on the top tube will kink your cable. Finally, I'm not sure if this happened because of too many flat landings or because the stem wasn't completely tightened onto the fork when it was first assembled, but the headtube is now ovalized a decent amount. I realized this when I got sick of the constant creaking and brought the bike into my local shop, where they measured it. It's odd though, because the creaking goes away for awhile when the headset is repressed with more grease, and there are no tight spots when spinning the bars. The mechanic suggested that it might be that the headtube is so thin that it bends into alignment when the headset cups are pressed in. Who knows?
Ultimately, if the creaking keeps coming back after a few hours of riding, I'll probably just get a new frame with better geometry and transfer all the parts over.
And just remember to make sure all the preassembled parts of a complete are tight enough when you build one up out of the box.
As far as parts go, I can't really complain except for the stock brake cable that got frayed very quickly. I like the feel of the big(er) bars and plastic pedals, and everything is still working nicely. In the future I'll probably get a bigger front tire and a new stem, just out of personal preference.
While the parts are all good, I'm not so stoked on the frame anymore. First of all, its very short and allows only a small balance point for manuals. Second, the position of the brake tab on the top tube will kink your cable. Finally, I'm not sure if this happened because of too many flat landings or because the stem wasn't completely tightened onto the fork when it was first assembled, but the headtube is now ovalized a decent amount. I realized this when I got sick of the constant creaking and brought the bike into my local shop, where they measured it. It's odd though, because the creaking goes away for awhile when the headset is repressed with more grease, and there are no tight spots when spinning the bars. The mechanic suggested that it might be that the headtube is so thin that it bends into alignment when the headset cups are pressed in. Who knows?
Ultimately, if the creaking keeps coming back after a few hours of riding, I'll probably just get a new frame with better geometry and transfer all the parts over.
And just remember to make sure all the preassembled parts of a complete are tight enough when you build one up out of the box.