How's the ride
I may be jumping the gun since I've only had it for a couple of commutes and a trip to the store, but I'm really pleased with the ride feel and handling so far. The Cromo frame and fork do seem to alleviate some harshness although I'm not wild about the tires. It came with 700c-25 (I didn't see brand) and they have that sort of low-end solid feeling that I associate with stock tires. I'll be replacing them eventually with 28's or 32 if it will fit.
The ticking freewheel will drive me batty. I've asked Bikes Direct to send me a replacement; if they don't come through* I'll have to buy one, probably an 18 tooth to compensate for the bike's heftiness.
The rack and splurging on a new blinkie and bottle cage added an extra $25 so the running total is $254. I still need fenders which will be $15 in parts, so ultimately $269 for the bike in commuter mode. I'll probably swap the tires with some nicer Prima 2 tires I've got so I won't count the tire cost yet.
* BD has already sent a replacement freewheel, immediately on my email. You can't ask for better than that.
Last edited by wphamilton; 12-04-15 at 05:38 PM.
Reason: update BikeDirect service