Good to hear that there's others with these bikes and no serious issues. If I do change out the crankset I'll be sure to write it up. I'm thinking about just going for one with two different ratios instead of 3. Now that I'm getting stronger I find that I rarely use the 1st set, if I get to that point it's time to pull over and take a water break. Would make adjustments easier as well, I would think. But that's all in the future, I'll stick with the stock set for now.

I wasn't going to update this for a while, but I found a few new things I'd like to report.

A huge milestone for me today was that I completed a 12 mile ride. No big deal to most, but my 6 mile ride on Saturday about killed me. Today I made the standard 5 mile route and then just kept going, including tackling Saturday's hill of death that almost killed me. I took yesterday off and I think the rest made me stronger. The bike was a great companion the whole time, I didn't feel like it was holding me back, quite the opposite. I never would have been able to do this ride on my old mountain bikes. My average speed has increased also to about 12 mph. I can't get an exact reading on that because I don't know how to reset my average speed without reseting the whole computer. I'll have to read the manual.

I found that the Denali can handle 90 degree turns (as in turning at an intersection) at 30 mph. I dunno how this ranks in most road bikes, but it felt stable and just plain awesome through the turn, of course I leaned well into it.

By the end of my ride I don't know if it went away or I just stopped noticing it, but I don't remember hearing/feeling the popping from the bottom bracket. I'll check later.

All in all a great amount of fun. By the end of the ride of course I was well winded and just wanted to get home, but before that I was really enjoying myself. Can't wait for the point where I can ride further and further and not get so tired.

I saw someone else on a Denali like mine the other day. Guy was pedaling uphill slowly in high gear and looked like he was really struggling. I don't know if he was doing that on purpose or if something was jammed. I was in the truck so I didn't ask.

Also, I have to echo what CigTech has said in his other threads. A friend saw my new bike and couldn't believe it only cost $159. He's no bike expert, but he thought road bikes cost more than that, and generally they do. It looks expensive even though it isn't. Not that I'm worried about that, but it doesn't scream cheap.

So far I feel like the Denali is a very nice entry into the road biking world. Bang for buck over a used bike is debatable, but if you like new this is it. I do enjoy knowing things from the start and keeping them my way, as well as not having to worry about other people's mistreatment or neglect. I store my bike inside to keep it clean and non-rusty. I live in a college town and I've noticed that many bike owners don't (lock them to the rails of their apartment or such) so many used bikes have rust or other weathering issues.

However I do feel in some ways they cheaped out. Two things so far I'm not satisfied with are the bottom bracket and the brakes. Everything else gets an approval stamp as being serviceable and should last a while if maintained properly.

Speaking of the brakes, I feel they have become a safety issue and need to be replaced. I've found that not every driver is as respectful of those on bikes as I'd like for them to be (and our city is renowned for being bicycle friendly!). So far I've been run off the road by a semi, had to slam on my brakes multiple times to avoid t-boning somebody pulling out directly in my path, as well as having to dodge people backing out of their driveways and not looking. The stock brakes are really bad, they barely stop the bike and trying to slow down while going downhill can be pretty scary. So I ordered some new brake pads for it after reading around here a bit, Kool-Stop Eagle II in salmon out back and Kool-Stop Continental in salmon up front. I don't think the Eagle II's would clear my forks up front. Heard good things about these pads, we'll see how they perform.

So far, I've found three things that need to be replaced or at least carefully monitored on this bike: the seat, the bottom bracket, and the brakes. Brakes are a must for safety I feel, and the seat was just too uncomfortable for me but may be okay for others. The bottom bracket may just be a random defect on mine, if the problem is still present.
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