Well My Citta came this week and I picked it up on Thursday and spent time assembling it. I haven't been this excited about a new bike in a while. I was in quite a hurry to get it together and test it out.

Here is a poor shot of the bike out of the box.



Assembly wasn't too bad except it took a bit to get the fenders lined up and installed. There are some random screws that I have no idea where they are supposed to go and it did not include screws to attach the front fenders so I used some twist ties for a temporary solution till I can make it to the hardware store. Its just a minor nuisance. Once I got everything together it was clear this bike was not really pretty much ready to go out of the box like alot of the bikes I have purchased online. The wheels need to be trued up and the hubs were tight and the Brakes needed plenty of adjusting. The gears ended up shifting perfectly. The Front hub was so tight it was difficult to get the thing loose. After finally doing so I did find a decent amount of grease in my hubs both front and back I trued up the wheels decently for now and here is the final product for the night.



All in all I was enormously pleased considering the price. There was some issues with the bike not being in perfect cosmetic shape from shipping, but I wasn't too concerned with it because it was $199 and I plan to use it as my go to commuter so who cares. =) Nothing was really awful, but my guess it that might be why this batch was cheap. IDK. Anyway i really liked the bike as I rode around the dark neighborhood. The seatpost had plenty of length for me and the bars were above the saddle which is nice. I think it looks funky in a good way and overall I think its a sweet looking bike.

The next day I rode it to work and it was quite nice. I decided that eh saddle wasn't for me although its not the worst thing in the world. It is not as responsive as my Windsor Shetland, but its a much shorter bike. In fact the Citta I couldn't get my cable lock through the frame and both wheels. I'll have to get a different lock or add something to my current lock configuration if I am worried about keeping both wheels safe. The chainstays are quite long over 17 inches. Its a nice stable comfy bike and should be great for my urban use.

Last evening I tried to put a rear rack on it and I just couldn't locate the right quick release skewer for the seatpost that would go through the contact points on my rack because the holes were smaller diameter than the bolt. I got it mocked up to try out some Panniers and there is plenty of room to avoid heal strike which is fantastic.

Today I took it out for a longer ride (my commuter is less than 8 miles round trip) and I went out on a nice 21 mile jaunt today. It performed great and was very enjoyable. I replaced the stock seat and saddle which made a big different in comfort and moved me farther back which is what I really like. Non-locking ergo bar grips on a revo-shift or gripshifting bike don't work out well. They rotate during the ride because you tend to move them as you twist to shift. Its not a big deal becasue I am going to do a dropbar conversation anyway. Here are some picks from my ride.










At this point I couldn't be more pleased with the bike. I'll be adding a rear rack and panniers and dropbars with brifters and cantis, but I think its going to be a heck of a bike for pretty cheap. It basically everything I wanted except I would like to be able to fit wider tires under those fenders. Maybe someday when there is an affordable minivelo monstercross I'll have to buy one of those, but I'll just enjoy this for now. =)