After celebrating my promotion at work last night, the UPS guy woke me up this morning (still half drunk) to deliver my new bike!

The packaging was great. I really can't believe a discount bike website, such as bikesdirect, packages their bikes so well. There was so much packaging it almost took longer to get the bike out of the box than it did to assemble it.

Which brings me to the assembly of the bike. Assembly was fairly straight forward, but I also worked on bikes in the past and work on cars quit a bit. The bike was 70% assembled out of the box. The handlebars, seat post, front wheel and front brake line was all that came detached from the bike. After getting it all put together I noticed the front/rear disc brakes were rubbing. My hangover started to kick in at this point, so I decided to hold off on adjusting them. Fast forward a few hours and decided it was time to adjust the disc brakes and go riding. I spent about a half hour fine tuning the disc brakes. Since this is my first time working on disc brakes, this step was definitely the most challenging and time consuming. Finally got them dialed in and put some air in the tires. Now it's time for the test ride!

Still feeling the after effects of my poor decisions last night, I decided to just take the bike around the block to make sure everything was assembled correctly. Rode up and down my driveway a few times first before hitting the streets. The short test ride quickly turned into a nice cruise around town and even entering the next town over. The bike is FUN. I really can't think of a better way to describe it. The simplicity of single speed (which I have enjoyed in the past) combined with the ability to go on all different terrains was just an overall joy. I took the bike on sidewalks, through grass, off curbs, on horrible paved bike trails and even through some mud. The bike handled all of this without a problem. I'm over 200 pounds and can honestly say this bike is a complete beast. I went out expecting a two minute cruise and came back home an hour later with some dried up mud on my one leg. Believe me, I would have biked even longer if my body was conditioned for it. I did notice a couple negatives while on my test ride...

First off, as RobertFrapples mentioned above, the brakes should be replaced if doing any serious riding. For now I can get away with using the stock Tektros since my riding ability isn't good enough to warrant better brakes...yet. These will be upgraded in the future for sure.

Next, the handlebars and grips. The quality on them seemed fine, and they did not flex one bit. I personally want a set of handlebars that are raised up a bit more so I can achieve a more upright riding position. This is largely due to the back injury that I had not too long ago. For most people, these bars will probably work just fine. The grips could be a bit more comfortable, but I will need to upgrade them with the bars anyways.

Aside from these two things, most other parts will probably stay on the bike until they break.

Overall, the bike is well worth the $350. Was I expecting a competition grade bike for that price? Absolutely not. Was I expecting the bike to be lesser quality for the price? Absolutely. The value you get with this bike is ridiculous. Granted, this is after one ride on the bike. Either way you look at it, if you are unsure about entering the 29'er world (as I was), this is a perfect and cost-effective way to get your feet wet. I will say one thing about 29'ers; I'm hooked.

Photos will be uploaded a little later. If you have any questions or specific pictures you want, please let me know.

Again, thanks for the help everyone. The opinions of the online community definitely helped persuade me into getting this particular bike.