quick update on the bike I bought. The Bike is still functioning great, but the paint they use on it is the softest I have ever seen. I have been riding this thing for 2 days and I can count the number of times I have locked it up by the number of scratches on the bike. Today I stopped at a wooden picnic table to have lunch inbetween classes and leaned the bike up against the table and when I left there was a 6 inch scratch in the paint. Luckily it has been dry these last few days here, but it makes me sad that very shortly I am gonna have to hit the frame with spray paint to keep it from rusting.

Buy a can of automotive clear coat. Its crap to use on cars but its more than enough for a bike.

The error is easily correctable, just let your local welder seal it up and hit it with a little touch up paint from the local automotive store.

I'm thinking about making this my designated **** weather commuter bike. Does anyone know about rear racks/panniers? Are they pretty standard size? Or will i need a specific size for this frame? If so, do you know which size?

I would assume you could find a generic rear rack. This one is on sale at nashbar for 14.99. Id strap that guy on there and find some cheap panniers. ( I did)

http://www.nashbar.com/bikes/Product...7_10000_200411

http://www.nashbar.com/bikes//Produc...2_166967_-1___

Total for rack and panniers is 40$.

EDIT: WAY bigger panniers. and still the price is only 55$.

http://www.nashbar.com/bikes//Produc...2_165648_-1___

Will the frame support 700x23 or 25 wheelsets? Stock is 700x28 -.-

Go for it. For that price, really not much of a risk.

the website says it can do traditional fenders, but the bottom bracket has no holes from what i can see to lock the fender in place. can anyone who has purchase this bike tell me or take a picture?

28 is just the tire size, you'll be able to swap on 23's or 25's if you want. I would just run the 28's til they die though, all it will be is a little more cush for your bum, and you'll need it if you decide to run the stock saddle.

For those who bought the bike, do y'all find it super hard to crank? I have to really crrraamnk to get going. I get sad when i see everyone else zipping around on their fixies :(. Any suggestions?

Get stronger?

No but really, you may just need to switch out the fixed cog for something a little smaller.

Or use $.03 of body filler and a dab of touchup instead of having to sand/strip the whole surrounding are that gets ruined by the heat of welding, then having to primer/paint.

Make sure your brakes arent rubbing your rims either. Today I got going home and noticed how hard it was for me to pedal. Then mid ride realized my front brake had gotten pushed onto my rim. Guess it happened when I locked it up that day. Need to tighten those mounts.