Well, yes and no. The new bike I have is functional and the welding, although sloppy, is functional and safe. Unless maximum weight capacity was your ultimate issue, I think the Sun at the $600 I paid is a better value for the money than a Mundo or Trek Transport for more than twice the price. If I'm not mistaken, I think both of those are roughly $1200 or $1300 bucks, and they probably aren't twice as functional as the Sun.

I'm working on some cheap homemade wide loaders for the Sun made from parts available at Lowe's. I'll post details this week for anyone interested.

My main beef with Sun is not that the bike is inherently flawed. It's that you have a 50/50 chance of getting a good unit when you special order the bike. Hit or miss from a quality control standpoint if you're detail oriented and picky about pretty welds and paint.

*note, this is my take. I am not criticizing any previous posts*
Sounds to me like the Sun is a great bike given that one is not expecting premium quality at a discount price. At that price, something has to give. A compromise in "beauty of craftsmanship" seems entirely fair as long as it is still structurally sound. I'm glad they build and sell a bike like this.

If you want high quality, you're going to have to pay for it. Nothing wrong with that.

You're right in large part in my opinion. My beef is partly with low quality and maybe more with inconsistent quality. I looked at the cheapo bikes at Wally World the other day, and on the whole the $100-200 bikes found there have prettier welds and better paint than my $600 Sun Atlas Cargo. Realizing that the Sun is not a $1500 bike, it's still disappointing that the fit and finish is in many ways inferior to a bike that cost less than half the price sold at a discount store.

Of the three SACs I've had, they rank:

1. Nice looking welds that were structurally sound.
2. Rough looking welds that in my opinion not only looked bad but were poorly executed from a functional standpoint.
3. Rough looking welds that are better than #2 and probably are at the minimum acceptable level from a functional standpoint.

2 out of 3 of my bikes have had functional welds, one had pretty functional welds, and one had ugly welds of dubious functional value. Very hit or miss, and I recommend that anyone who buys a SAC lay eyes on it before plunking down cash. If you're satisfied with what you see after you give it a thorough once over, by all means buy one.

Here are a couple pics of the subpar (in my opinion) welds on bike #2. Hard to show them in pics without a macro lens. A lot of places on the bike were similar. Overpenetrated, underpenetrated, insufficient bead, etc. They looked worse in person. In the second photo, the bead is incomplete and there is actually a pinhole burned through the base metal tubing to the left of the rust spot where the bead is incomplete. Makes one wonder what more of the welds looked like under the paint. Speaking of paint, bike #3 has a lot of fisheye in it. Again, the average bike at Wally World has nicer paint quality. Today I noticed that the Sun badge on the head tube is peeling off already, and I've ridden the bike twice. Not the end of the world, but still.

https://s36.photobucket.com/user/mbri...b5e6e.jpg.html

https://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...ps16d440a2.jpg


YMMV

Did you have to drill or modify the rack to get a Yepp to work, or was it a plug-and-play installation? The main reason I would get this bike is being able to simultaniously haul children and cargo.

I'm looking pretty hard at getting a Sun for reasons of budget, I'm not too concerned with aesthetics. Has anything changed in quality recently? Any bugs that I should be looking out for?

I know that this bike is a one size fits most. I'm 6'3", wife is 5'6". Will this work for both of us?

No, I did not have to drill anything. If you get the Yepp seat and the easyfit adapter plate, everything you need is included. No drill.

Check out the welds on the bike and especially on the rear part of the bike where the rack and wide loaders insert into the bike frame. I have seen one bike with awful welds in this area.

You can easily haul kids and cargo. I'm working on some homemade wide loaders made with material you can get at Home Depot or Lowes. I'll post details when I get it done. I meant to have it done by now but have been to busy to get around to it. Cheap and easy.

That's a big height difference. I can't give you guidance on that one. Bike sizing is all theoretical until you actually sit on it and see what works, I've found. I'm 5'10" and my wife is 5'7" and the bike is fine. 6'3" would probably work but might be pushing the upper boundary of what would.

If you need pics or measurements of anything specific, let me know.

Thanks for the information and the photos, both have been a tremendous help. I think we'll pull the trigger on the Sun sometime this fall, I'll let you know how the height difference works out.

I finally got around to finishing my homemade wideloaders today and have posted a thread on the subject for those interested.