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Sadly, that is where the good part ends.

The bike is a continual bag of frustration. I have a lot of cool tools and am relatively handy, but no matter how hard I tried I could not tighten hardware on this bike so that it would STAY tight. And, adjusting so the brakes would work was near impossible. And small parts were so cheaply made that 1 of them actually broke during building. After a week of use, so many parts of the bike were loose and flaky I took to a bike shop, where for $40 they tightened and tuned it up. And, the bike shop experts themselves told me this bike was “junk” and that it would never be satisfying.

Think it’s fixed now? Nope. Within a few weeks the chain started coming off after less than an hour of use. I adjusted and tightened and put back out. Chain comes off again.

There is simply no way to tighten this so the chain doesn’t come off again, and each time I try I am down for a 90-minute project that needs 2 adults.

So now, we have a bike that is only 4 months old that sits in the garage.

Lesson learned: you get what you pay for, and be wary of a $69 bike.

Total junk, and one very unhappy little girl.

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I went through the manual probably 10 times looking for the brake assembly and finally found it not actually in the manual, but on a separate loose page.

The brake assembly was extremely difficult and following the directions was extremely useless. I finally had to go online for help and discovered that you actually need to loosen the cable from the wheel to get enough slack to have any hope of getting it to reach the handbrake itself. Once I figured this out, there was a lot of work involved getting it to the right tension so that the brake would grip easily, but not drag on the tires.

Really frustrating assembly experience, but my daughter does love the bike.

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The parts that were not assembled were not the most simple of items (handle brake, seat, tires, etc.). The instructions were terrible. When it came to the seat, something I figured would not be too difficult, I had to guess as to which parts to use as the instructions were not clear. Being a pretty handy guy, I was getting frustrated as I can be a tad OCD when it comes to making sure things are assembled correctly. My Father-in-law came over and he could not make heads or tails of the instructions either. Now that both of us were stumped was exceptionally rare.

Having parts left over, I kept them as I was sure I would figure out where they went to. They went to nothing structural as I would not let my kids play on an unsafe toy, but the instructions gave no indication as to where they went. I finally did find when they went as I noticed the grip on the hand break had an spot for a tightening screw and nut.

Over all, the bike is very solid and my daughter loves it. It wasn’t too hard to assemble, but clearer instructions would have made it a snap. I do wish they had invested in better packaging so that the amount of scratches and the risk of parts falling out of the box in shipping would be reduced.

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When I got this swimsuit, it came in a small cardboard box. Remembering its price, I was a little surprised. If the money goes for materials, the square-inch price of the fabric they use must be awfully high. (If the fabric lasts as long as they say it will, the higher price should be worth it.)

But I had wanted to try something different. This swimsuit is indeed that. It seems well made. The fabric stretches only a little, so it is a tight fit. When I first tried it on, my wife chuckled a little. That was her only comment. Looking in the mirror, I could see why she laughed. The suit looks like a sausage skin, and above and below it, my bulges became bigger.

But at the pool, nobody seems to notice. I’ve only worn it three times so far, so I can’t comment on durability. But I like the feel. For pool swimming, it feels much better than my bulky old suit did. Yet I feel far from naked. The feeling is nice.

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To quote George Bush:

Mission Accomplished.

Except I’m right.

And people should always look for the Endurance models for their swim suit choices because they are the only line that stands up to the rigors of chlorine that public pools use.

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I’m 5’9″ with short legs, and I don’t advise this bike unless you have average-long legs.

Hope that helps.

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If you’re not comfortable doing it yourself, I would suggest having a shop take a look and tweak the brakes & gear shift as I found that it isn’t overly ideal.

Not to mention with a new bike it is a good idea after the first month to bring it in to get the brakes adjusted (brake cables stretch).

Everything is great except for the seat. They definitely could’ve put a more comfortable seat on this thing, however you get what you pay for and that would have increased the pricetag on this otherwise good city bike.

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The bad:

The free wheel (or AKA “cassette”) arrived defective. This is the part that your chain wraps around and has several gears (7 in this case), next to the rear wheel. Some of the gears on the free wheel were bent, cause the gear to slip. Very cheap made in China crap. The good news is that for $20 a bike shop can replace it for a nice Shimano free wheel. Then 1 pedal bent within 30 days (it looks like metal but interior has plastic).

The good:

Had the pedal and free wheel not being so crappy, I give this bike a sure 4 stars after a little money pured in for a free wheel and a pedal. Frame feels very solid and strong, yet lightweight aluminum. After a professional tune-up (and the 2 components above replaced), the bike is handling great.

The shifter is a good Shimano shifter (but not their best of course, this is a $240 bike). The gear changer is a basic Shimano touring, but still a Shimano.

Very easy to assemble. It is mostly assembled. This is the first bike I ever assembled right out of the box. It took me less than 2 hours, going very carefully. As long as you have a basic set of allen key, 1 regular adjustable wrench (for the pedals), and ONLY IF replacing the seat, a ratcheting wrench will be very helpful.

You WILL NEED to have the brakes and gears adjusted, and the wheel trued. If you can’t do it, it is worth spending the $50 for a professional shop to do it. The difference afterwards is like night and day.

Conclusion:

This bike should be advertised as great bike that needs some additional parts purchased (to replace the 2 cheap components that will break easily)!

I added a nice comfortable seat, rear and front lights, splash guards (I know they aren’t pretty, but necessary on a commuter bike, and actually looked pretty good with it). I might even add a rear rack, since this is now my official commuter bike. Once I poured some money in on repair mentioned above, accessories and a tune-up, I love this bike.