Well it arrived! Showed up around 9am this morning. Didn't take long to put together at all. Was pleasantly surprised that the handlebars were already attached, the rear fender and rear rack were already installed, and the packaging was very impressive. Initial impression was HOLY TOLEDO THIS THING IS HEAVY!
I'm used to my 18lb road bike and maybe 30lb Townie bike and this 50lb bike blew my mind. The battery is attached and when I lifted it up to take it out of the box I had to do a double-take! I thought it was anchored somehow. Nope - it's just a heavy bike! You can read all you want about it but when you pick it up you understand. On the flip side - such a substantial piece of equipment! Frame is SOLID. Everything speaks of great quality and craftsmanship. Don't believe anybody that says this is Chinese garbage. They don't have one and don't understand. Very nice bike and components and great care taken in every aspect of the design and packaging.
Chain catcher is included and installed on mine. One negative - I do not like the fenders. It's a major pain to remove the rear fender - you have to pull off the rear light and there's a bunch of nuts behind the tire and rack and I didn't feel like attacking it today. Instead I put on the front fender so at least the bike matched. The fenders are plastic and flimsy - and yes, like the other poster mine is bent on the rear as well. It was really rubbing but some gentle repositioning seemed to fix it. It leans to left. I don't care because I'm going to remove it anyway.
The brakes rubbed. Both front and rear. Not a lot but enough to stop the wheels from free-spinning more than a couple revolutions. I pulled the battery off and popped it on my Park stand. I read a YouTube video on how to adjust them because all my bikes have caliper brakes. Man, it is SO SIMPLE to adjust hydraulic brakes. I was actually laughing it was so simple. I also worked on the rear fender while up on the stand. Once adjusted everything spun freely easily.
I did everything that Juiced recommended for a new bike. I started charging to 100% for the initial charge. Took 3 hours! I was pretty ready to ride it but I thought what the heck, just do it right. I went for a run instead and after a shower and a little waiting it was ready. By the way, charging was easy. The battery makes good contact and everything fits very snuggly.
I have somewhere to be so I'll save the first ride report for either late tonight or tomorrow morning. I will tell you that Juiced recommended riding without power for part of the first ride to get used to the bike and then on ECO for the rest of that ride. Well, I made it out of the garage with the motor off and out of the driveway on ECO. Needless to say I wanted to see what it could do!
Oh, and I owe those gents in this forum a few beers for the frame size suggestion. The large is PERFECT. I'm 6'2 and close to 35" inseam and it fits very well. I would have been swimming in an XL I would imagine. You guys saved me at least 3 weeks of waiting for an XL and once received it would have been too big. I probably could have ridden it but this is a better fit.
And the brushed aluminum looks fantastic!
