I ordered the bike on Oct 21, and received it on November 23, then left on a cruise, so I am just now back and getting to this, sorry for the delay. Not bad though, just about a month to order and receive.
The box it came in was pretty well packed (LOTS of tape), but it was smushed a little in a couple places. Could have been FedEx
. ALL the frame tubes had foam packaging, and there was no damage to most of the bike. The little bit of "damage" was the right shifter upshift lever was depressed during shipping so it wore out the battery (replaced with standard CR2032), and there is a bit of a scratch on it as well as the bottom of the brake lever. This does not influence the working of the lever, and you probably would not even see it, unless you were putting the bike together, or if the lever battery was not dead.
The other odd thing is the back thru axle is not the right length for the back wheel. Could be because I ordered different wheels than what came with the bike originally, but still should have been accounted for during assembly. It took A LOT of torque to get the back wheel off due to the installation being SO TIGHT, probably trying to account for the wheel play. I took it apart, and figured out the threaded part on the axle is not long enough, so it bottoms out against the derailleur hanger, so it never gets fully tight. Probably needs like 2mm more thread and it would work. I could order a die and put a couple more rounds of threads on, but it is actually cheaper to just buy a new axle from Ali.
I wrote to the supplier about these two issues and I am getting ghosted.
I took off the existing tires (Innova Pro Stampede 40) and tubes (regular rubber), and put on my TPU tubes and Conti GP 5000 30s. Fit onto the rims perfect and look great.
Pulled the Senicx cranks and the bottom bracket (press fit) and installed the new thread together bb (Ali ZTTO) and FSA carbon cranks. Fit like a glove and work great. No compatibility issues at all. Something you cannot see from the pics, but the chain, rear sprocket, and the brake discs are holographic too, which looks pretty cool.
There is one spot where the rear brake disc, when installing/uninstalling the back wheel, contacts the frame and scratches the paint. Probably due to the 160 discs being ginormous. Just need to be careful here. Thinking I may put a piece of metal tape or something else there to protect the frame. Doesn't make any difference once the wheel is installed and doesn't rub or anything in use.
The holographic paint is awesome. Looks black most of the time, but depending on the angle it shows purple/green/blue/brown. Nice to look at and seems well applied. Very little branding on the bike, which I like. There is a Twitter badge on the front of the headtube, and there is a small bit on each chain-stay, but due to the paint color it is very hard to see.
It came with a camel colored seat, which looks pretty cool in contrast to the rest of the bike. It is comfortable but pretty heavy, so will probably swap it out once I can get back outside.
I have not been able to ride the bike outside yet, but I rode it on the trainer last night and it is super smooth. Feels like about the same amount of flex as my Wilier had (I weigh 230lbs). The shifters work great and are very precise. It came with the Wheeltop GX, which has alloy shifters, instead of carbon. The geometry is aggressive, more road biased. Everything bolted together very securely and smooth. I know the true test will be when I can ride it on the road, so I will update this when I have an opportunity (currently freezing every night and not getting out of the 30s all day).
I have an estimated weight of about 20 pounds for the new bike, which is more of an aero bike. I could probably shave weight by changing the saddle, chain, rear cog, spokes, but it would be way cheaper for me to lose 5 pounds from my waistline.
My Wilier road bike (climbing bike) weighs about 1.5 pounds less without pedals so really it is a pretty solid build.
I am happy to answer any questions you have, just ask.
