Got a partial shipment 3 of 4 boxes on Wednesday, July 5th and the remaining box on Thursday, July 6. Two T50s complete but unassembled. Not sure how FedEx got the shipment split but no biggie.
The "complete" part is a problem and the packing of same is a problem. Missing two rear derailleurs so the plan to unpack, assemble and go riding them today is a bust.
Both bottom brackets in cardboard boxes were just tossed loose in with a bunch of other loose retail component packages inside the space of the four tires. Problem is both BB assemblies neglected to stay inside their cardboard boxes and these are relatively heavy metal pieces. They apparently spent time rattling around inside the "complete" box and scarred/gouged the chain rings (guards, actually) and the crank arms as well as parts of the surface of the black brake assembly units. At least one minor gouge on the threads on one of the BB assemblies but it looks like it should thread OK (see further below about tolerance and lack of chasing on BB shell threads).
Apparently handlebar grips chosen are simple foam tubes with plastic end caps. I received two longish foam tubes. I presume I need to cut each in half for 4 pieces (2 bikes, so four hands/bar ends) or I'm short some foam tubes too. I received one plastic bar end cap that is not a suitable fit and 3 others are AWOL.
I don't mind cutting down the fork steer tube but why is there a friggin star nut pounded into the end I'm supposed to cut off?
Other than the minor kerfuffle with the steer tube the frame set looks pretty good but I was surprised to see the threads on the inside of the bottom bracket shell were cut before the anodizing or whatever the coating is that was applied as all of the threads are fully coated and the threads were not chased after this frame coating was applied. This is probably good in this case as the BB mounting caps or cups screw in
very easily and there is a lot more play than I would have expected. I think Cruzbike needs to tighten tolerances here. In this case it is probably a good thing the threads inside the shell got anodized or it would be even looser. I'm hoping after torqueing that this isn't going to be a problem area.
And as others have mentioned, the locking headset spacer shown in Robert's video is AWOL as well.
Grumpy
email sent to
support@cruzbike.com with advice to use more secure packaging for bottom brackets at a minimum along with a plea for a remedy for my missing parts. A parts checklist similar to what was in the frame set would have been prudent.
Assembling what I can until I get my missing parts.
"Complete" components are OK but not inspirational. I was expecting them to be a bit better than what they are but I thought I'd give it a try to see how it worked out.
The stock seat cushion and cover does detract significantly from the rest of the bike along with the minimalist foam grips I sort of received. I added two Ventisit cushions to my order because I knew I wouldn't care for the stock seat cushion. My stock Vendetta seat cushions (2 parts) are of much higher quality than the cushion for the T50. My Vendetta seat back cushion has an embroidered Cruzbike logo and both the seat and seat back have two-piece foam inserts. A base dense foam layer and the light, open cell foam top layer to help allow air flow through it and hopefully wick away sweat. The T50 cushions have no embroidery, the covers are cut and sewn more crudely and there is no dense foam layer at all, just a larger extremely light and open cell, really cheap foam. I would suggest Cruzbike chuck the current stock seat cushion and cover design and replace it with something much better or just make the Ventisit the standard, included seat cushion for all the different Cruzbike models.
Even though the stock Vendetta cushions are much better than what comes with the T50 I replaced them quite a while ago with a Ventisit, which is far superior.
-Eric
