This is an unboxing and look at a critical cycles bike. I got the Medium (53cm) in Black & White. It took about 50 minutes to unbox and put together.
I don't pretend to be a bike expert so I wouldn't call this a review, but you can take a look for yourself. My conclusion is that it's a great bike for the price and I just hope nobody steals it down here at ASU.
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I purchased the white and black colors for this bike in medium. Going in order:
Shipment/Receiving:
The bike was shipped very well. At first sight you would think the box would way a ton, but it wasn't bad at all. Almost everything was zip-tied to the bike frame which ensured every party would be in the box. There was sufficient light foam padding and cardboard around the parts of the bike that needed it. It was also packed neatly and organized. Everything was in the box, but i have read some of the reviews stating they were missing a few parts here and there.
Build:
I'm no bike expert, but i do know how to maintain and change things on my bikes so the build wasn't bad at all for me considering the bike was practically built already. So, i had my brother build it (who knows barely anything about bikes except for ride and stop). He built it perfectly fine with the tools provided and without instructions, however there is a video online instructing you how to do it should you need it. As stated before, the bike is practically all built. But here is a short list of what you need to put on:
-Front tire
-Handle bar
-pedals
-seat
-Re-install rear wheel (The bike comes fixed, so if you want to use it as a single speed, you need to flip the wheel. Make sure to align it correctly and what not, if you are lost, i suggest youtube or just google)
-your love (yes, love. If you're going to ride it, better love it. No cheating ;))
That's about it. So, pretty much, if you're a college student and are short on tools, everything you need is in the box. The building process should not be difficult at all unless you're missing a part and have minimal knowledge on bikes (as in how do you ride a bike).
***The tires do smell though, chemical-ly smell, so i would build the bike outside. Febreze couldn't even save my room :/ ***
The Ride:
For a $200.00 bike, this wasn't bad at all. It's light, nimble and easy to ride. I had zero if not, little problems with the bike. Maybe a little squeaking but a little grease fixed that. Nothing major like a wheel flying off, or threads getting shaved. For sure though, if you want to do some tricks, this bike isn't really for that. For one, you need to remove the brakes if you do (at least for me, due to the cable running to the rear brake) and two, the feel just wasn't there. Maybe it's the handlebars (a little too narrow for my taste). All personal preference though.
Conclusion/Longevity:
So, i've put some miles on this bike and some things to take note on that you might want to keep in mind:
The bike is made mainly of cheap parts. That's not to say it will brake down on you while riding piece by piece until your ass is scraping the ground. It just means cheap.
-An example would be, definitely, the brakes and tires. I wore out the brakes VERY quickly. I'm not even a brake whore and those guys were FLAT. So if you get this bike, have some replacements on hand because you will need it.
-The tires were bad from the start. I could feel the vinyl/plastic feel on them when putting on the front wheel and knew it wouldn't last. I put, maybe, 15 miles at most on the tires and they were gone. As in, baldDoctor Evil bald. In addition, when i first air'd the tires up, the rear wheel became warped (i didn't even sit on the bike yet).
-Brake lever, i think someone posted up a picture of the brake lever being broken. This didn't happen to me, but i can see it happening.
-Pedals are plastic, but i'm not complaining. I see why they went with them, in terms of cost.
-Grips weren't too bad either. They haven't given me any blisters or anything but then again, i have pretty tough hands. I will be changing them, however.
-Rims aren't the best, but they aren't horrible either. If you are ridding casually, these are good.
The bike is what you pay for. For $200, you can't expect top of the line. There are things you need to replace and change, but keep in mind, for the price, what did you expect? Right out the box, this is a great casual riding bicycle for those who want a pretty low maintenance bike or one that they don't mind getting stolen (still buy a good lock though! money is money). Do i regret the purchase, meh. Could i or you get a better bike, yes. For a little more, you could get a better bike, one that has better parts, has more of a name but that's entirely up to you and your budget. I know a lot of people are probably torn between this and a Vilano or a cheap Schwinn; If you want drop down bars, bullhorns or risers, obviously go for the other brands. i personally don't like the BMX style but figured i'd try them out anyways; no bueno. If you're trying to decide between this and an SE or purefix, what the heck are you doing looking at this.... pretty big price difference by about $100.
I can go further, but i'm getting carpal tunnel from this super long review. Overall, not bad, but like others said, you can get better. I'm content with this bike. It's not one that i would cry about if it got stolen, but i'd still be sad. Many other brands are coming out with the flip hubs, so if that's your main buying point, don't base it on just that. Do some research and thinking. Stop buy your local shop and test some bikes out. I wanted a cheap, fun riding bike for college and don't want to take and expensive one (of course), which is why i bought the cheapest i could find :)
Ask yourself:
How much am i willing to spend? What kind of bars do i want? Do i want to ride single or fixed? Do i want 2 brakes or am i happy with 1 or none at all? Will i do tricks? Will i look beautiful on this bike? Will i get any ladies (meh. everyone rides one now)?
thank you, i'm going to go eat now.
Best Deals for Critical Cycles Fixed Gear Single Speed Fixie Urban Road Bike
Single Handedly the best single-speed bicycle in this price range with
fantastic components, A+ packaging, and amazing color options.
Flip Flop Hub: This gives you the option to ride fixed or freewheel and very easy to switch from one to the other. I like riding fixed-gear personally, but it can get really tiring because your feet are moving a lot, so sometimes I switch to freewheel and then it rides like a normal cruiser.
Tires: Really good quality. I've put a good 100 city miles on mine.
Many pot holes, cracks, curbs, skids, bar-spins, no problems at all.
Frame: The frame can bar spin and there is no toe overlap. The geometry is perfect, and the frame is surprisingly light for this price range. I've paid over $500 for my last fixie which was heavier.
Handlebars: It's my first time having BMX style handlebars and I am really happy with them. I actually prefer them by far for city riding
because they come a little bit higher so I'm not leaned forward as much. Way more comfortable, and it makes my bars-pins really easy.
Seat: Pretty comfortable. It's a little stiff, but it's in a good way.
Sticker: It's removable, but I like it.
Toe Clips: They handle really well, but I prefer Velcro straps personally.
Gear Ratio: 48:16... it's perfect for the city
Assembly and Packaging: This thing was packed to endure any kind of
impact. Cardboard, Styrofoam, zip ties, etc. Really impressive. They
obviously knew what they were doing. It comes mostly assembled other
than handlebars, front wheel, and pedals. As with any bike make sure
to check the tightness of all the parts before riding.
Tools: It's a nice touch that they include all tools you need (allen key set and crescent wrench). I already had a set, but now I keep this set in my backpack for when I'm riding. They are very portable and light.
Bottom Line: I was between this and something $150 more and I'm really happy I chose this. I rode it in to my local bike shop when I bought a
lock and they couldn't believe the price. Needless to say, it's a great value and don't let the price fool you. I look forward to seeing
more Critical bikes come out in the future because I would love to see an affordable road bike or mountain bike from them. This is one of the best online purchases I've ever made.
Honest reviews on Critical Cycles Fixed Gear Single Speed Fixie Urban Road Bike
I've had a metric F!@#ton of bikes over the years all of varying quality and price. This bike, straight up is a stellar deal. I bought it for this pub pedal thing we do here in Kansas City, it's this thing where you get wasted and ride around to local bars. I lost my job a few months prior and sold my super badass Specialized 29er, the previous year at the pub pedal I had the most badass bike. That meant a lot to me. Well this years pub pedal snuck up on my bikeless ass and I had to act quick. I search amazon because I knew I could get something shipped quick with Prime Took a chance with this cheap-ass bike. Here are the details. When it arrived on my door I immediately posted a picture of it on Instagram. That last sentence has no relevance in this review, I just wanted to tell you. Anyway, I pulled the big ass bike into my apartment thinking "damn, this s*** got here in 2 days and it's boxed up all nice, and it was only 220 dollars?! This thing has got to suck big time. Cracked the box open expecting a Krylon paintjob and an overwhelming whiff of Chinese air. To the contrary the paint on the bike looked great and the inside of the box smelled like America. I put the bike together with this magic tool they provide you with that's just good enough to put a bike together and not quite bad enough to use to bash your face in with because you're expected to put a bike together with a 5" long 1/8" thick piece of metal they somehow crammed 16 tools into. Once this bitch was together I rode a wheelie over my girlfriends face while singing the national anthem. She dumped me but this bike still rules. Just buy it you loser, you only have 250 bucks and the price is right. Damn.
Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Critical Cycles Fixed Gear Single Speed Fixie Urban Road Bike
I'll start this review from the beginning.
Originally, I saw this bike for sale on a groupon deal for $199 with free shipping. It sold out quick and i was unable to place an order in time.
After a quick google search i found the bike on Amazon for $225 and even though it had zero reviews at the time, i took a gamble and purchased the bike.
I signed up for the amazon credit card and was given a $50 gift card. So in total i ended up paying $175 which was a great deal.
Amazon was very fast with shipping and i had this bike arrive at my house within 3 days.
The bike was well packaged and it took me about 10 minutes to get everything open and out of the box.
To my shock i noticed this bike came with NO paper instructions.
I'm new to bike riding and had never built a bike before so was pretty disappointed in not having normal instructions. After a few minutes i noticed it said on the box that we can visit some website for some type of video instructions. This was pretty silly in my opinion. For one the bicycle in the video was NOT this bike. It was a similar bike but it clearly was a different manufacturer and i noticed minor differences.
The video instructions are inconvenient. My computer is up three flights of stairs and I put the bike together in my backyard. So, to summarize the computer instructions were basically worthless. I don't understand why the company can't bring out some simple instructions.
Anyways, putting the bike together even without instructions wasn't that hard. I was able to figure out how to do it and a lot of it was common sense. I can imagine other people might be a bit confused though.
After all was done i noticed that the bike came with a MISSING part.
My bike seat clamp didn't come with any type of bolt to attach the seat to the bike.
I'm 110 percent sure they did not give me a seat bolt. I looked at all the parts after i took them out of the box and no bolt was ever given.
So, after putting the bike together i was unable to attach the seat due to a missing part.
Critical cycles has no website and it wasn't easy to get in touch with them.
I sent them an email and they replied FOUR days later. This is the reply i got.
"The bolt is in the accessory box. If you need a replacement you should be able to get one for free from your local bike shop"
There was no apology or anything given.
I replied to the email asking if they could inform me on the size of the bolt so i could purchase one.
They DIDN'T reply to my email at all which was unprofessional in my opinion and earned them a negative review.
Eventually, i took the seat clap to a hardware store and just tested different bolts until i found one that fit. I had to test over a dozen of them before i found the size which was annoying.
Finally, i was able to get the bike together and was ready to ride it.
One thing i noticed was the bike didn't come with any type of reflector on the front or back. It's illegal in my state to ride without any reflectors. So, i had to purchase my own, which wasn't a big deal, but i assumed most bikes usually come with them.
After getting everything handled on the bike I've been riding it for two months now.
It's a pretty decent bike. Very light weight, brakes are good, seat is stiff but comfortable (would prefer it was softer though), so far no issues with the tires.
I got the bike in matte black and i must admit the paint does scratch very easily. Bike has a few scratches from when i installed things. (and i was careful) Overall, the bike looks really nice though.
At the end of the day though it rides very nice especially for the price.
If it wasn't for the missing part, no instructions, and poor support from Critical Cycles, i would have probably given it more stars.
Amazon on another hand offered amazing support. Once i informed them of the missing part they refunded me 25 dollars. So, i got 50 dollars off signing up for an amazon gift card, and another 25 off for the missing part
Luckily, i paid 150 bucks for the bike at the end of it!
Cliffs for my review
Fast shipping
Well packaged
Came with no paper instructions
Came with missing seat bolt
Critical cycles responded once after 4 days. Ignored my follow up email afterwards
Amazon refunded me 25 dollars
Bike itself is pretty good quality for the price (Light, looks good, tires are holding up, nice brakes)
It doesn't come with reflector lights which is worth nothing if you live in a state that requires them.
