I came home in a super bad mood Friday because of things I can’t talk about publicly, yet... I almost didn’t even bother assembling my bike because I was so pissed. On days like that my mood instantly changes from horrible to ecstatic when I open the door and see my little girl! Unfortunately the opposite happens as I pull down the light switch after we have put her down to sleep for the night.
After we put the munchkin down, I sat for a while. An angry grown man in a child’s armchair. My wife gave an empathetic smile toward me and my situation (me looking like an angry old man in a pint sized arm chair) and suggested that I go build the bike. I argued with her about it for a while because that is what I do when I feel like that. Then I went to build the bike.
Unboxing 10/10
YT tells you to “read the fuckin manual” and I did, several times as I downloaded a copy before I got the bike. YT Gives you detailed instructions on how to remove the bike without breaking or losing anything.
Building 7/10
They give you a nice little set of tools. A t handled torque wrench, a shock pump, and some big Allen key that I am going to guess is for the crank. However I only used the included wrench to torque things down.
The manual stopped being helpful after the handle bar installation. I say that because I would have torqued the screws in an X pattern instead of doing the top two first because ya know, cars... Otherwise, it’s the wheels and you’re done....
Except you’re not. There are two super fancy shocks that have to be filled with air and configured for the rider. YT tells you to consult the owners manual “for the shock” which they give you, but the information was not easy to find. I had to google it, even then it was a third party site where I found the info that I needed. All of that only to find out that the shocks had already been setup! I had to take a little air out of the rear to perfect the sag.
Anyway it would be cool of YT to include that info in their own instructions. I understand that YT does not make the components, but you’re including them with your bike. At the very least a “hey we/the factory already pre-configured the shocks for the average rider” would be cool.
Building the bike was easy. Honestly so was installing the upgraded derailleur and shifter. Where I hit trouble was the master link of all things! I have never had to use a tool to disconnect a chain via master link. After fussing around with the positioning of pliers for 20 minutes, I got it! I installed the derailleur, re-connected and bam...I went over where I was supposed to go under with the chain... Back to the pliers, I could not get it this time. I had to take a coat hanger and bend it into a U shape, thread it through the links then squeeze the ends together until the the links popped free.
Ride 10/10
Considering I rode it down the street in the freezing cold. I hopped around a little, it was squishy. I have some fine tuning to do with the derailleur but it shifts super smooth. I wasn’t sure it was shifting at first it was so smooth/quiet!
Ok here are the pics. I pulled out portrait mode at the end so you can see DAT COLOR. I also went and got the M3 this weekend which is the first time I have been in a actually fast car in a long while. More to come on that.
