It's a good platform, but you need to tweak it to your preference. I got rid of the floppy fenders and installed metal ones from Velo Orange, changed the cheapo derailleur to one with a friction clutch (Shimano Saint) to FINALLY get rid of chain drops, Installed the Kinect seat post AND the Shockstop stem to deal with the less than smooth roads. First rear rim had the loose, broken spoke issues like a lot of other people and it finally started to crack at the spokes, so I bought a new rim (Zac19) but because the dishing is so offset on the rear rim (almomst 7mm!), the spokes on the drive side needed to be tightened to130kgf to pull the rim to the center of the hub. Non-drive side is about 80-ish kgf. I think 130 kgf is just too high for these rims. Bought but haven't installed yet a carbon asymmetrical rim with a 2.5mm spoke offset so that the spoke tensions can be evened out a little better and not have to be cranked down so much on the drive-side spokes. But all-in-all, It's a decent platform to work off of! Perfect bike (once you tweak it!) if your riding area isn't all hills, but it can handle hills fine. Flats to small hill, this bike rocks. had it for over three years now.