Critical Cycles Diamond Frame 7-Speed Shimano Hybrid Urban Commuter Road Bicycle

Purchased this bike 22 months ago and, for the price, yeah, four stars is about right.First and foremost I'm a very, uh, "large" guy. 6'2" ~150kg (when I first got the bike, about 130kg now), so I was looking for a bicycle without suspension and a max weight that was at least somewhere close to where I am. Point being, almost two years and it still hasn't folded in half. That's one free star right there.Secondly, there are quite a few comments mentioning the lack of instructions: go to the manufacturer's website or youtube or just google "critical cycle 7 speed instructions".As far as the shipping? Yeah... they had some serious problems with shipping, though they say they've upgraded in that area now. Mine came missing a support for the rack, the seat all messed up, and the kickstand broken (it's... it's solid aluminum and was snapped in half... seriously UPS, wtf?). I sent an email and had replacements in a couple days. They were REALLY quick about it.There was one manufacturing issue (that cost them a star here) - the right side bolt hole for the rack support (little arm from the cargo rack over the rear fender that hooks to the frame to hold it in place) was all messed up and wouldn't take the bolt (would need to be drilled and tapped). I let that slide and have just been using the one support and it's fine.I did my reading before buying a bike and what every reputable source said was, "With any new bicycle, have a full setup done by a reputable bicycle mechanic." So after getting all the pieces together, getting the replacements for the shipping-damaged-parts, and playing with the headlight (off topic, but that headlight is outstanding - bright enough I felt like I could be blinding someone with it when riding after dark) - I took it down to a local shop and had a pro give it a once over. He straightened a fender (said it was close to rubbing) and adjusted the "derailleur" to make sure it shifted properly (and I had slime tubes put in because I live in the country) and it's been a great bike since.Point being: after you put this OR ANY new bike together, have a professional give it a once over.Fast forward to now...I've put literally hundreds of miles on this bike. And looking back here's the quick pro/con...Pros:- It's relatively inexpensive for a bike you can, well, put hundreds of miles on when you're a fat guy.- I really do like the look of it.- The gear ratios are sufficient that, with only seven of them, I can take a 3.5% grade hill with relative easy (again BIG guy) and maintain a comfortable bike lane pace (not a "ride in traffic wearing spandex shorts" speeds, but getting from point A to point B at a good clip).- Headlight is bright.- Frame is solid. I can't reinforce this enough. I have ABUSED this bicycle and it's still straight (think 150kg man standing on pedals hitting a speed bump at high speed...). *NOTE: I guess I should make some kind of disclaimer about following manufacturer's recommended limitations... consider this to be that message.Cons:- Upgrade the seat if you're going to put a lot of time in on it.- You will wear through those handgrips in a couple (to where they're kinda crumbly and stain your hands, I need to replace them).- That luggage rack support arm hole issue.Overall: four stars. I would, and have, recommended this bike.

This is a $300 bike. Keep that in mind as you read the other reviews. That said, for $300, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better value for your money, especially on the internet, where even cheap bottom-of-the-barrel bikes are well north of $500, and are much less clear about what you'll actually be getting for your money. I've had this particular bike since late April, have put well over 200 miles on it since, and while I'm slowly swapping out better components for some of the ones it came with, there's not a lot of big picture stuff to complain about. The pedals are very cheap, the headlight it came with never even made it onto the bike before I swapped out something better, and the brake levers are so Chinese they don't even have a fake brand name on them. OK, so then what's so great about this bike? For one thing, it is SOLID. The frame is well-welded, (the paintjob is surprisingly expensive-looking, too, which is a nice bonus) the drivetrain is very good for the price, and the wheels definitely punch above their weight, too. Throw in decent handlebars, a seat that you won't automatically get rid of, and a rack that is very easy to zip tie a basket to, and for $300 (again, that's really not a lot of money for a bike with more than one speed that doesn't look and handle like Walmart garbage) you've got a surprisingly attractive package. Three months into ownership, I'm very happy with my purchase.

I just bought on Amazon as a gift a Critical Cycles Diamond Frame 7-Speed Shimano Hybrid Urban Commuter Road Bicycle. At first glance it looks like a nice bike for the money and it arrived very quickly. The packaging was industry standard but UPS did manage to dent the rear fender (no biggie). As I unpacked the bike I started to notice some problems. The headset was tightened down so hard the fork was unmovable. The nuts/cones on the front wheel were likewise tightened so much that the wheel would not spin. The pedals do not spin freely on their spindles. The big problem came when I went to mount the front wheel in the fork... the left front dropout was deformed and compressed. The axle will not slide into the dropout as the slot is narrower than the right side slot. My plan was to do the basic assembly and then bring the bike to my local bike shop for fine tuning. I do not have the shipping box so returning the bike is problematic. I will now donate the bike to my local Bicycle Collective, which repairs bikes and sells them to those who need bikes. Hopefully they will be able to repair the dropout. I had contacted Critical Cycles to see if something could be done but did not receive a reply. Incidentally, on the Critical website, this bike is selling for $120 less than what I paid on Amazon. Reading other reviews, many have had the same problems I had. I cannot recommend this bicycle due to its poor components and shoddy build.

The first bike I ordered had a problem with the forks. On one side, the opening wasn't big enough to attach the front tire, so I had to return it and exchange it for another. Unfortunately, the second bike suffered from the same problems that many other reviewers have highlighted: the bolts are screwed in so tight and are so soft that one risks stripping them if they try to unscrew them. So I was unable to properly attach the fenders, which meant that they bounced off the tires. Given that I was intending to attach a weerider co-pilot to the bike in order to drive my daughter around made the fender issue a problem. The threads on the pedals are also very easy to strip. Lastly, the mount for the light was not attached as indicated on the company's website, so I was not able to attach the light to the frame. Overall, the quality is not very good. I returned it, decided to take a trip to one of my local bicycle shops and spend $50 more on a much higher quality bicycle.

Antes que nada, debo decir que soy un completo principiante en todo esto del ciclismo, quería esta bicicleta como mi primer bicicleta de uso urbano.Debo decir que quede muy satisfecho con los resultados, la bici llego en perfectas condiciones, y hasta ahora no he tenido problemas para llevarla a mi trabajo, que esta como a ~8 Km de mi casa. Quizá debería mencionar que el camino tiene muchas subidas y bajadas, pero gracias a la gran responsividad del cambio de velocidades es relativamente sencillo pasarlos.Quizá mi unica queja es que las llantas estan un poco delgadas para una ciudad tan llena de baches como lo es el D.F. Ya tuve una ponchadura de llanta por caer en uno de estos, pero afortunadamente fue muy fácil y barato de arreglar en mi tienda local de ciclísmo.Por cierto, la bici viene desarmada, es necesario dedicar un poco de tiempo y esfuerzo para armarla correctamente. Eso sí, a menos que ustedes sean expertos es muy importante llevarla antes de usarla a la tienda de bicis para que le ajusten los frenos.

Bike looks great. Got loads of compliments on it. However, as someone that is pretty good at following instructions, I had such a hard time figuring out the ones on Critical Cycles' website. There are no pictures, so when it tells you to use a certain nut for example, I had no idea which one they were talking about (there were two different ones). There was way too much guessing involved. Also, I was supposed to be provided with 3 allen wrenches but I only received one. That was pretty annoying. They offered to send me more but by the time it would get to me I would have already bought more.I built most of it and then took it to a bike shop to make sure it was safe to ride. The guy who worked there told me that whoever designed the bike messed up on the chain guard. It doesn't fit the highest gear, so the chain ends up rubbing against the chain guard. So now instead of a 7 speed bike, it's a 6 speed. Not a huge deal, since this bike was so inexpensive. But annoying nonetheless.The bike rides great. The back rack rattles a bit, but it's not that bad. All in all, great deal for the bike.

The bicycle came in great condition and set up was easy enough by looking at the picture of the bike on the website. No instructions came with the bike, but they sent tools to get it put together in case you didn't have any. The bike rides well. Feels rigid and strong enough to ride quickly on the streets. The light on the front works well enough for people to see you on the street at night, but it doesn't light up a large area in front of the bike. All in all for the money it's a good purchase. If the bike lasts me 3 years I'll be happy.

The bike came when they said it would that was good.the bike in general is a great ride I have near had a smoother and lighter bike before like this. Now having said that everything works good , I hope the components hold up over time.I had some minor tweeking to do on the fender support bars and the bell bolts were cheap.But I have gone for some rides it handles nice even on hills.I like the seven geared bikes. Criticalcycles nice bike, my wife and daughter are thinking of getting one too. thanks ps, good price.

I've been using this bike since 2014. Still working perfectly fine (with proper maintenance), gears are synchronized like a clock and I had only minor issues with it.Issues I had during this time:* The frontal light broke in the very beginning, and is long gone - I recommend replacing it since it's too fragile.* Left pedal bolt became loose and broke, had to replace with a stronger one.* Some blown rear tubes - a couple of them were caused by incorrect tube size; only use the exact same from factory to avoid any issues.A suggestion for the manufacturer: I'd like a version of this bike with frontal suspension to make the ride more comfortable. That would actually be the perfect hybrid bike for my commute.