Classic 16-Speed Road Bike

Background: I am new to road bikes and wanted something cheap and reliable that also looked good. This is a handsome bike in my opinion but the rest leaves something to be desired. On my third ride the left pedal started acting strange, it was still screwed in but was no longer sitting properly in the crank arm, mid-ride I try twisting it, trying to pull it out but with no avail. The pedal finally came out but on its way out the grooves inside the crank arm came off with it. I thought the arm looked sturdy and having been made of some type of metal or alloy would be able to sustain some stress. This wasn't the case. My 3rd ride and the left pedal is done for. I called Pure Fix and they said since I didn't opt for their professional set up option the parts would not be covered ( fair enough) but come on you can't completely lay the blame on the assembler here. It was a simple screw in plasticy pedal to a metal crank arm, not a lot of room to mess things up. Anyway, lesson learned, newer companies like PF don't have the quality control like some of the more established ones so keep that in mind and more importantly definitely get the bike assembled by a shop if you don't want to void the parts warranty (I imagine the lifetime frame warranty should still be valid since the quality of the assembly should not impact its usability of longevity - something I still need to confirm with PF) Overall decent bicycle with an emphasis on looks but a little lacking in the mechanics /durability department. Would recommend with some reservations.

Bike arrived in perfect condition in the original shipping carton. Took me less than 30 minutes to assemble the bike, butif the buyer has no bike mechanic experience, would be better to take to a quality bike shop and pay them to assemble. I am not happywith the bike weight for the large size, but I was aware that the weight would be more than 25 lbs. when I placed the order. If you are looking fora bike in the sub-25 lb. weight, I would look for something else. The OEM components on the bike are nice and will last for quite a while under normal use. Fork and frame have attachments for panniers and/or front racks for touring. The bike would make a nice touring bike forshort jaunts, especially if some wider and lighter folding bead tires are installed to replace the heavier Hutchinson tires. Gearing is adequate for low hilly conditions but if the buyer plans to ride the Rockies, again, this bike might not be the best.