So....DH's and my Bike Fridays arrived on Monday, and we (of course) stayed up putting them together. Mine went together quickly (except for the front fork not quite fitting on the hub without a lot of *ahem* encouragement - and yes, we were doing everything correctly) - hubby's had a few more problems. Right off the bat, we noticed lots of things missing (i.e. fenders, rack for my bike, return shipping boxes for the custom stems). Hubby's bike had significant brake issues we noticed as we were putting it together. Took him quite a while to try to fix it.

I tried to take my bike on a short ride last night. To fold the bikes, you have to put them in the small/small combination (you want a slack chain). I tried to shift out of the small ring and the pedals locked Didn't fall, but came close. The front derallier was running *into* the chain rings. We called Bike Friday. First guy tried to talk us through fixing it. Said it must have happened during shipping (no damage to the boxes). Promised that they had tested it in the shop. NO WAY. It wasn't working - even with the derailleur all the way up, it was still almost hitting on the rear (plus, his fix involved using a tool in such a way that slightly scratched the paint ). I looked more closely, and the derailleur cage isn't spaced evenly from front to back. There's almost an inch of difference from the front to the back. First guy had to go. Another guy called back. He tried to talk us through fixing it - once he finally *got* the problem, he was horrified. He said that the bike should have never left in that condition, and to *pack it up and ship it back.* He said that it would have been a build error, and that there was no way the bike was tested, as that would have been caught. I had to ask for them to pay for shipping. He also wants hubby's bike returned since the same guy built them. If the build is that bad?!?!?!?!

This is no small investment in time and aggravation (packing up 2 bikes and mailing them). And, quite frankly, I'm really losing confidence in the company and their products. Am I jumping the gun? Should I be more patient with them? These bikes were a huge investment, and I really feel like their customer service (the first guy who was clueless) and the fit and finish on the bikes *suck* (though the colors are purty). Plus, before we realized the giant problem with mine, hubby took his on a test ride. He was less than impressed with the speed (it was significantly slower than his other bike, though of similar weight and geared similarly with similar width tires). I wasn't under the impression that this would be the case. Have others had this experience?

Help! I've really been looking forward to these for a long time, and I'm really upset and thus not sure I'm thinking straight!