[Ken1963]

<p style=”text-align: left;”>I recently ordered the 529HT from bikesdirect.  Placed the order on a Thursday evening, fedex was looking for the house on Saturday afternoon!</p>
My first time assembling a bike, took longer than anticipated.  Only had to fine tune the front derailer, brakes needed no bleeding.

Actually got the wrong color of frame, factory put white frame in orange box.  Not a big issue, but BD credited me some for it.

Good quality components,  but feel that the handlebars could be better.

Had it over a month, been on some trails, took a few good spills,  all is still great.

Want to get a different stem and bars,  maybe better tires when these wear out.

[Ken1963]

The hose clamp works good.
No movement after 10 miles on singletrack, 30 miles of road.
I posted a picure of it on my profile, could not figure out how to post it here…

[img]<a%20href="http://www.singletracks.com/mountain-bike/photo.php?photoID=45367"><img%20src="http://www.singletracks.com/images/uploads/2012/09/IMG_1199-0.jpg"%20border="0"%20/></a>[/img]

[Ken1963]

The bike that I have doesn’t have mounts for a water bottle cage either. I bought a Bell water bottle cage/clammp on mount.
I mounted it on my stem with the supplied hardware, but found that the mounting method was not secure enough. Road riding it was fine, but on the singletrack, it got real loose.
I removed the mounting hardware, and just attatched the mounting bracket to the stem with a automotive type hose clamp.The hose clamp made for a secure mounting. You can put a rubber pad under the clamp if you want no scratches.

[Ken1963]

Thanks for the welcome, mtbgreg1.

[Author]

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