After several months of research I finally plumped for an Alien GSII. My original feeling was to go with a bike that was nearly twice the price. The Alien ticked too many boxes though. Price became the most important factor when the Cycle to Work scheme fell through.

 

Jim at Alien was very helpful and I was able to arrange delivery for a day on which I would be available.

 

The bike duly arrived as promised although the box was a little battered.

I spent a long time tinkering with the bike and have pinched a few ideas from NRG and others with things like tyres, brake pads etc.

 

The pannier rack was a little off centre, I emailed Jim who advised taking off the struts from the upper part of the rack and straightening them which I have done today.

 

I took the bike out for the first time today, all was going well until I went over a bump, the rear mudguard must have touched the tyre, folded in on itself and brought me skidding to a halt, fortunately the road was empty. The mudguard is ruined, I have Emailed Jim to enquire about a replacement but I am a bit weary of using another full length mudguard in case this happens again.

 

Back to the drawing board for now, If I can add anything to the things that have already been written about this bike in the coming weeks I will do.

Picked one up this week as a second bike to my Cytronex. I spent some of today putting it together and adding a few wee mods. Managed a short run this afternoon and it seems to work very well. Goes without saying it's not as polished as the Cytronex but its less than half the price

Sorry to hear about the mudguard Kalimbakey, that's a bit of bad luck. I went over every nut and bolt when I got my bike to make sure things where OK...however...the rear mudguard didn't quite fit and I had to adjust the mountings to clear the wheel correctly. Seems you may have had the same issue. Jim will sort you out I'm sure!

Picked one up this week as a second bike to my Cytronex.

 

Yes Stumpi, I note that some of the members on here refer to having second bikes. Not sure if that's related to concerns over reliability or just the fact that we find these bikes so rewarding that we have a desire to own second and third examples of them

Yes Stumpi, I note that some of the members on here refer to having second bikes. Not sure if that's related to concerns over reliability or just the fact that we find these bikes so rewarding that we have a desire to own second and third examples of them

 

Well in my case its down to having a wee holiday caravan down on the south west coast of Scotland where I keep an old bike. After being seduced by the joys of Pedelec I knew I would need a second one. I couldnt really warrant(I tried:D ) spending another £1400 for a second Cytronex so looked around for something a wee but cheaper. Alien seem to be the best of the cheapies in that they have good back up and parts availibilty. Being 30 miles down the road from me helped as well

the rear mudguard didn't quite fit and I had to adjust the mountings to clear the wheel correctly.

 

Thanks for the info there NRG, if I do get another full length mudguard for the Alien I will pay particular attention to the mountings. It would be interesting to know if any of the other Alien owners have had to do this. I am toying with the idea of maybe switching to the Mountain bike type mudguards but I think the bike suits the longer 'commuter' type mudguards.