POSEIDON X AMBITION | Pros & Cons, Assembly, First Ride

[@jeffandersen6233]

Ive been considering an Ambition X so i really appreciate your review and critiques on parts (the brakes especially), ride quality and assembly. The latter not addressed by other reviewers.

[@clayfostfitness]

@@jeffandersen6233 of course! Glad you found it helpful - thanks for the watch 🤘

[@nicholasgoldman8600]

Happy i stumbled across this video! I've been looking into getting this as a starter bike for me to start cycling. I now know which things i will have to get to make it a safer ride when I'm out using it .

[@clayfostfitness]

Right on! Glad it helped - will be interested to hear your thoughts 🤘

[@Techwonderland]

Congratulations! Welcome to the club! I think a lot of the things you experienced lead back to the difference between the price on this bike versus entry-level bikes they probably start around 1500. An unexpected benefit to all this is you learn a lot about your bike, putting it together and solving some of the situations like the brakes and seat comfort. Enjoy it!! A 50 mi first ride is a great start.

[@clayfostfitness]

Appreciate it - excited to be here! I couldn't agree more - I certainly have a better understanding of the bike (and bikes in general) now. I think more people could benefit from just diving in. Funny story, I had a road bike (I did a full IRONMAN last year), but bought it 6 months before the race to prep, and sold it the week after I finished haha. All those road miles burnt me out - excited to start logging these gravel miles!

[@yuzeli2303]

Thanks Clayton for the review! I couldn't agree more that bikes are RIDICULOUSLY expensive, which sets a high bar for people to get into cycling

[@clayfostfitness]

Couldn't agree more! I have a hard time understanding the cost for such a relatively simple machine, ya know?

[@petrosspetrosgali]

For anyone wanting to get into cycling, I suggest they get an older(15+year old) bike. You get a good reliable bike for less than a quarter of one of these “budget” bikes.

[@LeDank]

Cable brakes are fine for a bike like this, but you really gotta dial them in and bed them right. You gotta dial the correct distance for the pads and then center them properly over the disc during setup. Then bed them in and double-check the alignment. Only upgrade you’d need to do is better pads.

[@tibbar1000]

Nice video. Walmart now carries a compressionless cable pack for $10.

[@clayfostfitness]

@@tibbar1000 good to know!

[@JogieGlenMait16]

Great beginning! 👌

[@clayfostfitness]

Thank you!

[@jeffreyrule8143]

Thanks for the review.

[@clayfostfitness]

You bet! 🤘

[@franzkappel6206]

Good review thanks! Try a little clear tape over the frame logo, should protect the paint and logo! Go hard!

[@clayfostfitness]

Thanks my dude! And genius! 🤯

[@bsowhat]

If you got the hydraulic brakes, why were you also installing compression-less housing?

[@clayfostfitness]

@@bsowhat they’re still cable actuated. Almost like a hybrid between the two

[@slowestrider4918]

Every bike I purchased never need to assembly the rear wheel and chain. The only parts need assembly are front wheel, seat post and handlebar. The Lynsky even has the handlebar installed out of the box. Poseidon should consider changing their delivery package to a slightly larger one. It will make it easy for buyer and it would be a good selling point too.

[@clayfostfitness]

@@slowestrider4918 would’ve made my life easier for sure!

[@OurJourneyProject]

Interesting. So the hydraulic brake upgrade only upgrades the caliper itself and the hydraulic brake is still actuated via cable. Thanks for pointing that out. I assumed the hydraulic brake upgrade would replace the entire braking system including the shifters.

[@clayfostfitness]

Yea exactly! They call it a “hybrid”. Supposed to be a plug-n-play option

[@alexkleine9737]

Microshift doesn't offer a hydraulic brake system and the AdventX/Sword groupset has a different cable pull ratio than Shimano or SRAM. This is why they had to go mixed cable/hydraulic.

[@nicholasgoldman8600]

How tall are you and what size did you go with?

[@clayfostfitness]

@@nicholasgoldman8600 5’8” - I went with a medium

[@1251idobelieve]

Did you add the Jagwire Pro 5 on top of your hydraulic brakes from Poseidon? Or just one of them? Sorry, I'm new to bikes here.

[@clayfostfitness]

Yep exactly! Replaced the brake cables/housing, with the Jagwire ones.

[@1251idobelieve]

@@clayfostfitness ohh, so you didn't pay for the poseidon upgrade? The ones from Amazon ARE the breaks? So you didn't need the upgrade from poseidon? The TRP HY/RD MECHANICAL/HYDRAULIC DISC BRAKE CALUPER F/R + ROTOR BUNDLE

[@clayfostfitness]

@@1251idobelieve I paid for the upgrade - but that only upgrades the caliper/brake assembly itself. Jagwire kit is for the cables and the cable housing that lead to the actual brakes!

[@1251idobelieve]

@clayfostfitness sorry for the confusion, so you upgraded the breaks with Poseidon but then added the ones from Amazon? So you are using both? I just wasn't sure if I should upgrade the breaks on the site.

[@clayfostfitness]

@@1251idobelieve yea exactly! They are basically two different components of the brakes

[@jasonbasile7832]

I'm curious if you bought the through axle upgrade.Or do you just have the normal quick release on the front rim and tire... What are your thoughts on that??

[@clayfostfitness]

I think it makes sense if you’re wanting to run a tubeless set up, but I was trying to keep things on the more budget end so I ended up sticking with the stock quick release. A pinch flat from a ride the other day has me reconsidering though lol

[@AP3X_07]

What size frame did you get? Do you mind providing your height and inseam? I’m on the fence between M/L frame

[@clayfostfitness]

I got the medium! I’m 68” tall, 30” inseam.

[@AP3X_07]

@@clayfostfitness how is the fit? Do you feel cramped at all? Does the stack/ reach feel okay? I’m 69” tall 31.5 inseam and I think I’m leaning more towards medium. Sorry for all the questions, you did a great review on the bike

[@clayfostfitness]

@@AP3X_07 no worries man! Medium was definitely right for me - I’ve got the seat post pretty low, and I barely clear the frame standing over the bike, so I’d imagine you would be good!

[@AP3X_07]

Thanks man! Appreciate your insight!!

[@sumitbirla5895]

Wish I had seen this video a couple of hours earlier. I just dropped off my bike at a shop due to the brake issue you encountered! 🤦‍♂

[@clayfostfitness]

Were they really soft??

[@sumitbirla5895]

@@clayfostfitness Yes - soft, and rotor rubbing against the brake pad.

[@garettcline1365]

I got the ambition as well and the brakes were a pain to get positioned right. But honestly I don't think a better bike exists for the price point. Slap any other brand name on that build and the price increases dramatically.

[@clayfostfitness]

Glad I wasn’t the only one who had issues with that! How’re the brakes on yours ? Did you do compressionless housing or anything? And totally agree on the bang for your buck.

[@garettcline1365]

@clayfostfitness I have the mechanical brakes. The break in process took a while but once I got the cables to stretch I was able to adjust them to get the compliance I wanted. Hadn't heard of the compressionless housing before watching your video honestly. I'm going to look into it.

[@clayfostfitness]

@@garettcline1365 good to hear! Let me know if you end up doing - curious to see if you notice a difference too

[@orkbolta5666]

So if i bought this bike youre saying i should immediately get that product on amazon to make the brakes not suck? Becaude i just bought this bike used and the brakes really suck but i do know everything is stock.

[@clayfostfitness]

Yep, personally I would!

[@Carlisle_NinetyOh9]

What about a Dropper Post?? Can one go on there????

[@clayfostfitness]

Unless I’m missing something, I don’t think there is anywhere to route the cable

[@sdanjohn]

Don’t understand the bike borderline unridable because of the brakes. This is ludicrous with any kind of normal riding. I think you got a lemon or they aren’t set up right… . No the brakes aren’t as nice as my Ultegra hydraulic, but perfectly usable for even semi normal riding…. Just wanted to say this as this almost scared me off buying the bike, but I’m glad I didn’t believe it. I mean if the brakes were this horrible Poseidon would be dealing with law suits up the wazoo.

[@clayfostfitness]

Yea I’m not sure what was going on to be honest. But I could pin the handles to the bars and it would still take a few seconds to come to a slow, rolling stop. Glad you still got the bike and are enjoying it!

[@sdanjohn]

Yea dunno.... I am curious though about that different cable housing you talked about and how that made them better? I can't see how housing would make a difference. It pulls the cable and closes the calipers regardless of if you have housing or not. How can housing make you stop better?

[@clayfostfitness]

@@sdanjohn I won’t pretend to be an expert - there are plenty of write-ups out there that explain it much better than I can. Essentially it seems like it comes down to some of that force being displaced through the housing rather than acting purely on the cable and actuating the caliper.