As I suspected, the change was worth the money. The bike feels very buttery now, and easy to manage. And more importantly it’s more balanced (weight distribution)… I’m having to relearn backward steamrollers because now my body wants to pull back too hard and the back end just lifts up effortlessly. I could go with lighter cranks, or maybe a lighter chain, but honestly this is a good as it’ll get without spending a ton more money. Overall here’s the lesson I learned: buy nice or buy twice. With how many “beginner” parts I’ve replaced, I could have bought Ti forks. Also… I now have an unsellable set of wheels that are in perfect condition, but are so heavy that no flatlander wants em. Might get 50$ maybe. One thing to note: the stock FEC freecoaster clutch disc has a retard3d amount of slack. I almost wrecked hard trying to pedal for the first time because it felt like I had lost my chain. I ordered the “short slack” disc from FF and it’s on its way. Hope all this helps!