Assembly was pretty straightforward--I've done it twice now, details on why are at the end--and the hardware pack was one of the best I've seen in terms of making it easy to figure out what parts to use in each step. It all comes in a blister pack, with one numbered section for each numbered step of the assembly instructions, and each part labeled with its part number. My only quibble about that was that it was sometimes difficult to get the parts out of the pack without completely destroying the blister pack, which would make it more difficult to identify which parts to use in later steps. I advise having a box cutter or other blade on hand to get the parts out from the back. I used one blade of a pair of scissors and it worked okay.Also, the #33 washers (used in several steps) have a tendency to stick to each other. At one point I thought I was missing a washer, but it turned out I had unwittingly put two of them on one bolt. Not a problem if you're keeping an eye out for it.I'm 5'3" with a 27" inseam, so the first time I assembled one, I assembled it according to the ~under 5'6"~ directions. The effect of this is that the seat is about an inch more forward than if you use the ~over 5'6"~ directions. It also means that the back rest is about an inch farther from the seat. I found that distance between the seat and back rest to be rather awkward, and I didn't find that I had any trouble reaching the pedals when I got both the seat post and the seat slider adjusted appropriately, so when I assembled it the second time I used the ~over 5'6"~ directions and I find it to be more comfortable. (If you change your mind after assembling it, it would be easy to reassemble it at the other position without taking the whole bike apart, but not so easy that different users would want to change it back and forth.) The only thing I can figure for the people who say it doesn't work for short people is that they don't realize there are two separate seat adjustments to make to accommodate different heights, plus more adjustments you can make for the height of the desk surface. I find it to be quite comfortable with the seat post adjusted to the lowest position, and the seat slider almost but not all the way forward.Speaking of the desk surface, on its lowest setting it's too high to be ergonomic for me for long stretches of time, but if it were any lower my knees would be banging into it, so I think it's a reasonable compromise. I can still type fairly comfortably, I just know that if I tried to use a computer like that all day I would get knots in my back and shoulders. But I really like having the desk there. Being able to do other stuff while I ride makes the time go quickly, and the desk surface gives me a lot of options for what to do--potentially even work.I've only been using it for a few days now, and I'm satisfied with the bike overall. It's comfortable and suits my needs. However, I don't find the app to be amazing. For one thing, you can't look at the different workouts available unless you're connected to the bike by Bluetooth, which means I can't sit on my couch and explore the options, I can only look at them when I'm near the bike and the bike is powered on. And if there's a way to customize the different workouts to your fitness level, I haven't figured it out. The workout that looks the most gentle starts out on resistance level 9 and looks like it goes up from there. Level 9 isn't impossible for me to pedal or anything, but I'm trying not to overdo it. I am starting out at super low resistance levels and increasing it each time I use it, so I don't hurt myself. Since I can't seem to scale down the built-in workouts to a beginner level, I've just been doing a manual ride. Once I get up to level 9 on my own, I'll check out the workouts again. I also haven't yet activated the 30 day free trial of whatever the subscription service is, so maybe I'll like it better with that. I want to get more familiar with it as-is so that I'm more certain what I'm getting for my money if I get the subscription.As you've probably guessed, the first bike I got was defective. The power brick made a super loud buzz when plugged in, and the resistance (whether the bike was plugged in or not) was such that I couldn't sustain pedaling for even as much as two minutes. When I would attempt to adjust the resistance, the screen would display "E1" and nothing about the resistance would change. I could find nothing about this error code anywhere in any manual or online forum. I used the QR code in the manual to contact the manufacturer, and it generated an email template for me to fill out. I filled out all of the requested information and also included a video of the behavior, and sent it off. I received an automated reply asking me for all of the information I had just sent, with wording that made me concerned I wouldn't receive a real reply until I sent it all again, so I did. Nearly a week went by. Concerned about letting it slip past the return window, I contacted Amazon via a button or link that suggested I could get "support" for the bike from Amazon. What I got was basically the returns department. Within the hour, I had an exchange set up, but this meant I had to return the defective one. Fortunately I still had the box, and I had packing tape on hand, but I had to disassemble the bike and get it packed up within two days to be ready for the UPS pickup. I used a mishmash of various materials to fill excess space in the box. Even if I'd been able to locate all of the original styrofoam, I don't think I'd have been able to get everything packed in the original way. So I made do. The same day UPS picked it up, I finally got a response from the manufacturer, offering a return or exchange. So they did respond, just not very swiftly.