CigTech

Disclamer: One of the guys on the Bike Forums sent Kent Bicycles my review of the Blue Danali, Kent liked the review so muxh they sent me the new Black and Yellow Denali to do a independent follow up review. Because of the detailed review and that I put 6270 miles on the Denali in 6 months. As far as I know the Blue Denali is still on the road, I gave it away last December do to a move from Fl to MO.Here is the follow up review.

Ok got the bike on Saterday at 11 AM. Came in by Fed-X. So shipping took 8 days from the day I was told it was being shiped out.

Out of the box:
The bike had more packing on it then any other bike that I have received. oh wait, that's a good thing. Let's see .... No nothing bad to report about the box or packing. No really it was one of the best packing jobs I have seen on a bike. I was impressed.

The handlebars were mounted to stem with all cables attached and the shifters were mounted. The handlebars were set time the right side of the frame. And the front wheel was zip tied to the left side of the frame. The forks were installed and turned backwards to fit in the box. Just as a side note I think that's why we see some of the Wal-Mart bikes assembled with the front forks backwards. The seat was mounted to the seatpost and in the bottom of the box. There was also a small box that contained the Pedals, manuals and the drink holder.

So assembly was quite easy. Turn the forks around then mounted front wheel and slipped in the stem into the headset. Then installed the Pedals, seatpost and the drink holder. That only took about 15 minutes.

The front brakes were extremely loose to allow the installation of the front tire. So adjusted front brakes and pads. The back brakes were a little loose so adjusted them. The back brake pads were aligned correctly so did not have to adjust them.

Next up was the shifters and the derailleurs. The front deraileur look to be adjusted correctly. The back derailleur would not shift in lowest gear. The lowest side sets screw was set to deep. It would not allow the derailleur to shift in the low gear. I adjusted the set screw and the cable tention and all is fine now. I do like the new derailleurs better then the old ones. They are the Shimano Trophy derailleurs. No Model markings but I can tell you there not the xt-51 or xt-71 model. But they work just fine. After adjusting the front derailleur and found out that the front derailleur needed to be realigned with the chain line. The chain was making contact with the front inside cage in low gear with the chainring in high gear. The realigned the derailleur with the chain line and all is well. This adjusting only took about 30 minutes.

Then rode the Denali for about six miles, on and off, to get the bike fit right for me. So it would be ready for the twelve miles test ride this morning.

The Test Ride:
Below is the Map with the elevation chart. Rode 11.87 miles with a avg. speed of 16.6 mph and max speed of 28.8. Total ascent of 596 ft and total descent of 619 ft. The last hill back to the house is a 10% Grade and climes 109 ft in .3 miles. It was a killer after 11.3 miles and really killed my avg speed. The Denali shifted just fine through all gears and not once did I have a ghost shift or chain slap. As you might have recalled on the first Denail (blue one) they was way to much chain, I took 6 links out of the chain and then had to replace the rear deraileur to get rid of the chain slap.So I am really pleased with the changes they have made in the drive system.

All so they have replaced the brake hoods with a better set. These have a pin on the inside on the brake hoods that release the cable tention so you can get the wheel off and on with out taken the cable off the brake calipers. See picture below. This is a very welcome sight for commuters are recreational riders that rides a lot. You might recall that on the blue Denali the rubber hood grips fell apart due to low quality rubber used. All so they are wider and will fit larger hands were comfortably then the old grips. This to is a more welcome sight for me because I wear large size gloves.

As far as the drivetrain goes they are still using the Falcon 14t to 28t cassette and the Prowheel Alloy 335P6 28X38X48 170mm Crankset. And the VP-990S plastic body with steel cage pedals. the Chain is a KMC Z-51. I would like to see them use the Shimano HG37 7SPD 14t to 28t Freewheel. Same gearing but is lighter and would wear better. All so it would shifting smoother.

The rims on the older model had a very deep V rim. Which maded it hard to find inner tubes with super long stem Schraeder Valve. I had to order them from Kent for the old Denali. But the new rims have a shallower V rim. You will still need a long Schraeder Valve but not a super long Schraeder Valve. I'll have to pull the inner tube and measure the valve to see where I can get them from.

The rim tape was a major problem with the Blue Denali. But they had replaced the one that comes on the new Denali with a wider one so the reim tape will stay inplace better and should keed you from getting rim flats.

The seatpost and seat clamp is of the old school style. The seat is not bad but I like the old seat better. Thats just me.

So over all the bike cost a little more then the Blue Denali. The older Blue Denali is $139.00 and the new Black and yellow Denali is $164.00. I think the $25 more for the new Denali is worth the upgraded parts.

Specifications:
- Frame: Aluminum 7005 50cm
- Fork: GMC Series 7000 steel
- Chain: KMC Z 51
- Crankset: Prowheel Alloy 335P6 28X38X48 170mm
- Cassette: Falcon 7 speed, 14-16-18-20-22-24-28T
- Front Derailleur: Shimano FD-TZ 31 Index
- Rear Derailleur: Shimano RD-TZ30GS 7SPD
- Shifters: Shimano Revo SIS
- Brake levers: Promax BL-250AP Aluminum
- Brakes: Promax 501A Alloy Caliper Brake
- Rims: Vitesse Lite Alloy black 700CX14GX36H
- Tires: Kenda Black With yellow Band 700X28C
- Stem: Aluminum quill
- Handlebar: Steel custom 2 piece
- Saddle: Cionlli Black
- Seat post: HL Aluminum Micro Adjust 27.2 X 300mm
- Pedals: VP-990S plastic body with steel cage
- Weight: 25.6 lbs

Tex_Arcana

Nice review but you should fix your brakes. They may have some breaks in them.

Are they still using twist grip shifters? Those shifters just don't look right on drop bars.

You think if GMC goes down the toilet Kent will use a different car name, and will it be another SUV name for a road bike? (most of the questions are really for the people at Kent).

Sixty Fiver

Where is your review of Denali number one ?

CigTech

Thanks Tex. I did not see that. See I uas Dragon Naturally Speaking and it does not know the difference between breaks and brakes. LOL

Yes they are. It keeps the cost down so they can sell them cheap. Took me a little while to get used to the look. But they're really use.

I don't think GMC's going to the toilet. But who knows. Kent Bicycle's has exclusive rights to the GMC banding and the use of the Denali name. So I'm not sure what they would if GMC go under. You would have to ask Kent Bicycle's.

Sixty Fiver, it is here:
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ghlight=review
But it will take you a while to read through the review. It has 1226 replies and is 50 pages long

Exit.

The fact that someone would even buy one of these rolling abominations is shocking to me, nevermind actually reviewing one.

Metzinger

Remember when Picard's Enterprise, was caught in a time loop and got destroyed again and again? Then they slowly started to figure out that they were in a causality loop? Commander Data saved everyone somehow at the end.

Oh, Data.

KLW2

CigTech,
Did you finally wear out the original? Seems that I remember you got one heck of a lot of value out of that one...

JeffS

The last thread went on for 50 pages, so apparently someone cared - or was at least entertained.

duppie

Nice detailed review, as usual. Did you get the bike for free as per plan? If so I would edit your original review with a disclosure statement that GMC send you this bike free of charge with the assumption that you would write an independent review.
Duppie

edwong3

Cig,

I remember your thread on the first Denali you owned from a few years back. Probably one of the longest running and I believe the most in depth review of any bike that I've ever read.

The new bike looks good. Hopefully it'll perform better for you than the first one.

Cheers,
Edward Wong III

Tex_Arcana

Maybe I'm weird, maybe I'm just an old fogey, maybe I find twist grip shifters on drop bars look lame.

When I was looking at cheap road bikes at Walmart one time I saw the GMC Denali and the Schwinn Varsity side by side and I was willing to pay the extra if I were to buy either bike.

I know it's not SIS but if someone gave me a Danali I would take off those shifters and replace them with Sunrace friction thumb shifters. They retail for about $10 so manufcturers probably pay a lot less by the gross. Still I can see why Kent wouldn't do this. People expect SIS equipment no matter how dorky it may look.

So CIG are you making this a running review? Some points you may want to touch up on. Are the stickers removable or are they under the clear coat (is there any clear coat)? Do you think if I write a review of my SE Draft that SE might send me a Lager to review?

tjspiel

I give them credit for being clever though ultimately it may not be a good solution. The STI shifters you typically see on road bikes is one reason they're so expensive. I wonder why Kent doesn't just go with bar ends rather than coming up with this custom and heavy handlebar set up.

CigTech

duppie: Disclamer has been added, I just forgot to put it in there. Was to focused on the review LOL.Thanks for reminding me.

Blue Denali

Having affordable bikes like this can help people that have families get into cycling.. and may even
help out the local bike shops. when you get ready for an up grade or need parts and maintenance.
If you think that the only way to get a road bike is to buy used or spend $1000.00 per bike. Then a lot of people won't even try. As a result they would be missing out on all the benefits of cycling.

Mr Danw

I have to agree. There is a growing number of families w/o the disposable income to purchase a low end LBS bike.

wunderkind

I read some of the other reviews on this bike that it is nothing bu a mtb bike with some road bike components. BTW, what s the weight of this thing?

somedood

Agreed, that or top tube shifters would seem better to me. I think the problem though is that people would be less likely to buy it since it seems "old", and grip shifts are more modern looking.

Some people don't like to buy used, and this would be great for those who don't ride their bikes much or someone who is unable to save long term for a bike that may cost less over a few years.

Besides, having more road bikes at big box stores that people actually buy would force the other brands to price more competetively wouldn't it?

CigTech

wunderkind : it is definitely not a MTB. Yes it is geared more like a MTB. I have a old 80's Huffy Grand Canyon MTB. The MTB has a road style frame. The Denali is way faster and rides a lot better then the MTB. They both weight about the same. On the MTB I can top out at 22 mph but on the Denali I top out at 31 mph. Both have the same gearing and weight the same. And the MTB has of smooth (non-threaded) tires. The Denalis weight is 29 lbs

squirtdad

Not trashing the bike....but Cigtech had the knowledge and skill to make sure it was rideable and safe (ie aligned break pads and adjusted shifting). There is no guarantee that a person buying the bike from the typical places that sell this bike will get a correctly put together and adjusted bike. Then if the bike doesn't work or doesn't work well or becomes misadjusted and the buy doesn't have the knowledge to maintainthe bike or there are no free adjustments from the place of purchase the bike rapidly becomes not used and then trash.

paying for adjustments and fixes can rapidly increase the cost of ownership

CigTech

squirtdad: I see where your coming from. But the people that don't know how to maintain any bikes will just take the bike to a local bike shop for maintenance. Just like most people do not know how to fix a Car, so they take the bike into a mechanic. The same goes for bicycles. I know a few people they don't even know I do fix a flat on a bicycle. So they take the bike to the local bike shop and have it Fixed.

tjspiel

If the big box stores were to actually stock them in more than one size then enough sales might be generated for the other brands to worry about but that hasn't happened so far in this region.

I think Giant, Trek, Specialized and the like have more to worry about from Bikes Direct and other Internet retailers than they do from Target or Walmart as far as road bikes are concerned.

I'm torn between whether or not having road bikes like the Denali available is a good thing or not. The price of entry into the road bike world is too high in my opinion but I also worry that bikes like the Denali may actually do more to turn people off to road biking if they're poorly fit and don't last. Having to special order tubes would be a huge turn off for me.

tjspiel

The problem with the Denali is that anything more substantial than fixing a flat or a tuneup is likely to cost as much as the bike itself if not more.

A tuneup at the local bike coop is $60. A deluxe tune-up is $85. Neither of these prices cover parts that may need to be replaced like a bottom bracket, chain, cassette, or tires.

Blue Denali

Heck I had a flat on my denali tried to patch but the hole was on the seam, went to walmart bought a new tube that fit for under four bucks..you just buy the Presta Valve tube .for 700c wheels. most tire pumps have the presta valve connector ..

God bless us all

squirtdad

The overall point I was trying to make is that affordability is not just the purchase price.....if a bike like the Denail ,which by cigtechs account can be a reasonable bike, but takes a little tweaking is purchased by someone who can't do the maintenance, either the affordability of the initial purchase price is soon gone in paying someone to do the work or the bike is not used.

On my soapbox: What people want (ie $150 MTB with shocks) vs what works and lasts are 2 different things. If we want people to have the benefits of cycling at affordable prices, we need to find ways to either make simpler more bombproof bikes (single speed coaster or english 3 spd) more cool (acceptable) or help with things like bike co-ops or working to ensure bikes are sold with simple how to maintain manuals

tjspiel

I thought the Denali used tubes with schrader valves. You may be asking for trouble sticking a presta valve in a rim with schrader hole. I'd do it in an emergency but I wouldn't expect it to last long.

If the Denali does have presta tubes, then I'm just plain wrong.