Originally Posted by
tjspiel
That being said, the other way they keep the price low is the product itself. While a Denali cannot be made so cheaply that it spontaneously implodes, it needs to cut costs somewhere, so what does it do?
I think specifically the frame, brakes and levers and somewhat the wheels. The frame weighs about 4 pounds - thick 7005 straight gauge aluminum, not the heat treated variety if I recall correctly. That's an extra pound and a half to two pounds compared to the high end frames. I doubt that it gives up anything in durability or strength however. I think the wheels are heavy - my front wheel which I'm replacing now weighs two pounds without the tire. It's double-walled v-shaped aluminum, again trading off weight for sturdiness at the low end.
What I'm really trying to get across is that although the components are inexpensive - the whole bike is - they seemed to have designed it by picking a price point and then finding the best "quality" of components while basically disregarding weight.
Originally Posted by
tjspiel
When all is said and done, it's going to be a product that's good enough for most of the people who buy it. But, as soon as they cross the line into the "enthusiast" category, they're going to want something different.
I don't know, maybe. I bought mine in 2009 ($60 less than the current Walmart price
) I figured I'd just incrementally upgrade as pieces broke or wore out, but they've all lasted too well for that plan. Personally I'll probably upgrade the shifters and crankset next, even if I'm taking off serviceable components. Also a lot of improvement could be had with any decent wheel set. But I'm not drooling over a new bike, and I think I ride enough to be a typical "enthusiast". I can see it evolving into something else over time, sort of like my IBM PC-XT eventually evolved into a AMD Athlon system. More easily actually, since practically everything is compatible.