Originally Posted by
Niles H.
I first read this thread a long time ago, and there was an issue that came up that stuck in my mind. Someone said that there is no way this (Denali)(Chinese) frame is good quality, and that other, more expensive bikes certainly have better frames.
Well, maybe.
Some of the stuff coming out of China is quite good. Not all of it, but some of it.
There is no way to tell, without more information or testing, how that Denali frame (and the particular aluminum alloy used in it) compares with other frames from other manufacturers.
There is an interesting article in a recent issue of Wired about Chinese copies of various sorts of products. Sometimes the quality is excellent, or even better than the original. Sometimes the same factories are used.
Some of those Chinese engineers and metallurgists are sharp and very well-educated. They are quite capable of putting together excellent products, and they do so at times.
I will tell you exactly how that Denali frame is.
I took one, took off the wheels, and tried to smash the bejeezus out of it on a concrete pad, and then
tied a cable through the steerer and whipped it around as fast as possible to try to destroy it. all I could do was bend it, and it was hard to do.
I did a similar thing to a YETI ARC aluminum mountainbike frame years ago. very high end frame.
had a hard time cracking the YETI but it did eventually crack.
you wanna really know ? the denali will never break on you. the parts might break, because the
parts are weak. frame, not so much. maybe if you put 20,000 miles on it
and let it sit outside in winter and then maybe it will fail
it is heavy, and the ride is not supple and responsive. it eats energy just trying to get it rolling.
a cyclist with time on good frames will know immediately and will try to get off the bike
as quickly as they can. but break ? it will never break or fail with normal hard riding. you will break first.