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