Kool stops?
Are they really good brake pads?

I've never heard anything but good about them. I'm going to put a set on my old warhorse soon.

Well made it to work and back without any problems. The shifter seams to have quit drafting for now. It may have been all just cheap cable strach. We see what it does in the next few weeks to come. I have noticed that it does take a second for it down into shift in 1st gear while using the high chainring. But going up from 1st it shift just fine. The rest of the gear change just fine up and down without any problems.

I did a fun 18.5 miles ride before work. Then another 7.20 miles to work and back. So this gives me 410.65 miles so far.

I got 1575 miles on mine. Only broke a spoke on a pot hole.


One thing people won't fight over ripping this bicycle off the street from you.

They are going for the $1400 frame.

To sell Where?
Nice review. This bicycle upgraded my kmart bicycle of 3500 miles. I since upgraded to a touring bicycle and won't go back. However if you need a brand new bicycle to get around now while you save for your ride. Buy it cause that is what I did.

The other day when I went to the bank I also picked up a 110 lbs. of coins. It was for the job. So the bike had my 170 lbs. on it and 110 lbs. on coins on it. At 290 lb. load I did not like the ride of the bike. The frame flexed to much. So if your a XXL or XXXL shirt size I feel this bike is not for you.

I had to ride across some bricks laid in the road for the bank. And the frame flexed way to much. I feel the frame could handle up to 225 lbs. tops. After that I would not say get a steel frame MTB. After all this is a Road bike frame. I would have said this, the other day but was just to pissed about the drive through thing.

i will check the cranks later to see what brand they are on the varsity, i am taking a day away from it, because of bruising from the saddle on my tender bits

cOurt, Do you have Road bike shorts? If not get some. If you want to ware there under your street shorts you can. They help a lot.

Went for a fun little ride this morning. Here is a photo of the computer after the ride.

The Denali is now making some noise from the rear derailer. like it's out of adjustment. So I'll have to check that out. It only started making the noise after mile 15 of this morning ride. Does it in 5th 6th and 7th gear using the 48T chaniring. Will I'll go check that out now and see what's up with it.

nah i dont have any shorts yet am a cheap bastard, i plan on gettin some when i can get my hands on the year end close out catolouge at work, my boss has been iffy about giving me the product catolouge so i can order some at cost (i work for a company that sells rickshaws, so we deal a lot of bike parts to)

Ok, here what was going on with the front derailer. The chain was rubbing it on the out side. I tried to adjusting it. But nothing I could do to keep it from rubbing the inside when in low gear. And once I adjusted it to clear there then it was rubbing the outside in high gear. I then checked the derailer for chainring teeth clearence. Which it had to much.

The clearence for the front derailer over the largest chainring is 1 to 2mm. It was about 10mm. SO I moved it down and realined it with the rear gear set to 7th. The chain needs to be alined with the gear set to 7th gear. You can use a penny or a dime as a feeler gauge. Just put it between the chainring teeth and the out side cage plate. Then check the Derailer to chain alinemant and tighten the clamp and your done. Now all is fine once again.

man i guess there are pros and cons to cheap and expensive bikes...

paying for quality....my specialized allez '06 elite triple hasn't had ANY trouble yet over 400 miles (knock on wood)...shifts perfectly and runs smoothly....A BIGGGGG DIFFERENCE compared to wal-mart bikes and boy do I have a lot of them...as for my expensive bike...only maintenance i've done so far was clean and relubed chain once and buttload of cleaning to keep my bike shiny

on other hand my bargain wally-world mountain bike needed deraileur adjustments frequently. Instead of cable stretch, the problem was also due to the limit screws going out of whack for some reason. Like CigTech, i bought the bike because i needed it that instant. however, if i hadn't bought Sloth (the name of my beater wally-world bike) I would never have learned anything about fixing bikes. of course a cheap bike is gonna take more work to maintain but you learn a lot in the process. now I work in a bike shop fixing up wally-world bikes for homeless people lol

but hey if you're not that much into performance, a wally-world bike can last you just as long as any expensive bike as long as you keep it maintained properly........every week or so haha

...is reportedly a myth. Cables don't stretch. It is the housing, ferrules and what not settling into place. Same difference I know, but I'm a stickler.

Well I took the day off the bike today. So nothing to report today. Just did a little R&R. So back to the test tomorrow.

In other news, I have 1300 miles on my steel LeMond Zurich (w/a used 9spd Campy Chorus group and Open Pro/Record wheels) I built up in March with no problems to report. Well, I've had to lube the chain a few times and replace the tires once but otherwise it's been trouble free and it weighs a good bit less than the bike in question here (slightly under 20lbs with pedals and cages).

CigTech, so did you adjust the location or positioning of the front derailer or the front chain-ring?

You may already know that your Cadillac bicycle is a product of Kent Bicycles as is the GMC . I am a Cadillac dealer, so I am not about to denigrate your choice. Here in Canada, the GMC is sold in Toys R Us stores, and I have been offered the chance to handle them as well, but I declined, leaving them to the big box store as they are at the bottom of the spec chain for sure.
I am quite interested in the OP's reveiw, and appreciate his updates, and I think there are some present who may be surprised at just how much service life there can be had from the lower componentry levels these days, particularly when fastidiously maintained by someone such as the OP.
The thing is, when compared to other bikes with the same specs, the GMC is a good value. The same is true of the more up-spec Cadillac(they go all the way up to full cabon, Dura Ace), which in my experience have a good build quality.
BTW, what model Caddy have you got?
Dan Burkhart
www.boomerbicycle.ca

But how much did it cost?

You got that for $160!? Where?

If you see CigTech on his GMC, you should be sure to crank it up to 440 watts and drop him.

I have about $900 into the frame and probably a bit more in components. Not a bad investment for what I have out of it. I'll still have it 10 years from now while the denali will be (hopefully) recycled into a bunch of beer cans. BTW-I commute on this bike. Oh, and I usually nod or wave to other cyclists...even those on...gasp, mtbs.

You see, almost 6 times as much.
It would be better comparing the denali to my UO-8, which I've bought and restore far about $30 less than the denali.

But far more than 6 times the bike IMO.

I got one of the RLE 1.8s, which was in my price range at the time, a heck a bang for the buck, and (for me at least) a better feeling ride than the Trek 1000 and Giant OCRs which were in the same price neighborhood.

So far, the only complaints I have about it are with the Hutchinson tires which have zero defense against the goatheads that are everywhere here (though I guess shipping with gatorskins or armadillos is a bit silly though); the handlebars, which I swapped out for a pair of mustache bars (and a shorter stem); and for some reason, a couple of the cables came without crimp-caps on the ends (grabbed a couple at my lbs and popped em on myself). I also swapped out the saddle, which it wasn't too bad -- I just didn't think it was quite right for a 50 mile ride, and I swapped the pedals for a set of SPD-SLs and so I could eventually move the SPDs to my old warhorse Univega.

So what's the word on the Caddy AV8? I've got to say, I'm quite intrigued by a bike with a backrest...

Glad you like your RLE. It is a nice package for the price.
I have sold quite a few of the AV8 and everyone seems to be very happy with it. It is more of a leisure bike than a commuter. The Sturmey Archer 8 speed hub makes it quite versatile though. I sold one to a lady who uses it as her sole form of transport and even fabricated a means of mounting a heavy duty rear rack to it with side baskets for grocery shopping.
As for the back rest, when people ask me about it, I have to be honest and say that the only function it really serves is to grab your attention. It is not very adjustable, and unless you have an unusually large caboose, you're not going to come any where near contacting it. It does catch a lot of attention though.
Dan Burkhart
www.boomerbicycle.ca

Cig: I love the story about the bank! Good for you!

How did this turn into a LeMond is better than Denali thread? Duh. Of course the LeMond is better.

Way to be an elitist asshat (oops, that's not pc, is it?)

Budget bikes are a whole different ball game and if you think that only $600+ bikes deserve to be on the road you're fool.

The thing is, you can't know the Lemond will be under you ass 10 years from now. It may get stolen, you may crash it and have to write frame+fork off. You also can't be sure that Cigtech won't clock up 20,000 miles before the denali falls apart.

Bottom line is, he's been an overall nice guy and you have not.