I like how you guys think that because someone posts a lot, they've somehow become Sheldon Brown's hand picked protege and succesor to the throne of wise cycling. Get a grip and put down the kool-aid. Do you realize that close to half of his posts are right here in this thread?

Long story short...Cigtech started a thread, and over the past few months has made a number of claims - some of them more of a stretch, reality wise, than others. His main thesis, as I read it, is that the Denali, purchased for ~$150.00 retail, is a great starter road bike, and dollar for dollar is as good a bike as you will ever need for commuting. (Again, this is my take on it. If anyone thinks my version is unreasonable or far-fetched, please feel free to correct me.)

Anyway,...he rode it for more than 3,000 miles and everyone shouted, cheered, and gave each other congratulatory e-hugs after such an unheard of feat, proclaimed the 'experiment' a success, and generally acted as if Cig had pulled Excalibur from the asphalt and got his groove on with the lady of the lake.

What everyone seems to gloss over between "huzzahs" and flagons of kool-aid is:

The amount of adjustments the owner had to make when he got home to make the bike road worthyNot long after having it on the road, the owner decided a number of upgrades were necessary - brake levers, shifters, gearing, etc. (go back through the thread, if you have the stomach for it)To wrap up:As for Cig personally, I don't care if he claims to have x-ray vision, can shoot death rays out of his finger tips, or drops pro-tour racers with less effort than most of us use to fart. I once went to school with someone who claimed to be a ninja. I consider both of them to be valuable human beings, if only for the entertainment they provide to those around them. But I think insulting someones intelligence for spending money at a bike shop after they provided perfectly good reasons made all of his previous posts seem more than a bit disingenuous. Maybe troll was too strong a word - maybe I should have just stuck with idjit.

That's my POV. If it's different from anyone else's, please don't call me a troll.

In any hobby you take up you're going to have some people who are advanced enthusiasts, then you're going to have these nerds who have no life and spend $2,000 on a paintball gun or a bicycle, or drop $10,000 into their honda modding it.

They then proceed to spend the 9/10th of their life they aren't using it trying to justify their expenditures to other people by stepping on their entry or mid level model calling them noobs and whatnot instead of being humble about it and saying "to each their own". They'll spend hours researching "experts" that back up their opinion making sure every grammatical i has been dotted and t crossed. These people tend to be very insecure and are looking for validation, but they have trouble finding it because they don't realize that life is too short to be spent raining on someone else's picnic.

If loving this thread is wrong, I don't want to be right.

I believe it just needs to be said AGAIN that the Denali is not a bad bike by any means for the money you pay for. BUT to have it last as long as Cigtechs you will have to have intermediate to advanced knowledge of bike repair and maintenance. This is just something that not too many people who will purchase this bike will have. If you bring this bike to an LBS for adjustments you will probably spend $50+ dollars to have it done. Do this enough times and the bikes cost skyrockets. Or you could just let things go bad and lose $150.

Point is there are tons of bikes out there with quality that exceeds the the Denali's for less IF you are patient enough to look for it. Just look up Schwinn's in Ebay. I saw over 50 bikes being sold for less than $70. Sure they are older bikes but probably more durable. Heck I have a $50 '84 Centurion that I would not part with for a new Denali. I don't think you will find any Denali's 10-20 years from now worth $50.

You don't have to spend hundreds to thousands of dollars for a good quality bike. But you also have to realize that a $150 Denali does not mean quality. It may work temporarily but it definitely have to be replaced in the very near future.

[QUOTE

Point is there are tons of bikes out there with quality that exceeds the the Denali's for less IF you are patient enough to look for it. Just look up Schwinn's in Ebay. I saw over 50 bikes being sold for less than $70. Sure they are older bikes but probably more durable. Heck I have a $50 '84 Centurion that I would not part with for a new Denali. I don't think you will find any Denali's 10-20 years from now worth $50.

As has been proven by many responders to this thread:

1. None of the bikes you mention actually exist.
2. There are large sections of the country where people never road bikes previously so used bikes are unavailable.
3. EBAY shipping charges are so high that any bike won + Shipping easily exceeds the coast of a new department store bike.
4. You are a troll and an elitist for even mentioning this as a potential option.
5. Why be paitient and delay gratification when the "thing" you seek is available NOW? Quality Schamlity, dem factories in China make a great products, just ask Fischer Price!;)

+1 Yen.

Then there are also the people who can't pull their head out of their ass long enough to actually read the thread. Let me point out for the 20th time that nobody is saying you need to spend more than $150 to get a quality bike.

If I was looking for validation I would probably start a thread like this where everyone can tell me how awesome I am when I tell them about how I can go 34.543 mph on my $150 walmart bike. Then we can all laugh at those elitist suckers who paid 2 grand for their bikes and feel good about ourselves.

I'm raining on cigtechs parade because cigtechs parade is a joke. I don't want anyone buying crappy Denalis because of it. As someone who loves cycling, I want to see people riding real bikes that will last 20 years, not a $150 toy that is designed to trick non-cyclists into thinking it is real bike.

oh man you almost had me

I don't care what you guys think about my reported speeds. I know that I am fast and that's all that maters to me. My GPS does not lie.

I did this review to show that a low-end bike is all that is needed to start commuting. Most of you guys atarted on a low-end bike. Now we all know that a "real bike" (LBS bike) has better Quality bikes. But not everyone can or wants to pay $600.00 for a starter road bike. When they don't know if they will keep on commuting. And with a long review that reports all the problems. More people will see just what it takes to keep a low-end commuting bike going. Plus they get the info on how to improve the low-end bike.

Actually they do, especially when calculating speed. Since most GPS units have some level of error in their calculated position and speed is based on change in position, if the error level suddenly changes, that error affects the calculated speed.

Just the other day I had a max speed of 113.8 mph.

Sounds like the closing dialog for "The Incredible Hulk"

Sounds like the closing dialog for "The Incredible Hulk"

Sounds like the plot for "Groundhog Day."

:roflmao:

I may have posted this in here before, but I'm going to do it again, because I don't feel like searching it out or wading through the 45 pages of posts:

I started out commuting on a Wal-mart Schwinn MTB. Partnering with a LBS, I had the tires switched out for some 1.5" slicks, and off I went. I had to replace the BB at around 100 miles. Now, it runs like a dream, no problems, shifts perfectly. It's a great bike and I love it. I've since bought a Giant Cypress DX with some upgraded road tires. I love commuting on my Cypress, but I still like my old Schwinn just for running around, sometimes.

Total invested in the Schwinn to date: Around $300 retail
Total invested in the Cypress to date: Around $700 retail

There are bike snobs out there. I'm happy whenever I see anyone on any bike, whether it's a Specialized, Trek, Giant, Roadmaster, Next, or Huffy... Can't we all just get the **** along?

[QUOTE=Conveyor Belt;5089064]

There are bike snobs out there. I'm happy whenever I see anyone on any bike, whether it's a Specialized, Trek, Giant, Roadmaster, Next, or Huffy... Can't we all just get the **** along?[/QUOTE]

No! My self-esteem and self-worth are inexorably linked to the type of bike I ride!;)

My commuter:

[IMG]http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k2...ikePics173.jpg[/IMG]

must resist....must resist urge to post reply..........

nope, can't do it.

Okay.....while I have my doubts about some of the speeds that some riders here have posted, I also have an issue about the amount of maintenance required on a constant basis on this bike. While it may suit Cig's purpose ( more power to him), the lack of quality in assembly and components would scare me away from this bike.

My experience with department store bikes has been pretty poor, and for that matter so has my experience with sporting good store bikes hasn't been much better, My experience with the LBS has for the most part been stellar ( with just a couple of exceptions).

my opinion is that generally each bike is built for a niche

bikes at department stores are built for those who want to go for an occasional leisurely bike ride or a quick ride to the local convenience store

Bikes at sporting goods store may be good for longer rides and perhaps short commutes

and an LBS can set you up with something for whatever need you have

now, you can use a bike from each source for any purpose, you will probably spend more time in maintenance and part replacement than if you had just bought the bike from the best source for it. You just have to ask if it is worth it.

As an illustration, I once bought a mountain bike from a sporting goods store, thought it was great, because it was so much better than a department store bike. ( it was in the mid price range). Did some commuting with it, but then I went on a group ride with a local bike club, and t became apparent that bike was not suitable for this, members of the ride had to adjust my shifters twice, and the saddle actually broke. Because I did want to go on group rides, I upgraded pretty quickly.

There is a situation where I would consider this or another WM bike. I commute in the winter, and if I did not want to worry about cleaning the snow off, and just wanted a bike that I could throw away after the winter, then I might look there.

I guess I don't understand? I bought a TREk 1400 with 105 parts used for $200, replacing tires every now and then, and rode 100 miles a week for several years. Why buy the Wal- MArt bike?

Because he felt like it? Youz got a problem wid dat?

How many of those Trek 1400, with or without 105 parts, are currently available for sale? It's great to come across a great deal on a pre-enjoyed bike.

I always scan the garage sales as I pass by, hoping to discover that barely ridden Paramount. So far I'm batting 0.0

Denali
 

I'm new to the bike world and this forum. I bought the Denali to work out my acl I had replaced last year. Had I found this forum before the purchase of this bike I might have bought something a little different. But, I guess I can learn all the basics on this bike and move up to something better next year!! Looking foward to learning all I can!

Old bikes and constant maintenance
 

I have a Denali and a 1977 Schwinn.

Guess what the Schwinn needs more maintenance. It rusts ifit gets wet, the pedals need oiling ... You name it. And it is a fixed gear so we are not even talking about tuning derailleurs.

Ok I dont ride the Denali as much as some other riders but maintenance has been rather limited overall. The fact is, As son as you ride a bike significantly, it will require maintenance. And that icludes old bikes.

On the other hand I agree that I doubt the Denali will fare as well in 30 years as my Schwinn does but I dont think anybody claimed this on the thread.

I still have my denali. It has 600+miles on it now (honestly not sure as I ride home 5.5 miles a day at night and my light seems to interfere with my cyclocomputer and stops if from reading so figure 2-3 months 5 days a week at 5.5 miles a day added on to the 600 mile total + or -) I've changed out the rim tape, fixed two flats, that's about it. Very lettle adjusting of breaks and shifters after the first day which took me all of 15 mins. It's been a good bike. I plan to upgrade to a BD crosscheck later this year but it's more because at 5'7 a 57" frame is a bit large for me. Idk, I payed 148 bucks for the bike, got new rim tape and have been coasting along ever since, I'm really not sure what else I need a bike to do.

It appears that to some people on this forum if the bike doesnt make your coffee and iron your clothes its not worth buying.

TopKick Retired
 

Somewhere in this book-like thread I posted that I had purchased the GMC TopKick which is another Kent -built cheap bike ($250cdn). It never shifted well, was heavy like a pig, the discs always rubbed, but I rode it a lot. Did a 50km trail race. Finished too. So it was usable. Not very nimble on the roots and rocks but ok. Then the R.Derailleur hit the spokes on a bump. Off to the bike shop for a quote... R Derailleur, spoke, true wheel, maybe chain, maybe cog, maybe index shifter, cable for sure... all-in-all about 150 to 175 to fix.

it still would need new disc pads soon (if they were even available).

so it's parts now.

bought a fisher for $650cdn and loving it.

Point is that GMC got me into the biking scene at low cost. If biking turned out to be something I didn't enjoy, well, nothing lost. but it would never be worth it to upgrade. the whole bike would need to be upgraded. For me, in the end it was very poor value. I didn't even get a year out of it.

Now, for bike path riders, low milage, it'd be OK. Each to his own.
...thehick