I'm curious about where some of you are seeing the endless maintenance that Cig has needed to do on the Denali. He gave it a good going over when he got it home. As any intelligent bike owner should do. I've seen some shoddy assembly come out of my local LBS. And then, within the first coupla weeks, he did the type of tuning that a $4000 LBS bike would be expected to recieve after a couple weeks of break-in riding. And then he cleaned the chain & derailleur. For a coupla thousand miles. Unless I'm missing something, that's it.
Where's all this fiddeling and stuff that the detractors say would keep them away from a Denali? He did the routine drivetrain maintenance that all of us really should be doing, and nothing more. Wait, I think he mighta repacked some bearings a few times. Hmmmm, more normal maintenance on a high-mileage bike, no matter what its cost or provenance.

And as far as the upgrades go? He wanted to do them. I never once saw him say that he NEEDED to do them. The old parts didn't break. (Did you read the thread? He didn't make any upgrades until a coupla thousand miles in.) He didn't say, "I've GOT to change the front & rear derailleurs in order to make the bike ridable." When I went into my LBS today, there was an Allez in the shop getting a new derailleur. The thing came with Ultegra's! Surely they're not unrideable crap just because the owner wanted something better, are they?

As for his speeds? Who are you to say he can't ride that fast? He doesn't seem to be making particularly outrageous claims. I know the burst speeds I can obtain on my MTB, and what I can sustain. The numbers he's stated don't seem unrealistic for a good pusher on a decent bike. He's not telling us that he's averaging Tour speeds for Century lengths. Seems to me that he's just a pretty damn strong biker. Is that hard to believe? "Why isn't he out winning races?" some of you scream. Who the hell knows? There's a million reasons that top notch athletes aren't competing at the highest levels. I'm a pretty decent volleyball player. I've played with guys on our US National team. And I've played with an accountant who's every bit as good as them and coulda played for an Olympic gold if he'd taken a different path in his life.

The accident reports? I've seen crazier things happen. Did he bounce across a hood and keep riding? Maybe in his recollection he did, while in reality he just rolled over the front end a bit. Eh. Close enough for me. Catching the drivers face after being forced off the road? Why's that unreasonable? Do you think that the driver dind't look over at him before driving off? Any of you ever been in an accident? I've only ever gone down at the racetrack on my motorcycle, but, just as they say, sometiimes it's amazing how time slows down and what you're able to focus on. (Of course, sometimes it all just goes to hell. One moment you're buzzing through a corner, knee puck on the ground, and the next you're out in the sand trap with a trashed bike next to you. :) )


Maybe he's made all of this up as some sorta demented social experiment. Personally, I think he seems to have started with a reasonable hypothesis and gone about testing it in a reasonable way. His demeanor and commentary have led me to put more faith in him than in any of the detractors. Have these 45 pages changed my opinions on X-mart bikes? Well, no, since I didn't consider them to be worthless pieces of crap in the first place. I've always felt that they were perfectly servicable options for the casual rider, and possibly even for the more serious rider. I certainly don't feel a need to denigrate someone who chooses a less expensive option than I do. And my self-worth has never been wrapped up in the bicycle I ride, or car I drive, or tennis racquet I play with, or anything like that. So I've never needed to justify my choices by downplaying those of others. Or to try and inflate myself simply by association with what's considered a "cool" brand. Unfortunately, as with pretty much every activity that involves equipment of any kind, I see alot of that in the bicycling world. Plenty of it has beenin evidence in this thread. Anyone who claims that they've not seen any bike-snobbishness or elitism sure must not have been reading the same posts that I have.


Cig, for what it's worth, I've enjoyed your commenentary throughout this thread. I don't have too much interest in a road bike at this time, but I found this thread informative & entertaining. I'd be more than happy to see anything similar you'd care to do in the future. How's that Pugeot rebuild coming? Why not keep us up to date on that once it's back on the road?

This might be the worst post I have ever seen.

cigtech claims to ride 36.2 mph over 3.2 miles
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...69#post4230669

Fabian Cancellera wins the TDF prologue with an average speed of 33.3 mph over 4.9 miles
http://www.velonews.com/tour2007/det...s/12598.0.html

Yeah man I could see how a middle age guy who smokes and works at blockbuster could be faster than a world class pro cyclist. Also, I know this guy in Nigeria who has a great investment opportunity for you.

oh, and the reason cigtech is not keeping us up to date is that he's been called on his BS.

Cigtech, I'll make a deal with you. If you post a picture of your denali with the broken fork and the busted BB (as you described), and show us a GPS readout you going 36mph + over 2 miles, I will admit I was wrong and retract every bad thing I wrote about you. I know you have the capability to do this because you have posted a video of yourself and GPS readouts earlier in this thread. If you do this, I will also post a picture of myself and my bike, and post a GPS readout of me going as fast as I can for 2 miles (which will be far far lower than 36 mph).

What do you think?

First, 4.9 miles on a twisty course isn't 3.2 on a flat, is it? Headwinds? Tailwinds? Drafting?

Secondly, in that thread you quoted he didn't state that speed was actually his average for 3.2 miles. One could interpret it that way, sure. But it's certainly not crystal clear. The thread was about max speed. Not max average speed. Maybe he just listed the length of asphalt that he had available to build up the speed?

As I sid, it's entirely possible that he's making it all up, or at least fudging his numbers some. But if you wanna descredit him, you'll need to do a more convincing job of it.



And I ALREADY stated that I know people who can perform at the levels of professional athletes on occasion. Can they do it continually, day after day? No, most likely not. Do I believe that a middle-aged (how old is he?) Blockbuster manager can hit 36.2 on a flat. I sure do. I can get somewhat close to that, and I don't ride anywhere near as much as he claims to. Do I beleive that he could average it over 3.2 miles, if that's indeed what he's claiming? I don't see it as outside the realm of possibility, given the right conditions.


Seriously. Whether he's making it all up or not, he certainly comes across as more believable and trustworthy than, say ... you.

Padal or no padal?

worst ****ing thread ever

Then why the f*** are you reading it and posting on it? Go somewere else and whine.

State, give it up. I think that many of the claims made in this thread are extremely suspect (particularly the speed claims- I agree that the odds of a smoker on a Dinali matching or exceeding the pace of pro tour riders on dedicated TT bikes is slim), but there really isn't much point arguing about it endlessly on an internet forum. People that are considering the Dinali will likely buy it anyway (it is cheap, if nothing else). Just make sure that the bike is built and adjusted reasonably well if you go the Dinali route, folks. Be safe.

Maybe, maybe not, but I'll bet we see post#2000 before it's all said and done.:o

Then again, maybe the mods will see that there is too much disagreement and create another subforum just for it. I propose we call it "Frugal Magpies" - for cyclists who don't want to spend any money, but can't resist something new and shiny (and often of dubious value) when they do.:D

+1

I can't decide that if this, or the Bikesdirect posts are my favorite on bikeforums.

Bikesdirect is awesome ;)

I've done some comparisons of Trek, BikesDirect, and WalMart since I started posting to these forums and have come to this conclusion. WalMart and BikesDirect are in my price range and Trek (I use Trek as an example because BikesDirect likes to compare themselves to Trek) is not (but definitely nicer)! My analogy to their respective quality ratings is as follows: the old Firebirds, Camaros, and Corvettes.
1. Firebirds were the cheap end muscle car but upgradable to almost the Camaro's level. i.e WalMart bikes.
2. Camaros were the midlevel quality muscle cars upgradable to almost the Corvettes's level. i.e. BikesDirect bikes (and no I do not believe their 'MSRP' bull; the sale price is the real price, common marketing practice and ignored.)
3. Corvettes' were the top of the line but still upgradable to almost race car status. i.e. Trek bikes.
My personal budget is still in the Firebird range. I have seen some good buys on Craigslist etc. but the good bikes are still way to high for me to afford. So I enjoy what I have!

This review is about the Bike, not me.

But the Denali's gearing is to low to do much past 33 mph. At 120 cadence it will only hit 32.7 mph. Now if you put a 12 rear gear with a 53 front then it will hit 42.2 mph. So their is very little chance of seeing a denali with any rider doing above 33 mph. I have gone 36.2 mph on a Peugeot PB-14 for 2 miles. But that is a racing bike. The same bike I'm doing a rebluid on.

And no you have not call BS on me because there is no BS to be called on.

Come on, give the guy a brake

You've been rebuilding this "bike" since the beginning of the thread. I've ordered parts for, built and ridden 1000 of miles on bikes in that amount of time.

Yes, but some of us have a life that gets in the way.

I've got the Lambchop's song in my head...

"This is the thread that doesn't end,
Yes, it goes on and on, my friend,
Someone bought a Denali at X Mart a while ago,
And wrote about it so we'd know that...

This is the thread that doesn't end..."

repeat until insanity ensues...

I swear, it's like a soap opera. I can quit reading for a few weeks, come back, read the last page of posts and know exactly what's going on...

I've been meaning to restock my remington 700bdl for 3 years I wonder if that means I don't have one.... Keep going Cig, I've been riding my denali to and from work all year and not missed a beat. I've only had flats and one crash to worry about and if you can tell me how a more expensive bike will avoid getting flats on tacks and staples I'll be impressed. It works, and no matter how or what people doubt, the bike rolls on every day. In the end it's got two wheels and a chain and goes along as I ride. I really don't understand what more amazing things it's supposed to do.. I will upgrade, I would like a better fit, and a nicer looking bike, that's it really. So I think I'll end up with a BD crosscheck. I know it's not a 4k bike and won't work I promise to keep that in mind when I ride this bike too.

Ridden my Medalist (Canadian version of this bike) ~100km. Perfect so far, except I can't get used to the seat, the front brake is kind of weak and the shifting isn't too great.

One question for other owners... is it safe to use a gas station pump?

Shill. :-)

I personally prefer the gloating posts on rising gasoline prices on Living Car Free. And for those of us who are lucky enough to be welcome on the Clydesdale forum, the series of posts giving excuses for being fat has a certain sick amusement value, like watching a fat person get stuck in a revolving door.

Only if you don't smoke while the cap is off or spill any gasoline on yourself.:)

LOL, I-like-to-bike....

I have used air pumps at the gas stations. You have to watch it because the air pump gages are way off. And it could cause you to over inflate the tire and blow it out. So make sure you have your own air gage.

Have you considered upgrading the Denali to tubulars?