Light Weight Aluminum Road Bike - GMC Denali Bike
There are numerous factors that must be considered before you purchase a road bike.Specifications of a bicycle is an important thing to be considered, such as: frames that are used, fork, shifters, tires, saddle, pedals, weight, etc. Then the price was a consideration, must not buy because they are cheap, but see also the brand of the bicycle, kent bicycle company is well-known and trustworthy, they spend a lot of good bike models, such as the GMC Denali Road Bike, a bicycle is not only good , but also robust and affordable. You can see the details and review from people who've bought it below.
The GMC Denali Road Bike is built around a lightweight aluminum road bike frame for racing or commuting. You'll stop on a dime with the alloy calipers and brake levers, and the high-profile alloy Vitesse racing rims look as good as they perform. The Shimano derailleur and Shimano Revo shifts make sure it is easy to change gears quickly and smoothly, and the high-performance 700c tires are up to the challenge of rigorous street racing. Lastly, this road bike will help you to stay hydrated with all the included alloy water bottle cage.
Specifications:
GMC Denali Bike Review
"Very solid construction of the frame and materials. The gear shifting appears to be fine overalll to me, and conveniently placed on the handle bars. Because the bike is solid alumnium, it is fairly light and very durable. But a caveat emptor is that it is a bit heavier but stronger than other standard (bianchi, trek, giant) commuter road bikes since those tend to have a skinier aluminum frame while this one seems to follow Ford Motor Company's "built tough" motto. (lighter frame materials would be either titanium, carbon, some kind of composite: carbon and titanium frame bikes WILL cost you over $1500 new, at least) Another aspect people will easily miss is that the forks, unlike the frame, is made of steel so they're heavier than normal--but this is because while alumnium is lighter than steel, it is also stiffer which would make for a bone-jarring ride; the only real solution to this is to get 200-300$ all carbon forks that are super light and shock absorbing.
A previous review complained about missing parts. That's not a serious problem since there is a full year's warranty on all parts: just give Kent a call. Also, the bike assembly is almost fool proof and can be easily done with an hour--there's literally maybe half a dozen big pieces to be assembled once you open the box, and the only free screw in for connectiong the rear light deflector.
There 3 problems with the bike that may be minor to some: 1)the pedals feel awkward (maybe they're too small?) so that in order for your feet to stably and comfortably rest on them, you have to make an almost conscious effort to put your feet very close to the crank; the solution of course is to get some decent pedals 2)the shifting mechanism, as a previous review noted, is flawed. Only Shimano's own scale, it isn't even good enough to rank under their basic, introductory line (the revo shifters are more suited and designed for mountain bikes). The rear dereilleur is a bit off so that while upshifting is easy and smooth, downshifting by one gear is not possible. Solution, upshift 2 and then downshift by one gear, a bit more annoying but not exactly a difficult/lengthy task. For me, the shifting doesn't matter much. I use it in the city and there aren't any hills really demanding low gears; I go for speed, so if anything, I upshift (:-) 3)Lastly, although the bike is very good looking with a solid blue/black design, the paint on the seat seems a bit iffy. While the frame is certainly built like a rock, the seat paint has been continuously and consistently rubbing off on the sides so that strips of white underlying paink can be seen on the blue sides; of course, the actual material is still as strong as ever. I went online to check; turns out the brand, Cionlli, is actually a new taiwan manufacture who "propitiously" chose an Italian sounding name--you got to give it to them for trying! My solution to this was to go on ebay, and spend 25$ buying a top of the line, slightly used Bontrager racing seat, which, needless to say, is much lighter and more comfortable and durable.
Other than these minor inherent material flaws, there are some potentially irritating assembly flaws. I believe that an earlier reviewer wisely (I didn't pay heed to him at first) that for any good bikes that is meant to last, proper assembly is vital (that means getting a bikeshop to assemble it). Now, I thought that he had meant small insignificant stuff like say tightening the screws with the proper amount of torque and etc....turns out there are other bigger problems. First, when I got the bike, the brakes were slightly misaligned so that when I used the brakes, one pad would hit the rim first, wearing it out much faster than the other. The next two problems are a great deal more irritating. My fork (preinstalled) had been installed backwards. This would seem to make a difference at first until I realized after looking at many bicycles that forks are bent forward ever so slightly in bikes; if you have it on backwards, the forks would be bend backwards slightly; this actually makes a huge difference: before I had the forks reinstalled correctly, the wheels were really close to the frame and pedals so that every time I turn the handle even a little (more than 20 degrees) to either side, my shoes or pedal would rub/catch against the wheels. The other problem deals with the shifting problem I mentioned earlier. Turns out the error was the the rear wheel had not been properly aligned with the frame so that the rear deraileur was a little off: the result was that shifting between adjacent gears was some times rough and often wouldn't work unless you did the shift 2 and then 1 back thing I did.
All and all, still a bargain, especially compared to other Walmart bikes of the same price, and I've had quite a few of those not mention a few dozen problems associated with those disgusting contraptions. Wish the shifters were like the more expensive integrated Shimano Sora or 105 systems that are placed under the brake handles, but this was the best choice in my price range and those premium Shimano packages alone cost way more than this entire bike. This bike is definitely well worth it for the price and as long as nothing breaks, I'm more than elated with the purchase. "
The GMC Denali Road Bike is built around a lightweight aluminum road bike frame for racing or commuting. You'll stop on a dime with the alloy calipers and brake levers, and the high-profile alloy Vitesse racing rims look as good as they perform. The Shimano derailleur and Shimano Revo shifts make sure it is easy to change gears quickly and smoothly, and the high-performance 700c tires are up to the challenge of rigorous street racing. Lastly, this road bike will help you to stay hydrated with all the included alloy water bottle cage.
Specifications:
- Frame: Aluminum 7005 straight gauge
- Fork: GMC Series 7000 steel
- Chain: KMC Z 51
- Crankset: Prowheel Alloy 335P6 28X38X48 170mm
- Front Derailleur: Shimano FD-TZ 31 Index
- Rear Derailleur: Shimano RD-TZ30GS 7SPD
- Shifters: Shimano Revo SIS L2/R7
- Brake levers: Promax BL-250AP Aluminum
- Brakes: Promax 501A Alloy Caliper Brake
- Rims: Vitesse Alloy black 700CX14GX36H
- Tires: Kenda Black With Grey Band 700X28C
- Stem: Aluminum black EXT:100mm 0D.
- Handlebar: Maesbend W: 430mm D:22.0mm
- Saddle: Cionlli Black
- Seat post: HL Aluminum Micro Adjust 27.2 X 300mm
- Pedals: VP-990S plastic body with steel cage
- Weight: 29.0 lbs
GMC Denali Bike Review
"Very solid construction of the frame and materials. The gear shifting appears to be fine overalll to me, and conveniently placed on the handle bars. Because the bike is solid alumnium, it is fairly light and very durable. But a caveat emptor is that it is a bit heavier but stronger than other standard (bianchi, trek, giant) commuter road bikes since those tend to have a skinier aluminum frame while this one seems to follow Ford Motor Company's "built tough" motto. (lighter frame materials would be either titanium, carbon, some kind of composite: carbon and titanium frame bikes WILL cost you over $1500 new, at least) Another aspect people will easily miss is that the forks, unlike the frame, is made of steel so they're heavier than normal--but this is because while alumnium is lighter than steel, it is also stiffer which would make for a bone-jarring ride; the only real solution to this is to get 200-300$ all carbon forks that are super light and shock absorbing.
A previous review complained about missing parts. That's not a serious problem since there is a full year's warranty on all parts: just give Kent a call. Also, the bike assembly is almost fool proof and can be easily done with an hour--there's literally maybe half a dozen big pieces to be assembled once you open the box, and the only free screw in for connectiong the rear light deflector.
There 3 problems with the bike that may be minor to some: 1)the pedals feel awkward (maybe they're too small?) so that in order for your feet to stably and comfortably rest on them, you have to make an almost conscious effort to put your feet very close to the crank; the solution of course is to get some decent pedals 2)the shifting mechanism, as a previous review noted, is flawed. Only Shimano's own scale, it isn't even good enough to rank under their basic, introductory line (the revo shifters are more suited and designed for mountain bikes). The rear dereilleur is a bit off so that while upshifting is easy and smooth, downshifting by one gear is not possible. Solution, upshift 2 and then downshift by one gear, a bit more annoying but not exactly a difficult/lengthy task. For me, the shifting doesn't matter much. I use it in the city and there aren't any hills really demanding low gears; I go for speed, so if anything, I upshift (:-) 3)Lastly, although the bike is very good looking with a solid blue/black design, the paint on the seat seems a bit iffy. While the frame is certainly built like a rock, the seat paint has been continuously and consistently rubbing off on the sides so that strips of white underlying paink can be seen on the blue sides; of course, the actual material is still as strong as ever. I went online to check; turns out the brand, Cionlli, is actually a new taiwan manufacture who "propitiously" chose an Italian sounding name--you got to give it to them for trying! My solution to this was to go on ebay, and spend 25$ buying a top of the line, slightly used Bontrager racing seat, which, needless to say, is much lighter and more comfortable and durable.
Other than these minor inherent material flaws, there are some potentially irritating assembly flaws. I believe that an earlier reviewer wisely (I didn't pay heed to him at first) that for any good bikes that is meant to last, proper assembly is vital (that means getting a bikeshop to assemble it). Now, I thought that he had meant small insignificant stuff like say tightening the screws with the proper amount of torque and etc....turns out there are other bigger problems. First, when I got the bike, the brakes were slightly misaligned so that when I used the brakes, one pad would hit the rim first, wearing it out much faster than the other. The next two problems are a great deal more irritating. My fork (preinstalled) had been installed backwards. This would seem to make a difference at first until I realized after looking at many bicycles that forks are bent forward ever so slightly in bikes; if you have it on backwards, the forks would be bend backwards slightly; this actually makes a huge difference: before I had the forks reinstalled correctly, the wheels were really close to the frame and pedals so that every time I turn the handle even a little (more than 20 degrees) to either side, my shoes or pedal would rub/catch against the wheels. The other problem deals with the shifting problem I mentioned earlier. Turns out the error was the the rear wheel had not been properly aligned with the frame so that the rear deraileur was a little off: the result was that shifting between adjacent gears was some times rough and often wouldn't work unless you did the shift 2 and then 1 back thing I did.
All and all, still a bargain, especially compared to other Walmart bikes of the same price, and I've had quite a few of those not mention a few dozen problems associated with those disgusting contraptions. Wish the shifters were like the more expensive integrated Shimano Sora or 105 systems that are placed under the brake handles, but this was the best choice in my price range and those premium Shimano packages alone cost way more than this entire bike. This bike is definitely well worth it for the price and as long as nothing breaks, I'm more than elated with the purchase. "
