My dad bought me one of these back in 2019 for my birthday when I was just getting into the sport of road cycling. He doesn't know that much about bikes and bought it specifically because it looks flashy and in his words: "it looks like it's in motion even while standing still". I rode it during a charity bike event and one of the bike technicians there started making fun of it, saying "well its 2019, I guess anything works as a bike nowadays". It seriously broke my heart since I know my dad just wanted me to have a road bike and in his mind, this was the coolest one he could find for this budget. I don't ride it very much nowadays and it just sits in my shed, but it still has sentimental value for me as my first road bike given to me on my birthday by my dad. TLDR: Not everyone has the money or expertise to buy the best bike for the best cost. Please don't be so judgmental about other people's bikes.
That's really a sad story I'm so sorry to hear that. It seems to be a fact that road cycling is filled with smarmy , clueless, elitist people,what can you do. Since the bike is from your dad and you want to hang on to it but feel hesitant about bringing it out on the road I'd suggest doing what another person did with there's which was to use it as a trainer. Or just use it for casual solo rides.
Bike technicians is only a bike mechanic. They all want to race bikes and talk bikes but reality is that they can never compete like the professional s they want to be. Just ride anything. It is the riding that counts. The more you ride the more you will crave a better lighter and faster bike. Any sport world is elitist. Ride your bike. Enjoy it. And you will always be passed by others on the bike. Pay no attention. You by riding are already one of us that belong to this club of cyclists.
People will look down on you in all walks of life, man...Don't let those people effect what you do. I see kids riding around on their $700-2500 MTBs all the time in my neighborhood and they ride like crap. Money doesn't make them better.
other way round for me, I bought a cheap carbon bike on eBay, its perfect, and very light, but im old, not really overweight, but because of the jibes ive not used it In a long time I use my old steel bike
Use it as a training bike. Its weight will be an advantage- once you can get a lighter bike you'll be burning rubber like a drag race car. Most of us start out (and continue) riding non-superbike machines, and it's perfectly fine. You can even slowly upgrade this one as parts wear out or your skill outgrows them. Also, since components are cheaper, try to do maintenance of it yourself (in case you screw up :p) and get familiar with what you like and dislike about it. This knowledge will help you choose your next bike. Alloy (metal) frames are long lasting-carbon is fragile and belongs in races where the frames are ridden a few times and then are disposed of. Above all- have fun, since that's what cycling is all about.
I bought this bike almost a year ago when I started riding and I can attest to it feeling like a tank on climbs. Just keep telling myself when I get a real bike I’ll be so strong I’ll just fly.
That is true. I did the same. Owned for about a year. The bike was a tank. Absolutely trash. Working hard all I could average was 13 mph. I upgraded this year to a 2021 Giant TCR and I fly. Average 18-20 mph now and feel in control. Also 2-3 times lighter. Giant sits at 16pounds
lol, that was my thought as well. While it won't be a winner in competitions, it sure gives the rider a lot of exercise for the miles. :) If it just had Shimano Sora or Claris it would be a bit easier to ride I would guess.
@@iddra1868 sorry you feel that way. I’m completely fine with it ! 🤷🏾♂️ 5-7 mph fast without killing myself. If I killed myself im sure I can touch 22-24 consistently. Quality > cheap bike
I vote for another episode in this series: two presenters, each with a £300 budget, both trying to find a sensible bike that is fun to ride. One going for a second hand bike, another buying new. I appreciate the "don't try this at home" vibe here, but just saying that there are sensible bikes out there isn't quite the same as testing that.
I totally agree.. some sort of MBUK magazine in the 90s group test at a particular budget sub £300, Sub £500 Sub £1000. On a different note.. a stag do recently we all had to buy an ebay bike for under £50 and use it for the weekend!! Super fun! :-O
Weight is a primium one that you might feel when you hit your first hill. Then again, this is why we have eBikes for. And those are heavy as battleships.
@@Ichijoe2112 Or just fit lower gearing. The generic 26" ten-speed road bike from the 1970s or "mountain" bike from the 1990s has a bottom gear of about 38" (the overwhelming majority of cheap, mass-produced gearsets were 52/40T front, 14/17/20/24/28T rear). You can't climb any but the gentlest of hills on that, unless you're much fitter than average. I believe this type could profitably be retrofitted into a 12-speed with 46/30T front, 12/14/17/21/26/32T rear, yielding a bottom gear below 25" and a nearly unchanged top gear near 100", and the gear steps are still reasonable for a novice.
@@Kromaatikse "The generic 26" ten-speed road bike from the 1970s or "mountain" bike from the 1990s has a bottom gear of about 38"" Mountain bikes from the 1990s, and 1980s as well, had way lower gears than a department store "10-speed" road bike. They typically had a triple chainring in front. The first time I ever tried one, in 1988 or so when I was 13, I was shocked at how low 1st gear was; I'd never seen anything like it. It felt like it was twice as easy to pedal as my 26" Columbia Charger 10-speed in 1st gear. My driveway was wicked steep and I could pedal up it sitting down, without even getting a running start. I'd never been able to do that on any other bike. It was a 15-speed; 3 chainrings in front and 5 sprockets in back. I don't know any of the tooth counts, but nearly all mountain bikes of the time had a similar setup, though they usually had either 6 or 7 sprockets in the rear (18- and 21-speed), which likely made them even lower geared than that 15-speed I tried.
@@MaximRecoil Sure, an *actual* mountain bike with triple chainrings would have *actual* low gears like you say. But the 10-speed "mountain bike" I actually rode in the 1990s did not. It had the straight handlebars and knobbly tyres of a mountain bike, but not the gears to match.
@@Kromaatikse "But the 10-speed "mountain bike" I actually rode in the 1990s did not." I never saw one like that, but I guess it isn't surprising that some were made that way. Even all the cheap ones from department stores in the 1990s that I ever saw had a triple chainring, albeit a very cheap one, i.e., one-piece solid steel cranks with stamped steel chainrings riveted together. All those gears were a selling point for them, usually having a prominent sticker on the frame that said "18 SPEED" or "21 SPEED."
As much as people look at this and ridicule it. This was what got me into cycling and I managed to do at least 1,500 miles on it. I now have it on the turbo trainer and it works great. At the end of the day, it got me into this amazing sport and let me learn about what bikes are better for me.
My first road bike from 2nd hand shop was schwinn varsity 14 speed. Got it for work commute, end up getting into road cycling and doing multiple 2 -day (200-250miles total) fondos. 21 lbs with everything on it. New trek al 5 is 19-20lbs. Like any hobby, start with basics, if you like it move on to expensive stuff.
My road bike is converted from a former trekking bike, it's around 13 kg and without any carbon fiber parts. It still runs very good compared to a bike with normal bicycle tires, especially when I drove MTB or the fat bike before
I bought this eroubike off amazon in jan this year and i love it so far.. It introduced me introduced me to cycling and I've found this channel because of this bike.. I want to spend 1400 on a new bike in a few months..
The key for a budget bike is simplicity. I know discs, deep section rims, tight gearing and aero frames are the must-haves for road bikes but a decent budget frame with decent, cost-effective components (rim brakes, standard rims, entry-level Shimano gears and basic but ergonomically good finishing kit) can be a lot less of a hindrance than you think. Brands like Pinnacle, Decathlon and Carrera (seriously, they do the odd good bike!) can easily be good enough for a new rider with limited funds to get into the sport, especially if they don't have access to the knowledge to allow them to search for a second-hand bargain.
Personally screw the eyecandy. The key to a budget Road Bike, is that it has an actual Chinesium copy of a Shimono 105 Groupset. In short not a 21 3×7 Mountain Bike Drivetrain.
These are videos that help me understand why I can’t even reach a 17mph avg over an entire ride with my Trek FX2, but my Ridley Phaeton easily maintains 20mph in a stiff headwind. It’s not always your strength and skill, sometimes the bike really does matter.
Joking aside, the £300 price point is still a lot of money for many families, so a fair review of other available machines of that price could have been more helpful. Having worked in several bike shops, most of my sales were around this price or cheaper, mainly to young people looking for something to ride to school, first jobs or for family rides at the weekend.
My first bike that I used to ride everywhere on was a Huffy mtb from Kmart. Being a teenager with little to no money, I only replaced parts as they broke, and those parts were either cheap or salvaged. I understand that this channel is geared more towards serious cyclists, but they make it sound like cheap bikes are a horrible option for average Joes just looking to commute or get in shape.
Sadly there's an awful lot of snobbery in cycling at the moment. Not everyone will be fortunate enough to get incredibly expensive bikes given them for free as part of their job.
@@kwikrayv well the theme of the channel is centered around road cycling, so it doesn't make much sense for them to talk about the bike in perspective of the average how going to work. In thag case literally get whatver you can find in your budget and it won't matter much
yes that pissed me off too,as a kid my grandad found old bikes for me and my sister and painted them up,even older my family didnt have much money,in this debate {read my comment} how about eurobike racer vs the other guy,rolling along,and running alongside,The half of a canyon racer wheel?
I wonder how the brown and orange Raleigh 10-speed I bought in 1983 at age 12 with money I saved up from working in the tobacco fields would do on these tests. I don’t remember what it cost. Man, I loved that bike.
I loved this video! I actually own the same bike only with bladed wheels instead of spokes. This is my first road bike and I'm not a pro,so the weight and shifting problems that were in the video didn't bother me. I've never been on a pro bike so I wouldn't know better other than seeing them.
i recommend saving up for at least a $1200-2000 bike, i rode cheap 1-2 hunderd dollar bciycles for years and years ,recently i got a used good one for $900 and man, i am telling you, wow, i was extremely impressed ,its like it should be classified as a different vehicle ,now i want to try and taste a super bike
@John Smith do you ride them as well? can you link me to $600 decent? i felt a huge difference from cheap $100-$200 bike to the $900 used 2012 trek medone i got, i want to rent a 12-15k bike just to feel what its like
@@nugginusslover476 no need for this tone. I am well aware of the type of the content they create, however presenting something that might be accessible to majority of followers was just an idea ;)
@@hanswurst7727 Maybe true, but considering most LBS are sold out of anything but high-end bikes, at least it would get people riding. No one can ride a bike that's on order until next year.
@@hanswurst7727 I think it may be a steel frame and forks and these are pretty much indestructible its the rest of the bike that is not so great, as you use the bike and wear out such parts you can replace them with slightly better parts. There is no reason to think this basic bike won't last 40-50 years whether you actually want it to is another matter. It seems to be a low end strong steel road bike that has been given a performance paint job but its just a slow heavy bike. Contrast that with a carbon fibre road bike where the frame is vulnerable to damage, over-tightening and may have issues like voids within the frame and forks those frames and forks can be much shorter life but the components fitted to them are typically better depending on price point. Some high end bikes have quite weak short life components that are very lightweight where as the middle pricing can have very durable long life components i.e. Claris to 105. Personally I wouldn't buy this bike unless I saw it sub £50 s/hand just for a beater bike for shopping trips and messing about where I didn't want to risk a better bike etc. As ever the sensible money is in the middle pricing neither low end or high end but the sensible options which start at about Claris groupset level.
I bought the exact same bike in may as my first road bike, and I love it. 🙌 Yes, it is heavy, but who cares, I use it to keep in shape, not to compete, I do around 200 KM a week, and the tires are still good, I love the disk brakes, they are my first, a bit trickier to learn how to adjust them, but now that I know how to do it, they work like a charm, did I mention that the bike looks awesome. 😊 I paid 285 CAD for it, shipping included, a bargain, pretty pleased with my purchase! 🚲 🚲 🚲
I will also admit to owning a cheap heavy bike. I bought mine pre-covid days, used, for $50. It was practically brand new and had a price tag of $150, retail. I still ride it and I'm now looking for a lighter higher-quality road bike. I reckon at today's prices I can get the $100 to $150 for my used heavy weight.
@@rgh622 I am looking at a Nakamura aluminum hybrid these days, for more casual rides, real cheap, I tried one, they are quite light and work surprisingly well for the price!
I got into road biking 4 years ago and I looked at one of these! Thankfully I made the decision to go second hand and for £300 got a cracking Lightweight ally bike with Shimano 105 gearing abs Mavic wheels 👍👍 I also just bought my first brand new full Carbon bike and sold the other one for £50 less than I bought it after 4 years use! Now that’s what I call bargain cycling! 👍🎉👍
👍 pre-used bike provided you (or a knowledgeable mate) know what to look for - always a great entry route into cycling. Better ride and £20.00 saved is your first year's club subscription. Loads of fun riding, new friends and plenty of knowledgeable support.
Cheap heavy bikes are awesome for daily use. Components may not be the best but can always be upgraded when they break. As someone who commutes on a heavy steel frame adventure bike loaded down with bags I can honestly say riding the heavy bike daily makes it that much more fun when I get on the light bikes for the fun rides. Train and condition on the heavy bike and go for the fun rides on lighter bikes. You’ll be amazed what you will be capable of.
I bought a second hand bike in the late 90s. The bike had a sticker from Ann Harbor 1983. Loved it, it was better than some more expensive bikes I bought later. Unfortunately, the frame broke in 2013.
Well thank God you have that in your country. Sad to say, road bikes like the one on the video are prevalent in developing countries, although they cost around $150-200.
@@Rover200Power - but it's styled after the machines seen in Euro centric pro bike racing. Yes bike racing has pros from everywhere, but people associate the sport of pro cycling with European competition. Also Girl Scout Cookies (not even slightly made from Girl Scouts or by them)
Great video. My “first road bike” was free. I picked it up a couple of weeks ago during my town’s “freecycle” where people put items they don’t want out at the curb for anyone to take and make use of. It’s a Mercury, made in Canada. The existing 27x1.25” tires were turning to dust and has to be broken to pieces to remove but less than $100 for new tires, tape, and tubes and a lot of elbow grease and regular lubes and grease, and a saddle taken off another bike and I’m on the road enjoying it. I’ve got some very nice bikes but this is my first road bike and there’s nothing wrong with going cheap to dip your toes in the water.
@@HanifRehman The Carrera TDF is the same price, and you get integrated brake/shifters on it. Of course, if you're buying secondhand, a 1990s one with a 531 frame and 105 group costs about £150. It will weigh about 10kg and be about 2% faster than a cheap bike in a TT. I've tested them.
First thing I noticed wrong with the vid. Plus the top gear being too easy to pedal -as he is describing is because it’s a freewheel the smallest cog will be 14 tooth.... on a cassette, they go down to an 11 tooth ...and that cheap chainset at the front doesn’t look like a road 50 or 52 variant -reckon if you counted them up that would be 48 big ring!!
@@avec4amadman1 Yes, I rode a £300 Giant road bike for years with a 14-28 7-speed freewheel. With a 52-36 up front you do reach a point where you spin out but for most people that's a perfectly functional gear range. Maybe not if you can do over 1000 W, though.
@@avec4amadman1 fyi, freewheels went down further but I don't know exactly how far. my 80s Peugeot has a 13T little cog. you're probably right that the bike in the vid has a 14T though... much more common.
@@peterharrison114 I've done the same but quickly switched to the RC120 and the ride quality improvement is mesmerizing. I have since changed to a used CAAD12 and I can only say that it is a lot faster, but not as comfortable as the RC120.
After many recent moral crushing episodes for Ollie, well done GCN for setting him up with some challenges he couldn’t fail to win. It was like giving him an unrestricted e-bike 😂
No, there are no ‘superbikes’ for three hundred quid, but Yes, road cycling is an accessible sport, even if you are not good enough or dedicated enough to splash out the kind of money that many of the bikes featured on GCN cost. I bought a Claud Butler Criterium in 2010 for less than £350. I've done over 17000km on it since then, and have enjoyed the ride, for a few outings a month of 50km or 100km it gets you out and riding just fine, sometimes I’ve been longer on it too, the most was a 20 hour, 335km ride (thanks to watching too much of Hank and Mark Beaumont on GCN I think). I know the components are limited, the gears are only 2x7, the steel fork is heavy and the shifters are the same as on Alex’s Eurobike (you do learn not to knee yourself into the little ring after a while). The only real upgrade was to put on some clipless road pedals, which didn’t break the bank. Last year I got a new bike, which actually cost me a similar outlay again from Decathlon, although with a big helping hand from a government incentive, so the new bike is actually a better spec with 105 shifters and derailures, a carbon fork and disc brakes - a nice upgrade, particularly on the climbs. For the money I spent I’m well pleased, I like my cycling and it does me good, if that is all someone wants from the sport than finding a bike at a price that fits is perfectly possible.
for 300£ (350 € actually) i bought a good old 6.5 Trek Madone, carbon frameset, Ultegra10V group, last year. That's my spare bike for winter or crappy weather. Works perfectly fine even if it is quite old and has already done a lot of km.
However, competing in cycling is relatively inaccessible compared to many other sports. Which is the reason I didn't start earlier with Triathlon. It's just very unsatisfying that someone with more expensive gear and worse fitness can easily outcompete you because of simple physics.
I picked up one of the first btwin tribans in the UK, cost £250 with bottom end shimano group set, it’s still going strong now after 5 years with only the wheels/tyres being replaced
A more serious look at budget bikes would be appreciated instead of comparing it to the #sponsored superbike. You could have analysed it like kevcentral would have... Given actually helpful consumer advice... Considered if it was worth upgrading or not, etc.
@@JMacSp I may know that/agree with you... But the average consumer won't know that, and their knowledge is not increased by GCN just taking the piss out of the bike without actually explaining how a good budget bikes (like decathlon) would be better.
@@kuddin9021 it's not meant to be a serious comparison video. They are mocking it for being utterly ridiculous. Warning people off of buying this sort of bike. Doesn't need to be compared to real bikes.
I don't think the sponsors would appreiciate them showing that bikes that cost a fraction of the price of the £10K+ bikes only cost you a few seconds here and there. I love the presenters but GCN as a company won't push for inclusive cycling. It's about shifting stuff to people with the cash. And as of recent locking their best content behind a paywall.
I work in a bike shop. I've seen a few Amazon Eurobikes come in for repair and can confirm they are terrible. Every time both hubs had knackered bearings after not much riding. But for £300 a Carrera Zelos or as mentioned Btwin would be a great choice.
Agreed, but then how would Ollie win? And then it would look like the Tirban was slow too. They would need to do a one-go-on-each strategy to make it a fair test.
The Triban 100 is an excellent bike - being on a limited budget I bought one after having a very nice Vitus stolen. Presumably because of the excellent frame - at that time it was used even on the higher priced models - I found it rode just as well, if not better, than my Vitus, and by replacing the gravel type tyres with 25mm road tyres I got the weight down to 10.2kg. Obviously being built down to a price, money had to be saved somewhere, and this was obviously mainly on the drive train and changers. The single chainwheel and limited sprocket range would have been inadequate for me in the past, but being in my late eighties my rides tend to be slower and less lumpy than hitherto, so it is not now an issue for me. It could easily be upgraded though if required. The rear derailleur is the Shimano Tourney, which the purists would no doubt sniff at, but I have to say that it has performed very well, pretty well flawlessly, in fact. Having ridden for years with 'brifters', I initially viewed the AO50 palm changer with a degree of scepticism, thinking 'I'll soon change that', but, to my own surprise I have got used to it and now actually prefer it. Yes, it looks a bit clumsy, but the operation isn't any worse than the down tube changers I was brought up on, and changes are very precise and are very fast through the range. I would recommend this model, actually it's newer replacement now, to anyone looking for a thoroughly acceptable entry level road bike at an excellent price.
@@edwardkerrigan5356 I too have Shimano Tourney on a similarly priced bike I am also surprised by the good performance. My bike does come with 'brifters' however and for some odd reason, has a rather unnecessary triple chain ring setup: 3 by 7. Still am very pleased with a very inexpensive bike. I do wish I had gotten the rim brake model though because the rotors have been slightly bent since day 1 and even a bike shop mechanic couldn't get them perfectly true. My reason for getting disk brakes was that I do often ride in sub-optimal conditions.
Buy used, be happy. Got a 400€ deal last year on something that's been painted all black so no clue about manufacturer, but it's running components from around 2005, all ultegra, still shifts super nicely and had a new chain and saddle on it, great deal. Also it weighs just 8.4kg including pedals and bottle cages. Love it, been riding it for the last 10 months and couldn't be happier.
Garbage at what price? You build a 250 dollar road bike and get back to me. (And then don't) A 17,000 dollar bike should blow you, make you breakfast and then return 15,000 dollars. It's all for profit and a shittier workout.
My fixie has 40mm wheels and only weighs 12kg. It's hard work keeping the thing moving. So adding more weight. No thanks. You're right, it's a garbage can and will not be fun to ride.... ever
@@pigeonpoo1823 I've had a fixie and a 1 speed for many years. Thr fixie is a crazy workout but, a dangerous machine. The concept is great and I enjoy continuously pedaling but, when you are forced to stop, make a mistake or forget, luck is required. You can't compare a 12kg fixie to a "regular" roadbike. It's like comparing an economy car to a hyper car and comparing the MPG/KPG and Speed.
Wow - love it another Hoffman follower in the ranks!! I have to say Ollie and Alex were significantly less excoriating of the Eurobike than James was of the Aldi knockoff!! Boy did he hate that machine! :-) That would be a fun hook up.. James makes the espresso and then they all go out for a ride!!!
@@bengarside79 There are dozens of us! Dozens! For sure though, Ollie and Alex weren't downright scathing. They were more just cautioning about buying a proper budget bike (e.g. Decathlon's Triban/Btwin bikes). On the other hand, the Aldi machine is a waste of money, time, and materials. I would positively LOVE to see a crossover like that at some point
I feel like videos like this is why people don’t get into cycling just for the health and pollution benefits not to mention noise and other auxiliary benefits
There is a big difference between cheap and crap. There is nothing wrong with a cheap bike. The same money can get you are great better bike elsewhere.
Agree that if I were at university, and having to lock my bike up outside of classes, I'd buy this as a second bike, but maybe tweak the paint to make it look less desirable. In fact that's what I did, but my cheap bike was my first-road-bike heavy AMC 10-speed steelly that I'd endeavored to make look cool with a few mods. I think it'd be interesting to go more in depth about all the low-grade parts and what makes them so cheap. You could weight parts next to entry level Shimano parts and give folks a close up view of riveted cranks, etc. I want to know about the details on those rims. Show us the bike build next time. That would tell us a lot.
My first road bike was much like this (after 10 years of hybrids). ~300GBP (it was something around 45000 yen), the same 7-speed rear 3 speed front chainring. Shimano A050 shifters. The difference when compared to the bike in this video was the bling. A boring semi-compact style AL frame. No disc brakes and instead some cheap but serviceable dual pivot brakes. No deep section rims. Drop handlebars which were of an entirely reasonable width and shape. A year later I noticed a Tiagra 4700 groupset on sale for a really good price and ordered that. Installing that taught me a lot about working on road bikes (and involved some bodges to get it installed as the cheap frame did not accept recessed nuts) and groupsets. So the cheap bike was fun, got me started, and I learned a great deal.
Hey, that's my bike! A few thoughts after riding a Eurobike for a year. When I bought my bike, they sold it with tri-fork wheels. Tri-forks would seem to be more aero, however, if the wind is even slightly perpendicular, and depending on how strong that wind is, it actually makes the bike unsafe to ride. Tri-forks catch the wind like a propeller and a strong gust will yank your front wheel sideways. I ended up swapping out the tires for Continental Gatorskins. Not only did this make it much harder for me to get a flat, but it also lowered my rolling resistance - ie, I felt a definite speed increase. The brakes, after a while, started braking unevenly. I'm still not entirely sure what causes it, but when I engage the brakes, they sort of pulse as opposed to offering a consistent deceleration. That being said, I don't think I've ever worried about stopping distance. My biggest problem with this bike is the gear ratio. The biggest front gear is way too small, and the rear cassette doesn't offer that important 8th gear. This means that when I'm going about 20-21 mph (32-33 kph), I really need to shift to a higher gear but I've run out of gears. This makes any speed beyond that range uncomfortable and hard to sustain. Fortunately, the bike works well for towing, and on the weekends I use it to tow my son in a Wike. The gear ratio seems perfect for that kind of thing.
It looks like a 104 bcd chainring, so you might be able to get a bigger gear pretty cheaply. The brakes pulsing is probably a warped disk. Rotors are pretty cheap as well.
Heavier bike - more friction to avoid going into a skid! In principle this shouldn't be a disadvantage as long as the brakes are powerful enough to cause a skid if you pull them too hard. The likely reason for shorter stopping distance would be better grip tyres on Ollies high spec bike.
Almost all bikes I have bought have tires totally made of pancakes, so about the first thing is to go get better ones. I suggest that you use Eurobike as a a decoy for catching bike thieves while your superbike is safe.
You're right. Cheap tires don't last long. I had this Vee tires which came with my entry level gravel bike and they lasted only 8 months of regular commute ride.
This bike is perfect for wheel on turbo duties. No chance of damaging your expensive frame, drivetrain, etc when you can just shove that piece of adequateness on and leave it there
I've had a second hand specialized allez sprint, although these are nice, the bottom bracket and headset are a nightmare and complete rubbish. Prepare to invest some serious money into those area's.
I brought a secondhand specialized allez last year in the satin black, think it cost me about £180 ish, it's light and looks great, could easily upgrade it if I needed to. I learned how to set the gears up properly via RUclips, and replaced the tyres which had perished, great bike in my opinion and a reputable name on the frame aswell.
Kudos for mentioning the Decathlon/Triban bike positively. They don't get a lot of love from "experienced" cyclists and RUclips cycling channels alike, but I think they are great value for money.
I would love to see the bloopers of Ollie trying to say that bikes name in one breath without cracking up. Keep up the good work and stay safe out there.
I got a very good mountain bike that costed cheap. it is a Genesis Vilotti made by Kent. The tires are big, good handling and braking, and it is my favorite color bright green. I changed out the seat though to a more comfortable one and added matching pedals. I like it more than a friend's expensive brand mountain bike. As far as road bikes go, I just got my first one a couple days ago. I got it used though it is in like new condition. It is a 2018 Specialized Allez 58. I got it for $450. It's awesome. Red and Black. It is so easy to go fast on that bike.
Change the wheels, change the chainset and sprockets, change the gear levers. That'll cost you a packet, but then it might be worth keeping. For winter training
7:44 "heavier bike -> longer breaking distance" - no, not necessarily: a heaver bike can also put more break pressure on the road. Ollie may want to take some basic course in mechanics.
I would be curious how much more bike you could get for £300 second-hand, and put it head-to-head against this. Or throw the Triban up against this! I think there's a better test showing that the Amazon bike really isn't worth your time.
My first road bike I bought on ebay for £100 about 3 weeks ago. Its only a carrera bike so it's a heap of shit but it's got me exercising and I'm enjoying riding it. Will look to get a better bike next year but I won't be spending any more than £300 on one. I'll hunt out a bargain on ebay.
Why not get a bunch of bikes under 500 and see what's best with your tests so help new buyers. Testing against a bike that no one can afford just puts people off like what's the point
Well done fellas. I know that I am a total bike snob and it was fun to watch this video. I hope more people get into bikes and stay with it. Ride on!!!!
I agree I bought this bike last year from Amazon as a starter bike. I like it a lot for the first few days but now I can’t wait to get a more promising road bike. Two things I don’t like from it is brakes are not that great plus the weight but the overall look of it is great.
I always recommend a second hand allez or defy for a first roadbike to any potential roadie mates. I started with a £250 allez and it was a great platform to start from
You should get a BTWIN triban and put it up against that bike a Super bike, and the Amazon bike, the Triban really is a great value bike for an entry level road/endurance rider, and given you can get it new for that price it will save you on any immediate maintenance costs that you might not be able to do yourself when completely new.
Very interesting video indeed. Most important thing to see, that it is safe not fast! In fact if a kid , like a 15 year old gets a bike like this. He will practice, put more effort on his cycling than some rich kid on some fancy expensive light bike.
I would hardly call that bike safe. Brakes that don't work effectively, a frame that will probably snap off you drop off a kerb or hit a pothole and gear shifters that will make you a castrato if you get the stop wrong.
I think the boys at GCN have really put that bicycle to its pace ,it might be slow, but it has not fallen apart. Safety is the priority, slowness is to be fixed by practice. It'll never get easier, but you'll go faster.😊👍
I only have one road bike and it's this one. The presenters are correct on that it's a decent bike. I'm in college at the moment, it's perfect for commuting and plan to keep using it that way. Be wary, the disc breaks do warp over time, and I had to replace my rear axle in less than a year (I am a heavy person).
I had the “pleasure” of building one of these for a customer.. it was horrible.. it was somewhat comfortable on a flat surface but other than that ....trash..
@@robertcowling4313 no doubt. We do our best to work on everything. Its a shame the level of craftsmanship does'nt always match the "aesthetics" of a bike but Yes I've been there.. Replacing broken axels on bikes that are not worth the price of a new wheel. I guess that's the worth of a competent mechanic. Happy wrenching!
It would be intresting to actually get to know where does the power go on such a bike. For example - what was the time difference between both riders normalized for power output? How much difference do - say - tyres or wheels do?
In this case, it'll mostly be the weight. People tend to overestimate the impact of weight but here, it's something like 8kg. Pick up a two-litre bottle of milk and imagine carrying _four_ of those up any climb you know.
@@LitNews "Only" 10%! You'd expect that to make you 10% slower up a hill, which is nearly 20 seconds over a 3-minute climb. Compare that to something like a 400g saving, which is only 0.5% of the total system weight. 0.5% of three minutes is less than a second, which is less than the variability you'd expect from random factors.
@@beeble2003 Based on another GCN “how does weight affect climbing” video, it does appear that climbing speed at any given wattage is linearly proportional to weight. And the coefficient is 0.9. So it’s important, like you say. For that same video, I calculated the impact of wattage increase on climbing time: it’s linear with a coefficient of 1. I then googled how much FTP increase a couch potato might expect to gain in their first year of riding: 25% (50W on 200W). So: bicycle weight matters, but for a beginner cyclist there are probably bigger gains to be made in losing body weight and increasing fitness.
@@LitNews I doubt a couch potato is going to have an FTP of 200W but yes, there are other factors. An enthusiastic beginner cyclist is likely to lose a couple-few kilos of body weight, too, unless they were into other forms of exercise before taking up cycling.
@@felixvogler7563 In the future, get a second hand bike. Yes, it has been used previously, but if this one breaks so often, you will have experience in fixing and maintaining the bike and can adjust the used bike as you feel fit. In any case, enjoy the rides ;)
I have this bike it without the deep section wheels and it’s my frost road bike. Got into cycling about three months ago and I love the bike. I know once I gets real bike it’ll change my mind but for now it’s the best bike I’ve ridden.
Great video, in September I spent $850 on a used 2011 Cannondale CAAD10 and love it so much I just pulled the trigger on purchase of their entry level gravel bike Topstone 4. Even though the groupset sucks it should be a great frame and I will upgrade the groupset in the summer. My opinion.. Just buy a Cannondale. :D (note: I am not sponsored by Cannondale.. yet. :D )
When he weighed the bike and I saw the scale I was like “Oh no not another bike weigh with the scale in pounds...what’s 15,4lb converted to kilos?.... should be around 7kg, that’s not that bad....” Then he said that the bike was 15,4kg and I was like....😱
That bicycle weighs as much as my cheap urban-every day bicycle with...What its called in English, that thing on the back that you can hold stuff with. On top of that my bike also has dynamo lights, aka heavy wheels and so on. This bicycle is made to scam stupid people on amazon really...And it 100% works im sure.
Would really like to see a head-to-head of multiple "good bang for the buck" bikes in the $1000-$1500 range, both road bikes and commuter bikes. Those would be the sorts that casual newer riders are looking for. But focus on comfort type features that will help folks want to ride :)
Let's face it, despite the price, it doesn't tick any boxes other than having an at-first-look-showoff bike for starters that does cost no money. The weight, the shifters, the brakes ... slow, heavy, dangerous, inconvenient to ride and not worth the money spent at all.
I agree mostly, but not about the brakes. It took longer to stop for sure, but the bike was also three times as heavy and had a taller guy sitting on it. I don't think the brakes were doing that bad really. Then we haven't even mentioned the crappy tyres that were on the thing.
@@AKIOTV Yeah maybe, but they really weren't going fast and still there was quite some distance between the two. Once you're used to good brakes, you always feel a bit frightened on a lesser bike. Nobody knows how well they keep up, but you do on a Tiagra or 105 groupset with new pads.
@@JMacSp You're better off if you just get a used bike for double the price or even a bit more for one that can be upgraded but has solid components, throwing on good wheels after 1 or 2 years. 300 GBP is nothing that you would ride for long if you get into cycling as a starter and would go into the trash anyway, soon.
@@JMacSp Next to my modern Ridley, I have a 2004 Fondriest alloy bike for 550€ and I'm not sure if it isn't even lighter than the carbon one. Would be great if the 10-speed Chorus would ever shift so smooth as modern groupsets do. Other than that, no way I would never ever trade it in for this s**tbox. 😁
@@JMacSp My first bike was a Peugeot from Halfords cost 100 pounds, it had worse brakes than that thing, similar gears, though probably a bit lighter though, got me into cycling, and possibly the strong steel frame saved my life when a driver pulled out of a junction in front of me - still did 1000s of miles after the crash, just had to jump on the forks to straighten them. The important thing is it got me into cycling.
Tbh my first “road bike” was more of a “road oriented” bike. Was actually a hybrid bike, my first bike shop bike, and my first fully rigid bike. That little hybrid got me into this sport and I graduated to a proper entry level road bike last year. I still keep the hybrid cause it has sentimental value to me (plus sometimes I just want to cruise around the town), but in all honestly, if the bike works for you, then ride it.
I’ve recently got a bespoke vintage style road bike with the old style gears on the diagonal bar. Took some getting used to but I absolutely love it. Can get up hills with 16 gears that I could never have dreamed of on a 21 speed mountain bike.
Wait a minute, did I hear you guys correctly? It has "dual" disc brakes as opposed to just one? Well then, that changes everything! Killer deal guys! [insert sarcastic Jim Carrey thumbs-up here] 😂
Just rode my $12 garage find '86 steel Bridgestone with bar end shifters up Mt Diablo (highest point in San Francisco Bay Area 3800+ feet of elevation) with friends who were riding their newer light weight carbons. The 16%+ gradient at the peak really made me feel the weight of the bike. Equipment does matter. Glad i put compact cranks and 9s 11-32 on it and removed the stem shifters. It rode well but man was i jealous at the ease my buddies were going up.
Now this ! This is what people want, because we're not rich, and we don't get free sponsored things. Not going to lie, i might... actually put some money aside and get my hands on one of these even though the price will be almost double for me here. Nice vid ;) Keep these ones up! Edit: although i still think a lot about the bike that my father has, carbon frame, and paid around 450£ to 500. And that one doesn't require me to pay extra taxes ;) From "Decathlon" in france. I don't live there anymore though but not a problem to get my hands on one ;)
I bought a $300( plus $50 shipping) tandem mountain bike to ride my daughter to middle school about twelve years ago. It showed up with fairly decent linear pull brakes and a beef 7-speed gripshift system. We only rode it to school a half dozen times or so, but we did use it to ride a twenty mile charity for the American Diabetes Association and a retired friend and I put in a few short training rides and did a thirty-five mile charity ride for the MS Society on it. It actually cruised up and down the hills of Virginia quite well in both cases.
I recommend bikes which are $300 or less to people who only ride bike few times a year. If you're planning put several thousand miles per year, then $300 bike will not last long.
I got a "new" hybrid bike for £500. Mongoose ... Bloody heavy. After 1 year of regular cycling cost me few times the original price,new parts, constant repairs... Will go next time with at least £2000 🚴🔥
Something's wrong, there. A £500 bike shouldn't need any significant repairs in the first year and you shouldn't need to spend anything like £2000 to get something decent. (If you want to spend £2000, go for it, but that should be an "I want something really special" purchase, not a "I want it to still work after a year" bike.)
I do my own maintenance on my entry level Claris groupset road bike. Things I changed in past 2 years/12,000km are dozen brake pads, 2 tires, 3 chains, 1 cassette, and 1 shifter cable. At least I'm glad that I don't have to spend so much since entry level components are not expensive.
@@Reanimator999 I go through more tubes than that, as I quite often wreck a tube by getting it stuck between the rim and tyre as I'm putting the tyre back on. I also replace more shifter cables than you, because my bike has Tiagra shifters, which turn the cable through a tight corner so wear them out faster. Other than that, I'm about the same as you.
Best to do your research and buy something like a used like a Btwin Triban with a Sora group set and descent build quality. Then again having external cable routing is always a plus for those of us who prefer ease of maintenance over looks.
@@arbjful my road bike is a converted trekking bike, with a rigid trekking frame, and wheels with Exal alloy rims (which are robust, but not really lightweight) and 36 spokes. It's still slightly under 13kg, despite the wheels would be also usable on a 29 inch MTB. You can even build a alloy fat bike (where a single tire weighs up to 1,8 kg) with 15 kg.
Would you ride our £300 Superbike? Let us know in the comments below!
No
No(2)
No
You had me at kickstand 👍
What's the country of origin?😂 hmmm I wander
My dad bought me one of these back in 2019 for my birthday when I was just getting into the sport of road cycling. He doesn't know that much about bikes and bought it specifically because it looks flashy and in his words: "it looks like it's in motion even while standing still". I rode it during a charity bike event and one of the bike technicians there started making fun of it, saying "well its 2019, I guess anything works as a bike nowadays". It seriously broke my heart since I know my dad just wanted me to have a road bike and in his mind, this was the coolest one he could find for this budget. I don't ride it very much nowadays and it just sits in my shed, but it still has sentimental value for me as my first road bike given to me on my birthday by my dad.
TLDR: Not everyone has the money or expertise to buy the best bike for the best cost. Please don't be so judgmental about other people's bikes.
That's really a sad story I'm so sorry to hear that. It seems to be a fact that road cycling is filled with smarmy , clueless, elitist people,what can you do.
Since the bike is from your dad and you want to hang on to it but feel hesitant about bringing it out on the road I'd suggest doing what another person did with there's which was to use it as a trainer. Or just use it for casual solo rides.
Bike technicians is only a bike mechanic. They all want to race bikes and talk bikes but reality is that they can never compete like the professional s they want to be. Just ride anything. It is the riding that counts. The more you ride the more you will crave a better lighter and faster bike. Any sport world is elitist. Ride your bike. Enjoy it. And you will always be passed by others on the bike. Pay no attention. You by riding are already one of us that belong to this club of cyclists.
People will look down on you in all walks of life, man...Don't let those people effect what you do. I see kids riding around on their $700-2500 MTBs all the time in my neighborhood and they ride like crap. Money doesn't make them better.
other way round for me, I bought a cheap carbon bike on eBay, its perfect, and very light, but im old, not really overweight, but because of the jibes ive not used it In a long time I use my old steel bike
Use it as a training bike. Its weight will be an advantage- once you can get a lighter bike you'll be burning rubber like a drag race car. Most of us start out (and continue) riding non-superbike machines, and it's perfectly fine. You can even slowly upgrade this one as parts wear out or your skill outgrows them. Also, since components are cheaper, try to do maintenance of it yourself (in case you screw up :p) and get familiar with what you like and dislike about it. This knowledge will help you choose your next bike. Alloy (metal) frames are long lasting-carbon is fragile and belongs in races where the frames are ridden a few times and then are disposed of. Above all- have fun, since that's what cycling is all about.
I bought this bike almost a year ago when I started riding and I can attest to it feeling like a tank on climbs. Just keep telling myself when I get a real bike I’ll be so strong I’ll just fly.
that i think is true!You should tell the truth you still liked riding the eurobike,Or not?
That is true. I did the same. Owned for about a year. The bike was a tank. Absolutely trash. Working hard all I could average was 13 mph. I upgraded this year to a 2021 Giant TCR and I fly. Average 18-20 mph now and feel in control. Also 2-3 times lighter. Giant sits at 16pounds
lol, that was my thought as well. While it won't be a winner in competitions, it sure gives the rider a lot of exercise for the miles. :) If it just had Shimano Sora or Claris it would be a bit easier to ride I would guess.
@@PURPO5EMEDIA That doesn't seem like a huge increase considering it costs 5x as much.
@@iddra1868 sorry you feel that way. I’m completely fine with it ! 🤷🏾♂️ 5-7 mph fast without killing myself. If I killed myself im sure I can touch 22-24 consistently. Quality > cheap bike
I vote for another episode in this series: two presenters, each with a £300 budget, both trying to find a sensible bike that is fun to ride. One going for a second hand bike, another buying new. I appreciate the "don't try this at home" vibe here, but just saying that there are sensible bikes out there isn't quite the same as testing that.
I totally agree.. some sort of MBUK magazine in the 90s group test at a particular budget sub £300, Sub £500 Sub £1000. On a different note.. a stag do recently we all had to buy an ebay bike for under £50 and use it for the weekend!! Super fun! :-O
Yes great idea!
That would be awesome, 5 or 6 different bikes. A triban, virus, maybe giant content ar , one or two used bikes. And compare them.
Basically.. GCN doing a Grand Tour special?
@@spaghettibadger647 Top Gear *
Always makes me smile that we are prepared to pay for less weight when most of us are 10lbs+ overweight.
Weight is a primium one that you might feel when you hit your first hill. Then again, this is why we have eBikes for. And those are heavy as battleships.
@@Ichijoe2112 Or just fit lower gearing. The generic 26" ten-speed road bike from the 1970s or "mountain" bike from the 1990s has a bottom gear of about 38" (the overwhelming majority of cheap, mass-produced gearsets were 52/40T front, 14/17/20/24/28T rear). You can't climb any but the gentlest of hills on that, unless you're much fitter than average. I believe this type could profitably be retrofitted into a 12-speed with 46/30T front, 12/14/17/21/26/32T rear, yielding a bottom gear below 25" and a nearly unchanged top gear near 100", and the gear steps are still reasonable for a novice.
@@Kromaatikse "The generic 26" ten-speed road bike from the 1970s or "mountain" bike from the 1990s has a bottom gear of about 38""
Mountain bikes from the 1990s, and 1980s as well, had way lower gears than a department store "10-speed" road bike. They typically had a triple chainring in front. The first time I ever tried one, in 1988 or so when I was 13, I was shocked at how low 1st gear was; I'd never seen anything like it. It felt like it was twice as easy to pedal as my 26" Columbia Charger 10-speed in 1st gear. My driveway was wicked steep and I could pedal up it sitting down, without even getting a running start. I'd never been able to do that on any other bike.
It was a 15-speed; 3 chainrings in front and 5 sprockets in back. I don't know any of the tooth counts, but nearly all mountain bikes of the time had a similar setup, though they usually had either 6 or 7 sprockets in the rear (18- and 21-speed), which likely made them even lower geared than that 15-speed I tried.
@@MaximRecoil Sure, an *actual* mountain bike with triple chainrings would have *actual* low gears like you say. But the 10-speed "mountain bike" I actually rode in the 1990s did not. It had the straight handlebars and knobbly tyres of a mountain bike, but not the gears to match.
@@Kromaatikse "But the 10-speed "mountain bike" I actually rode in the 1990s did not."
I never saw one like that, but I guess it isn't surprising that some were made that way. Even all the cheap ones from department stores in the 1990s that I ever saw had a triple chainring, albeit a very cheap one, i.e., one-piece solid steel cranks with stamped steel chainrings riveted together. All those gears were a selling point for them, usually having a prominent sticker on the frame that said "18 SPEED" or "21 SPEED."
As much as people look at this and ridicule it. This was what got me into cycling and I managed to do at least 1,500 miles on it. I now have it on the turbo trainer and it works great. At the end of the day, it got me into this amazing sport and let me learn about what bikes are better for me.
Best comment!
My first road bike from 2nd hand shop was schwinn varsity 14 speed. Got it for work commute, end up getting into road cycling and doing multiple 2 -day (200-250miles total) fondos. 21 lbs with everything on it. New trek al 5 is 19-20lbs.
Like any hobby, start with basics, if you like it move on to expensive stuff.
@@billuvill Well said. Exactly.
My road bike is converted from a former trekking bike, it's around 13 kg and without any carbon fiber parts.
It still runs very good compared to a bike with normal bicycle tires, especially when I drove MTB or the fat bike before
I bought this eroubike off amazon in jan this year and i love it so far.. It introduced me introduced me to cycling and I've found this channel because of this bike.. I want to spend 1400 on a new bike in a few months..
The key for a budget bike is simplicity. I know discs, deep section rims, tight gearing and aero frames are the must-haves for road bikes but a decent budget frame with decent, cost-effective components (rim brakes, standard rims, entry-level Shimano gears and basic but ergonomically good finishing kit) can be a lot less of a hindrance than you think. Brands like Pinnacle, Decathlon and Carrera (seriously, they do the odd good bike!) can easily be good enough for a new rider with limited funds to get into the sport, especially if they don't have access to the knowledge to allow them to search for a second-hand bargain.
Personally screw the eyecandy. The key to a budget Road Bike, is that it has an actual Chinesium copy of a Shimono 105 Groupset. In short not a 21 3×7 Mountain Bike Drivetrain.
Discs are the last thing I want on a road bike
Ollie has no problem with cheap bikes, as long as he is riding his lightweight Canyon
I think he made up this whole item so he could win something.
alex was just letting ollie win; would’ve been devastating getting beat on a top of the line bike.
These are videos that help me understand why I can’t even reach a 17mph avg over an entire ride with my Trek FX2, but my Ridley Phaeton easily maintains 20mph in a stiff headwind. It’s not always your strength and skill, sometimes the bike really does matter.
Joking aside, the £300 price point is still a lot of money for many families, so a fair review of other available machines of that price could have been more helpful. Having worked in several bike shops, most of my sales were around this price or cheaper, mainly to young people looking for something to ride to school, first jobs or for family rides at the weekend.
My first bike that I used to ride everywhere on was a Huffy mtb from Kmart. Being a teenager with little to no money, I only replaced parts as they broke, and those parts were either cheap or salvaged. I understand that this channel is geared more towards serious cyclists, but they make it sound like cheap bikes are a horrible option for average Joes just looking to commute or get in shape.
Sadly there's an awful lot of snobbery in cycling at the moment. Not everyone will be fortunate enough to get incredibly expensive bikes given them for free as part of their job.
@@kwikrayv well the theme of the channel is centered around road cycling, so it doesn't make much sense for them to talk about the bike in perspective of the average how going to work. In thag case literally get whatver you can find in your budget and it won't matter much
Guessing it was Halfords...
yes that pissed me off too,as a kid my grandad found old bikes for me and my sister and painted them up,even older my family didnt have much money,in this debate {read my comment} how about eurobike racer vs the other guy,rolling along,and running alongside,The half of a canyon racer wheel?
I wonder how the brown and orange Raleigh 10-speed I bought in 1983 at age 12 with money I saved up from working in the tobacco fields would do on these tests. I don’t remember what it cost. Man, I loved that bike.
The Raleigh would be lighter and most importantly, still working 28 years later.
Added Dura Ace pedals - doubled the price of the bike...
Lol x 1000
Lightest component on the bike too!
First time I saw those I was surprised by the big bump on the spindle but yeah oversized bearings i guess
Yeah, and think of the weight savings!!
Double the price and triple the value of the bike!
I loved this video! I actually own the same bike only with bladed wheels instead of spokes. This is my first road bike and I'm not a pro,so the weight and shifting problems that were in the video didn't bother me. I've never been on a pro bike so I wouldn't know better other than seeing them.
Enjoy. Whatever bicycle you may have. It really doesn't matter, as long as we ride them
I have the same bike as you and i love it.mine is the . 3 spoke
i recommend saving up for at least a $1200-2000 bike, i rode cheap 1-2 hunderd dollar bciycles for years and years ,recently i got a used good one for $900 and man, i am telling you, wow, i was extremely impressed ,its like it should be classified as a different vehicle ,now i want to try and taste a super bike
@John Smith do you ride them as well? can you link me to $600 decent? i felt a huge difference from cheap $100-$200 bike to the $900 used 2012 trek medone i got, i want to rent a 12-15k bike just to feel what its like
I’d actually be very interested im seeing Triban/Van Rysel tests. For instance Triban 520 vs Canyon Endurace 105 version
they never do tests. if you are looking for that, then you are on the wrong channel
I have a Triban RC 100 and its a beginner. I've never had problems and it's amazing
@@nugginusslover476 no need for this tone. I am well aware of the type of the content they create, however presenting something that might be accessible to majority of followers was just an idea ;)
@@sasatrifunovski oh sorry, it wasn't intended to be mean, but now I can see how it could be taken that way.
@@nugginusslover476 mate - no worries, we are all here for the love of cycling and great content GCN produces =) Keep riding =)
How about doing a top 10 "cheap brilliant bikes" out there video.
Theyre better off monetarily trying to sell u the new 3grand canyon
‘Light, strong, cheap...pick two’ - Keith Bontrager
"Pick one" in this case -> cheap! This bike wont last long if ridden properly.
Classic “Contractor Triangle”....It is actually quite scary to think about how much “cheap light” crap there is out there.
@@hanswurst7727 I think having been bought it’ll live in someone’s garden shed for a few years until it’s sold secondhand!
@@hanswurst7727 Maybe true, but considering most LBS are sold out of anything but high-end bikes, at least it would get people riding. No one can ride a bike that's on order until next year.
@@hanswurst7727 I think it may be a steel frame and forks and these are pretty much indestructible its the rest of the bike that is not so great, as you use the bike and wear out such parts you can replace them with slightly better parts. There is no reason to think this basic bike won't last 40-50 years whether you actually want it to is another matter. It seems to be a low end strong steel road bike that has been given a performance paint job but its just a slow heavy bike. Contrast that with a carbon fibre road bike where the frame is vulnerable to damage, over-tightening and may have issues like voids within the frame and forks those frames and forks can be much shorter life but the components fitted to them are typically better depending on price point. Some high end bikes have quite weak short life components that are very lightweight where as the middle pricing can have very durable long life components i.e. Claris to 105. Personally I wouldn't buy this bike unless I saw it sub £50 s/hand just for a beater bike for shopping trips and messing about where I didn't want to risk a better bike etc. As ever the sensible money is in the middle pricing neither low end or high end but the sensible options which start at about Claris groupset level.
I bought the exact same bike in may as my first road bike, and I love it. 🙌
Yes, it is heavy, but who cares, I use it to keep in shape, not to compete, I do around 200 KM a week, and the tires are still good, I love the disk brakes, they are my first, a bit trickier to learn how to adjust them, but now that I know how to do it, they work like a charm, did I mention that the bike looks awesome. 😊
I paid 285 CAD for it, shipping included, a bargain, pretty pleased with my purchase! 🚲 🚲 🚲
Right on Gilles! Riding a bike doesn't need to be expensive!
@@gcn I love your channel, BTW, keep up the good work! 🤟
@Just a skinny guy who tired being skinny mountain bikes are fun man
I will also admit to owning a cheap heavy bike. I bought mine pre-covid days, used, for $50. It was practically brand new and had a price tag of $150, retail. I still ride it and I'm now looking for a lighter higher-quality road bike. I reckon at today's prices I can get the $100 to $150 for my used heavy weight.
@@rgh622 I am looking at a Nakamura aluminum hybrid these days, for more casual rides, real cheap, I tried one, they are quite light and work surprisingly well for the price!
I got into road biking 4 years ago and I looked at one of these! Thankfully I made the decision to go second hand and for £300 got a cracking Lightweight ally bike with Shimano 105 gearing abs Mavic wheels 👍👍 I also just bought my first brand new full Carbon bike and sold the other one for £50 less than I bought it after 4 years use! Now that’s what I call bargain cycling! 👍🎉👍
Good call!
👍 pre-used bike provided you (or a knowledgeable mate) know what to look for - always a great entry route into cycling. Better ride and £20.00 saved is your first year's club subscription. Loads of fun riding, new friends and plenty of knowledgeable support.
Second hand bikes, need to know the history and know what you are looking for and things to check if it has any masked over crash damage.
I’m a dumbass, I bought a secondhand Bike and now I’m realizing I’ll probs need to swap the whole groupo, fucking incompatible frakenbike
Cheap heavy bikes are awesome for daily use. Components may not be the best but can always be upgraded when they break. As someone who commutes on a heavy steel frame adventure bike loaded down with bags I can honestly say riding the heavy bike daily makes it that much more fun when I get on the light bikes for the fun rides. Train and condition on the heavy bike and go for the fun rides on lighter bikes. You’ll be amazed what you will be capable of.
Triple chainset and kickstand!
Wow.
I'll just sold my titanium bike and ordered this instead.
Thanks GCN!
So, the Eurobike needs a tool to remove the wheels - as does the Canyon!
Probably better to buy a second hand road bike from a bicycle recycling charity. 👍🙂🙂
Agreed in this case!
100%
@@robertcowling4313 Maybe #GCN could do a bicycle charity shop episode?
I bought a second hand bike in the late 90s. The bike had a sticker from Ann Harbor 1983. Loved it, it was better than some more expensive bikes I bought later. Unfortunately, the frame broke in 2013.
Well thank God you have that in your country. Sad to say, road bikes like the one on the video are prevalent in developing countries, although they cost around $150-200.
Fun fact, the canyon frame cost about $300 to make in a factory. So same price of the euro bike. But the canyon cost about 12k to buy.
oh god.. that name add like 10kg alone
Your avatar looks like a hair on my screen! You cheeky bas.... Now I've got greasy smudges too.
Eurobike (not even slightly made in Europe).
@@Rover200Power - but it's styled after the machines seen in Euro centric pro bike racing. Yes bike racing has pros from everywhere, but people associate the sport of pro cycling with European competition. Also Girl Scout Cookies (not even slightly made from Girl Scouts or by them)
Great video. My “first road bike” was free. I picked it up a couple of weeks ago during my town’s “freecycle” where people put items they don’t want out at the curb for anyone to take and make use of.
It’s a Mercury, made in Canada. The existing 27x1.25” tires were turning to dust and has to be broken to pieces to remove but less than $100 for new tires, tape, and tubes and a lot of elbow grease and regular lubes and grease, and a saddle taken off another bike and I’m on the road enjoying it. I’ve got some very nice bikes but this is my first road bike and there’s nothing wrong with going cheap to dip your toes in the water.
Should have tested it against the triban.
yeah but Canyon is offering more product placement $$$
You only get shit value for money on this channel, whether it's £300 or £3000. Halfords and Decathlon are unfashionable brands.
Tribal blows this out of the water. Also, tribal is impossible to find rn.
@@charliecroker7005 bought a used Triban bike and was hardly used. Absolutely top value, Decathlon offer great products and offer great service.
@@HanifRehman The Carrera TDF is the same price, and you get integrated brake/shifters on it. Of course, if you're buying secondhand, a 1990s one with a 531 frame and 105 group costs about £150. It will weigh about 10kg and be about 2% faster than a cheap bike in a TT. I've tested them.
Correction: This is not a cassette, this is a old-fashioned freewheel.
First thing I noticed wrong with the vid. Plus the top gear being too easy to pedal -as he is describing is because it’s a freewheel the smallest cog will be 14 tooth.... on a cassette, they go down to an 11 tooth ...and that cheap chainset at the front doesn’t look like a road 50 or 52 variant -reckon if you counted them up that would be 48 big ring!!
@@avec4amadman1 Yes, I rode a £300 Giant road bike for years with a 14-28 7-speed freewheel. With a 52-36 up front you do reach a point where you spin out but for most people that's a perfectly functional gear range. Maybe not if you can do over 1000 W, though.
@@avec4amadman1 fyi, freewheels went down further but I don't know exactly how far. my 80s Peugeot has a 13T little cog. you're probably right that the bike in the vid has a 14T though... much more common.
@@danjee464 There are 11T freewheels, i have a 11-36 7 speed on my bike atm.
Decathlon bikes are definitely underrated.
Good bang for the Buck
I ride a Triban RC100. Cost less than £300 and I’ve racked up about 600 miles in the last couple of months with no issues.
@@peterharrison114 I've done the same but quickly switched to the RC120 and the ride quality improvement is mesmerizing. I have since changed to a used CAAD12 and I can only say that it is a lot faster, but not as comfortable as the RC120.
I rode a Triban 3 for many years and it had a very high spec for the £300 it cost.
@@jameslinehan5807 Same, I rode mine for 7 years before upgrading, good times
After many recent moral crushing episodes for Ollie, well done GCN for setting him up with some challenges he couldn’t fail to win. It was like giving him an unrestricted e-bike 😂
No, there are no ‘superbikes’ for three hundred quid, but Yes, road cycling is an accessible sport, even if you are not good enough or dedicated enough to splash out the kind of money that many of the bikes featured on GCN cost. I bought a Claud Butler Criterium in 2010 for less than £350. I've done over 17000km on it since then, and have enjoyed the ride, for a few outings a month of 50km or 100km it gets you out and riding just fine, sometimes I’ve been longer on it too, the most was a 20 hour, 335km ride (thanks to watching too much of Hank and Mark Beaumont on GCN I think). I know the components are limited, the gears are only 2x7, the steel fork is heavy and the shifters are the same as on Alex’s Eurobike (you do learn not to knee yourself into the little ring after a while). The only real upgrade was to put on some clipless road pedals, which didn’t break the bank. Last year I got a new bike, which actually cost me a similar outlay again from Decathlon, although with a big helping hand from a government incentive, so the new bike is actually a better spec with 105 shifters and derailures, a carbon fork and disc brakes - a nice upgrade, particularly on the climbs. For the money I spent I’m well pleased, I like my cycling and it does me good, if that is all someone wants from the sport than finding a bike at a price that fits is perfectly possible.
for 300£ (350 € actually) i bought a good old 6.5 Trek Madone, carbon frameset, Ultegra10V group, last year. That's my spare bike for winter or crappy weather. Works perfectly fine even if it is quite old and has already done a lot of km.
However, competing in cycling is relatively inaccessible compared to many other sports. Which is the reason I didn't start earlier with Triathlon. It's just very unsatisfying that someone with more expensive gear and worse fitness can easily outcompete you because of simple physics.
I picked up one of the first btwin tribans in the UK, cost £250 with bottom end shimano group set, it’s still going strong now after 5 years with only the wheels/tyres being replaced
A more serious look at budget bikes would be appreciated instead of comparing it to the #sponsored superbike. You could have analysed it like kevcentral would have... Given actually helpful consumer advice... Considered if it was worth upgrading or not, etc.
Just go any Decathlon and pick one within your budget. It'll be the best value for a properly engineered bicycle.
@@JMacSp I may know that/agree with you... But the average consumer won't know that, and their knowledge is not increased by GCN just taking the piss out of the bike without actually explaining how a good budget bikes (like decathlon) would be better.
Yes they could have compared it to sub £1k Van Rysel’s or Boardmans. Would have been very handy for those starting out
@@kuddin9021 it's not meant to be a serious comparison video. They are mocking it for being utterly ridiculous. Warning people off of buying this sort of bike. Doesn't need to be compared to real bikes.
I don't think the sponsors would appreiciate them showing that bikes that cost a fraction of the price of the £10K+ bikes only cost you a few seconds here and there.
I love the presenters but GCN as a company won't push for inclusive cycling. It's about shifting stuff to people with the cash. And as of recent locking their best content behind a paywall.
I work in a bike shop. I've seen a few Amazon Eurobikes come in for repair and can confirm they are terrible. Every time both hubs had knackered bearings after not much riding. But for £300 a Carrera Zelos or as mentioned Btwin would be a great choice.
Should have pitted it against a similarly priced Triban, to show you can get a decent cheaper bike
Agreed, but then how would Ollie win? And then it would look like the Tirban was slow too.
They would need to do a one-go-on-each strategy to make it a fair test.
The Triban 100 is an excellent bike - being on a limited budget I bought one after having a very nice Vitus stolen. Presumably because of the excellent frame - at that time it was used even on the higher priced models - I found it rode just as well, if not better, than my Vitus, and by replacing the gravel type tyres with 25mm road tyres I got the weight down to 10.2kg. Obviously being built down to a price, money had to be saved somewhere, and this was obviously mainly on the drive train and changers. The single chainwheel and limited sprocket range would have been inadequate for me in the past, but being in my late eighties my rides tend to be slower and less lumpy than hitherto, so it is not now an issue for me. It could easily be upgraded though if required. The rear derailleur is the Shimano Tourney, which the purists would no doubt sniff at, but I have to say that it has performed very well, pretty well flawlessly, in fact. Having ridden for years with 'brifters', I initially viewed the AO50 palm changer with a degree of scepticism, thinking 'I'll soon change that', but, to my own surprise I have got used to it and now actually prefer it. Yes, it looks a bit clumsy, but the operation isn't any worse than the down tube changers I was brought up on, and changes are very precise and are very fast through the range. I would recommend this model, actually it's newer replacement now, to anyone looking for a thoroughly acceptable entry level road bike at an excellent price.
@@edwardkerrigan5356 I too have Shimano Tourney on a similarly priced bike I am also surprised by the good performance. My bike does come with 'brifters' however and for some odd reason, has a rather unnecessary triple chain ring setup: 3 by 7. Still am very pleased with a very inexpensive bike. I do wish I had gotten the rim brake model though because the rotors have been slightly bent since day 1 and even a bike shop mechanic couldn't get them perfectly true. My reason for getting disk brakes was that I do often ride in sub-optimal conditions.
@@zaydansari4408 Tourney works flawlessly on my Giant ATX2 hardtail MTB.
Buy used, be happy. Got a 400€ deal last year on something that's been painted all black so no clue about manufacturer, but it's running components from around 2005, all ultegra, still shifts super nicely and had a new chain and saddle on it, great deal. Also it weighs just 8.4kg including pedals and bottle cages. Love it, been riding it for the last 10 months and couldn't be happier.
It was mighty kind of Alex to ride a garbage can so that Ollie could get a few wins under his belt.
Garbage at what price? You build a 250 dollar road bike and get back to me. (And then don't) A 17,000 dollar bike should blow you, make you breakfast and then return 15,000 dollars. It's all for profit and a shittier workout.
My fixie has 40mm wheels and only weighs 12kg. It's hard work keeping the thing moving. So adding more weight. No thanks. You're right, it's a garbage can and will not be fun to ride.... ever
@@pigeonpoo1823 I've had a fixie and a 1 speed for many years. Thr fixie is a crazy workout but, a dangerous machine. The concept is great and I enjoy continuously pedaling but, when you are forced to stop, make a mistake or forget, luck is required. You can't compare a 12kg fixie to a "regular" roadbike. It's like comparing an economy car to a hyper car and comparing the MPG/KPG and Speed.
great moral boost for Ollie
My experience with Eurobike was not a good one !
Hard to shift gear , unstable, hard to go fast , doesn’t last long either .
This reminds me of when James Hoffman reviewed the Aldi knockoff of Sage's machine
Wow - love it another Hoffman follower in the ranks!! I have to say Ollie and Alex were significantly less excoriating of the Eurobike than James was of the Aldi knockoff!! Boy did he hate that machine! :-) That would be a fun hook up.. James makes the espresso and then they all go out for a ride!!!
@@bengarside79 There are dozens of us! Dozens!
For sure though, Ollie and Alex weren't downright scathing. They were more just cautioning about buying a proper budget bike (e.g. Decathlon's Triban/Btwin bikes).
On the other hand, the Aldi machine is a waste of money, time, and materials.
I would positively LOVE to see a crossover like that at some point
Another Hoffman follower here
@@After_GF hell yeah!
Any bike is better than no bike, so the Eurobike certainly has its place.
Had one of these bikes, surprised to see them in gcn’s videos
I feel like videos like this is why people don’t get into cycling just for the health and pollution benefits not to mention noise and other auxiliary benefits
The fact is most people around the world are happy with their worry-free cheap bikes.
Cheap bike, yes. I've got a great Malvern Star that's super reliable. But this one seems like to fall apart within the year.
I'd say this bike isn't quite worry free. Though i am happy better bikes keep entering this price range, this just ain't one.
There is a big difference between cheap and crap. There is nothing wrong with a cheap bike. The same money can get you are great better bike elsewhere.
@@Tneknos Touché 👍
Agree that if I were at university, and having to lock my bike up outside of classes, I'd buy this as a second bike, but maybe tweak the paint to make it look less desirable. In fact that's what I did, but my cheap bike was my first-road-bike heavy AMC 10-speed steelly that I'd endeavored to make look cool with a few mods. I think it'd be interesting to go more in depth about all the low-grade parts and what makes them so cheap. You could weight parts next to entry level Shimano parts and give folks a close up view of riveted cranks, etc. I want to know about the details on those rims. Show us the bike build next time. That would tell us a lot.
My first road bike was much like this (after 10 years of hybrids). ~300GBP (it was something around 45000 yen), the same 7-speed rear 3 speed front chainring. Shimano A050 shifters.
The difference when compared to the bike in this video was the bling. A boring semi-compact style AL frame. No disc brakes and instead some cheap but serviceable dual pivot brakes. No deep section rims. Drop handlebars which were of an entirely reasonable width and shape.
A year later I noticed a Tiagra 4700 groupset on sale for a really good price and ordered that. Installing that taught me a lot about working on road bikes (and involved some bodges to get it installed as the cheap frame did not accept recessed nuts) and groupsets.
So the cheap bike was fun, got me started, and I learned a great deal.
Keep seeing these bloody things on Facebook marketplace.
Hey, that's my bike!
A few thoughts after riding a Eurobike for a year.
When I bought my bike, they sold it with tri-fork wheels. Tri-forks would seem to be more aero, however, if the wind is even slightly perpendicular, and depending on how strong that wind is, it actually makes the bike unsafe to ride. Tri-forks catch the wind like a propeller and a strong gust will yank your front wheel sideways.
I ended up swapping out the tires for Continental Gatorskins. Not only did this make it much harder for me to get a flat, but it also lowered my rolling resistance - ie, I felt a definite speed increase.
The brakes, after a while, started braking unevenly. I'm still not entirely sure what causes it, but when I engage the brakes, they sort of pulse as opposed to offering a consistent deceleration. That being said, I don't think I've ever worried about stopping distance.
My biggest problem with this bike is the gear ratio. The biggest front gear is way too small, and the rear cassette doesn't offer that important 8th gear. This means that when I'm going about 20-21 mph (32-33 kph), I really need to shift to a higher gear but I've run out of gears. This makes any speed beyond that range uncomfortable and hard to sustain.
Fortunately, the bike works well for towing, and on the weekends I use it to tow my son in a Wike. The gear ratio seems perfect for that kind of thing.
It looks like a 104 bcd chainring, so you might be able to get a bigger gear pretty cheaply.
The brakes pulsing is probably a warped disk. Rotors are pretty cheap as well.
Those cheap ass mtb drivetrains would actually work significantly better than most would give them credit for if they had sensible ratios.
I understand know, this was to make Ollie feel better, dropping Alex on a climb, good to have friends Ollie...🤣
Heavier bike - more friction to avoid going into a skid! In principle this shouldn't be a disadvantage as long as the brakes are powerful enough to cause a skid if you pull them too hard. The likely reason for shorter stopping distance would be better grip tyres on Ollies high spec bike.
Almost all bikes I have bought have tires totally made of pancakes, so about the first thing is to go get better ones.
I suggest that you use Eurobike as a a decoy for catching bike thieves while your superbike is safe.
You're right. Cheap tires don't last long. I had this Vee tires which came with my entry level gravel bike and they lasted only 8 months of regular commute ride.
This bike is perfect for wheel on turbo duties. No chance of damaging your expensive frame, drivetrain, etc when you can just shove that piece of adequateness on and leave it there
I’d sooner spend my cash on a secondhand Specialized Allez or equivalent
I've had a second hand specialized allez sprint, although these are nice, the bottom bracket and headset are a nightmare and complete rubbish. Prepare to invest some serious money into those area's.
I'm a happy owner of a second hand specialized allez. Go with it!
@@AndreaBighi I’ve got one as well and it’s a perfectly decent bike.
@@madmonkeycycling9098 I’ve had mine 2 years no issues. It’s a tremendous bike for the price.
I brought a secondhand specialized allez last year in the satin black, think it cost me about £180 ish, it's light and looks great, could easily upgrade it if I needed to. I learned how to set the gears up properly via RUclips, and replaced the tyres which had perished, great bike in my opinion and a reputable name on the frame aswell.
Kudos for mentioning the Decathlon/Triban bike positively. They don't get a lot of love from "experienced" cyclists and RUclips cycling channels alike, but I think they are great value for money.
Been a while since we’ve seen Ollie’s “smug face” 😂
Next GCN Tech: Turning the $300 Euro Bike into a "super bike... on a budget...
Yes please
Both considerably faster than me up the same climb this morning!
I would love to see the bloopers of Ollie trying to say that bikes name in one breath without cracking up. Keep up the good work and stay safe out there.
I'm impressed with how long the name is 😂
Typical of the many no-name/random branded items (not just bikes) on Amazon.
I got a very good mountain bike that costed cheap. it is a Genesis Vilotti made by Kent. The tires are big, good handling and braking, and it is my favorite color bright green. I changed out the seat though to a more comfortable one and added matching pedals. I like it more than a friend's expensive brand mountain bike.
As far as road bikes go, I just got my first one a couple days ago. I got it used though it is in like new condition. It is a 2018 Specialized Allez 58. I got it for $450. It's awesome. Red and Black. It is so easy to go fast on that bike.
So, this is how low the bar has to set for Ollie to win at something. Anything! 🤣🤣🤣 I’m good with that.
A win is a win!
Great video! Cycling around Westbury, where I live! White Horse climb is tough enough without the 15KG bike haha
Change the wheels, change the chainset and sprockets, change the gear levers. That'll cost you a packet, but then it might be worth keeping. For winter training
Even out of the box it's good for training, I bet that once I upgrade to a better, lighter bike, I'll start flying and see a new top speed
7:44 "heavier bike -> longer breaking distance" - no, not necessarily: a heaver bike can also put more break pressure on the road. Ollie may want to take some basic course in mechanics.
I would be curious how much more bike you could get for £300 second-hand, and put it head-to-head against this. Or throw the Triban up against this! I think there's a better test showing that the Amazon bike really isn't worth your time.
My first road bike I bought on ebay for £100 about 3 weeks ago. Its only a carrera bike so it's a heap of shit but it's got me exercising and I'm enjoying riding it. Will look to get a better bike next year but I won't be spending any more than £300 on one. I'll hunt out a bargain on ebay.
At $300, it might be a good frame to upgrade components on when the existing ones give out.
I have been going backwards on GCN's video catalog and finally get to see the birth of a legend! The one and only: EUROBIKE!🚲🚲👏👏👏👏👏👏
Why not get a bunch of bikes under 500 and see what's best with your tests so help new buyers. Testing against a bike that no one can afford just puts people off like what's the point
Well done fellas. I know that I am a total bike snob and it was fun to watch this video. I hope more people get into bikes and stay with it. Ride on!!!!
Alex was more out of breath at the top of that hill than when he set the hour roller record
He was even more out of breath by the time he finished saying the Eurobike full name.
I agree I bought this bike last year from Amazon as a starter bike. I like it a lot for the first few days but now I can’t wait to get a more promising road bike. Two things I don’t like from it is brakes are not that great plus the weight but the overall look of it is great.
I always recommend a second hand allez or defy for a first roadbike to any potential roadie mates. I started with a £250 allez and it was a great platform to start from
You should get a BTWIN triban and put it up against that bike a Super bike, and the Amazon bike, the Triban really is a great value bike for an entry level road/endurance rider, and given you can get it new for that price it will save you on any immediate maintenance costs that you might not be able to do yourself when completely new.
Very interesting video indeed. Most important thing to see, that it is safe not fast! In fact if a kid , like a 15 year old gets a bike like this. He will practice, put more effort on his cycling than some rich kid on some fancy expensive light bike.
I would hardly call that bike safe. Brakes that don't work effectively, a frame that will probably snap off you drop off a kerb or hit a pothole and gear shifters that will make you a castrato if you get the stop wrong.
I think the boys at GCN have really put that bicycle to its pace ,it might be slow, but it has not fallen apart.
Safety is the priority, slowness is to be fixed by practice.
It'll never get easier, but you'll go faster.😊👍
I only have one road bike and it's this one. The presenters are correct on that it's a decent bike. I'm in college at the moment, it's perfect for commuting and plan to keep using it that way. Be wary, the disc breaks do warp over time, and I had to replace my rear axle in less than a year (I am a heavy person).
I had the “pleasure” of building one of these for a customer.. it was horrible.. it was somewhat comfortable on a flat surface but other than that ....trash..
@@robertcowling4313 no doubt. We do our best to work on everything. Its a shame the level of craftsmanship does'nt always match the "aesthetics" of a bike but Yes I've been there.. Replacing broken axels on bikes that are not worth the price of a new wheel. I guess that's the worth of a competent mechanic. Happy wrenching!
This is actually pretty cool, proves that a stronger rider with a crappier bike affects the outcome A LOT, still props to Ollie for this one 🙌
It would be intresting to actually get to know where does the power go on such a bike. For example - what was the time difference between both riders normalized for power output? How much difference do - say - tyres or wheels do?
In this case, it'll mostly be the weight. People tend to overestimate the impact of weight but here, it's something like 8kg. Pick up a two-litre bottle of milk and imagine carrying _four_ of those up any climb you know.
@@beeble2003 For a system weight of 80kg (72kg rider, 8kg bike), an additional 8kg is only a 10% increase...
@@LitNews "Only" 10%! You'd expect that to make you 10% slower up a hill, which is nearly 20 seconds over a 3-minute climb.
Compare that to something like a 400g saving, which is only 0.5% of the total system weight. 0.5% of three minutes is less than a second, which is less than the variability you'd expect from random factors.
@@beeble2003 Based on another GCN “how does weight affect climbing” video, it does appear that climbing speed at any given wattage is linearly proportional to weight. And the coefficient is 0.9. So it’s important, like you say. For that same video, I calculated the impact of wattage increase on climbing time: it’s linear with a coefficient of 1. I then googled how much FTP increase a couch potato might expect to gain in their first year of riding: 25% (50W on 200W). So: bicycle weight matters, but for a beginner cyclist there are probably bigger gains to be made in losing body weight and increasing fitness.
@@LitNews I doubt a couch potato is going to have an FTP of 200W but yes, there are other factors. An enthusiastic beginner cyclist is likely to lose a couple-few kilos of body weight, too, unless they were into other forms of exercise before taking up cycling.
You guys are great, definitely my favourite channel!
I own the same bicycle (different model xc760) and that's all I could afford, it works okay for me😂
If it gets you out riding and your enjoying yourself it really doesn't matter what bike your on.
@@lightningll2991 im not enjoying it, it keeps getting me in trouble as it breaks down very frequently but oh well I guess
@@felixvogler7563 In the future, get a second hand bike. Yes, it has been used previously, but if this one breaks so often, you will have experience in fixing and maintaining the bike and can adjust the used bike as you feel fit.
In any case, enjoy the rides ;)
I have this bike it without the deep section wheels and it’s my frost road bike. Got into cycling about three months ago and I love the bike. I know once I gets real bike it’ll change my mind but for now it’s the best bike I’ve ridden.
I’ve always wanted to know what these bikes were like for YEARS!
Soon as I saw that bike I thought that it looks great from a long distance but don’t step any closer !
Ollie has been channeling his inner Jeremy Clarkson in pronouncing the bike name.
Great video, in September I spent $850 on a used 2011 Cannondale CAAD10 and love it so much I just pulled the trigger on purchase of their entry level gravel bike Topstone 4. Even though the groupset sucks it should be a great frame and I will upgrade the groupset in the summer. My opinion.. Just buy a Cannondale. :D (note: I am not sponsored by Cannondale.. yet. :D )
When he weighed the bike and I saw the scale I was like “Oh no not another bike weigh with the scale in pounds...what’s 15,4lb converted to kilos?.... should be around 7kg, that’s not that bad....” Then he said that the bike was 15,4kg and I was like....😱
damn right 😂
Yeah, it's dam heavy
That bicycle weighs as much as my cheap urban-every day bicycle with...What its called in English, that thing on the back that you can hold stuff with. On top of that my bike also has dynamo lights, aka heavy wheels and so on. This bicycle is made to scam stupid people on amazon really...And it 100% works im sure.
Same here djuntas. My commuter with rack, fenders and Schwalbe Marathon weighs 12kg.
@@JasonDBike Thats even less than that, damn ^^ Im pretty sure mine was 15.3kg. But yea...its called a rack of course.
Would really like to see a head-to-head of multiple "good bang for the buck" bikes in the $1000-$1500 range, both road bikes and commuter bikes. Those would be the sorts that casual newer riders are looking for. But focus on comfort type features that will help folks want to ride :)
Let's face it, despite the price, it doesn't tick any boxes other than having an at-first-look-showoff bike for starters that does cost no money. The weight, the shifters, the brakes ... slow, heavy, dangerous, inconvenient to ride and not worth the money spent at all.
I agree mostly, but not about the brakes. It took longer to stop for sure, but the bike was also three times as heavy and had a taller guy sitting on it. I don't think the brakes were doing that bad really. Then we haven't even mentioned the crappy tyres that were on the thing.
@@AKIOTV Yeah maybe, but they really weren't going fast and still there was quite some distance between the two. Once you're used to good brakes, you always feel a bit frightened on a lesser bike. Nobody knows how well they keep up, but you do on a Tiagra or 105 groupset with new pads.
@@JMacSp You're better off if you just get a used bike for double the price or even a bit more for one that can be upgraded but has solid components, throwing on good wheels after 1 or 2 years. 300 GBP is nothing that you would ride for long if you get into cycling as a starter and would go into the trash anyway, soon.
@@JMacSp Next to my modern Ridley, I have a 2004 Fondriest alloy bike for 550€ and I'm not sure if it isn't even lighter than the carbon one. Would be great if the 10-speed Chorus would ever shift so smooth as modern groupsets do. Other than that, no way I would never ever trade it in for this s**tbox. 😁
@@JMacSp My first bike was a Peugeot from Halfords cost 100 pounds, it had worse brakes than that thing, similar gears, though probably a bit lighter though, got me into cycling, and possibly the strong steel frame saved my life when a driver pulled out of a junction in front of me - still did 1000s of miles after the crash, just had to jump on the forks to straighten them. The important thing is it got me into cycling.
Tbh my first “road bike” was more of a “road oriented” bike. Was actually a hybrid bike, my first bike shop bike, and my first fully rigid bike. That little hybrid got me into this sport and I graduated to a proper entry level road bike last year. I still keep the hybrid cause it has sentimental value to me (plus sometimes I just want to cruise around the town), but in all honestly, if the bike works for you, then ride it.
Absolutely!
Is Eourobike GCN:s new sponsor? Feel sorry for Ollie if that this way🤣
I wonder how much $$$ Eurobike would have to sponsor GCN to have their bike featured and positively reviewed? Everyone has a price.
@@newttella1043 It is the price we must pay for to less People not order GCN+😅
I’ve recently got a bespoke vintage style road bike with the old style gears on the diagonal bar. Took some getting used to but I absolutely love it. Can get up hills with 16 gears that I could never have dreamed of on a 21 speed mountain bike.
Wait a minute, did I hear you guys correctly?
It has "dual" disc brakes as opposed to just one?
Well then, that changes everything! Killer deal guys!
[insert sarcastic Jim Carrey thumbs-up here] 😂
Just rode my $12 garage find '86 steel Bridgestone with bar end shifters up Mt Diablo (highest point in San Francisco Bay Area 3800+ feet of elevation) with friends who were riding their newer light weight carbons. The 16%+ gradient at the peak really made me feel the weight of the bike. Equipment does matter. Glad i put compact cranks and 9s 11-32 on it and removed the stem shifters. It rode well but man was i jealous at the ease my buddies were going up.
At least you got a good workout. LOL.
Dont know why everyone has a go at Ollie he is one of the best GCN presenters along with Dan & Simon
It's an in-joke. Ollie's a good sport, and goes along with it.
The look of a weld might suggest a strong weld but it doesn't necessarily indicate a strong joint. Tube thickness matters as well for a strong joint.
I just saw it on Walmart's site for $230. I think I'll still pass.
Now this ! This is what people want, because we're not rich, and we don't get free sponsored things.
Not going to lie, i might... actually put some money aside and get my hands on one of these even though the price will be almost double for me here.
Nice vid ;) Keep these ones up!
Edit: although i still think a lot about the bike that my father has, carbon frame, and paid around 450£ to 500. And that one doesn't require me to pay extra taxes ;) From "Decathlon" in france. I don't live there anymore though but not a problem to get my hands on one ;)
It has a kick stand. Beat that :p Froomy never had a kick stand.
I bought a $300( plus $50 shipping) tandem mountain bike to ride my daughter to middle school about twelve years ago. It showed up with fairly decent linear pull brakes and a beef 7-speed gripshift system. We only rode it to school a half dozen times or so, but we did use it to ride a twenty mile charity for the American Diabetes Association and a retired friend and I put in a few short training rides and did a thirty-five mile charity ride for the MS Society on it. It actually cruised up and down the hills of Virginia quite well in both cases.
I recommend bikes which are $300 or less to people who only ride bike few times a year. If you're planning put several thousand miles per year, then $300 bike will not last long.
I got a "new" hybrid bike for £500. Mongoose ... Bloody heavy. After 1 year of regular cycling cost me few times the original price,new parts, constant repairs...
Will go next time with at least £2000 🚴🔥
Something's wrong, there. A £500 bike shouldn't need any significant repairs in the first year and you shouldn't need to spend anything like £2000 to get something decent. (If you want to spend £2000, go for it, but that should be an "I want something really special" purchase, not a "I want it to still work after a year" bike.)
I do my own maintenance on my entry level Claris groupset road bike. Things I changed in past 2 years/12,000km are dozen brake pads, 2 tires, 3 chains, 1 cassette, and 1 shifter cable. At least I'm glad that I don't have to spend so much since entry level components are not expensive.
@@Reanimator999 Yes, that's a much more reasonable level of maintenance for a two-year-old bike. Chuck in a few inner tubes, too.
@@beeble2003 I only replaced one inner tube. How about you? What parts did you have to repair?
@@Reanimator999 I go through more tubes than that, as I quite often wreck a tube by getting it stuck between the rim and tyre as I'm putting the tyre back on. I also replace more shifter cables than you, because my bike has Tiagra shifters, which turn the cable through a tight corner so wear them out faster. Other than that, I'm about the same as you.
Best to do your research and buy something like a used like a Btwin Triban with a Sora group set and descent build quality. Then again having external cable routing is always a plus for those of us who prefer ease of maintenance over looks.
15 kilos is absurd, my 500€ aluminum hardtail mountain bike weighs around 13
I think it’s normal for a aluminum bike.
@@arbjful my £625 aluminium Giant Contend 2020 weighs about 9 kg in size L.
@@arbjful my road bike is a converted trekking bike, with a rigid trekking frame, and wheels with Exal alloy rims (which are robust, but not really lightweight) and 36 spokes.
It's still slightly under 13kg, despite the wheels would be also usable on a 29 inch MTB.
You can even build a alloy fat bike (where a single tire weighs up to 1,8 kg) with 15 kg.