I’m really enjoying this series with the emphasis on budget entries. You’re giving me a list of bikes I can recommend to friends interested in the sport without directing them to 3000+$ bikes, and also for getting my kids on their first adult sized bikes without breaking the bank either. Bravo!
As a mechanic one of the things that really Pee's me off is major brands selling us dealers bikes which are assembled on paper, but have never been assembled physically by those who design them! Today it's all about costs and profit. Having to file down frames, dropouts, disc brake mounts, fix creeking BB's forks that have excessive play in the bearings because of the headset bearing seating, and putting up with soooo many warranty repairs, it's really nagging me. There are some budget bikes which are better quality than the more expensive ones in the same brand catalogue, how can this be? The time it takes to assemble and prepare a bike safely for the road and custmorer (If I ain't happy with it, how can my customer be so?). I spend more time fixing stuff the brands shoulda fixed on paper or in their R&D workshops before sending them to production. ALL FOR FREE TOO! The customer does'nt wanna pay for a bike repair that should'nt need repairing especially after one month out of the box caused by cheap parts or lack of quality. Because of defammation I cannot mention here on YT these brands but there's a few big ones that really ought to think more about bicycles rather than money. And forget the marketing for a while and think about why they started off back in the day etc etc. WHY? well because they used to love riding bikes, now they and their wall street friends love the money instead! QUALITY not QUANTITY! Great video's as always keep up the great work and info!
I absolutely agree on not paying too much attention to weight. I recently bought a budget steel frame and built it up with all spare parts that were leftovers from my previous bikes. Its 2x9 sora-level drivetrain with Alivio rear derailer (for better chain retention), avid BB7 mechanical brakes, Tange cro-mo frame and fork and super heavyweight wheels taken off from old Marin Four Corners. All budget stuff, but the thing is, I love this bike! Its fast and agile, despie the fact that it probably weights about 13 kg. I have plenty of fun with it.
Too tall gearing… C’mon Shimano - is a 11-36T 11sp cassette coming? 2X for entry gravel bikes - these bikes will likely be used for both gravel AND road. Owners won’t have 4 or 5 bikes in their garage. The versatility of 2X is really useful.
With all the points that has been brought out, in a country like India where most of the major city has a Decathlon store, Triban bikes meet all the points. Even if you order online, you can get it delivered at the nearest Decathlon store and get it fitted there. They have a excellent warranty and 90 days return policy. They also have a buy back in one of the store as of right now. The new 120 Grvl is the RC 120 frame with 1x 38/11-42 gearing, 23mm wide wheels with gravel tires and gravel handlebar.
I absolutely disagree with his comment about tubless not being worth it on the road. To me, it absolutely is. It still dramatically reduces the chances of flats and issues. But, I do agree with him that tubes are fine on a road bike but crazy that manufacturers don't make tubless standard on gravel bikes.
At the risk of getting flamed, I feel like the merits of bike shops can be overplayed. I regularly hear from casual and inexperienced cyclists that they face arrogant, condescending, and unhelpful bike shop staff when they go in looking for help and advice. Back in the 1900s when I was a newb, I certainly encountered that, too. And I've both heard about and worked with very helpful online and phone-based folks from mfr-direct companies (as well as bad experiences). Ultimately, if, as an entry-level cyclist, you can find a bike shop (or a specific bike shop employee) that's helpful, I agree that's probably the way to go at this price point and it's great to support local businesses. But blanket statements about bike shops always being better seem off the mark. (I recently subscribed to your site. Love your articles and videos. Keep up the good work!)
Weight is definitely not something you should worry too much about for entry level bikes. Getting the right gear range for intended use is a great start. And upgrading tyres can make a bike feel like it’s a feather
As an avid amateur rider I’d take a quality aluminum (trek, cannondale canyon ) over carbon any day. Put nice wheels on it and you’ve got what 99.9 pct of amateur riders need.
Thanks for doing these series series of videos. This one was helpful future choices as in the process setting up the many year old rim brake CX bike for the fall and running into finding parts problems. Trouble is finding good quality mid weight clincher-tubeless rim brake wheels to act as my daily drivers and back race up for the race tubular set. So now looking for a budget disc brake CX/all road/gravel. The posideon frame co. hq is close by. It will about an extra $1400 to get the X frameset where I need it to be for my needs. Plus not sure how my long time lbs will be willing to work on it. Or going with a Scott speedster gravel bike at the lbs which is more but comes as I want it, without bike building up hassles with unfamiler parts for me. Looking forward to the Vaast bike review as another local shop I go to regularly carries the brand.
For beginners, the fact is it can be complicated for the rider. They have lots of other brand new things to worry about, like control, comfort, braking, general situational awareness.
Criticizing Salsa for tires that aren't tubeless ready, but Specialized Diverge starts out with wheels that aren't tubeless compatible. Way easier and cheaper to replace tires than wheels
Yeah definitely keep tubeless off entry level bikes. Your new rider isn’t going to be riding every day. And most tubeless setups can only go a week before they go flat and need to be set up again. This would destroy new rider confidence if they are constantly fighting with tires.
Are you kidding??? What is complicated on simple piece of mechanical device like front derailleur? Also, going tubeless on road bike is the best upgrade, if you have tubeless ready wheels. I have tubeless setup almost two years on my both road bikes, and never go back to tubes. Fast, lightweight and worry free rides.
The front derailleur itself is definitely a simple device. But imagine having to explain how to operate a multi-chainring bicycle drivetrain to a non-cyclist. It's not at all intuitive.
@@angryasian74 yes, you are right, the humanity becomes more stupid each decade. 30-40 years ago, everybody knows how to use two derailleurs on the bike. I don't need to imagine, only few years ago, I was forced to build one-by MTB for my younger son (10yo) because he wasn't able to learn how to use these two shifters on left and right side of the handlebar.☹️
@@romanpramuka2703 This is why you have sports anime shows like Yowamushi Pedal. The manga, anime and live action. Is like edutainment for the basic fundamentals of cycling for the younger generation. If you want to entertain kids and influence them to go cycling. Introduce them to Yowamushi Pedal.
I’m really enjoying this series with the emphasis on budget entries. You’re giving me a list of bikes I can recommend to friends interested in the sport without directing them to 3000+$ bikes, and also for getting my kids on their first adult sized bikes without breaking the bank either. Bravo!
As a mechanic one of the things that really Pee's me off is major brands selling us dealers bikes which are assembled on paper, but have never been assembled physically by those who design them! Today it's all about costs and profit. Having to file down frames, dropouts, disc brake mounts, fix creeking BB's forks that have excessive play in the bearings because of the headset bearing seating, and putting up with soooo many warranty repairs, it's really nagging me. There are some budget bikes which are better quality than the more expensive ones in the same brand catalogue, how can this be? The time it takes to assemble and prepare a bike safely for the road and custmorer (If I ain't happy with it, how can my customer be so?). I spend more time fixing stuff the brands shoulda fixed on paper or in their R&D workshops before sending them to production. ALL FOR FREE TOO! The customer does'nt wanna pay for a bike repair that should'nt need repairing especially after one month out of the box caused by cheap parts or lack of quality. Because of defammation I cannot mention here on YT these brands but there's a few big ones that really ought to think more about bicycles rather than money. And forget the marketing for a while and think about why they started off back in the day etc etc. WHY? well because they used to love riding bikes, now they and their wall street friends love the money instead! QUALITY not QUANTITY! Great video's as always keep up the great work and info!
I absolutely agree on not paying too much attention to weight. I recently bought a budget steel frame and built it up with all spare parts that were leftovers from my previous bikes. Its 2x9 sora-level drivetrain with Alivio rear derailer (for better chain retention), avid BB7 mechanical brakes, Tange cro-mo frame and fork and super heavyweight wheels taken off from old Marin Four Corners. All budget stuff, but the thing is, I love this bike! Its fast and agile, despie the fact that it probably weights about 13 kg. I have plenty of fun with it.
Too tall gearing… C’mon Shimano - is a 11-36T 11sp cassette coming?
2X for entry gravel bikes - these bikes will likely be used for both gravel AND road. Owners won’t have 4 or 5 bikes in their garage. The versatility of 2X is really useful.
With all the points that has been brought out, in a country like India where most of the major city has a Decathlon store, Triban bikes meet all the points.
Even if you order online, you can get it delivered at the nearest Decathlon store and get it fitted there. They have a excellent warranty and 90 days return policy.
They also have a buy back in one of the store as of right now.
The new 120 Grvl is the RC 120 frame with 1x 38/11-42 gearing, 23mm wide wheels with gravel tires and gravel handlebar.
I absolutely disagree with his comment about tubless not being worth it on the road. To me, it absolutely is. It still dramatically reduces the chances of flats and issues. But, I do agree with him that tubes are fine on a road bike but crazy that manufacturers don't make tubless standard on gravel bikes.
Trek Checkpoint SLs have their wheels set up for tubeless out of the box, just fill them with sealant (provided with the bike) and you're good to go.
Totally agree 100% worth it to go tubeless
The bike must, work, reliable, fit the rider and looks are important. The rider must be proud of their bike.
At the risk of getting flamed, I feel like the merits of bike shops can be overplayed. I regularly hear from casual and inexperienced cyclists that they face arrogant, condescending, and unhelpful bike shop staff when they go in looking for help and advice. Back in the 1900s when I was a newb, I certainly encountered that, too. And I've both heard about and worked with very helpful online and phone-based folks from mfr-direct companies (as well as bad experiences). Ultimately, if, as an entry-level cyclist, you can find a bike shop (or a specific bike shop employee) that's helpful, I agree that's probably the way to go at this price point and it's great to support local businesses. But blanket statements about bike shops always being better seem off the mark. (I recently subscribed to your site. Love your articles and videos. Keep up the good work!)
Weight is definitely not something you should worry too much about for entry level bikes. Getting the right gear range for intended use is a great start. And upgrading tyres can make a bike feel like it’s a feather
Betsy killed this review
Need to see WAY more of Betsy!
Tubes for me. I don't feel like being sprayed with sealant all the time. Of course, I'm 91 kilos so....
100% agree on State brand bikes coming in unsafe condition. They need a LOT of work to get them to work as intended.
Mine was totally fine.
As an avid amateur rider I’d take a quality aluminum (trek, cannondale canyon ) over carbon any day. Put nice wheels on it and you’ve got what 99.9 pct of amateur riders need.
Thanks for doing these series series of videos. This one was helpful future choices as in the process setting up the many year old rim brake CX bike for the fall and running into finding parts problems. Trouble is finding good quality mid weight clincher-tubeless rim brake wheels to act as my daily drivers and back race up for the race tubular set. So now looking for a budget disc brake CX/all road/gravel. The posideon frame co. hq is close by. It will about an extra $1400 to get the X frameset where I need it to be for my needs. Plus not sure how my long time lbs will be willing to work on it. Or going with a Scott speedster gravel bike at the lbs which is more but comes as I want it, without bike building up hassles with unfamiler parts for me. Looking forward to the Vaast bike review as another local shop I go to regularly carries the brand.
LOL…. since when did a 2x up front become complicated! 🤪
For beginners, the fact is it can be complicated for the rider. They have lots of other brand new things to worry about, like control, comfort, braking, general situational awareness.
I always like to think of it this way: try explaining a multi-chainring bicycle drivetrain to your (presumably non-cyclist) grandparent.
@@angryasian74 Some things are better learned by doing
back in the days of triple chainrings you pretty much had to be a scientist but luckily now almost anyone can be a beginning cyclist.
@@DjCringefest Hahahahah
Criticizing Salsa for tires that aren't tubeless ready, but Specialized Diverge starts out with wheels that aren't tubeless compatible. Way easier and cheaper to replace tires than wheels
Great hair, Betsy! ✌️
Hi from canada
Yeah definitely keep tubeless off entry level bikes. Your new rider isn’t going to be riding every day. And most tubeless setups can only go a week before they go flat and need to be set up again. This would destroy new rider confidence if they are constantly fighting with tires.
limiting frustrating experiences would include not muccing around with tubeless yourself. can be a disaster. tubes for beginners lady.
Those two with james look like they'd rather be somewhere else.
Have you ever hung out with me in person? I'd want to be somewhere else, too.
Are you kidding??? What is complicated on simple piece of mechanical device like front derailleur? Also, going tubeless on road bike is the best upgrade, if you have tubeless ready wheels. I have tubeless setup almost two years on my both road bikes, and never go back to tubes. Fast, lightweight and worry free rides.
The front derailleur itself is definitely a simple device. But imagine having to explain how to operate a multi-chainring bicycle drivetrain to a non-cyclist. It's not at all intuitive.
@@angryasian74 yes, you are right, the humanity becomes more stupid each decade. 30-40 years ago, everybody knows how to use two derailleurs on the bike. I don't need to imagine, only few years ago, I was forced to build one-by MTB for my younger son (10yo) because he wasn't able to learn how to use these two shifters on left and right side of the handlebar.☹️
@@romanpramuka2703 This is why you have sports anime shows like Yowamushi Pedal. The manga, anime and live action. Is like edutainment for the basic fundamentals of cycling for the younger generation. If you want to entertain kids and influence them to go cycling. Introduce them to Yowamushi Pedal.