Customer Reviews

GMC Denali Pro Road Bike (56cm Frame)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I am an avid cyclist who also owns 5 other bikes, including another higher end quicker carbon fiber/aluminum road bike, which is my basis for comparison. The Pro is the cheapest road bike available with integrated shifters/brakes (brifters). It is made in China. The Pro gives you an authentic and responsive road bike feel without the typical road bike price.

RIDE
The frame geometry, wheelbase, and riding position is agressive/speed oriented, rather than comfort/touring oriented. I have ridden over 1500 miles at the time of this writing and have taken it on city roads, serious rides, and on rollers. Recently, this bike was ridden on a 110-mile ride with no problems. It rides similar to my other road bike, except the handlebars are a smaller diameter and due to the steel fork, the front end is 1.75" taller. The handlebars have conventional bends rather than anatomic bends, which I prefer. The stiffness/suppleness of the frame/fork is comparable to my other bike. However, the extra heft is definitely noticeable during acceleration. The brakes are Tektro brand dual pivot side-pulls typical to modern road bikes and are excellent in terms of modulation and stopping power. The cable housing from the lever to the front brake came 3" too long. It must be shortened 3" or else 1/2" of the initial braking stroke is ineffective. The seapost is a high quality model with good allen-bolt adjustment. The kickstand is high quality and works well. It also comes with a nice aluminum bottle cage. It comes with toe-clip pedals. These are difficult to use and should be upgraded to clipless pedals for better performance and safety. This upgrade is typical for road bikes of all price ranges.

DRIVETRAIN
The Microshift drivetrain, after some modifications, is as smooth as the Shimano Sora STI groupo that comes with inexpensive road bikes. The cable housing from the brifters come about 3" too long, so they kink at the downtube stop. This housing must be trimmed 3" or else shifting is rough and imprecise. The brifters are nice and well-designed. Its a variation of Campagnolo, SRAM, and Shimano brifters. The brake lever does not rotate, but there is a button and lever below the lever. Consequently, the Microshift brake lever feels more secure than Shimano, since the Shimano brake lever can get a little rotational displacement while braking. The front derailleur lever requires a super long throw to upshift them. Shimano brifters are better for the front derailleur. The low gear (39F/28R) is good for hills up to 6% grade with 70 rpm cadence. The high gear (53F/11R) is useable up to 32 mph.

TIRES/WHEELS
I changed the rim strips to cloth ones and the tubes to ones with presta valves. The OEM rim strip is cheap rubber and the tube will eventually push the strip through the aero wheel holes and cause flats. The schrader tubes are more difficult to pump up to 100 psi due to air leakage upon releasing the valve. The tires are a cheap and low performance Kenda model with a maximum pressure of 90 psi. At this low pressure, they are susceptible to snake bite flats. Upgrade them to sturdier and smoother 115 psi tires such as the Continental 4000's when the stock tires wear out.

WEIGHT
Out of the box, the Pro is about 27 lbs, which is heavier than most road bikes (15-23 lbs is typical). I changed out some parts including the wheelset and now mine is about 24 lbs. The wheelset is on the heavy side, especially the rear wheel, but it is sturdy with 36 spokes instead of 32 or less spokes. Other components that are heavier than typical are the old-fashioned quill stem, the 8 speed freewheel/hub(not cassette/freehub like most modern road bikes), the steel fork (not carbon fiber like most modern bikes), the all alumninum frameset (not carbon fiber), the solid bolted rear axle (not quick release), and a steel-railed saddle.

BUILD
If you are not an experienced bike mechanic, I highly recommend you have your local bike shop mechanic assemble, make the crucial modifications to this bike, and adjust the fit to your body. Otherwise, you will not be happy. The build from China was very sloppy compared to many other bikes I assembled and setup. Shortening cable housing, adjusting the hubs, adjusting the brakes, truing the wheels, changing out the rim strips, and untangling the cables were all necessary and not easy for beginner mechanics.

LOOKS
The bike can be good looking with a few modifications, and people have mistaken mine for an expensive bicycle. The Pro is made much more attractive if you take off the ugly and unnecessary black spoke protector in the rear wheel. What gives the Pro away as a cheap bike is the ugly steel spider and pants protector on the crankset. Upgrading to an all alumimum crankset will not only improve the looks but make the Pro a pound lighter.

CONCLUSION
This bike is ideal as a second road bike for an avid cyclist. Since the geometry is similar to a typical road bike, you can switch back and forth between the Pro and a higher-end road bike without re-acclimation. If you train on a 27 lb bike, you will be very fast on a typical road bike. Also, the low price means you can bring it anywhere with no anxiety in case it gets stolen. The wheels are sturdy and will take a pounding on bad urban roads.

This bike is not good as a primary bike for the novice hoping to upgrade or a serious rider because of the following:
1. The quill stem is not easily customizable. Most modern bikes use a threadless headset, so stems of different lengths can be obtained to get the perfect fit, which is paramount to road biking.
2. The rear wheel uses a freewheel and not a cassette system. It will be difficult to change the gearing or replace the freewheel on this bike, since freewheels are hard to remove and procure. Eventually all cogs wear out. I took the freewheel off and greased it heavily to make it easier to replace later.
3. The bolted rear wheel makes it harder to change flats on the road. You need to bring a wrench. You can get a hollow 3/8" x 26 tpi axle and quick release skewer for $30. Cheaper to carry the wrench.
4. The welded in kickstand bracket makes it a real pain to remove the rear wheel. Most road bikes do not have a bracket, so there's no such problem.
5. The shifting system for the front derailleur isn't as good as Shimano. Because it is a brifter system, it is much better than Revo on the Denali base model though.
6. It only comes in one size, so it will not fit everyone. A less than perfect fit will result in injuries and discomfort.
7. The stem accepts an unusually small diameter handlebar, and it is unlikely that you can change out the handlebars, in case the stock one doesn't fit or you desire an anatomic model.

Unless this is a second bike, or there is no chance you would get serious, its better to pay a little more and get the Forge road bike from Target. The Forge does not have the shortcomings above, but with an alumnimum frame and steel fork, it is questionable whether you would want to upgrade it when you get hooked to road biking. If you want even better performance than the Forge, you should get a higher end road bike. I suggest you get one from a local bike store, Craigslist, or from Bikesdirect.

Just received my second one from Amazon. Returned the first one after sprocket ratchet mechanism failed four miles into my first ride. Prior to that, I was very pleased with the ride. I purchased the bike on sale from Amazon for less than half the list price, so I decided to exchange it instead of returning it. For typical price of 299, you would likely be better off finding a used bike of higher quality. For 170, I think I will be pleased, even if I have to deal with occasional problems. Amazon was of course wonderful in the exchange process, shipping a new one overnight and providing free return shipping of the defective bike.

I had decided to buy the Denali Pro after i visited my local bike shop and became very depressed at the fact that the cheapest entry level road bike there was $629.00. So needless to say i did some research online and found the Denali Pro on EB*Y for around $249.00. After assembling the bike and spending a day fine-tuning all the gears and the brakes to how I like them (watch a couple of youtube videos on how to fine-tune bike gears and brakes---this helped me out a lot with getting that local bike shop fine-tuning without the local bike shop price tag), I took the bike out for a test ride (10 miles). I rode the bike on my local bike path and found it to be very responsive and comfortable to ride. The bike is very fast. I was able to keep the bike at a constant speed of 21 mph for the duration of my ride with little effort.
One draw back to the bike was the saddle. This comes as no surprise since the bike comes with a generic stock road bike saddle. I upgraded the saddle to a ARS men's relief saddle. The new saddle is a major improvement over the stock saddle in the area of junk & rear-end comfort.
Another problem I had with the bike was the toe straps on the pedals. The strap itself came undone from the mounting position on the pedals several times. I fixed this by squeezing the mounting tabs on the straps. This has kept the strap in place.
A major selling point about this bike was the micro-shift gear system. The hand shifters are modeled after a high-end rapid fire mountain bike shifter. They are placed just behind the brake levers. This makes changing gears an effortless process. I feel that this type of shifting system is an improvement over the usual shifter/brake lever system found on other road bikes. The problem with the shifter/brake lever system is that when applying the brake it is common to accidentally shift gears. With the micro-shift gear system this is not a problem.
The 56cm frame is a perfect fit for me. I am 5'10" and fit comfortably on the bike with the seat post set to the lowest setting. I would recommend this road bike to everyone who is looking for a great and inexpensive entry level road bike.

A real good purchase. I've had the bike for little over a year and have ridden about 500m on it. It allowed me to get into the sport for an unbeatable price and then slowly spend my money on upgrades. First thing I upgraded was the pedals to Shimano cleats ($74) and I bought my first pair of cycling shoes ($100).

Two months ago I found on sale a set of Bontrager SSR wheels $220. What a HUGE difference it made in the bike. I definitely recommend upgrading both or at least the rear wheel on this bike. The original bearing system on the rear wheel is the old style open ball bearing and not sealed bearings. The upgrade to the Bontrager wheels has got me amazed. I've noticed also the impact when going through bumps reduced tremendously with the Bontrager wheels. One thing to notice is that the shifter on the bike is Shimano but not so the gears cassette. The original cassete is some old style DNP not compatible with anything. So I had to buy a Shimano 8 speed cassette for my new rear wheel ($40). With an original purchase of $250 I basically now have a $584 bike and I'm very very happy with it.

Definitely will recommend.

Also, contrary to another review above, the seat DOES have an inclination adjustment, absolutely it does. Mine came from the factory with the front of the seat kinda upwards and I tilted the seat forward until it was comfortable.

Roadie experience:
I'm a CAT 3 racer. Currently own a 54cm Felt F3 roadbike full CF & compact sram red. Mileage 4.3k.
My "totaled" Old roadie. Mercier Corvus aluminum/carbon with SRAM Apex components. Mileage 20.2k.


Denali pro Review
Reason:
I bought the (Denali pro) for my wife.

Strengths:
The bike has 8 speed Microshifter. Shimano front derailleur and microshift rear derailleur. I'm impressed on both front and rear derailleurs it actually shifts very well, it needed to be fine tuned however. It has Kenda tire with max of 90 PSI. Kinda hard to pump it to 90psi with schrader valve so I changed it into presta, other than that both tires works well on the bike. The aluminum frame, steel fork, rims, and crankset were solid. Solid enough to absorb cracks and small potholes on the road. The whole bike actually rides superbly on a flat/downhill road (My wife was drafting behind me at average of 20-25mph on a flat surface). It has now 529.7miles on it incase your wondering, and so far no flats. Overall it Exceed my expectation for its price.


Weaknesses:
Bike has arrive in an OK shape. Front and Rear rims was bent a little, but that can be fix. Break calipers were out of place. Bottom bracket, and both Hubs has no grease. locknut from the Headset needs to be tighten. It came with a "freewheel" not Cassette/Freehub like other roadies. Weighs at 26 lbs with no reflectors and without protectors. Needs to be clean regularly cuz dirt seems to stack-up near the welded kick-stand causing ur front derailleur to function improperly.

Conclusion:
For me its the best entry bike money can buy, and more important my wife was happy with it. If you are new to road bikes, let ur bikeshop check and assemble it for you, cost you only
15-20$ well worth for your safety and for lifespan of your bike .

I just recieved this bike today. It was pretty simply to put together. This is my first road bike and I really enjoy it. It is really fast and seems to be a quality item. I have only ridden 5 miles so far, but I think it will last much longer. I defintaly recomend this bike if you are a beginner or don't have $500+ dollars to spend.

I cannot recommend this bike enough for someone who wants to really dig in to road cycling.

Price: This is usually on sale for about $250-$270. When comparing this bike to others in the same price range, you are certainly getting the best deal. Other bikes may weigh as much (or even slightly less), but you are getting an excellent shifting system for the price.

Parts Quality: Everything comes packaged very well, there is some assembly required and to get the most out of your bike, I'd recommend taking it to a shop to get the gears tuned well. The frames and wheels are by no means exceptionally light, but they certainly not bad (again, for the price, very good). I also very much like the tires that came in the package. The Shimano gear system is VERY good and I was very surprised that a bike this inexpensive had such a nice system. The pedals that come with aren't anything to write home about. I replaced them (again, a very cheap fix) with ease. It also comes with a kickstand, something most road bikes drop for weight purposes (once more, very simple to remove, just a couple allen wrench turns).

On the Road: This bike does great. It absorbs shock pretty well, shifts smoothly, and has been a very good ride for me so far. I've done about 900 miles on it with ZERO issues. The seat it comes with isn't the most comfortable for long periods (a cheap fix) I also ride a pretty expensive Motobecane and can't believe that this GMC bike can hold its own against it (minus the huge weight difference).

Overall: If you're looking for a beginner bike, you won't be happier. Remember, this is a 56 cm frame. I am 6 feet tall and it fits pretty well (maybe a touch on the small side, if anything at all). Oh, it also looks pretty slick :P

I got this bike new from Amazon during Spring 2011. I ride around 5 miles a day on average, with occasional longer rides, typically commuting on lousy city streets.

Some quick warnings:
My bike came with 3-stop front shifters, despite only having 2 chainrings. These cannot be adjusted to properly work together. I suspect I have similar compatibility issues in the rear, as despite fixing the derailleur stops, I have never been able to get all of the rear cassette to work.
Much of the bike is quite oddly standardized.

This was/is my first road bike, and at first I was quite pleased. Then the problems started rolling in:
* Tires are too thin to ride on the road. I had 5 flats in 2 weeks. The first 2 or 3 were with lousy tubes, the remainder were with nice ones. Replacing the tires is not cheap.
* When I replaced the tires, I discovered that the rims are, in fact, smaller than 700C. THEY ARE NOT ISO 622. Trying to fully pressurize ISO 622 tires on the stock rims will result in poor bead seats and flats.
* As a matter of personal preference, 36 spokes is too many. So, to replace the rims, I needed to replace the hubs.
* This turned out not to be a big deal, because the freewheel failed after about 6 months.
* After about 4 months the bottom bracket bearing started failing.
* After about 5 months the crank spindle had bent. This also caused the inner chainring to hit the frame.

tl;dr: If you buy this bike and actually use it, you'll put more money into repairing and replacing parts on it than you would just buying a nicer bike to begin with. Not worth the trouble.

I received the bike on time and was assembled very easily. Would recommend taking it to a bike shop to have it tuned to your likings and an overall inspection of the bike. It's my first road bike and I love how comfortable the ride is, friends with those pricy high-end bikes even told me you really had a great buy. For the money you cannot go wrong getting this bike if you need an entry level bike. Awesome bike, will recommend to anyone looking for a new, cheap road bike.

So are you looking for a great buy on a bike? I priced out a number of bikes and researched the componets. By far if you're looking for the deal on a great road bike look no further. And NO, I don't work for the company, I just happen to be extreemly happy with this purchase. For those of you who need a bit of info on this GMC name, the bike manufacturer is acually KENT bikes who have been in business since 1909. The founder who would start out by restoring old bike frames found a true passion for it and opened up a bike shop on the lower east side of New York. From that,here we are today being offered Jeep built, GMC Denali, Cadillac, Razor, and yes- Kent bikes just as solid and full of quality as most high end expensive road and moutain bikes. I would recommend this GMC Denali to anyone not wishing to spend alot of money, but is seeking a great two wheeler.