c+ reviews

dexty

hi all,
anyone see the cycling plus review bike of the year this month? The selections seemed a bit strange, Your beloved p...X got the worst rating...a 6... but had the best kit! They definitely didn't want to offend any of their advertisers anyway with anything they were saying. The best thing I could see about the winner was it's value for money. I was looking at the AR 4 and the madone 4.7 myself, not much help really. I really like the new ultegras getting rid of the cables and think it's worth the few quid extra, anyone else think this? If it was between 105's and old Ultegra I think i'd stay with 105s. Was does anyone think of the AR4 and 4.7?
D

petethedrummer

Just finished reading them myself. Thats the new planet X frame they gave a 6 to, not the boardsie one. I like the look of the Bianchi in the reviews myself.

blorg

Having some years reading them now I trust C+ reviews about zero. As you say they have advertisers to please. I would trust forum reports from users far more frankly.

As Pete says though this is the new PX frame so there are no "user" reviews of the thing yet and indeed it is not even on sale yet. I wouldn't be jumping in to it immediately... The existing bike is certainly well regarded among the ignorant rabble.

Lumen

The CP 50 bike test is a whole bike review, which has obvious pros and cons. Given the difference that a change of tyres and wheels makes (or even different tyre pressures) I don't think they can really assess the qualities of the framesets at anything but a very basic level.

I also don't really understand how a bike test of that size is possible logistically, without having a bunch of people ride bikes that aren't set up for them right.

My own brand loyalty to Planet-X is based purely on the products and service I've received from them, and the feedback from people I ride with. They're nice bikes, well built and excellent value. I'll wait and see what the specs and prices on the Nano look like, but it sounds like a decent enough proposition for a race bike.

ednwireland

i would take any magazine reviews with a very large pinch of salt

niceonetom

[Dons tinfoil hat]

Every planet-x sold through word-of-mouth internet gabbing (e.g.this forum) is dagger to the heart of wiggle, evans, chainreaction etc.etc.etc. all big double-page-spread advertisers. Hobbling a new planet-x before it has gotten any public ride time would sell quite a few alu bikes around the bike-to-work price point, and lots of carbon at the lucrative £1500+ bracket for the big bike stores. ITTOEH it's not hard to suspect that job security might be hedging out reviewer impartiality and journalistic integrity.

I've seen the xpace in real life and it looks like a classy machine. Nicely profiled tubes, not too compact, and internal cable routing. I'm sure P_X will ugly it up with some supernaff decals though. It doesn't have CARBON written on every surface which they'l seek to remedy no doubt. Looks mean very little in terms of performance though, but the geometry charts don't look ridiculous (still no 56 though!), I'll wait till the rabble get their taste. Or blorg, whichever.

Raam

niceonetom wrote: »

ITTOEH

?

Lumen

Raam wrote: »

?

In These Times Of Economic Hardship

ROK ON

Tom come on now. Be sensible. ITTOEH. Its not even in google FFS.

ROK ON

Lumen wrote: »

In These Times Of Economic Hardship

Feck off. In all seriousness this nonsense has to stop.

Lumen

ROK ON wrote: »

Feck off. In all seriousness this nonsense has to stop.

Sorry.

My domestique duties have obviously extended to explaining and apologising for Tom's acronyms.

ednwireland

would i buy anything on the basis on a review no, but i would search google for reviews and look through any forums - although you do tend to only get bad reviews it does tend to point to generic defects, i was looking for hdd recorder, local shop has one but that model about 90% of the reviews complain about freezing and poor software so i aint gonna buy it, i do this for most things i buy

and i bought a focus cayo and i dont like sloping top tubes on road bikes so i dont particularly like p-x's

blorg

Focus Cayo has a sloping top tube like every other bike made these days albeit not as extreme as the PX. The PX is substantially lighter and a nicer ride which swings it for me but I am not particularly concerned about aesthetics.

@Tom- of course, I remember those Xpaces from Spain. They are nice looking bikes all right although IIRC they were built up quite heavy. The frame itself is meant to be very light (from 820g.) It is also not particularly compact so that would address that common issue people have with PX.

Planet X themselves have posted some extensive details of their frame design/selection process and history, interesting read.

Raam

From an aesthetic viewpoint, of which I am primarily concerned about, the Xpace was a beaut.

tunney

niceonetom wrote: »

[Dons tinfoil hat]

Every planet-x sold through word-of-mouth internet gabbing (e.g.this forum) is dagger to the heart of wiggle, evans, chainreaction etc.etc.etc. all big double-page-spread advertisers. Hobbling a new planet-x before it has gotten any public ride time would sell quite a few alu bikes around the bike-to-work price point, and lots of carbon at the lucrative £1500+ bracket for the big bike stores. ITTOEH it's not hard to suspect that job security might be hedging out reviewer impartiality and journalistic integrity.

I've seen the xpace in real life and it looks like a classy machine. Nicely profiled tubes, not too compact, and internal cable routing. I'm sure P_X will ugly it up with some supernaff decals though. It doesn't have CARBON written on every surface which they'l seek to remedy no doubt. Looks mean very little in terms of performance though, but the geometry charts don't look ridiculous (still no 56 though!), I'll wait till the rabble get their taste. Or blorg, whichever.

I found the review refreshing in that it was vaguely honest about the PX, they do suffer from flex, but to be honest its unlikely to affect most of their owners.

dexty

user reviews do seem a lot more useful alright, any thoughts on the 2 bikes i mentioned? (madone 4.7 and Ar4) can't find many 2010 user reviews on them

blorg

dexty wrote: »

user reviews do seem a lot more useful alright, any thoughts on the 2 bikes i mentioned? (madone 4.7 and Ar4) can't find many 2010 user reviews on them

Can't speak about the Ar4 but I had a Trek 5000 before my Cayo and it was a lovely bike, the most comfortable I have ever owned. The Madone 4.7 I believe has the same geometry, preserves this comfort from what I have read and looks better (IMO.) Very good choice, the only downside is the premium you may need to pay for the Trek decals. If you pick it up on sale it is a no-brainer.

ednwireland

dexty wrote: »

user reviews do seem a lot more useful alright, any thoughts on the 2 bikes i mentioned? (madone 4.7 and Ar4) can't find many 2010 user reviews on them

i have no thoughts of my own

http://tinyurl.com/yeo9go5

blorg wrote: »

Focus Cayo has a sloping top tube like every other bike made these days albeit not as extreme as the PX. The PX is substantially lighter and a nicer ride which swings it for me but I am not particularly concerned about aesthetics.

begone with you blorg - i will never be able to allow my cayo access to the internet now

blorg

Don't get me wrong, the Cayo is a nice bike, I liked my own one very much. The PX is just lighter and to me at least feels stiffer or more direct in terms of the power transfer. Aesthetically the Cayo looks nicer all right with the less extreme slope on the top tube (I was coming from a Trek with a horizontal top tube.)

niceonetom

tunney wrote: »

I found the review refreshing in that it was vaguely honest about the PX, they do suffer from flex, but to be honest its unlikely to affect most of their owners.

You and they are talking about different bikes. Do keep up.

tunney

niceonetom wrote: »

You and they are talking about different bikes. Do keep up.

Which PX Frame are they talking about? I can't see any new ones on their site.

blorg

tunney wrote: »

Which PX Frame are they talking about? I can't see any new ones on their site.

The new one that isn't on the site.

tunney

blorg wrote: »

The new one that isn't on the site.

Ah that one, the one that was in C+ review where they said it flexed?

blorg

tunney wrote: »

Ah that one, the one that was in C+ review where they said it flexed?

I believe they said that, yes.

More details including a very long post from Planet X on this BikeRadar thread on exactly where there frames come from and who designs them. If you click back you will see where they give details of testers who liked the bike- these are people who had ridden the bike under other decals I believe.

Lumen

tunney wrote: »

Ah that one, the one that was in C+ review where they said it flexed?

This one.

Limestone1

any link to the reviews ?

ednwireland

Lumen wrote: »

This one.

isnt that the one bcmf bought