planet x ? is this a good buy ?
Comments
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How much do you think the name brands spend to produce their carbon frames? You might be surprised... In buying a Trek a substantial part of the sticker price is going into their sponsorship and advertising budget.ACMadone wrote:I am fully aware of the Planet X ethos is and fair play to them, however the quality of a carbon frame that costs around £400 is obviously not the greatest. If that's all you can afford to spend on a frame then personally I would buy an aluminium one.
A lot of friends have the PX and I've ridden it, it is a lovely bike to ride, very stiff and responsive. As others have hinted it is quite a racy geometry so you would have to bear that in mind. For me that is a plus.
My current best road bike is a Litespeed Archon; I previously rode Trek aluminium and then carbon. The carbon Treks in particular are fantastic bikes, amazingly comfortable, but they are certainly overpriced- in fact that would go for my Litespeed as well
I also had a Focus Cayo for a season. Just to give you an idea what I am comparing against.
Incidentally one of my friends with a PX "upgraded" to it from a carbon Trek (5200 I think) and he actually much prefers the PX, he kept the Trek as a second bike... Make of that what you will. Of the six or seven riders I know with the bikes (both carbon and ti) they are all delighted with them, I have not heard a single complaint.
I've ordered the PX £999 Ultegra offer to use as a second bike over the winter, as it is a fantastic deal...
This whole "I have never ridden one but I know it's shíte" thing really gets my goat. It is pure snobbery from people who feel for some reason they have to justify their own bike's price tag.0 -
This whole "I have never ridden one but I know it's shíte" thing really gets my goat. It is pure snobbery from people who feel for some reason they have to justify their own bike's price tag.
I don't feel as though I have justify the price tag of my own bikes at all. Wouldn't have bought them if I did. The Planet X are great value for money and great starting point. You get some great components for the money, but just like everything you can always upgrade later.0 -
pabloweaver wrote:Aggieboy wrote:pabloweaver wrote:sigh..................
however, just to repeat what I put on a previously withrawn topic...
Out of interest why was that previous post re PX withdrawn and who by?
I think the mods withdrew it ( rightly ) as a pic of a cut up carbon frame and the " failings" within it was posted , infering that it was a certain brand of bike ( which it wasn't) ...it was all getting a bit messy ... ( hope thats kept me clear of the legal and mod issues ! )
still is if you read the follow on topic !
Thanks for that. I was enjoying the thread (bought some popcorn specially!!). I must have missed the bit you mention - shame really. At least Dave(?) from PX had the balls to front up on here and good luck to them."There's a shortage of perfect breasts in this world, t'would be a pity to damage yours."0 -
kafkathedog
So what exactly is it you hate about low end carbon frames?
winter beast: http://i497.photobucket.com/albums/rr34 ... uff016.jpg
Summer beast; http://i497.photobucket.com/albums/rr34 ... uff015.jpg0 -
STEFANOS4784 wrote:kafkathedog
So what exactly is it you hate about low end carbon frames?
Not me buddy, I like my planet-x.
Lets not start Tacx Boy off again looks like he's got bored with our low intellects0 -
Was just trying to get a rise, worked(almost)
Just to clarify i was joking
I love it when this happens 8)winter beast: http://i497.photobucket.com/albums/rr34 ... uff016.jpg
Summer beast; http://i497.photobucket.com/albums/rr34 ... uff015.jpg0 -
well folks ..... ive been out riding my PX instead of arguing the toss about it
and after another lumpy 60 miles....
it hasn't killed anybody , robbed anybody , not lost me ONE ferkin job.....
oh hang on thats the Bill Hicks forum ...
start again ...
its not folded into a napkin, melted with the drizzle , bent 90degrees when sprinting or climbing , turned in papier mache or collapsed in a heap when I got home ..
in fact its got me from start to finish comfortably and smoothly ....
who'da thunk it !
all that from a bike less than 3 grand !
wont clean itself though.....guess thats one of the things you pay extra for ! 0 -
i hope you were not wearing Assos bibs while riding the planet x :shock:
(Sorry - couldn't resist)regards,
dbb0 -
Why does the PX always rate highly in cycling magazine tests?
I have a PX and love it. Ok I know it is never going to be as good as say a Trek Madone 6.9 but for just £1050 I got a mainly dura ace bike with good wheels.
Again the wheels are not as good as say Easton EA90 or alike but a vast improvement over the usual factory wheels you get on bikes sold in shops.
I originally was going to get a Spec Roubaix Comp 2009. This has a retail price of £1700 with only a 105 group-set and Rs10 wheels.
I will in due course upgrade to a dream machine but in the meantime the PX ticks all the right boxes.0 -
Hi there
I think I was the author of the previous post. What happened before it got withdrawn, excluding the photo?
Am just curious!0 -
aside from the technical merits or otherwise of the Planet X, does anybody feel that they are just such a spectacularly dull looking bike that is found everywhere that you couldn't buy one?
on that money I'd rather go for a Focus even if the group would be a step down.0 -
Not keen on the available colours other than the pink, strangely enough. Looks lovely in pink but the grey/black are a bit of an acquired taste.
Having said that the Boardmans look great in black so maybe its the lack of sheen on the paint.
The Focus Cayo is lovely by comparison but is a bit more expensive. If I had £1800 though I'd quite like the Cayo with the SRAM Red group. Nice 8)0 -
wildmoustache wrote:aside from the technical merits or otherwise of the Planet X, does anybody feel that they are just such a spectacularly dull looking bike that is found everywhere that you couldn't buy one?
on that money I'd rather go for a Focus even if the group would be a step down.
I didn't like the look of it - thats why I didn't buy it. On paper, price, spec - I should have brought it - but as has been said your partly buy with your heart - probably cost me an extra £400 to buy a comparable bike - but pretiier IMO.
If you like the look of px fine, or if you go for spec over looks fine - but I couldn't spend £1500 on something that didn't 'wow' me ! - that said the PX deals at the moment have to best around.0 -
Thing is, they're the not the best around if you can't stand the look of it!
So much of cycling is about aesthetics. We all know that to be true - look at any bike forum, club run, sportive, road race, pro race etc. etc. etc. I'd venture that the looks of a bike have a far bigger influence on sales than most or even all of the technical merits combined.0 -
wildmoustache wrote:Thing is, they're the not the best around if you can't stand the look of it!
So much of cycling is about aesthetics. We all know that to be true - look at any bike forum, club run, sportive, road race, pro race etc. etc. etc. I'd venture that the looks of a bike have a far bigger influence on sales than most or even all of the technical merits combined.
Dunno - a few years back I brought a peugeot - because it was reynolds 653 tubing, and shimano ultegra - thing is, as good as the bike was - it never looked the part. Since then however I have always gone for the wow factor!0 -
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does anybody feel that they are just such a spectacularly dull looking bike that is found everywhere that you couldn't buy one?
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nope
I think the carbon weave with the gloss finsh is great (and the quality of it) and the amount of positive comments I have had everwhere it goes suggests others think so ....but it is all in the eye of the beholder I suppose.. bizzarely ...I did not buy the focus because I found it to be a horrible looking bike re: paint job ..
not sure I understand the last part of your sentence though?0 -
redddraggon wrote:The carbon bikes look crap and have crap geometry, so that counts me out, otherwise I'd one. Looking to get a Ti P-X in the next month though,
Just curious - Why do you think the geometry's crap ?
I started with a 52cm Ribble winter frame, and now ride a px carbon in medium..
The px feels slightly twitchy to me in comparison, as if there is less rake in the fork, but having ridden hundreds of miles on it, I'm now used to this.
The only other issue I have is the amount of seatpost I have showing, but that's just aesthetics (AFAIK)..0 -
pabloweaver wrote:does anybody feel that they are just such a spectacularly dull looking bike that is found everywhere that you couldn't buy one?
.
nope
I think the carbon weave with the gloss finsh is great (and the quality of it) and the amount of positive comments I have had everwhere it goes suggests others think so ....but it is all in the eye of the beholder I suppose.. bizzarely ...I did not buy the focus because I found it to be a horrible looking bike re: paint job ..
not sure I understand the last part of your sentence though?
I don't think the basic focuses/foci are that nice either. Plain black with Planet X written on it, and BMX frame shape is about as aesthetically unappealling as a road bike gets IMO. And they are everywhere ... every sportive full of bikeradar newbies heaving round their Planet Xs discussing the latest reviews in Cycling Plus, the merits of Model B wheelsets etc. Good luck to em!
Great bikes though!0 -
wildmoustache wrote:pabloweaver wrote:does anybody feel that they are just such a spectacularly dull looking bike that is found everywhere that you couldn't buy one?
.
nope
I think the carbon weave with the gloss finsh is great (and the quality of it) and the amount of positive comments I have had everwhere it goes suggests others think so ....but it is all in the eye of the beholder I suppose.. bizzarely ...I did not buy the focus because I found it to be a horrible looking bike re: paint job ..
not sure I understand the last part of your sentence though?
I don't think the basic focuses/foci are that nice either. Plain black with Planet X written on it, and BMX frame shape is about as aesthetically unappealling as a road bike gets IMO. And they are everywhere ... every sportive full of bikeradar newbies heaving round their Planet Xs discussing the latest reviews in Cycling Plus, the merits of Model B wheelsets etc. Good luck to em!
Great bikes though!
anybike ...anywhere..can only be a good thing
I better got a disguise for mine ( or me! ) maybe there is a market for inflatable/cardboard frame cover that makes any bike look like something a bit sexier to the crtiics ...mmm...gold in dem thar hills!
each to their own, I like mine ...and I'm def no newbie ...If I had money to burn ( please mr lottery please mr lottery ..) I would prob have bought different for the lush factor , but pound for pound it suits my needs and takes up a neat little space with the other bikes cluttering up the place ..................
her word cluttering ...not mine ! 0 -
wildmoustache wrote:every sportive full of bikeradar newbies heaving round their Planet Xs discussing the latest reviews in Cycling Plus, the merits of Model B wheelsets etc. Good luck to em!
Great bikes though!
True, they are everywhere - Also plenty of people heaving them around races and getting good results!0 -
I'm riding a Planet X carbon frame that I bought to replace a Columbus steel framed Bianchi that I'd ridden pretty hard for 12 years and had developed a crack on the head tube.
And I like it. The geometry seems to suit me, maybe its my long body and short @rse legs.
I used to work in the bike trade, retail and manufacturing, and I've done plenty of miles over many years. The one thing I learnt is that being a bike snob is a waste of time, the last sportive I rode I was passed halfway round by a lad on a Carrera Mtb who had lost sight of his dad and hared off to look for him. Last time I saw him he was about 1/4ml ahead of me on the Black Mountain and dropping a bloke on a Colnago. So who had the best bike?
I'd rather have good legs than worry about which of the four factories in Taiwan built the carbon frame I'm riding0 -
Update on this- got my new Planet X for use as my winter trainer and set it up to match my position on my summer bike (a Litespeed Archon.)
The thing rides beautifully and is fantastically light for the price. Have R-SYS wheels on it at the moment and honestly I can't tell the difference between it and my Litespeed. Goes up hills great, goes down hills great, great on the flat with aerobars. Very stiff in terms of power transfer. Great bike, you cannot go wrong. Mine is the stock £999 Ultegra 6700 offer excepting the wheelset.
I will report back in a few weeks after the frame undoubtedly falls apart 0 -
Have to admit that I've been put off by the looks of the Planet - X but having looked at the photos in BikeR4ridings link on page 1 of this thread the plain carbon frame looks far, far nicer than on Planet X's own photos. Does their lack of marketing go as far as not hiring a decent photographer? Bearing in mind the only negative comments (leaving aside those that think you can't have a carbon bike with high spec components for under £1k) are in relation to the appearance of the bike maybe they ought to do something about this. Still not sure about the compact geometry but now considering it as a possibility and I would go for the xl frame as my height overlaps l and xl so the frame wouldn't appear quite so much like a child's bike.0
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I think it does look better in the flesh. I have a few friends with them and the white one by far looks the best although as with any white bike it is a nightmare to keep clean and so not a great choice for a winter bike. I also know people with it in blue and pink so I have seen the full range of options.
It is an extremely compact geometry, even more so than Giant which is really saying something... Whether you can live with this aesthetically is going to be something of a personal matter, despite coming from a Trek traditional geometry I have no strong feelings on the matter myself. I was able to set it up so my position feels pretty identical to my Litespeed which is all that really matters to me.
Litespeed (have since lowered the bars for more drop.)
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blorg wrote:I think it does look better in the flesh. I have a few friends with them and the white one by far looks the best although as with any white bike it is a nightmare to keep clean and so not a great choice for a winter bike. I also know people with it in blue and pink so I have seen the full range of options.
It is an extremely compact geometry, even more so than Giant which is really saying something... Whether you can live with this aesthetically is going to be something of a personal matter, despite coming from a Trek traditional geometry I have no strong feelings on the matter myself. I was able to set it up so my position feels pretty identical to my Litespeed which is all that really matters to me.
Litespeed (have since lowered the bars for more drop.)
Ideal for a winter trainer man, enjoy ......0 -
I've spent some time agonising over this buy, the main doubt being quality of the frame, there is a lot of doubt cast over the price of the frame ie its cheap so can't be up to much, planet x are currently knocking out (branded & quality) carbon cranks at £150.00, does this suddenly mean they are poor. I've took a punt and invested in one, I based it on the fact that I have never seen a Planet x advert so their overheads must be minimal, it may well be a generic frame but supermarkets place their own branded foods next to named brands& sell it for far cheaper & its the same stuff, How ? they aren't paying any overheads. I intend to race on mine next year so we shall see.0
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good decision, you'll probably love it. Let us know what you think when you get it."The only absolute statement is that everything is relative" - anon0
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jonnycon wrote:I've spent some time agonising over this buy, the main doubt being quality of the frame, there is a lot of doubt cast over the price of the frame ie its cheap so can't be up to much, planet x are currently knocking out (branded & quality) carbon cranks at £150.00, does this suddenly mean they are poor. I've took a punt and invested in one, I based it on the fact that I have never seen a Planet x advert so their overheads must be minimal, it may well be a generic frame but supermarkets place their own branded foods next to named brands& sell it for far cheaper & its the same stuff, How ? they aren't paying any overheads. I intend to race on mine next year so we shall see.
They don't use a middle man, so that's why they will be able to knock these out at such a good price.0 -
I'm not too keen on the Planet-X in black, but I recently passed one in white (or cream, more like) and thought 'what a nice looking bike'. It had a compact frame and looking from the rear the seat stays had a pronounced curve outwards half way down. Does anyone know what frame this might be? It looked like carbon fibre. If anyone has photos of the rear (oooh matron) I might be able to identify it.
cheers0
