Unhappy cyclist...

fitzkate

A couple of months ago I bought my first cyclocross - a Focus Mares AX 5.0. I can definitely say I did not rush into this decision and did a lot of research. I bought the bike on the Cycle to Work scheme and I was also limited by shop (which I would prefer not to name). I have had numerous problems with the bike (gears, mudguards shearing) but in the main I have had a lot of problems with the shop and I do not think the bike is the right bike for me. This may sound trivial but I am not happy with the bike and it does not feel like a £1k bike and I am waiting for the next problem to occur - I would take back my £400 Specialized hybrid tomorrow! So, I am thinking of buying another bike. I have been drawn to the Pinnacle Arkose Two 2014 at Evans (http://www.evanscycles.com/products/pin ... e-ec054865).

I would be interested to hear the opinions of others: anyone else out there have a Focus Mares AX 5.0 or have an opinion on the bike? Am I just being a bit rash and should I give the Focus a chance? Any views on the Pinnacle? Any other suggestions on bikes? I will use the bike for commuting on roads with occasional trips on cycle paths/old railway paths.

Cheers,

Kate

N0bodyOfTheGoat

The 2015 Pinnacle Arkose bikes have been added to their site in the last day or two, the 2015 frames are triple butted (2014 are double?), plus the new (cheaper) Singlespeed has the same Hylex hydraulic brakes as both the 2014 and 2015 Arkose Two.

I was tempted by the Arkose Two 2014, but now I'm thinking about the Singlespeed 2015, which I might be able to upgrade to the Alfine8 kit I could strip off damaged frame of my Saracen.

bryanm

I'd be more inclined to take the bike somewhere else to be serviced / setup correctly. You'll have to pay, but if they sort it, it will be significantly cheaper than buying another bike and taking the hit on off-load the the Mares.

veronese68

bryanm wrote:

I'd be more inclined to take the bike somewhere else to be serviced / setup correctly. You'll have to pay, but if they sort it, it will be significantly cheaper than buying another bike and taking the hit on off-load the the Mares.

I'd agree with this, give the bike a fair chance.
I tried a Pinnacle Arkose before I got my Kinesis and didn't like it. Hard to put my finger on what it was, but it just felt very dull.

fitzkate

Thanks for the responses folk!

mattrixdesign2

I really like the Arkose 2 idea, the 2014 is "discounted" - but the 2015 seems about the same price!

A nice simple idea, gives a light bike for a decent price, upgrade the wheels and it could be a nice feather weight off roader, and also good for commutes and shorter winter road rides.

FransJacques

Kate, you have a good, balanced view of your choices and you're really right when you say "do I need to give it a chance?" that is 100% correct. Bonding with a bike can take months, you need to ride it, feel it, listen to what it tells you about it, the terrain and how you are riding it. Sounds wooly but it's how humans connect with any machine.

A £1000 bike is a nice piece of complex equipment, but you need to get it set up correctly from a really good shop. Or at least from trusted sources. Some people even take pix or videos of them riding their bikes and post them on this site for comment. Maybe your fit is all wrong. Maybe you bought the wrong size, etc. But overall you need to learn how the bike rides and appreciate it before you make a rash decision. In my case, I have 4-5 carbon bikes: all are different and I appreciate and love each for different attributes they each have. Bizarre but they all have their own personality. Some of them took me >1 year to decipher. So give it time.

Swapping this decent bike for the Pinnacle is a like for like swap and you might not notice the difference you're seeking. If you got a really top carbon cross bike with light wheels that's another matter (i.e. a matter of £2000-3000 quid).