How reliable are Planet X bikes?
rowanharley
Posts: 76
I've been searching for bikes and Planet X seem to be one of the cheapest out there! But I've recently heard some stories from fellow cyclists about the bikes breaking very easily (like fork cracking after running over a pothole). Are these story's believable? If someone who's had a Planet X bike for a while could answer this, it would be really helpful!
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Any bike will have stories about breakages. Nobody bothers reporting when nothing goes wrong.
I have built quite a few Pro Carbons and no one has never had a problem
All good from my point of view.
De Sisti wrote:
This is one of the silliest threads I've come across.
Recognition at last Matthew, well done!, a justified honour
I think you get the idea. Still my other bike is a steel road bike and 26 years old. Stopped riding it because I couldn't be bothered getting it fixed. At that point the brakes were non-existent, the steering had a very off-putting instability in it and I'd broken the oem pedal a bit. That was possibly at about 23 years old and many oem kit. Well in my defense it was a bike that I enjoyed riding on and not one for tinkering with. Plus it never killed me the lack of maintenance.
BTW it's still a cracking bike. (off topic). One that'll only need new wheels, new pedals (if I can get contemporary oem ones) and a new quill steerer I guess.
Anyway I make so with bikes for some time. So perhaps not the best person for advice. However planetx bike that I own has been this and still is reliable. You might be unlucky with yours but I've had nothing but good service. Including with the replacement derailleur hanger after a kind of crash in it (rear wheel went walkies as I set off using the chain as a lead). Still, both bike and me got back on the roads after fixing. Nothing wrong with that frame.
XLS only about 2,000 miles so far, includes a fair bit of full-on off road. Only damage: accidentally unclipped jumping a drain, landed hard on saddle and bent it slightly. Looks a bit odd now but no functional problem.
As has been said up-thread, you will hear pretty quickly about a handful of faults. Don't forget that PX bikes are really very common, so the proportion failing is tiny.
Going back to when I bought my Pro Carbon 8 years ago there were BS stories going round then about PX bikes, particularly the Pro Carbon, and yet they still sell well which should give you a clue as to the validity of the stories.
Ask those who tell you these tales if they've owned and ridden the bikes they talk of and the universal response will most likely be they haven't but they've heard stories or read it on a forum. You've done right to ask those who've experience of the bikes.
Ridden a couple of thousand miles on it so far and can't fault it.
One thing to note about the Pro Carbon and some of the other carbon framesets from PX is that they still come with a standard BSA threaded BB which is a big plus point in my book.
Also I'm running 28mm Michelin Pro4 Endurance on mine. Clearance is a smidge tight but I've had no issues with crud build up or debris getting trapped. Not many frame out there will allow that IMHO
Don't listen to the detractors - in many cases it's just brand snobbery
eh? Not knocking your bike at all but there's LOADS of frames out there that will do that.
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Unfortunately my experience is that any bike frame will fail if ridden enough - although I am very heavy and I ride a lot!
Really? censored , I'd better stop riding my 20,000mile Wilier Izoard then. And I'm 99kg! How am I still alive?!
Mate's Pro Carbon has done plenty of miles, survived lots of rough baggage handler efforts on trips to Portugal and Lanzarote (soft bag, not box!) and is fine.
Road - Wilier Izoard Centaur/Cube Agree C62 Disc
Allround - Cotic Solaris
20,000 miles isnt really all that much.
I’ve no idea what caused it but it looks like the fibres have been crushed - could of been me !!!
It was about 2.5 years old with about 13000 miles.
I bought another Px frame but this was the Maratona rather than the Pro Carbon. You can’t beat their prices.
I’ve now got it how I like it but they are quite different frames.
I ride about 7000 miles a year, and since I began commuting in 2013 I've broken five frames. None of them have failed catastrophically or caused me any kind of injury in the course of their failure.
It's anecdotal, sure, but for me I wouldn't risk a two year warranty on a bike frame. Would have to be seriously good value to offset the risk IMHO.
If you weigh half what I do, and plenty of riders do, I can see that wouldn't be a concern.
Does it matter considering you're ignoring all the advice on the other thread where everyone is telling you that it is too big for your height?
I remember my mate getting sold a 25 1/4 inch bike to grow into. I think you'd need to be about 6'6" to fit it.
He wasn't. Shocking shop.
Are there bikes made specifically for your build ?
I always buy within published weight limits. I always buy with lifetime or otherwise adequate warranty durations. What else would you suggest I do?
Again, I wish I had your luck. I am an unfortunate combination (for bike longevity) of very heavy, powerful, 140 mile a week commuter.
I ride with another big guy, not as big as me (90kg ish), he has also broken two bike frames in the last few years so it isn't just my experience.
Heavier, more expensive, but much less hassle and more reliable.
I was 100kg when I got back to it though and must wonder what on earth your mate is doing.
I am not sure. You have no chance.
Fitted out with Shimano 6800/9000 mix and Fulcrum zero's it weighs not much over 7Kg's. It's still a much better bike than I'll ever be a rider!
Timothy and friend are going up and down kerbs.
I am not sure. You have no chance.
At last weekends race, which was very muddy, my rear mech caught the spokes with the accumulation of mud and sheared the break off bolt on the mech. The following morning when cleaning the bike down I found the seat stay near where the cable stop is for the rear mech has a crack in it around 3/4 of the circumference of the tube. I have been in touch with Planetx and they will not offer me any exchange under warranty, they have offered me a new frame at a discounted price, what price I don’t yet know.
I may just have been unlucky as I can’t imagine this happens too often when you think of the number of mechs that go bang during Cyclo-Cross racing and the number of XLS bikes being raced. I really did like the bike too, and it will be missed, although I might resurrect it after pricing up a repair job. As for me now I’m going back to an alloy frame for ‘cross
Update. I have just received Planet X’s offer of a discounted replacement frame at £450 when they sell on their website for £400