How reliable are Planet X bikes?

rowanharley

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!

cougie

I've got three. None have broken yet. In the same time my mates s works has had a broken frame and a broken fork.

Any bike will have stories about breakages. Nobody bothers reporting when nothing goes wrong.

Matthewfalle

I have two (cx bike and crit bike) and have never had a problem

I have built quite a few Pro Carbons and no one has never had a problem

All good from my point of view.

tangled_metal

Mines taken a beating but still going well. London road bike so maybe a tougher option than a CF bike from them. It's done a lot from towing heavy trailers through to fully loaded touring (plus followme-tandems with 4 year old attached). Add in weekly commutes over all seasons for 3 or more years (can't remember when I got it now it just feels part of the family). BTW my maintenance counts as a hose over it when I can be bothered (every other month at best), quick lube up when I have time and think about it. Add in a degrease (half-hearted and when I can be bothered at 6 monthly). Into the mix you must include potholes. I've hit quite a few doozies over the years on that bike. One left me thinking I'd bust the fork or at least weakened it beyond safety. I never did get that checked out, is a year and a half too late for that?

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.

hopkinb

I have a pickenflick, which is from the same stable, sram rival hydraulic groupset. Aside from consumables, I've changed the wheels and the saddle, and I really should change the seatpost as it's basically a short length of scaffolding pole. It's done approx. 15 thousand kilometres in all weathers in 2 years, had a couple of crashes. No doubt I am tempting fate here, but it's still in perfect working order.

bompington

Pro carbon so far done about 10,000 miles, rough roads, potholes, 85-90kg rider. Occasional clumsy bunny-hops. No sign of damage.
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.

cougie

Rowan what do people ride in your club ? There's loads of planet X bikes out there. Really very common.

PhilipPirrip

I've got a Pro Carbon that's 8 years old and still going strong and being used on an almost daily basis, both on the road and on the turbo. I also had an XLS but sold it recently.

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.

joey54321

My Dad and I both have Ti bikes from 8-10 years ago. Might has been great but he recently had an issue where the rear stay snapped off at the hanger/rear axle. It took a while but it was replaced under warranty.

schlepcycling

I have a London Road and it's just about to enter it's 3rd winter of service and I've had no issues with it at all.

arlowood

Got a bargain last January of a Pro Carbon frameset. Built it up with 105 5800 and Deda parts + some handbuilt wheels from Malcom at Cycleclinic (H Plu Son Archetype rims with Miche Hubs)
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

joey54321

arlowood wrote:

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

eh? Not knocking your bike at all but there's LOADS of frames out there that will do that.

redvision

I have never owned one myself but club mates who have a planet x bike only have good things to say about them.

diamonddog

5 year old Pro Carbon never missed a beat, just as good to ride as my Canyon Ultimate CF.

cooldad

Couple of mates have On One mountain bikes. Ridden hard, no issues at all.

redvee

I live with two London Road bikes and the oldest which is used daily is coming up to 11,000 miles or 2 1/4 years. No problems with either of them though my only gripe with PlanetX is the amount you have to spend to get free postage.

timothyw

While I agree that Planet X bikes aren't any less reliable than others, it is fair to point out that they only offer two year warranty on their frames (5 years titanium) where plenty of other manufacturers go further - eg I recently had a Fuji frame fail after four years which was replaced without issue.

Unfortunately my experience is that any bike frame will fail if ridden enough - although I am very heavy and I ride a lot!

lostboysaint

TimothyW wrote:

Unfortunately my experience is that any bike frame will fail if ridden enough - although I am very heavy and I ride a lot!

Really? Shit, 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.

joey54321

lostboysaint wrote:

TimothyW wrote:

Unfortunately my experience is that any bike frame will fail if ridden enough - although I am very heavy and I ride a lot!

Really? shoot, 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.

20,000 miles isnt really all that much.

paulbnix

I’ve recently had to replace my Px Pro Carbon frame as the top tube cracked.
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.

timothyw

lostboysaint wrote:

TimothyW wrote:

Unfortunately my experience is that any bike frame will fail if ridden enough - although I am very heavy and I ride a lot!

Really? shoot, 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.

I'm 120kg and wish I had your luck... I think the longest a frame lasted me (going from Veloviewer) was 6000 miles, and was the aforementioned Fuji.

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.

StillGoing

RowanHarley wrote:

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!

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?

fenix

Isn't Rowan young and possibly buying a bike to grow into ?

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.

fenix

Timothy - I think you need to look carefully at how you're buying your bikes. Personally I've not broken a frame in > 30 years of riding. I'm not 120 Kg though....

Are there bikes made specifically for your build ?

timothyw

Fenix wrote:

Timothy - I think you need to look carefully at how you're buying your bikes. Personally I've not broken a frame in > 30 years of riding. I'm not 120 Kg though....

Are there bikes made specifically for your build ?

Look carefully how? The last three bikes I was the original owner, they were in warranty, I received good settlements from Wiggle and Evans, PBK screwed me a bit with store credit but that's another story.

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.

pblakeney

TimothyW wrote:

Fenix wrote:

Timothy - I think you need to look carefully at how you're buying your bikes. Personally I've not broken a frame in > 30 years of riding. I'm not 120 Kg though....

Are there bikes made specifically for your build ?

Look carefully how? The last three bikes I was the original owner, they were in warranty, I received good settlements from Wiggle and Evans, PBK screwed me a bit with store credit but that's another story.

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.

I'd suggest going for a custom made steel frame.
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.

ravey1981

Got a few PX frames. Pro carbon, RT80, London Road and an on-one mtb. No issues with any of them. 100% would recommend to a friend. Never pay full price though, they have more sales than DFS.

cougie

I'd go custom steel too in Timothy's case. It will cost more but it's better for your peace of mind coming down a mountain....

johnnymcg259

I've had the same PX Pro Carbon for about 7 or 8 years now; never had any issues with it. At my max weight I'm 80Kg's.
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!

pblakeney

I've finally figured it out.
Timothy and friend are going up and down kerbs.

Paul_Lowe

There seems to a lot of people here who have nothing but positives about Planetx and the XLS. However I bought one in May and took a few months to build it up ready for the cross season, it’s only covered 125 miles so far and won’t be going much further!

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