Planet X Road Bike.
Author
Discussion

550Anniv

Original Poster:

381 posts

251 months

Tuesday 4th November 2014
quotequote all
Hi Guys. Just getting back into cycling and looking to get a carbon road bike. I am liking the look of the pro carbon road bike from Planet X.
I was just wondering if any of you guys have got one and your thoughts.
Thanks.

Vocal Minority

8,582 posts

181 months

Tuesday 4th November 2014
quotequote all
Have to be honest I have had better customer service experiences.

However, the pro carbon is a decent frame in my opinion. It's a bit pointy, but that suits me.

nammynake

2,658 posts

202 months

Tuesday 4th November 2014
quotequote all
Don't dismiss Aluminium. A good Alu frame will be better than a cheap carbon frame and you'll generally get better components and wheels for the same price.

Not saying the PlanetX frame isn't good - their bikes get good reviews - but don't assume that all carbon bikes are necessarily good.

MadDad

3,835 posts

290 months

Tuesday 4th November 2014
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^^^^^^^ Wot he said, CAAD 10 or Felt F series are serious bits of well established and well built Alu kit, don't get swept away with the idea of buying carbon because it is the current trend!!

dontdobends

485 posts

243 months

Tuesday 4th November 2014
quotequote all
Had one in Spain on hire this year for a week,it was ok apart from the folks flexing when out of the saddle.

MadDad

3,835 posts

290 months

Tuesday 4th November 2014
quotequote all
dontdobends said:
Had one in Spain on hire this year for a week,it was ok apart from the folks flexing when out of the saddle.
Well, they are known as Planet-fleX for a reason!!!! wink

LotusMartin

1,127 posts

181 months

Wednesday 5th November 2014
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My next door neighbour bought one on my recommendation - he uses it for commuting, social riding and triathlon and seems very happy indeed (after changing the saddle).

Definitely good value even if it's only partially Ultegra not the full groupset.

bakerstreet

5,042 posts

194 months

Wednesday 5th November 2014
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First things first, please go and do a search. Planet X has been discussed a lot on here. I think there are some other dedicated threads

I have a Planet X Cyclocross bike and generally speaking I am very happy with it. Some of the components are a bit tesco value, but you can easily change those. The bars and seat post on my SLX are pretty poor, but for £100, you can get a carbon seat post and bars from China smile

I would have bought the N2A frame earlier in the year for my nice road bike, but the frame was advertised with a chip and it was actually a crack and I wasn't happy with that. The process took weeks to get it shipped and sort out the return.

As someone else said, their customer service is terrible and their shipping times and are well behind CRC and Wiggle.

If you are after a bargain, Planet X are knocking out 10 speed Pro Carbons at £800 now and you can't get much better than that. Yes, the latest bikes are all 11 speed now, but please don't let that put you off.



Steve vRS

5,393 posts

270 months

Wednesday 5th November 2014
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Just to add to the aluminium options, I can heartily recommend the Giant Deft 1. I have ridden well over 12000miles on mine and it has taken me from a puffed out 10mile rider to a puffed out 100mile rider!

It has been reliable (once the FSA crank was swapped for Shimano), has 105 components and has a comfortable ride and geometry. The wheels are poor but were soon upgraded.

Steve

HDog

92 posts

218 months

Wednesday 5th November 2014
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I have one and rate it very highly. Super lightweight and you can get a great spec for the money. Personally I've not noticed any significant flex people reference when the pro carbon frame is mentioned.

If you can get up to Sheffield they will let you loose on a test bike. Customer service for me was excellent.


v12Legs

313 posts

144 months

Wednesday 5th November 2014
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I've got one, and my only criticism is that the front end is a bit twitchy sometimes.
They may well have fixed that.

mikees

2,890 posts

201 months

Wednesday 5th November 2014
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Just bought a replacement for 2 other (sort of winter and turbo) bikes.

£500 ebay special - PX with full 11 speed ultra.

Was pretty much new.

Fantastic bike and not far off my £1300 Super6 105 (better groupo)

I like them - now sure about flexing - not seen any.

Mike

anonymous-user

83 months

Wednesday 5th November 2014
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IMHO PX get a bit of a bum deal, when stuff goes tits up on the STW forum, Brant is often there to resolve the issue, sure it shouldnt get that far but not many companies are that concerned that the MD is trying to resolve things on a public forum late into the evening. They offer good bikes at sensible prices, the N2A and Nanolight certainly seem to be comparable to some far more expensive bikes. I havent had an issue with them when buying stuff.

They seem happy to get to the source of the goods and be public about it
http://www.planetx.co.uk/news/planet-x-news/q/date...

JSquaredJim

238 posts

241 months

Wednesday 5th November 2014
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Rt 57 with SRAM Force, 2 years on 3000 miles in and it's a great bike. Very stiff and uncompromising so you do feel a little beaten up after 150kms.
Have swapped the alloy bars and seat post for Carbon and that improved things but the best investment was a decent Selle Italia saddle. The PX own brand one may as well be made of razor blades.
Go try if you can, but no complaints.
I might be tempted with a B Twin for the money though, the finish seems a little classier.

milu

2,513 posts

295 months

Wednesday 5th November 2014
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I've had a pro carbon and now have a RT 57 carbon. Very happy with them both.
I must be the odd one out cos I like the PX saddle too...I even have one on my hybrid.

The Count

3,412 posts

292 months

Wednesday 5th November 2014
quotequote all
Vocal Minority said:
Have to be honest I have had better customer service experiences.

However, the pro carbon is a decent frame in my opinion. It's a bit pointy, but that suits me.
i concur with VM smile

mcelliott

10,491 posts

210 months

Wednesday 5th November 2014
quotequote all
I've had my Planet X Carbon Pro (Athena groupy) for about 3 years now. Love it. From 3 hour rides i the Alpes to mental quick crit racing, never missed a beat. It is neither flexie or pointy. Agree the saddles are st - I replaced mine with a Bontrega RL series - lovely saddle. Brilliant bikes.

550Anniv

Original Poster:

381 posts

251 months

Wednesday 5th November 2014
quotequote all
...thanks for your help with this guys. I am a far distance from a Planet X dealer, so not really able to call in.
My main use for the bike is to improve my fitness with some good long rides.
my budget is circa £1000 of hard earned cash, so I want to make sure what i buy is a quality item.
Thanks guys for all your input.

Fastpedeller

4,346 posts

175 months

Wednesday 5th November 2014
quotequote all
bakerstreet said:
As someone else said, their customer service is terrible and their shipping times and are well behind CRC and Wiggle.
I've had some very good customer customer service from PlanetX. Example today I sent an email because I couldn't request a stock alert when an item was next available - A short while later came an email with expected availability date!

Barchettaman

7,254 posts

161 months

Thursday 6th November 2014
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550Anniv said:
...thanks for your help with this guys. I am a far distance from a Planet X dealer, so not really able to call in.
My main use for the bike is to improve my fitness with some good long rides.
my budget is circa £1000 of hard earned cash, so I want to make sure what i buy is a quality item.
Thanks guys for all your input.
It's your money, of course, but there is a LOT of value in lower-end bikes at the moment.

If you can bear the thought of aluminium frame / carbon fork, you can get something perfectly seviceable for £300+

Heck, even the Ventura carbon bike is only £500 at Argos at the moment - there's a long thread running on this forum.

Best of luck whatever you decide to do. If you're getting in to road cycling for the first time a proper fit is really useful, or at the very least seek out an experienced road cyclist for sizing advice.