700c gmc denali road bike

Hi,

I had the same bike 5 weeks ago so I do have experience with it. The bike cost about 159 at any walmart which was a bike that I could afford. I didnt want to spend too much for my 1st tri coming up Oct 10th so I went with it.

I will be honest with you. It is heavy, parts are shimano but are pretty cheap as I am sure you are aware. I bought it knowing these things but because of the price I bought it anyway. I am sure thats why u are as well. Ummm...the bike never shift properly the 1st time. I would have to play with the shifters before settling into a gear but perhaps the derailleirs were misaligned. I tried fixing the problem but it remained. I also read that it does not shift well at all while climbing so any gear changes need to be made before inclines. I havent confirmed this myself. The brake pads are really cheap and I would recommend to change them for safety reasons. The wheels were way out of true.

This is very important! If you buy the bike. Before u ride on it. Be sure to take the wheels off and file the inner rims. There are sharp points that stick out by the spokes which WILL puncture the tube. I read this all over the internet and i laughed thinking this would never happen to me. well, i took it on a 16 mile ride and POP 11 miles into it making a 5 mile brick run back to the van. LOL so please make sure u do before u ride. ive read so many  reports of this happening.

I am just giving you some of the realistic things you will find with the bike so that you will be aware of them if u decide to buy it.

The bike is not a bad deal but check out some used bikes locally if u can. check craigslist etc. I had no success in finding one and the reason I bought the bike. I averaged 16 mph on my 1st 10 mile ride so the bike is faster than a mountain bike. I would have kept it to be honest but I had some help to purchase a Specialized Allez Elite so I brought it back. Got my money back after a week at walmart.

Maybe buy it and check it out. u can always get ur money back if it not what u want. it will suffice for a sprint but if u are wanting to ride for enjoyment then u will want to save up for something a little nicer. it is definetly a bike to get u into the race though.

good luck in ur decision. i wanted to give you some of the negatives so u can base ur decision.

I'm going to advise agains the Denali. I had one, and it was a miserable experience. It was heavy, and I'm not sure I got through a single ride without something breaking. I probably only put about 750 miles on it and had to get new pedals (yes, they broke), 4 broken spokes, then new wheels, cassette, and rear hub. I should have gotten new brakes too....those things were dangerous. In the end, you'll wind up spending just as much money as buying a quality used bike, but with far more headaches and long walks back to the car.

ETA: I would up giving the bike away to a friend who had no bike and couldn't afford to buy one. I could not, in good conscience, have sold this bike to anyone for even $1.

I secon bikesdirect.com or the "dawes" bikes. You will probably get much better quality than you would in a bike purchased from walmart.  Granted, you might pay a little more (I paid around $350 on Bikesdirect) but the bike never had problems other than replacing the rim tape.