UKC

Following on from the bargain thread - has anyone any experiences with Planet X frames... good, bad or indifferent?

I'm considering in particular the Planet X RT-90 Carbon Road Frameset with the plan of retiring the old winter/sportive bike (since it's slightly too big for me) and transferring most of the components to the Planet X bike.

Cheers,

In reply to Weekend Punter:

I've got a large pro carbon and I'm very happy with it. It climbs well (I'm a spinner not a cranker though)and is very comfy for longish rides (100-130km-ish). It has been criticised for less than perfect stability on fast descents, and I would concur with this, but it is not so bad as make me hold back, and I've caned it down several Pyrenean cols. The wheels probably influence this as much as anything. Mine's kitted with a 10speed Chorus/Record mix and mid-high end stem/post/bars etc and it is impressively light for a bike of this price. It gets a lot of admiring comments from Euro-roadies who don't know what it is.

In reply to Weekend Punter:

I have the team Alu and the pro carbon. Very happy with both.... I tend to mash rather than spin and there is a touch of flex in the carbon but they are very good value and with decent spec make a good bike for the money..

In reply to Weekend Punter:

I'v had mind for just over a year now. Great bike, value for money you cant beat I think. Some people say the frame is getting a bit 'old' but still havent come up with anything that does as well as it at the same price.

Its a very light frame but I think only has clearance for 25c tyres if you plan to do anything particularly 'wintery' on it.

In reply to Weekend Punter:

I had a Planet-X Pro Carbon as a hire bike for 2 days on holiday - medium size.

It suffered awful rear-wheel wobble at speed, as the frame was so flexible - especially worrying downhill. I've never experienced anything like it on any other bike, and I've ridden a fair few. Terrible climber, too - tried to change to another bike, but they had run out of anything better in my size (busy week in the resort).

I also found the frame geometry in my size had such a compact front triangle that the rear bottle cage wouldn't take a large bottle, although it may be that the cage mounts were a bit on the high side.

Certainly put me off Planet-X bikes.

In reply to LastBoyScout:

The wheel wobble is more likely to be down to the wheels than the frame. I had a bike that seemed to suffer from it, changed the wheels and it's rock solid now - currently serving as the winter bike.

One of the regular members of our club rides a Planet-X. He's small, and his bike's small. He can only fit one bottle on the frame. He is also quick - the frame doesn't seem to hold him back. It does well-enough in triathlons on it (an ordinary road bike with clip-ons).

However, Planet-X seem to have done for POD, which I'm finding hard to forgive.

In reply to nniff:

Pete O'Donovan had already sold POD before Planet-X bought the name.

I agree about the wheel vs frame issue. As I said above, my frame is a large and while its rear end softness might hold Cav back in an uphill finish it doesn't trouble me on long Alpine/Pyrenean climbs or on short brutal Yorkshire ones for that matter, though as said my style poorly mimics Contador than Hinault. It's worth noting that the bike is more sportive/etape than club racer; more Specialized Roubaix than Tarmac.

FWIW I've almost always found PX to be a pain in the arse to deal with, but their kit is astonishingly good value (I also have an Inbred and mrs b has a Kaffenback). If I was replacing the frame now though I'd get a Ribble R872

In reply to Weekend Punter:


I did look and wonder if the person who posted that had only recently come across Planet X. I've bought bits and bobs from them for years now and hence get their regular emails. They work on the basis of a perma-"MEGA SALE!!!" which becomes quite silly when you get emails regularly saying it. Everything is always reduced making the idea of a "normal price" completely redundant. That isn't to say they don't have good deals - they do - but there didn't seem to be any particular bargains last weekend.

Not ridden any of their bikes, but you see absolutely loads around Sheffield. I would have thought any problems would be very well known by now with that many out on the roads, although I guess the RT-90 is a newer model. They look nice in the flesh having been in showroom recently! Have you seen http://www.theguardian.com/environment/bike-blog/2015/may/22/test-ride-thre...

In reply to Weekend Punter:

I also have a PX Pro Carbon (large, SRAM Rival 10sp groupset).
I bought this bike in June 2014 to replace an alloy bike (Specialized Secteur).
The first bike to be delivered turned out to have a cracked frame - likely due to a combination of poor packing, followed by bad handling during transit (Handlebars had been rotated and were in contact with the top tube at the point where cracked).
Emailed PX with photos and the bike was collected/replaced without further question.

The second bike was fine, apart from the wheels - these were poorly put together, 2mm out of lateral true and even had slack spokes. Couldn't be arsed to return to PX again, so paid LBS to true and tension the wheels. In the meantime, I used the bike with my 'best' wheels (Ksyrium Elite).

As a 53 year old punter, this bike is great and more than able to cope with my ability. Being in hilly Cornwall the 50/34 compact and 11-32 SRAM WiFli gearing is perfect for me.
It is pretty light, yet still robust (so far!). I ride it on the stock wheels with 25mm tyres in winter and the Ksyriums and 23mm in summer.

For £799 (plus £24 to get the wheels sorted) I think Planet X represents good value for money. BUT, - don't expect the type of service you get from LBS.

P.S. I'm now considering getting a Ti 29er from PX to replace my aging MTB.

N

Thanks everyone for taking time to reply and apologies for the delay with my reply - I've been without an internet connection. As a result of the downed connection I missed the £400 offer on the frame but as Toby mentioned like DFS I'm sure the offer will come back around which I'm sure I'll take up.

The crux of it is explaining to the misses why the winter and summer bikes needs replacing!