Fantastic bike for the price Let me start with some history. Thirty years ago I worked a summer job as a Schwinn bicycle mechanic. I loved that job. In the process I assembled a ton of bicycles. I also purchased a Schwinn Continental 10 speed. Thirty years ago that was a ...

GMC Denali Road Bike Buy this product from Amazon
 
3.5
Publisher : GMC
Company : GMC


Features
  • 21-speed road bike features a lightweight aluminum frame
  • Alloy calipers and ally brake levers
  • High-profile alloy Vitesse racing rims
  • Shimano derailleur and Shimano Revo shifts makes it easy to change gears quickly and smoothly
  • High-performance 700c tires are up to the challenge of rigorous street racing

Product Description

Mens GMC Denali Light weight aluminum road bike has a 21 speed Shimano derailleur. ~ For any service questions contact Kent at 1-800-451-KENT (5368), EST.,for replacement parts, repair kits, tools and warranty information.

Amazon.com Product Description

The GMC Denali 700C 21-Speed Road Bike is built around a lightweight aluminum road bike frame. You'll stop on a dime with the alloy calipers and brake levers, and the high-profile alloy Vitesse racing rims look as good as they perform. The Shimano derailleur and Shimano Revo shifts make it easy to change gears quickly and smoothly, and the high-performance 700c tires are up to the challenge of rigorous street racing. Lastly, this road bike will help you stay hydrated with the included alloy water bottle cage.

Specifications:

  • Frame: Aluminum 7005 straight gauge
  • Fork: GMC Series 7000 steel
  • Chain: KMC Z 51
  • Crankset: Prowheel Alloy 335P6 28X38X48 170mm
  • Front Derailleur: Shimano FD-TZ 31 Index
  • Rear Derailleur: Shimano RD-TZ30GS 7SPD
  • Shifters: Shimano Revo SIS L2/R7
  • Brake levers: Promax BL-250AP Aluminum
  • Brakes: Promax 501A Alloy Caliper Brake
  • Rims: Vitesse Alloy black 700CX14GX36H
  • Tires: Kenda Black With Grey Band 700X28C
  • Stem: Aluminum black EXT:100mm 0D.
  • Handlebar: Maesbend W: 430mm D:22.0mm
  • Saddle: Cionlli Black
  • Seat post: HL Aluminum Micro Adjust 27.2 X 300mm
  • Pedals: VP-990S plastic body with steel cage
  • Weight: 29.0 lbs

Amazon.com Bicycle Buying Guide
Finding the Right Bike
To really enjoy cycling, it's important to find a bicycle that works for you. Here are some things to keep in mind when you're in the market for a new bike:

The Right Ride
In general, bikes are broken down into three major categories:

  • Road and Racing Bikes--As a general rule, road and racing are built for speed and longer distances on paved surfaces. Thinner tires, lightweight 29-inch (700c) wheels and drop bars that allow for a more aerodynamic position are the norm. Most road bikes, regardless of price, offer many gears for tackling both hilly and flat terrain.
  • Mountain Bikes--With their larger tires, hill-friendly gearing and upright position, mountain bikes are very popular for all types of riding, both on pavement and off. Mountain bikes that are designed specifically for rugged trail use typically feature a suspension fork. Some may have rear suspension, as well. A quick change of the tires on any mountain bike--even one that you use regularly on trails--adds to its versatility and makes it a worthy street machine.
  • Comfort/Cruiser Bikes--For tooling around on bike paths, light trails, or for cruising a quiet beach-side lane, comfort/cruiser bikes are the ticket. With a super-relaxed riding position, padded seats, and limited or no gearing, these bikes are made for enjoying the scenery and having fun with the family.

The Right Price
A bike's price boils down to three essentials: frame materials, bike weight, and component quality and durability.

  • Entry-level--You'll find a wide range of comfort and cruiser bikes in this category, as well as some lower-end mountain bikes and road bikes. Most will have steel frames and components that are designed to last for several years with frequent use.
  • Mid-range--Bikes in this range may feature a lighter aluminum frame with mid-range components that keep performing after miles of use. If you're looking for a quality bike that is relatively lightweight and will stand up to abuse, this is the "sweet spot." Most serious commuter and touring bikes fall into this category, as do mid-range mountain bikes with a decent front suspension.
  • High-end--Racers and serious enthusiasts who expect lightweight, high-performance components will want to stick to this category. For road bikes, exotic frame materials (carbon fiber, titanium) and ultra-lightweight components can add thousands to the price tag. Mountain bikes in this class often feature advanced front and rear suspension technology, as well as components designed to handle lots of rugged trail action.

The Right Size
Fit is crucial for comfort, control, and proper power and endurance on a bike. Here are some basic bike fit tips:

  • Stand-over Height--To find out if a bike's overall height fits your body, measure your inseam. Next, determine how much clearance you'll need between your crotch and the top tube of the bike. For a mountain bike, you'll want three to five inches of clearance. A road bike should offer between one and two inches of clearance, while a commuter bike should have two to four inches. Compare the stand-over height for a given bike to your measurements (inseam + clearance) to determine the right bike height.
  • Top Tube Length--You can measure your torso to get a good estimate of proper top tube length. First, make a fist and extend your arm. Measure from the center of your fist to the end of your collarbone (the part that intersects your shoulder). Next, measure your torso by placing a book against your crotch with the spine facing up. Measure from the spine to the bottom of your throat (the spot between your collarbones). Finally, add the two measurements (arm length + torso length), divide the number in half and subtract six inches. This is your approximate top tube length. Compare this number to a bike's posted top tube length. You can allow for about two inches longer or shorter, as most bikes can be adjusted via stem length/height and saddle fore/aft position to make fine adjustments to the fit.
  • Bikes for Women--Proportionally, women tend to have a shorter torso and longer legs than men. Bike makers design women's bikes that offer a shorter top tube and many comfort/cruiser bikes built for women may also provide more stand-over clearance.

The Right Accessories
When you make a bike purchase, don't forget these crucial add-ons:

  • Helmet (this is a must!)
  • Seat pack
  • Lock
  • Hydration pack, or water bottles and bottle cages
  • Spare tubes
  • Portable bike pump
  • Gloves

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Customer reviews

Fantastic bike for the price 5 by .. Falconbrother (central North Carolina)
Let me start with some history. Thirty years ago I worked a summer job as a Schwinn bicycle mechanic. I loved that job. In the process I assembled a ton of bicycles. I also purchased a Schwinn Continental 10 speed. Thirty years ago that was a great bike. Even by today's standards it would be a cool bike. That bike was stolen in 1982ish.

Move forward to 2006. I started getting the itch to ride a bicycle again. I tooled out to WalMart and bought one of those RoadMaster MtFurys for 53 bucks and rode it everyday. I decided I wanted a road bike since I was riding farther and longer, week by week. So, I ordered the 63cm GMC Denali from Amazon.

The bike arrived through the US mail in a box that looked like they dragged it behind the mail truck for a few miles. I was worried that something was broken. Nevertheless, I opened er up and the bike was fine. They packed it in a manner that allows it to take a bit of a beating in shipping. Since I was an old bicycle mechanic I never even opened the manual and put the bike together in about fifteen minutes. Basically that requires air in the tires, mount the front, put the handlebar neck in place, put the seat in place, put the pedals on, adjust the brakes, and ride. I chose to leave the reflectors off, for now.

My first impression was that I found it awkward to have to reach down to use the brakes. I got used to that fast. My second impression was how effortless it was to go fast on this bike, compared to the el-cheapo quasi mountain bike described above. The 63cm, black and silver Denali, rides really smooth and the derailers are light years better than the ones on the MtFury. I have never had, nor will I ever own and multi thousand dollar bicycle. But, I will say that this bike is really fantastic for the price. I am so impressed with the quality for under two hundred bucks.

The wheels and tires are quite narrow and 28 inches. Combine that with the aluminum frame, shimano derailers and it performs very well.

Some folks don't like the twist shifters. I find that I like it very much. I didn't think I would but, I do.

I wasn't in a position to spend a grand plus on a road bike but, I was doing a lot of daily riding. This bike has met my needs perfectly. The WalMart bike is I guess exactly the same thing except that it's a tad shorter. At 6'2 I find that the 63cm bike has me pretty much maxed out. I like it because it's tall but, if I were any shorter it would be awkward. The height lets me really get the maximum out of a pedal stroke for power and speed.

If I had a complaint it would be that the gearing is a bit short. That is that in top gear, on flat ground I max out the bike real quick. If it had a taller gear I could get more speed. The bike seems like it might be geared a bit short. On the plus side a reasonably athletic person wont need to shift gears much. Just keep her in top gear for most applications. You can get on it and boogie on down the road right now.

The seat really aint bad. If you think it is try that anvil on the MtFury. Holy cow. I like the pedals on the Denali. They fit me perfectly.

Nothing in life is perfect. But, for the price, you wont come close to his bike. I promise you that. Try it and see. I looked at used bikes before I bought this one. They were quite a bit more and looked rode hard and put up wet. The cheapest bike I found, used, near this price was a raggedy old Raleigh that the seller wanted $175.00 for. His bike had slick tires, scratches, and rust. It rode like an old bike with slick tires and rust. This bike rides tight and looks really nice. I found a Specialized bike that looked completely used up that the seller wanted the cost of three of the GMCs for. I decided that I could have three new bikes, back to back for the price of one bike that I wouldn't trust to get me around the block. I bought the Denali.

So, far I have ridden it a few hundred miles. I had one flat tire that I patched on the fly and kept on riding. It would be nice to have quick release axles. But, I carry a sawed off 15mm box wrench in by tool pouch. Works fine, last long time. They say that this bike is heavy. Come on now. It's really not bad at all. If I were in the tour de-whatever it might matter. But, for a day of riding it's a great bike. It's a heck of a lot lighter than what I was riding ya'll.

If this bike were to be stolen I would immediately buy another one.

Very Solid Bicycle 5 by .. Guanxiong Mao (Oakland)
Very solid construction of the frame and materials. The gear shifting appears to be fine overalll to me, and conveniently placed on the handle bars. Because the bike is solid alumnium, it is fairly light and very durable. But a caveat emptor is that it is a bit heavier but stronger than other standard (bianchi, trek, giant) commuter road bikes since those tend to have a skinier aluminum frame while this one seems to follow Ford Motor Company's "built tough" motto. (lighter frame materials would be either titanium, carbon, some kind of composite: carbon and titanium frame bikes WILL cost you over $1500 new, at least) Another aspect people will easily miss is that the forks, unlike the frame, is made of steel so they're heavier than normal--but this is because while alumnium is lighter than steel, it is also stiffer which would make for a bone-jarring ride; the only real solution to this is to get 200-300$ all carbon forks that are super light and shock absorbing.

A previous review complained about missing parts. That's not a serious problem since there is a full year's warranty on all parts: just give Kent a call. Also, the bike assembly is almost fool proof and can be easily done with an hour--there's literally maybe half a dozen big pieces to be assembled once you open the box, and the only free screw in for connectiong the rear light deflector.

There 3 problems with the bike that may be minor to some: 1)the pedals feel awkward (maybe they're too small?) so that in order for your feet to stably and comfortably rest on them, you have to make an almost conscious effort to put your feet very close to the crank; the solution of course is to get some decent pedals 2)the shifting mechanism, as a previous review noted, is flawed. Only Shimano's own scale, it isn't even good enough to rank under their basic, introductory line (the revo shifters are more suited and designed for mountain bikes). The rear dereilleur is a bit off so that while upshifting is easy and smooth, downshifting by one gear is not possible. Solution, upshift 2 and then downshift by one gear, a bit more annoying but not exactly a difficult/lengthy task. For me, the shifting doesn't matter much. I use it in the city and there aren't any hills really demanding low gears; I go for speed, so if anything, I upshift (:-) 3)Lastly, although the bike is very good looking with a solid blue/black design, the paint on the seat seems a bit iffy. While the frame is certainly built like a rock, the seat paint has been continuously and consistently rubbing off on the sides so that strips of white underlying paink can be seen on the blue sides; of course, the actual material is still as strong as ever. I went online to check; turns out the brand, Cionlli, is actually a new taiwan manufacture who "propitiously" chose an Italian sounding name--you got to give it to them for trying! My solution to this was to go on ebay, and spend 25$ buying a top of the line, slightly used Bontrager racing seat, which, needless to say, is much lighter and more comfortable and durable.

Other than these minor inherent material flaws, there are some potentially irritating assembly flaws. I believe that an earlier reviewer wisely (I didn't pay heed to him at first) that for any good bikes that is meant to last, proper assembly is vital (that means getting a bikeshop to assemble it). Now, I thought that he had meant small insignificant stuff like say tightening the screws with the proper amount of torque and etc....turns out there are other bigger problems. First, when I got the bike, the brakes were slightly misaligned so that when I used the brakes, one pad would hit the rim first, wearing it out much faster than the other. The next two problems are a great deal more irritating. My fork (preinstalled) had been installed backwards. This would seem to make a difference at first until I realized after looking at many bicycles that forks are bent forward ever so slightly in bikes; if you have it on backwards, the forks would be bend backwards slightly; this actually makes a huge difference: before I had the forks reinstalled correctly, the wheels were really close to the frame and pedals so that every time I turn the handle even a little (more than 20 degrees) to either side, my shoes or pedal would rub/catch against the wheels. The other problem deals with the shifting problem I mentioned earlier. Turns out the error was the the rear wheel had not been properly aligned with the frame so that the rear deraileur was a little off: the result was that shifting between adjacent gears was some times rough and often wouldn't work unless you did the shift 2 and then 1 back thing I did.

All and all, still a bargain, especially compared to other Walmart bikes of the same price, and I've had quite a few of those not mention a few dozen problems associated with those disgusting contraptions. Wish the shifters were like the more expensive integrated Shimano Sora or 105 systems that are placed under the brake handles, but this was the best choice in my price range and those premium Shimano packages alone cost way more than this entire bike. This bike is definitely well worth it for the price and as long as nothing breaks, I'm more than elated with the purchase.

Such a Deal 5 by .. Roy (New York)
Okay, so I wanted something simple to just ride around on, but I didn't want a mountain bike. I was looking for something like the old Varsity I had when I was a kid. The guys at the local bike shop were VERY helpful - really a nice bunch. But the bikes they had were just a bit more than I wanted to spend for something I wasn't sure I would stick with, given my lazy nature. So enter the trusty Internet! The Denali caught my eye and my wallet didn't go into a seizure when I saw the price. Under [...] is something that I could live with, and if my lazy side reared it's ugly head, I could always sell it at a garage sale. So I ordered it. I gotta tell ya', this bike is great! It went together easy, MUCH easier than that BBQ grill that's still unfinished in the garage (told you I was lazy!)and it looks pretty darn nice. I throw a leg over and hit the streets. Brakes work - that's a plus! Shifting is okay, but it's a little hesitant between 2 gears (more on THAT later!), I like the twisty shifter thingys. They click into each gear and I can see what gear I'm in without having to look at the chain. Overall, I'm pretty comfortable on the bike in a matter of minutes, and speaking of minutes - 45 of them fly by before I realize I'm actually EXERCISING!!!! Not wanting to burn off ALL 30 of my excess pounds in one ride, I head home. The big shock is yet to come - I've actually done it several times since then!! Okay, I'm no Lance Armstrong or anything, but I'm averaging 2-3 days a week for the past month on this bike. Hmmmm, now that Sheryl Crow is single, and I know she likes bike riders, maybe I should give her a call? Anyway, back to the bike. I like it a lot! It was affordable, rides nice, and got my fat [...] off the couch and outside - what more could I ask for? Oh, and that clicky shifting thing? I called the customer service line and they gave me the bike tech guy, don't remember his name, but he told me how to adjust the gears. He simplified it for me and with a 5 minute adjustment, the bike now shifts great. So all things considered, I'd have to say that this bike is really a sweet deal. It doesn't cost an arm and a leg, holds up to an overweight guy, looks cool, doesn't fall apart, and gets you outside. I kinda wish it wasn't named for a big giant SUV though.

Great Price, Great shipping, Awesome bike 5 by .. ()
My best friend got me into cyling so i decided i wanted to buy a road bike. First i went to my local bike store.to my surprise the cheapest road bike that had was $725. im only 12 and i couldnt afford something like that unless i saved my allowences for like 2 years. I was still determined to find a relatively cheap road bike that was good quality(something better than the crap u get at wal-mart).so i decided to search the internet. after about 45min. of searching aroudn i stumbled on the gmc denali. it lokked awesome and the features it had on it were pretty good for a $147 bike(i had my friend check out the features). that was when i decided i want the gmc denali. i checked my savings acount and to my dismay i was short of $147 so i did some extra chores and voula! i ordered it(with my mother's help of course). 2 days later it came on time and i immediatly put it together(my dad is a mercedez-benz mechanic abd to him it seems im good enough to follow in his path).i took it for a spin. it was better than i expected. the gears shifted well but i had some trouble with the brakes. so i manually tightened them and now they work fine. the only thing that bothers me is sometimes in certain gears it makes a funny noise. i tinkered with the chain and soon got this to stop. so if you are looking for a inexpensive road bike, this is the one to get

Bike store quality and sized right 5 by .. fast mike (souteast USA)
This is an entry level road bike. With that being said it has good quality welds the frame is aluminum 7005 series with steel forks my scale says it weighs 24.2 lbs!! The frame has 1 waterbottle mount I wish it had two!! It also has a replaceable derailleur hanger ,curved seatstays, a very good paint job and The MOST important feature it comes in different sizes I am 6'3" and it's hard to find a bike that really fits me in my price range. So this bike is my saving grace my back is going to thank me!
plus it has a lifetime frame warranty, wich is a big plus!!
The components are lower end shimano but that is an easy fix. I plan on getting new bars (wider) and bar end shifters it has twist shifters stock! then when the derailleurs get a little sloppy I am definately going with shimano 105s. The wheels are bolt on (wish they were quick release) but you can get a skewer compatible axle for them!
I would have to say if your looking for a decent, correctly sized and definately excellent price road bike,This is the one!! I would reccomend putting a little grease on the bearings every now and then and definately buy some silver anti seize to keep the steel bolts from corroding in the aluminum parts that way it will last a long time!! all it takes is regular maintenence to make them last. I am very happy after spending the last 10 or 12 years cramped on too small mountain bikes, Because I couldn't even find a used road bike in my size near this price. I say if your'e thinking about getting it, Go ahead!! You won't be disappointed!!