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I am an avid cyclist who also owns a Denali Limited, which is the higher level bike of the same brand, so I have a basis for comparison. I bought this bike so I would have a spare wheelset and spare parts. But as it turns out, its a pretty good bike in its own right. Another site has it cheaper than Amazon, so it is the cheapest road bike available with integrated shifters/brakes (brifters). The Pro is about 4 lbs heavier than the Limited. It is essentially a Chinese version of the Taiwanese Limited. The wheelset is heavier, especially the rear wheel, but it seems sturdier with 36 spokes instead of 32 spokes. Other components that add to the weight are the old-fashioned quill stem, the 8 speed freewheel(not cassette like in the Limited), the steel fork (not carbon fiber in the Limited), the all alumninum frameset (not carbon fiber stays in the Limited), the steel handlebars (not alumimum as in the Limited), the solid bolted rear axle (not quick release as in the Limited), and the heavier saddle. The gearing is wider at the low and high end than the Limited- 53F/11R high and 39F/28R low. This is versatile gearing for hilly rides.

The frame and riding position is good and quite rideable. I ridden over 300 miles at the time of this writing and taken it through its paces on city roads, serious rides, and on rollers. It rides similar to the Limited, except the handlebars are a smaller diameter and is 1.75″ higher than the Limited. Therefore, it feels more upright. The wheelbase and frame geometry is the same as the Limited. The stiffness/suppleness of the frame/fork is comparable to the Limited. This is likely due to the extra heft. However, the extra heft is definitely noticeable during acceleration. The Limited is a significantly quicker bicycle. The brakes are identical to the Limited and are excellent in terms of modulation and stopping power. The cable housing from the lever to the front brake was 3″ too long. It must be shortened 3″ or else 1/2″ of the initial braking stroke is ineffective. The kickstand is high quality and works well. It also comes with a nice bottle cage. Unlike the Limited, the frame and fork will accept wider 700C tires. Since this is the case and the frame is alumnimum with a steel fork, it is suitable for cyclocross. Like the Limited, it comes with toe-clip pedals. These are difficult to use and should be upgraded to clipless pedals. This upgrade is typical for road bikes of all price ranges.

The Microshift drivetrain, after some modifications, are almost as smooth as the Shimano Sora groupo on the Limited. The cable house from the brifters come about 3″ too long, so they kink at the downtube stop. This housing must be trimmed 3″ or else shifting is rough and imprecise. The brifters are nice and an interesting idea. Its a variation of Campagnolo, SRAM, and Shimano brifters. The brake lever does not rotate, but there are two buttons below the lever. Consequently, the Microshift brake lever feels more secure than Shimano, since the Shimano brake lever can get a little rotational displacement while braking. The front derailleur requires a super long throw to upshift. Shimano brifters are better for the front derailleur.

I changed the rim strips and the tubes to presta. The rim tape is cheap and will eventually poke through the aero wheel holes and cause flats. The schrader tubes are more difficult to pump up to 100 psi due to air leakage upon releasing the valve. The tires are the same cheap Kenda ones as the Limited. They are 90 psi maximum, low performance tires. At this low pressure, they are susceptible to snake bite flats. Upgrade them to sturdier and smoother 115 psi tires such as the Continental 4000′s at 500-1000 miles of riding.

The bike is very good looking, and people have mistaken it for an expensive bicycle. I had to correct them. The Limited is an older model bike, so the decals are dated compared to the Pro. The Pro is made much more attractive if you take off the ugly and unnecessary black spoke protector in the rear wheel. The picture on Amazon does not do the bike justice. What gives the Pro away as a cheap bike is the ugly steel spider and pants protector on the crankset.

In conclusion, this bike is ideal as a second road bike for an avid cyclist. Since the geometry is similar to a typical road bike, you can switch back and forth between the Pro and a higher-end road bike without re-acclimation. If you train on this 27 lb bike, you will be very fast on a typical road bike like the Limited. Also, the low price means you can bring it anywhere with no anxiety in case it gets stolen. The wheels are sturdy and will take a pounding.

This bike is not good as a primary bike for the serious rider because of the following:

1. The quill stem is not easily customizable. The Limited uses a threadless headset, so stems of different lengths can be obtained.

2. The bike uses a freewheel and not cassette. It will be difficult to change the gearing or replace the freewheel on this bike, since freewheels are hard to remove and procure. Eventually all cogs wear out. I took the freewheel off and greased it heavily to make it easier to replace later.

3. The bolted rear wheel makes it harder to change flats on the road. You need to bring a wrench. You can get a hollow 3/8″ x 26 tpi axle and quick release skewer for $30.

4. The design of the Microshift derailleur makes it a real pain to remove the rear wheel. The Shimano derailleurs have no such problem.

5. The shifting system will not deliver in serious fast and demanding riding. Because it is a brifter system, it is much better than Revo on the Denali base model though.

If you are not an experienced bike mechanic, I highly recommend you have your local bike shop mechanic assemble and make the crucial modifications to this bike. Otherwise, you will not be happy. The build from China wasn’t nearly as good as the Limited. Frankly, it was pretty sloppy. Shortening cable housing, adjusting the hubs, adjusting the brakes, truing the wheels, changing out the rim strips, and untangling the cables were all necessary and not beginner mechanic-friendly.

In conclusion, unless this is a second bike, or there is no chance you would get serious, its better to pay a little more and get the Forge road bike from Target. The Forge does not have the shortcomings above, but with an alumnimum frame and steel fork, it is questionable whether you would want to upgrade it. If you want even better performance than the Forge, you should get the Denali Limited. It is comparable to the Forge in componentry with carbon fiber fork and rear seat stays. The Limited is definitely worthy of upgrading if you get serious. If you want a step up from that, I suggest you get one from a LBS or from Bikesdirect.

Rating: 4 / 5

I had decided to buy the Denali Pro after i visited my local bike shop and became very depressed at the fact that the cheapest entry level road bike there was $629.00. So needless to say i did some research online and found the Denali Pro on EB*Y for around $249.00. After assembling the bike and spending a day fine-tuning all the gears and the brakes to how I like them (watch a couple of youtube videos on how to fine-tune bike gears and brakes—this helped me out a lot with getting that local bike shop fine-tuning without the local bike shop price tag), I took the bike out for a test ride (10 miles). I rode the bike on my local bike path and found it to be very responsive and comfortable to ride. The bike is very fast. I was able to keep the bike at a constant speed of 21 mph for the duration of my ride with little effort.

One draw back to the bike was the saddle. This comes as no surprise since the bike comes with a generic stock road bike saddle. I upgraded the saddle to a ARS men’s relief saddle. The new saddle is a major improvement over the stock saddle in the area of junk & rear-end comfort.

Another problem I had with the bike was the toe straps on the pedals. The strap itself came undone from the mounting position on the pedals several times. I fixed this by squeezing the mounting tabs on the straps. This has kept the strap in place.

A major selling point about this bike was the micro-shift gear system. The hand shifters are modeled after a high-end rapid fire mountain bike shifter. They are placed just behind the brake levers. This makes changing gears an effortless process. I feel that this type of shifting system is an improvement over the usual shifter/brake lever system found on other road bikes. The problem with the shifter/brake lever system is that when applying the brake it is common to accidentally shift gears. With the micro-shift gear system this is not a problem.

The 56cm frame is a perfect fit for me. I am 5’10″ and fit comfortably on the bike with the seat post set to the lowest setting. I would recommend this road bike to everyone who is looking for a great and inexpensive entry level road bike.

Rating: 5 / 5

I guess I’ll be the first one to review GMC Denaly Pro road bike

I received GMC Denaly Pro bike in three days since I ordered, and it arrived through FedEx with free shipping. It was about a week ago that I received it and so far it looks good. The bike is solid, it took me 3-4 hours to assemble both bikes (I ordered two of the same bike). By the way, this was the first time I was assembling a bike and believe or not I’ve never ridden a bike before. This bike is good enough for me to start with.

Note that adjusting the breaks and “balancing” the tires will require some patience. Someone helped me with the breaks, who already was familiar with it, so adjusting the breaks took me less time then I was expecting.

To assemble it, it will require a set of Allen Wrenches and adjustable wrench. These tools do not come with the product, although they should.

Overall I am glad that I purchased this product.

The product has a nice design to it and it weighs 30lb. It is a great product for a great price.
Rating: 5 / 5