Full carbon road bike for 400 quid. What could go wrong?

[Barchettaman]

9-speed Sora, sensible gearing, 399 quid. Someone buy one.

I'm not sure how after sales support from Argos would work though!

http://tinyurl.com/k5dgghj

Absolutely screaming deal. Just look at those lovely pedals and rear reflector.

[Pete102]

It has the same wheels as my £1200 Cube....oh the shame

[Gizmoish]

Barchettaman said:

9-speed Sora, sensible gearing, 399 quid. Someone buy one.

I'm not sure how after sales support from Argos would work though!

http://tinyurl.com/k5dgghj

Absolutely screaming deal. Just look at those lovely pedals and rear reflector.

Wow. The angle of the bars (and the fact that it's Argos) wouldn't fill me with belief, but that's not bad value at all.

[Barchettaman]

I would imagine it might require some self assembly!

Maybe the new Triban?

[shouldbworking]

What am I missing here? that can't be possible for that money surely. 8.82kg fully assembled at 400 quid??

[ro55a]

Cracking deal! Not sure how anybody could go wrong at this price, decent components and wheels and an open mould Asian built carbon frame. If you take it's spec, wonder how high the price goes with other brands........£1100?

[shouldbworking]

well. I'll be the guinea pig here.. ordered with free next day delivery... gulp

[Some Gump]

I love argos. They always miss the point!

If the copy writer / buyer did a 5 minute google, they'd have done a better job on that advert. No wonder they have to resort to 1/2 price to shift em...

[jamiebae]

At a guess Argos took a punt on ordering a few containers full of these and haven't managed to sell them so are now clearing them out cheaply - this is certainly not a Halfords style 'half price' deal where it was never worth the full price.

The wheels and finishing kit are good too, the only ropey bits I can see are the chainset and possibly the brakes, although I expect the latter are just unbranded Tektro items.

[TwistingMyMelon]

Shame it is in 1 size (58cm?) that could be an oddball bargain

[J8 SVG]

I bought a Viking identical to the one in this advert from Winstanley Bikes, brand new for £420. Carbon frame and forks and a really nice bike! doubt it's covered 200miles in the two years I've had it (the reason I didn't want to spend too much) but was an absolute bargain!

[Matt_N]

They do a 22" so 55 / 56cm aswel:

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/3...

[Justin Cyder]

A quick Google offers up some interesting information suggesting this could be a decent deal.

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=40...

some guy said:

To any doubters. These are produced by liyang of taiwan who have been around since 1968 and make carbon frames for a number of branded cycle types. Amongst them Mekk, carrera virago ( same bike just different branding) see road.cc best £900 to £1000 for a review. http://road.cc/content/news/63270-best-£900-&...
The components are sora rather than 105 but these can be easily upgraded as above. I had a specialised allez, changed to one of these and its feels like when i changed from hybrid to road. Fast, very comfortable, same rides faster no back ache. Incredibly light. So far very pleased. By the way there is no connection to the jamis ventura

[Type R Tom]

Very interesting, they have one in stock at my local. A quick look round and the closest I can get spec wise (frame aside) is this

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/felt-f95-sora-wiggle-exclu...

Thinking about one for the GF, could probably return it quite easily if she doesn't like it.

[TwistingMyMelon]

I remember a while back saying it was a slight bargain, with a bit of a unknown risk @ £700

Wonder if anywhere is doing argos discount codes or give vouchers with a % off

[Type R Tom]

TwistingMyMelon said:

I remember a while back saying it was a slight bargain, with a bit of a unknown risk @ £700

Wonder if anywhere is doing argos discount codes or give vouchers with a % off

1.5% on Quidco for a start

[richardxjr]

Loads in stock. Tempted for the frame/fork and swap the bits over with my present steed. What generic frame is this then (please say Ribble/DeRosa just for Dizzzee's sake) Would like to check geometry.

Edited by richardxjr on Thursday 14th August 10:04

[yellowjack]

Seems a bit odd that it's a 23" (58cm) frame, yet they are recommending it for the shorter (24" to 29" inside leg) rider???

That said, if you can sort out the sizing confusion, it's quite a low weight for such an affordable bike, and might well be worth a gamble if it fit's your budget.

9 months ago Argos Helper 16 said:

Hello Woodsy and thanks for your query,

I can confirm that the Ventura CP50 700c Pro Road Bike - Unisex's 55cm frame size means that it is suitable for an inside leg measurement of 30-33 inches (someone who is roughly 5'8"-5'10" in height).

The 58cm frame size (Catalogue Number 332/4525) is suitable for inside leg measurements of 32 - 34 inches, which is someone who is roughly 5'11" - 6'2".

My apologies for any confusion caused and I hope this helps. Thank you for using Argos Q&A.

Yet another answer claims suitability for 25" to 31" inside leg for 55cm frame, and 26" to 29" leg for 58cm frame. Argos, and some of it's staff, appear to not know exactly what it is they are selling. This is bad, and perhaps might explain why it's reduced by 50%. People may well be reluctant to buy a bicycle they cannot get a definitive answer on regarding which size to buy.

But a (mostly) Sora equipped carbon fibre bike weighing less than 9kg for under £400 seems to be a good thing if you are buying at that price point.

If you want to be even more confused, take a look a the LiYang Global website for this bike... http://liyangbikes.com/tw/vt-%E8%8C%83%E5%9C%96%E6... ...as there seems to be much that is 'lost in translation'.

As a little aside, look at the bottom of that page and there are references to the Mekk Poggio and Mekk Potenza. The links don't work, but this seems to suggest that LiYang are in some way involved with the manufacture of Mekk bikes too, and they are certainly not a low-end brand...

Confused? I think so, but if there was a definitive answer to the sizing confusion, I might take a gamble on one of these myself.

[scubadude]

Wow, it has "rigid suspension" as a feature :-)

Certainly some bang for your bucks if you can live with the brand snobbery in cycling.

[littleandy0410]

That looks like it could be a bargain. Interesting that the first photo shows it with the old style shifters, but the other 3 show the new style shifters. I wonder if it's like the Carrera bikes a while ago where it's pot luck what build you get...