I have been looking for a bike for a while but with COVID it's been difficult to find a decent deal. After some research I've sort of settled on this
Has anyone had experience with these bikes?
Has decent reviews, hydraulic disc brakes, reasonable weight, but wanted to see OzBargainers thoughts first. Will be used for Commuting and Light Mountain Biking. It's my first bike for a while so won't be going too crazy with it.
Thanks everyone đź‘Ť
3x8 is fine. 1x is OK, but need to be 10-11spd on the back to get the gear range and that costs more. 3x is better than 2x.
Don’t get a dually unless you are spending upwards of $2k
I agree, I find since getting a 1x10 (11-42) and seeing how much easier people find it with only one gear lever to think about it seems to make the riding experience easier, as in my experience people are pretty lazy and don't want to think about shifting front and back gears and just leave the front gear in the middle of the 3 limiting their gear range.
Looks alright, but see if you can go into your local bike store (eg 99Bikes). Find the same model or very similar and inspect it in person, or take it for a spin. I'm not that experienced with bikes as I used to be, but the Gear System doesn't look very good, and that's probably the most expensive part of the bike.
The Aldi one I bought a while ago sucks in many ways, but for its price (and the Shimano Gear) it was basically unbeatable. Well, almost, there's still better AND cheaper bikes on gumtree/facebook if you are lucky.
Bought one from the site couple years back. Ended up after a while not liking the size was a bit too big. Was a similar price to this but had a Deore drivetrain.
What's your definition of light mountain biking? If only on gravel paths, then OK. Once you start jumping off objects etc, you'll rattle the bike and it's weaknesses will start to show
Commuting would he fine.
Commuting and gravel at the most. I won't be jumping off objects etc as I'm getting this to ride with my wife who already has a bike and he's not that adventurous. If it was to go that way then I'd spend more and make an investment, this is just to get back into riding which I haven't done for 10-15 years.
Thanks for the advice.
The Polygon is actually a good value bike, their dual suspension options are even better.
The fact this has hydraulic brakes is a great start.
Else hit up gumtree/marketplace, although this is a bit competitive at the moment.
It's my first bike for a while
Then I cannot stress this enough: the fit must be right for your body. You should take the advice of some others here and try and take one for a ride first. An unccomfortable bike does not get ridden.
Thanks for the advice, I will hit up a bike shop soon and do some testing to see what works for me.
How hard are these to assemble?
Shouldn’t be hard. Usually it’s install front wheel, turn handle bars straight and put pedals on, install saddle.
Traps for newbies:
. quick release on front wheel - you don’t wind it up tight. You wind it up, then fold the lever over to tighten.
. Forks backwards, messes up the geometry. Make sure v brakes are on the front or disc brake on the left (same side as rear disc)
. Pedals are left/right specific. The thread is opposite on one side (can’t remember which)
Bicycles online has pretty good video instructions for each assembly step. Takes about 20min to assemble, and they provide all tools with the bike
not about this bike specifically but I bought the last ALDI 29er bike ( which I believe is a polygon set up) and would definitely say i prefer a 1x driveline ( single sprocket up front) and hydraulics are a great thing.
ended up bolting on a BBSHD and have just over 2000km on it in about 13 months.
it was a "cheap" <$500 bike for me but I didn't know how I would get into riding,
next time I would definitely get larger / better brakes >160mm and possibly go full suspension (added a suspension seat post to mine which helps), but if you are getting into it I would say give it a go.!
I have only figured out my likes / dislikes from actually getting out there and riding.!