Brand-X Road Bike

£349 A proper road bike at an indecently low price?

Weight 11.6kg (M) Frame 6061 aluminium Fork Steel 1 1/8in steerer Gears Shimano Tourney, 50/34 ProWheel chainset, 14-28 Wheels 700c alloy rim, Kenda 700x25c tyres Brakes Tektro R312 calliper rim

FOR LESS THAN the price of some high-end cycling shoes, you can buy a real bicycle with 14 gears. Surely there has to be a catch, doesn’t there? Well, while it isn’t perfect, the only model in WiggleCRC’s Brand-X range has the ride of a more expensive bike and I like its minimalist monochrome looks too.

The semi-compact frame is made from the same 6061 aluminium seen on most budget road bikes, with bulky fish-scale welds. And while most of the frame tubes are round, the down-tube is ovalised vertically at the head-tube and horizontally at the bottom bracket, to maximise the weld area. The fork is steel for front-end comfort, and has a basic nontapered steerer. It’s good to see that both the fork and frame have mudguard fittings, including a threaded chainstay bridge, with the seatstays also having rack mounts. And though mudguard clearance isn’t generous, it's fine.

While most modern road bikes have moved towards wider tyres, with 28mm now pretty much the standard, the Brand-X’s rims mean the 25mm Kenda tyres measure around 24mm. But I had no qualms about the quality of the shifting between the 14 gears from Shimano’s entry-level Tourney groupset, which is very, very good, with the shift from the small to large chainring extremely light.

Brand-X factor

Unlike most Shimano groupsets, Tourney has thumb shifters inside the brake hoods for shifting to the small chainring and smaller sprockets (higher gears), which you can only reach riding on the hoods, not the drops. There is a deviation from Shimano – presumably to cut costs – to a ProWheel chainset, but this worked without issue. The external cabling and square-taper bottom bracket also make the bike home-mechanic friendly.

My main issue is with the seven-speed cassette. It’s not to do with the number of sprockets; after all, my first road bike had a six-speed cassette, but with the size of the bottom gear. While the Brand-X’s 34x28 bottom gear is fine for most circumstances, the resulting 32in gear is perceptibly higher than the 34x32 (28in) and 34x34 (26.5in) you’ll find a lot of entry-level road bikes. Combine this with a bike weight north of 11 kilograms and, when you reach a steep or long climb, you’ll notice it. Well, my legs were certainly aware of it when I hit my local double-digit inclines. Shimano does make a seven-speed 12-32 cassette, which would offer a wider range, though you’d also have to fit a long-cage derailleur.

The braking is surprisingly good for such a basic set-up. Calliper rim brakes are largely disappearing in favour of discs, but Tektro’s 312s show what a pair of well setup basic rim brakes can do, offering good power and control – and that’s with the stock non-cartridge brake blocks. I’d say the braking is better than that of the deepdrop R315s on Boardman’s £1,100 SLR 8.9 for example. That’s presumably down to them being a shallow-drop design, which brings some extra stiffness. Upgrade to quality non-cartridge blocks and the braking should be better still.

A great package

The Brand-X’s geometry is well considered. A shortish head-tube and steepish head angle keep the handling pretty sharp, but the top-tube is reasonably short – shorter than on Boardman’s SLR range for example – which lends itself to endurance riding. The frame is stiff enough to not misbehave on hard, out-of-saddle climbs and sprints, but it balances this with a healthy dose of comfort – in spite of the narrow rubber.

I got on well with the Velo saddle, and the cork bar tape has a high-quality feel. Over poor road surfaces and potholes you will feel it through the handlebar in particular, but it’s still comfortable enough for daylong rides, let alone the daily commute.

If you’re looking to return to cycling, or perhaps introducing a friend to the joys of the two-wheeled world, the Brand-X would make an excellent and modestly priced investment for commuting, day-today riding, trips to the shops or training. The quite tall bottom gear makes steep hills a challenge, though, and I’d have also preferred wider tyres. But the braking is good, shifting sweet and the Brand-X hits the spot as one of the least expensive bikes I’d happily recommend.

“The Brand-X is an excellent investment for commuting or day-to-day riding”