04-05-2011, 05:45 PM
this morning I stopped by a friends house and had a little luck (well maybe luck isn't the right word) but he had a Denali that was collecting dust in his garage. I asked him about it and he said that he got it last year on clearance and just couldn't get into it so I asked him if he would be interested in selling it. He said a case of beer and it was mine (gotta love the south and keystone drinkers) and figuring the frame was at least worth that I went ahead and got it. While I was researching to buy my first bike I came across a lot of reviews on the denali where it seemed that serious cyclist laughed at the bike while it seemed to work for the everyday commuter cyclist that didn't mind upgrading a few parts. After a quick test ride I can definitely see why the grip shifters get so much flack, I was not a fan at all compared to the shifters on my Trek. The brakes were fine for lower speeds but anything over 20mph and you entered the brake and pray stage. And since I have a little extra cash at the moment and ended up getting the entire bike for around 20 bucks I can make this into a comfortable commuter with at least the same style components that are on my other bike. That way I dont start fiddling around trying to revo shift while on my Trek and vice versa. Now the 20 dollar question is.....where can I find bars and shifters that will fit onto this bike for hopefully less than 200 if possible. I dont need top of the line since this will only be used for commuting but I would like it to be reliable and safe. Thanks for any suggestions or input that you may have for me