On-One Pompetamine

[Andywl]

I spent ages researching my new bike purchase on this and other forums, so thought I'd give something back.

I had an old Reynolds 531 frame bike, but every part of it needed replacing and I really wanted better brakes and handlebar-mounted gears. I use it for commuting, shopping and occasional touring - everything really - in a hilly area.

After a great deal of research, I went for an On-One Pompetamine. Things I love:

• disk brakes (they are SO much better)
• handlebar mounted gears
• a responsive chain (because I never maintained my derailleur gears properly, I always lost power in the chain)

The thing I don't like is Planet X customer service (as far as I know they're the sole distributor). I order the bike in early October 2011, and they said it would be ready just after the end of the month. I gave up waiting to hear from them and rang, to be told that the frame hadn't been on the container, and it would be late November. When I again rang up in early December, someone had to go and track down my frame in the warehouse. They also never replied to any emails.

Now I've no wish whatsoever to diss a UK frame-builder, and I liked the retail outlet and people who worked there. Early impressions are also that I really like the bike too (although I suspect I'm untypical in wishing they sold it with mudguards and pedals). But they have to do better than this on customer service.

Would I recommend it? Yes, so far (I've only had it 3 days!), if you're prepared to call them and call them to find out what's happening.

 

[alienator]

What is a "responsive" chain?

Also, I think a bike review would be worthwhile after a longer period of riding said bike. That gives more time for things to appear or be noticed that aren't so good. Come back and review the bike when you've got 500-1000 miles on the bike, preferably the latter.

With all that said, have fun on the new ride.

 

[Andywl]

Hi

I've done a fair bit of cycling on it - not quite 1000 miles, but I'll forget otherwise.

Nothing much has changed - still problem-free. I got a puncture in the rear tyre and managed to change it easily enough (and I'm not mechanically minded), so that was one of my big fears about Alfine gears out of the way.

I still rave about the hydraulic disk brakes: I find myself cycling faster downhill because I'm confident I can brake now. Still not sure about the gears, though: the change can feel clunky, and when under stress going uphill you have to take a little bit of load off to change gear, which I don't like. Maybe I'll get used to it.

As to the "responsive" chain - I think this is basically that on my previous bike the chain wasn't well-adjusted, so didn't deliver power immediately my legs started going. I suspect this was a maintenance problem, but this is exactly the point - derailleur gears need more maintenance.

Just bought a dynamo front light to complete my perfect new bike!