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Been riding a CDA since April
It's comfy but not great
Needed to replace the rear mech after about 3000km as well as headset and BB.
I chose to improve the wheels with Kenesis Crosslights and Bontranger AW1 which got it down to about 10kg. Put a fabric scoop saddle on it as well.The ersatz "1x" gearing doesn't give enough coverage on descents so you will be spinning out. Mine is prone to throw the chain on long fast downhills too
The single ring gearing sort of works but after riding for a couple of hours you will lose the full range of the cassette.
It's my first proper bike in 20 years so admittedly I am a bit clueless, but I was surprised that the Genesis warranty didn't cover any of the parts that broke BB - Headset (ok I now know that nobody covers those) and rear mech (Genesis pointed me to the shop or SRAM) . In the mind of the company that built it, this is not a bike for serious use even as a commuter. My usage was regarded as "excessive".
All in all its my bike I like it, I have invested time and money into it but I wouldn't buy another
Alf0nse-
Needed to replace the rear mech after about 3000km as well as headset and BB.
Sound about normal like everyone else TBH. especially;
It's my first proper bike in 20 years
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The CdA I'm looking at comes with 2x10 gearing though. All my mountain bike are 1x10 or 1x11 and I love it, I guess 2x10 gives the range needed for all-day climbs as well as road descents (put a 24t chainring on my 1x10 Krampus for that very reason, low gear of 24-36... nuts)
What sort of riding have you been doing to knacker it? And do you mean 300k or 3000k? Because I think a derailleur wearing out after 3000k isn't unreasonable if you've been riding a lot of wet gritty trails... wet grit will destroy anything - mechs, headsets, BBs.
Any other negatives, durability and gearing aside?
edscoble
lae
Ed I'd disagree that weight doesn't matter, I have found that 2-3kg difference is definitely noticeable at the end of those long granny-gear climbs, bearing in mind that my bikepacking gear's base weight is only about 7kg (with summer bag & tarp). It's also easier to manoeuvre a lighter bike up and over little obstacles.
The Charge looks like a contender too, I hadn't realised the 2016 one was alu/carbon. So I think I've narrowed it down to CdA 20, Arkose 5, or Plug 4. Annoyingly only the CdA seems to have a geo chart readily available, my gut feeling is that it has the least-aggressive and most comfort-oriented geo but it would be nice to confirm that.