For some time now I have been looking for a new bike for myself, a replacement for the Cipollini RB1000 - it will probably start a series of descriptions of the next bikes on which I have the opportunity to drive. It seems to me that looking for a specific model that will make my portfolio empty will be much more objective than dry tests. I do not know on the website, on technologies, I can not assess the stiffness different by 7.5% - I will be like Max "I'm talking about it" Kolonko ;-)

Description of the bike for 15,000 PLN from Decathlon is more than just checking the equipment. This is a short essay about the brand and the election. The text is not sponsored. I do not get anything from Decathlon, I received the bike for several hundred kilometers at my own request - in return I do not have to do anything. If you have not read before: Is it meaning to buy a bike for millions? I recommend it.

You can make fun of me like Asia Tuhajbejowicz on a pal or let me spend the whole night with The Kelly Family but I will not answer the question of who is the target of this bike in Poland. This is a phenomenon, nonconformity and nonchalance ...

This is a bike, he drives.

Bicycles are divided into good and bad as well as cheap and expensive. If the bike is expensive then you really have to try to make it bad - few companies manage to release a poor model - it can only be overpaid. On the other hand, what does the overpaid bike mean? You pay for equipment and for the brand, it's obvious. If someone wants to spend 40,000 on a bike and enjoy it, can you write that he spent the money wrong? He could have bought something better equipment, but a different company, although from a certain price level for me as an amateur, the technological difference does not affect the ride anymore. In my opinion, the b'Twin Ultra 740 CF line makes sense. The only question is who is spending such money on a bicycle to say that it was sensible, prudent and logical. 15,000 to say that you bought a sensible bike in the supermarket ?!

If I got the Ultra 740 CF in the black version, I would give him the sticker of the world's most boring bike. It looks nice (geometry + high wheels make a great first impression ... every next one in total too) and it's great to ride, nothing to complain about - the end of the review. Fortunately, I got a version with the Decathlon company colors: blue and salmon (?). They are underpants, but I like them (Panda claims that they are absolutely not underpants, but that they can not determine them, I remain with their version). Basically, I mainly paid attention to this bike. I suspect, however, that most boys will find them inappropriate - just like the new clothing collections of this company. I do not understand the decision in which the largest sports store in Poland releases exemplary quality clothes, but does not make them available (at least the top ones I recommend) in universal colors, such as all black with a small logo. They limit themselves (at least one person - me). Well, but by the way - they certainly know what they are doing.

Matt varnish, matching the overall concept of the bike: wheels, saddle and wrapper under the color. Everything goes well with each other. Apparently, I would only cling to the steering wheel. Thin and round - this is not what I like the most. Much more suited to me a little more aero, slightly more contoured, flattened at the top, and maybe even a little crazy (and more expensive): hiding links. On the other hand, it is very low - between the lower grip and the upper one there is not much difference in position - it suits me, but everyone likes something else.

When it comes to position, the internet says it is typically sporty. I would rate it on "typically sporty for a bike for the masses";-) We do not go straight as a tourist, but also the lower grip does not require us to perform tricks for yogis. Again - for me just in time, for a classic masters-chaser there will be too little "pro", for a typical tourist will need a bridge up and washers. After writing this sentence, I checked the table with geometry - size L (58) has a 175mm head, which is very low. My observations above are therefore unsupported - it seems that assessing other bikes after descending from RB1000 will be difficult. So I'm going to focus on the things I know about, and there are not many of them. Since the first point: APPEARANCE is OK - we go further

I'm going and crying

I get on a bicycle near Decathlon on Targówek and drive north, towards Zegrze. A few kilometers later I already have mental tears in my eyes. My thought string goes something like this: how much I spent on Cipollini, how many things I changed in it, how much does b'Twin cost, how am I riding on it? The disasters appear - before the foundation of the pedals, the bike weighs around 7kg, that is not enough. It costs 15,000, that is ... well, I do not know: on the one hand, it's disgusting for a bike, on the other hand, it's not much for what it offers. Because let's look at it like this: wheels they cost 6800 zlotys in the Harp, Ultegra Di2 PLN 5,000, some spies and the frame comes out for free. He goes exceptionally well on it. To sum up my thoughts: I have a bike from Decathlon, which is lighter than mine, newer technologically, much cheaper and I am more comfortable with it - a huge sadness.

Fortunately, the charm spits a little around 20 kilometers. I press like Sagan (when he is traveling) and I see that a local, unknown to me cyclist is sitting on the wheel. I release him to make up with me pretending that I have just finished the intervals and wait. My intuition does not disappoint me, it takes about 15 seconds before the question about the bike arises. Maybe it's because of these colors, maybe because it's Housing clean, or maybe just people going fast on B'Twins are curious. So he goes up and asks me if this is the cool model he saw in the store. I answer that I doubt, but probably similar, because the colors are reversed. The exchange of opinions takes a while, because I still do not believe that it is not this one - it ends with the statement that "I do not know if I would give these 7000 for a bike from Decathlon". One thing is certain: if you like, when people around you know that your bike is a grazing road, this is not the way.

Describing this bike is a bit pointless. Ultegra Di2 is probably the best group on the market available for a reasonable cyclist. The bike is practically new, so nothing crunches and cracks. The wheels are exemplary and under the tire, so there will be no interesting stories about catching slippers on the tub and returning from the shoe. They did not save on tires because the Yksion set is a decent choice. Brakes with strong braking squeak like crazy, and on wet I have the impression that they work hopelessly (just like tires), but on the internet they write that braking is one of the main advantages of this bike and wheels ("superior braking"), so I'm foolishly throwing such attention. This bike just works. I could complain that one side of the saddle is a bit slippery and the other side is normal, which gives me the impression that one buttocks escapes from the other, but I am a bit ashamed, because again - no one else had this problem. Possibly, the pedal fits in poorly, but then I remember that he is mine, so another failure in finding the defect of this equipment.

I do not know about servicing. Sometimes I will naoliwię and clean the chain, I change the blocks (although it happens to me put them backwards, which causes them to slide out while I'm driving, and I will pull up) or pull up the brake cable. There is no cosmic technology in the CF740, no shelves are opened, nothing is "hidden in the cupboard", there are no magic screws. The biggest fancy for me is the mounting of the seat post, which is tightened with a screw on the top pipe, thanks to which it looks as far away as integrated.

I am a failure, I can not find a significant defect in this bike. Jade in the sun, in hail, in the gale, and everything works, unfortunately. I press the handle, the bicycle slows down, I press the buttons - the gears change, I enter the hole, nothing crunches. It's good that although when I arrive in a downpour, everything is so dusty that the wheels cease to spin (of course I was driving our Gass asphalt, which in total are quite good) :)

Gear ratio 52/36 at the front and 11-28 at the rear is a fair solution. You can see that no one is trying to slim down the bike by force. We will go very fast down and very slowly up. As for me, 36-28 is just enough to go and not turn over.

b'Twin fast as Golf

You can race with different cars. You can have a Ferrari F430 and everyone knows you're rich. You can have a Lamborghini Gallardo and look the fastest in the city. You can have a Catherham R500 and look like a suicide, or just a Subaru WRX STI and look like a professional rally driver. But you can also buy a Renault Megane (and some sports markings there) and achieve it exactly same times like all the aforementioned cars at the Nurburgring. Racing "bitłinem"Head to head with Pinarello and Cipollini on the road is more or less the same feeling as racing with Megara from Ferrari. Your equipment does not stick out, but to get to such a situation you must have

Cojones de ferro

because the man who orders a bike in 15,000 in Decathlon can not be described differently. This is exactly the same feeling (as I imagine) of buying the most expensive and the fastest Golf. You will not see this bicycle in the store, you can only order it online. None of your friends are on it, you have not seen him in any race, you know about him in principle as much as you hear from strangers on the internet or magazines. You must trust the brand.

We return the bike to Decathlon at Targówek. We stand in the door for a moment before the courteous gentleman who borrows us will come to him. I can not count on your fingers how many people at the time looked at the bike suspiciously. A few approached, one person almost managed to sell it .... at least until he learned that blue-and-salmon bikes can cost more than a few thousand. It is a great regret that the shop does not show this bike anywhere ...

For my part, I will remind you only about the consideration of any guarantees by Decathlon: I do not remember that they would refuse someone a warranty claim for any reason. What else in "self-respecting companies in bicycle shops" ;-)

So in a nutshell: is b'Twin Ultra 740 CF for you?

1. if price / quality is the main determinant
2. if it does not bother you, you'll always be "this guy from b'Twin"
3. if you like to stand out from the crowd in an original way
4. if you do not care about jealousy of your colleagues and do not like to nail yourself
5. if the word "reason" connects you with the word "hobby"
6. if you like black or bold color combinations
7. if it does not bother you how people make fun of you
8. if you park bikes under a cafe and want to be sure that yours will not disappear first, even though it is probably the most expensive *
9. if you like to mock others that you have overpaid
10. if you like to see how others hurt, that man is visiting them on the "marketplace"
11. if you live in a city where everyone around you has clothes for a million and bicycles for two and you want to be an anti-system, while maintaining technological advantages.

yes - I recommend it with full conviction, take it while it is possible!

*here we have a different opinion with Panda. She claims that at first the bikes disappear from beneath the café, i.e. b'Twin, I say that people associate the name and take something exotic first - a thing to check ;-)

Will I buy a b'Twin Ultra 740 CF?

I do not know. On the one hand, it is one of the best bikes you can have for this money, on the other it is 15,000 issued in Decathlon for equipment that is reasonable. I doubt that anyone on our amateur level (and probably also higher) would need something better - technologically or weight. I do not know if I can be mentally mentored "Maciek - this guy from b'Twin"