Genesis Longitude: 2020 review after 24,000Km
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 เม.ย. 2020
- Pros: Plus tires, pricing, great for off road, gravel and sand.
Cons: on the heavy side, deore hubs, rims, genesis customer service.
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genesis vagabond
Chapeau ,honest overview on your bike ,thanks.
Thank you for the feedback Stephen and welcome to the channel.
It was so nice to see Efes cup on your bike ☺️ I am Turkish man living in Italy and thanks for your videos. They make me motivated. Good luck in your journeys and work
You should check out my Instagram next week I think, there will be a picture to celebrate Turkish welcoming. I had the best of times when I cycled through Turkey. 👊
@@DavideTravelli I subscribed your Instagram. I am so glad to hear that you had a great experience during your cycling in Turkey. Maybe one day we can grab a beer and have a chat in Italy or we can catch up somewhere on the planet on our bikes 🙂
Most likely the beer somewhere else than Italy. 🍻
Çağatay bana instagram hesabını yazarmısın lütfen ?
Hi Davide,
Nice job!!
If I may suggest, a good choice in terms of the hub will be a dynamo hub and a Rohloff gear hub.
I know it can be an expensive choice but it will pay you back over a long-distance tour as you do..
For the rim, I am having the Velocity Cliffhanger 26 inch with tyres up to 2.5 inch and I am really pleased with them...
Spoke are Sapim race and altogether the wheels are really strong...
The downside of the dynamo hub is that the charging power is close to useless, especially on a dirt road.
but the durability and sturdiness are impeccable...
These opinions are not based on a long-distance tour but after almost 3 years of daily use in Scotland (wet condition) and about 10.000 km of heavy load tour, I still didn't change a bit on this wheels..
I hope you will proceed with your journey safely and happily !!
Take care
Thank you and welcome to the chanell! As mentioned I sold my Surly Disk Trucker in Patagonia to pay for flights to Cape Town and this bike was donated to me by the friends of BikeCafe.org - so beggers cant be choosers! :D To be honest while I dont have first hand experience on dynamo hubs I met many people that have them and most of them had them fail at one point or another on a long distance tour. I'm happy with a decent power bank.
Rohloff gear hub is defo an interest but I dont have the budget for sure, I'm changing slightly my setup continuing my world tour but the bike will be essentially like this.
Thanks for you suggestions and wishes!
@@DavideTravelli I can imagine, travelling for months without working can be a pain for the wallet but enlightenment for the spirit :) keep travelling and if you are going to cycling around Scotland, you have a bed to rest for a while!!!
Good luck
Thank you! Not sure if I'll make it to Scotland but it's a possibility 😊🙏
Davide, I can't thank you enough for your channel. By the way, may I ask how you say "bottom bracket shell" in italian?
You’re welcome. Bottom bracket is movimento centrale and the shell I think it’s called calotta.
It's a nice bike but obviously built to a small budget, hubs and rims. Long distance loaded touring is hard on any wheel so its good that it has the 29inch option.
That's very true Nick.
Nice review I have a genesis an old vapour which I'm converting to a tour bike. Love to see others doing the same thing they are cheap and cheerful so I'll try push it as far as I can if it all goes tits up I'll just dump it I think.
Ciao Donna, welcome to the channel! Sure the best bike for travelling is the one you have already as I mention here: th-cam.com/video/0hnGKgQiW7E/w-d-xo.html Safe rides!
@@DavideTravelli Cool. You also!
Ciao Davide, great review, thanks. I just bought a Bombtrach Beyond plus, very similar to yours. I am just wondering on mudguards. I see so many people not using mudguards at all. Why do you not run them? Just because of the risk of locking the wheel in mud? Imho the dirt, rain, mud etc getting on the bike, drivetrain, ... will cause more problems. What do you think? Take care
Ciao, welcome aboard! There are no rules about the mudguards, there are prons and cons for having them and for not having them. Usually with big tires of 2.8/3" they'd look a bit silly. Locking the wheel where there is sticky mud is defo a possibility I run into, last time in Turkey and it was a nightmare. I use a small plastic one on the front wheel if you notice, just to minimize the dirt on my face, other than that I prefer without mudguards but as I said it's just a personal choice there is nothing wrong in choosing to fit mudguards but they do nothing to protect your drivetrain when riding dirt. Front rack and bags as well as the saddle bag system could be considered mudguards of some sort now that I think about. Safe rides my friend, enjoy your new rig!
Davide, do you use tubeless tyre? And in general what's your experience with tubeless on the way, pro&cons
Grazie
Paolo
I love tubeless, no major issues. I carry different plugs sizes and if worse come to worse you can put a tube in there.
Thanks for the detailed review Davide. What do you think the best tyre sizes for Africa are in terms of availability. Did you find any 27.5" tyres in Africa. I'm tossing up between 29x2.6" and 27.5+. I was thinking on a 35m rim I would be able to run standard 29er tyres in case I needed to. But i like the option of a slightly wider tyre. Just not sure if 27.5" tyres and rims are common in Africa. Thanks mate!
Hiya! You’ll find 27.5+ tires only in South Africa and in Namibia. You can source them from those countries and have them easily in Zambia and Malawi with couriers or runners. Other countries you need to rely on expats/diplomats/ngo works to get them. With the Nobby Nic you can easily do 12/15k km on the back so you don’t need that many replacements. 35mm rim are a great choice you can probably fit anything between 18 and 3” tires.
In Africa there are many 29ers in supermarkets. So I clgurss in case of need you could find a 29” easier than 27.5
@@DavideTravelli awesome thanks for that Davide!
Safe rides!
Thank you for review! somehow i can see you on a Trek 920 too :)
That's also a nice bike, maybe one day Trek will give me one :D
@@DavideTravelli Unfortunately it will be discontinued, if the rumors are right.
You can only fit 3.0 in the back with 2x10 if you dish the rear wheel 5mm to the non drive side. ;)
Sure, although the geometry of the individual tire model surely plays a role. At the end the spaces are tight, no sure it's worthed especially if you're gonna ride in mud situations.
Hi David, thank's for review! What size of bike frame do you have, medium or large and what is your height? thnx :)
Hi Peter! I do not know my leg size but I can assure you contrary to what people at the bike shop says for bike travelling it's better a larger size than a smaller one. The smaller is better philosophy comes from racing where athletes are willing to put up with a bit of discomfort in order to have marginal gains, after all it's not like they are on a bike all day long like bike travellers.
@@DavideTravelli Hi Peter was asking about how tall you are I would like to know as well what is your frame size M or L? I have a touring bike Fuji one but looking for another one more backpacking and cycling in on the gravel path. Thanks and good luck
Hey Dariusz! I’m 177cm and use a Large.
ШИК!БЛЕСК!КРАСОТА!
👊
It is such a shame that Genesis' customer service is so shit. This would put me off buying any of their bikes, however attractive they might be. FYI Surly are much the same. There are plenty of other brands to choose from who are prepared to look after their customers. It is good that Bikecafe have supported you so well. Big thumbs up to them. For me as important as the bike frame is, so is the wheel set. I would be looking at having a set of really strong wheels with robust hubs made for the many kms you ride and the demands you place on your bike wheels. On reflection those WTB Scraper rims are not man enough for the demands of your riding or in the spec of the bike. Genesis should have specced the Longitude with better wheel rims and hubs. As some one else suggested I think you would benefit very much from getting a Rohloff hub for your bike given the high mileage you ride and the demands you ask of your bike. Also a SON dynamo front hub would be a good idea although as you say power banks and a couple of RAV/Anker solar panels over the front can take care of your power needs. A front dynamo is a luxury, nice to have when you have got it, but it's not essential as stand alone battery lights are so good now as are power banks to recharge electronic devices. Nice review. Thanks.
Thank you Alex! To be fair I dont think Genesis designed the Longitude for such stress but now WTB replaced the Scrapers rims under warrenty with KOM Tough and I hope they are really stronger. Bikecafe built the new wheels with reinforcing plates at each nipple and used very thick spokes and pretty decent hubs so I hope this set lasts long. Rohloff would be nice although Longitude isnt compatible straight out of the box but with some adapter I think it could befitted but it's a big expense and I travel with a very low budget. Dynamo is a nice luxury to have but I know many people that have a failed at some point or another, still I should try it to have a better idea.
@@DavideTravelli Thank you for your replies. I realise people have different budgets and priorities. Your Longitude has horizontal rear drop outs I think so a Rohloff hub could be fitted in future. My Rohloff hub has paid many times over in much reduced maintenance costs compared to a derailleur transmission and it's far cleaner and easier to use especially for long distance or any regular cycling. It requires far far less maintenance and is much better quality than derailleur transmission. I realise the upfront cost is high but then in a few years it quickly pays for itself plus you have the peace of mind it is so reliable and dependable.
It is a pity for future buyers of Daniele rack's will now have to pay double!! Only kidding. Stainless steel means it should hopefully last forever. Having a larger top shelf with my Specialised front Pizzza rack is so useful. I didn't realise at first but it is. You can just put anything on it and strap it down and off you go. Like an old butchers or bakery bike. Very practical.
I have bought items from companies whose products and service turn out to the shit and there is no need for it. I try to avoid companies like this. I am prepared to pay a little bit more buying equipment that is not only good but if I get a problem the company is going to help and not ignore me or fob me off. Life is too short and money hard to come by messing with shitty people like that. I realise you were helped out a lot by your local bike shop Bikecafe who gave you the bike and they have turned a negative situation for them into a very positive one. However Genesis should be ashamed of their customer service or lack of it. They could have turned it onto a big positive for themselves but chose not to by ignoring you then fobbing you off. Bad.
I know you now have now got your bike sorted out with stronger rims, but for the future Sun Ringle are good rims, double walled and stainless steel eyelets, also Ryde Rigida Andra rims but these are single walled and no eyelets and heavy, but quite a few cycle tourists seem to use and like them as they are supposedly very robust. The spoke holes are also angle drilled I believe which reduces tension on the spoke at the nipple.
Yeah dynamo hub is a definately a luxury. I have SON, SP and Shimano. The SON I decided to buy, it was expensive and definitely a luxury but it works what ever the conditions. It is a quality hub and SON is supposed to be very good with warranty and support if you ever have a problem with it. On reflection it was too much to spend including a new wheel rim and wheel build. SP is ok but if there was a problem it has to go back to Taiwan for investigation and repair, but it is less than half the price of the SON dynamo. I also have a cheap Shimano dynamo hub which came with my Cube bike which seems ok. If it fails it fails. It is from their Alfine range so quite cheap so you would just have to write it off I think and buy a new one. Mr Shimano is not going to help! I think I would replace it with a Shimano one but a better spec XT level one.
Anyway I subscribed to your channel as your videos are good and your channel is well organised. Lots of helpful info and good observations on life.
All the best.
Yeah Rohloff is a good choice long term you offset the costs of replacing the consumable parts of a normal drivetrain but still it's a bit of money upfront and also it's not as bombproof as people think as I met several people who had more than one issue with it.
The bigger platform on the rack is super useful, I have seen the pizza rack but it was not possible to fit it to the longitude fork as well it didnt seems as strong as Daniele's rack that fits into the quick realease of the wheel.
Bikecafe sent me a wheelset of Sun Ringle wheels but they were not with quick release hubs so I had to sent them back as the back hub was too big for my frame. The built 2 wheels with the KOM Tough rims and Sun Ringle hubs, special spokes and a plate at each nipple. They are pretty smooth, I hope they will last.
Thank you for the nice comments and for following the channel. Safe rides!
Those WTB rims seem to be shit. The hubs, were they Deore XT ? If so they should be quite robust. They do need to be cleaned and greases occasionally. Did you do that ? For bullet proof rims try "Ryde Andra's". Great videos I'm watching them all from the 1st one.
Hola Pancho, welcome! These rims are probably not suited for loaded long distance travelling, the hub were just deaore not xt. Thanks for watching 👊
After your review I wouldn't buy the frame due to customer service. WTB a longrunning coming stand by their products always the best. Maybe next time look at another company that you can deal direct with.
That's okay as long as you buy it from a a good dealer that offer good customer service. In my case www.bikecafe.org that gave me the bike. Of course being just a shop I was looking to have support from Genesisi directly because to ship things to Africa is pretty expensive.
WTB has great customer service indeed. I think in general US companies are much better at this.
@@DavideTravelli being from Canada Id go with a Canadian company and discuss the trip and let them know in advance of the idea of my plan and ask that they support me if I have an issue with their frame etc. I find that works better than a bike shop.
I tried, I've contact pretty much every bike manufacturer before starting my journey in Alaska but no joy. Bikecafe sold me the Surly I used in the Americas with a fair discount and once I got to Patagonia and asked them to help me find a sponsorship with a bike brand because I had to sell my Surly to pay for flights to Cape Town they just said dont worry we will give you a new bike so you can continue your adventure. If's very difficult to get sponsorship with bike brands if you dont know anyone within the organization.