# Mekk Brand Any Good?



## chrisb1357 (11 Jul 2013)

Hi all,

Is the Mekk brand of bike any good?

I have been looking at one of these as well as some other road bikes.

http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/mekk-pinerolo-al-zr-sora-road-bike-id78725.html

Chris


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## beeblemaster (12 Jul 2013)

No first hand experience, but I was curious about this brand too. 

Did a bit of research and the reviews seem to be very good, as too is customer feedback. I got the impression that the customer service was good and I'm pretty sure they offer road tests before you buy. Great specs for the money and really fancy the AL1.5 in blue :-). 

I didn't get one in the end but that's because I picked up a 2nd hand bargain of something else, but I do keep an eye on eBay just in case a bargain comes up.


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## HLaB (12 Jul 2013)

beeblemaster said:


> Did a bit of research and the reviews seem to be very good, as too is customer feedback. I got the impression that the customer service was good and I'm pretty sure they offer road tests before you buy. Great specs for the money and really fancy the AL1.5 in blue :-).


Yip, my ex lbs is a dealer and they'd let folk take away the bike for a few days test ride.


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## chrisb1357 (12 Jul 2013)

Many Thanks.

Still not made my mind up. Someone told me the Cassette is not a great one on this Mekk. Is this true?


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## smokeysmoo (12 Jul 2013)

chrisb1357 said:


> Someone told me the Cassette is not a great one on this Mekk.


 
The spec states the bike has a mix of 2300/Sora. Sora is pretty good for it's price, but 2300 is the bottom of the pile and this is reflected in shift quality etc.

If the cassette is Sora it will be no fuss but dependable and reliable. If it's 2300 then it would be worth upgrading IMO.

However, if you wanted to upgrade the cassette for any reason then it's only going to cost you less than £40 to change it, (assuming you have the tools and knowledge to do it), and that will get you an Ultegra cassette for that money, a Tiagra or 105 would be even less.

Or, as the cassette is annoying you at this stage, (but can't imagine why TBH), then ask the LBS to swap it for you before you even get the bike, and if they keep the the 2300/Sora one then the cost should be minimal.


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## HLaB (12 Jul 2013)

chrisb1357 said:


> Many Thanks.
> 
> Still not made my mind up. Someone told me the Cassette is not a great one on this Mekk. Is this true?


I wouldn't worry too much about that if the frame is good for you, cassettes are disposables/ replaced relatively often. Many bikes come with a Sora cassette, my Sirrus did and I just replaced it down the line with a SRAM one when it wore out. Cant fault the Sora cassette though just SRAM cassettes do a wider range which I prefer, some folk dont.


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## wakou (13 Jul 2013)

2300 is 8 spd? Tiagra/105 was 9 spd, now 10 spd, Sora is 9 spd? Not 100% sure but check first!


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## Andy Hay (13 Jul 2013)

This looks like a nice bike but it is running last year's Sora which have thumb shifters for down shifts - 2013 Sora has paddle shifters as per Tiagra, 105, Ultegra etc which make a huge difference to the ride - especially if you like to ride on the hoods. A friend of ours has a Mekk and they seem good value for money - especially when it is end of season and Wiggle drop the prices! Although the frames are nice, I wouldn't say that they are in Specialized's league - they look heavy too. To keep the price down, Mekk cut costs by deploying own label brake calipers and running cheap rolling stock on entry level bikes. Our friend's bike was supplied with a pair of Formula hubs - very catchy and not at all smooth. He's recently replaced them with a cheap pair of Shimano R500s which run smooth and can be easily adjusted as they have cup and cone bearings. Also consider Merlin Cycles and Ribble Cycles. I ride a Merlin Malt-R as a training bike and the main reason I bought this bike was because it came with a full Tiagra groupset (including chainset and brake calipers) for £499.


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