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Planet X Uncle John review

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$1411.94

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The slender Planet X perch was universally loved – very comfortable as well as being a good-looker

BikeRadar verdict

4.5 out of 5 stars

"The deal clincher here is the price. The Uncle John makes your budget go a very long way without inflicting the drawbacks of other cheap bikes"

7 comments
Wed 2 Dec 2009, 8:00 am GMTBy

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Planet X let you spec the Uncle John (and indeed any of their bikes) in any way you like. We requested parts that we could build into a reasonably light, but still resilient, cyclo-cross bike that wouldn’t be out of place on the race course but had all the characteristics needed to make trail time an enjoyable affair. And the package price is simply fantastic.

Ride & handling: Confidence-inspiring ride and spot-on handling makes for great fun on descents

The Uncle John has something that made us clamour to get out on it again and again. It was a hoot to take down trails we’d usually want a mountain bike with several inches of travel on, and part of that is down to the relatively tall, broad and open front-end setup.

With the bars high and wide, you have plenty of space to manoeuvre the front end of the bike beneath you as trail obstacles approach and the Uncle John allows you to assume a proper attack position, whether you’re on the hoods or in the drops. It’s confidence-inspiring and makes for great fun on both slow and fast descents.

On tamer trails it bowled along happily enough and with rack and pannier mounts would easily translate to being a winter road trainer as well as being light enough to step up to the start line, though it lacks a flattened top tube to ease carrying.

A standard 32-spoke construction makes tweaks easy to fix: a standard 32-spoke construction makes tweaks easy to fix

Chassis: Quality frame and carbon fork that belie their price

The Uncle John ’cross frame is £175 on its own and with a carbon fork up front it’s still well under what we’d consider to be the budget barrier. It’s anything but budget in terms of quality, though.

The frame has round seatstays and a rounded top tube, flattened chainstays and down tube, and triple-butted tube profiles for a flattering ride and light weight. The high-gloss red warpaint looks delicious, but chipped easily, despite being so thick that we had to scrape the dropouts to get the wheel in.

Rack, mudguard eyes and two sets of bottle bosses are all present and correct. Rear stays are kinked to increase mud and tyre room and there’s no brace between the chainstays to inhibit clearance. The headset is a traditional external affair, adding a couple of centimetres to the otherwise minimal 110mm head tube.

The rear brake’s built-in cable-stop bridges the seatstays well away from any mud clearance problems, rather than being seat-clamp mounted. But this means if you’re planning to use the Uncle John’s disc mount later you’ll be left with a redundant lump of metal sticking out of the back of your frame.

FSA’s carbon k-force compact crank is a significant investment, and the 34-tooth inner ring is a boon on steep climbs: fsa’s carbon k-force compact crank is a significant investment, and the 34-tooth inner ring is a boon on steep climbs

Equipment: Stunningly good value-for-money build kit, although A57 wheels aren’t the toughest

Shimano Dura-Ace shifters were supplied on our test version as the requested Ultegra weren’t available. They performed smoothly, but might ordinarily be considered inappropriate on a ’cross bike, which will suffer tougher love.

FSA’s carbon K-Force compact crankset is a significant investment on its own, and the 34-tooth inner ring is a boon on steep climbs as well as when winching your way through deep mud pits, where the Continental Cyclocross Race tyres gripped surprisingly well.

Shimano LX cantilevers are low profile, but will get covered in mud and there’s an assertive feel of brakes with more leverage. If we were speccing a more expensive build we’d probably plump for discs just because we can, as ’cross frames with  disc tabs are few and far between, particularly at this bargain price.

The slender Planet X perch was universally loved. With plenty of room to move back and forth as the terrain varies, and a slim profile that allows you to get right off the back without fear of disaster, it’s very comfortable as well as being a good looker.

The A57 wheelset is the lightest on test and we did manage to damage the rear rim, though it withstood plenty of other hits. Standard 32-spoke construction means tweaks are easy to fix, though setting up wide brake blocks on such a narrow braking surface is a faff.

We requested wide bars on the Uncle John and true to form it arrived with a pair of 44cm Planet X Strada shallow drops, which give as much useful room along the tops as possible.

Planet-X uncle john: planet-x uncle john

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User Reviews

There are 7 reviews on this post

Showing 1 - 7 of 7 comments

  • I bought one of these frames several months ago to build a bike up for a friend with a bunch of extra parts that I had. The versatility of the frame was exactly what she needed, and the quality seemed much higher than the price. I built it up with flat bars, and she uses it for getting around town, the occasional easy, long ride with friends, and once a year for a local cyclosportif. I took it for a couple of test rides before handing it over to her and absolutely loved it - the handling felt spot-on and the ride was so fun that I was encouraged by it to go fast all the time. I'm about to build up another bike for a different friend, but she wasn't convinced by the colour or name of this bike, and wanted something more low-key - I was disappointed that I wouldn't get to play with another of these great frames. I highly recommend this bike for cyclocross, commuting, touring, a winter trainer, or simple as a do-it-all racing bike.

    The reviewers spec'ed their bike with a compact crankset, but it is obvious to me that this frame screams out to have a triple crankset to take full advantage of its versatility. BTW, the cable routing is: rear derailleur = top tube, front derailleur = down tube, which is the perfect combination IMO.

  • Point of order.......is 'deal-breaker' the wrong description here..?? Surely that phrase is normally used to describe something which is problematic, or something which would put off potential buyers..? What say you, Jenn..??

  • Good point softlad - we've updated the verdict.

  • I've had an uncle john as an all round bike for about 6 months and I love it. I've used it for a tour of europe, commuting, taking out into the country on a weekend, it is great. Feels sporty enough for me, as a recreational road cyclist, and yet is relaxed and sensible.

    My set-up is with Campag Veloce, with a Shimano XT 36/48t chainset. Mavic Open Pros, decent FSA finishing kit. I've recently swapped the 25c summer tyres for 28c for the winter roads. I built it myself and overall cost was close to £1000.

    It could be argued that for anyone who does not actually race, this type of bike is perfect. The like of the budget Specialized and Trek bikes where the geometry is pure race, and you can fit more than a 23c tyre in is just stupid, it renders the bike as useless for many practical situations, and yet a £600 bike is never going to be worthy to race on, so what is the point? I sold a pure Italian race bike (pinarello) and replaced it with the uncle john, and I would not go back.

    My advice is if you are getting into cycling, or looking to buy that first good bike, avoid the cheap £1000 carbon race bikes, and go for something which is fun with elements of practicality built in. A well spec'ed uncle john will maybe be 2lbs heavier, and sligthly less aero dynamic, but if you are cycling for fun, and want a good bike suitable for many different routes you want to take, not just one...buy a bike of this type.

  • It's a great bike at a great price but I do find the geometry less than ideal for 'cross racing. The long headtube gives a comfortable upright position for long rides/sportives but doesn't feel very planted on steep technical banks in a cx race. Also, the long wheelbase makes tight turns a bit tricky - I find myself slowing more than I'd like and having to take them wide. If you are after a do it all bike then it fits the bill but if you are after a proper cyclocross race bike then look elsewhere.

  • Hang on, lets get the price right, not sure when this was reviewed but it does say (10) so presume we are looking at 2010 model. If you select this with no extras on their website the prices comes in at 949.99 including VAT. Planet X bikes seem a very good deal but I do think their marketing at the non VAT price is pretty misleading. And you will pay another £100 if you go with a voucher scheme. So getting towards £200 more than the marketed price, 20% more. Still a great deal and good products, just do not know why they can not be more transparent in the first place.

  • I have had this bike since 2007 (bought on the bike to work scheme)

    It has done a lot of commuting in that time but the only bits that haven't been replaced are the seatpost, stem, handlebars and frame!

    The non-shimano parts are generally pretty poor and the wheels lasted no time at all!

    I don't think I'd get another planet x as I now know that you get what you pay for in the long run.

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Specification

Name:
Uncle John (10)
Built by:
Planet-X
Price:
$1411.94

Available Sizes:
51, 54, 57, 59
Weight (kg):
9.46

Frame & Fork:

 
Frame Material:
Triple butted aluminium
Frame Weight (g):
1820 g
Fork Model:
Carbon blades, alloy steerer
Fork Weight:
930 g
Headset Type:
FSA Orbit X-CX

Geometry:

 
Seat Angle:
74 Degrees
Head Angle:
71 Degrees

Brakes:

 
Brakes Model:
Shimano LX cantilevers

Transmission:

 
Cranks Model:
FSA K-Force Carbon Compact 50/34
Bottom Bracket Model:
FSA MegaExo
Rear Derailleur Model:
Shimano Ultegra 10 speed
Front Derailleur Model:
Shimano Ultegra 10 speed
Shifters Model:
Shimano Dura Ace 7800
Cassette:
Shimano 105 12-25

Wheels:

 
Front Wheel Weight:
860 g
Rear Wheel Weight:
1020 g
Rims Model:
Planet-X A57
Front Hub Model:
Planet-X A57
Rear Hub Model:
Planet-X A57
Tyres Brand:
Continental
Rear Tyre Size:
700x35C

Contact Points:

 
Seatpost Model:
On-One Twelfty Sport layback
Stem Model:
Planet-X Superlight Team 3D Forged 4-bolt 31.8 110mm
Handlebar Model:
Planet-X Strada 31.8 shallow drop 42cm

:

 
Top Tube (cm):
52.2 cm
Wheelbase (cm):
101.3 cm
Bottom Bracket Height (cm):
26.5 cm
Chainstays (cm):
44 cm
Seat Tube (cm):
51 cm
Standover Height (cm):
79 cm

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