# So I got one of PricePoint's "Piave" bikes..



## ohpossum (Oct 20, 2004)

At $441 shipped to me, it was really too good of a deal to pass up. Since some people have asked about them (including me), I'd thought I'd share my experience...

Piave is Cytek is Velorazzo, All three brands use the same frame and components. In other words, the Cytek is the blue, cheap bike, the Piave is the red, cheap bike. No difference between the two..

Now, before I go on, remember this is a $441 bike. Everything on the bike is budget. So don't get all up in a knot that it doesn't have Ksyriums with it..

*The Bad:* The whole bike is spec'ed with Sora 8-speed (or less) level components. I personally like Sora for what it is, so thats not too bad in my book. The crankset and cassette are crap. I'm pretty sure they were made by a former Soviet boat anchor manufacturer. The headset cups had little bits of brown paper stuck between them and the headtube, so I had to pop the headset out to clean it all up. The wheels needed a little truing right away. The shifting and brakes also needed quite a bit of fine tuning. The saddle included with the bike is ugly as sin.

*The good:* The frame and fork are as good as any other Taiwanese made products. The stem, handlebars, and seatpost are all 'Pro-Lite' brand, which seem to be just as good as the name-brand's lower level products. The Vuelta Stylus wheels are surprising good for what they are, which is barely-name-brand wheels. The Sora shifters and brakes work well (i.e, they shift and they stop you). 

The paint is good, but the stickers are under the clear-coat. 

Overall, the Piave is a really good cheap bike. It compares favorably to other entry level bikes (OCR3 for example). My LBS has last year's OCR3 for $650+tax. At $441-shipped, the Piave seems like an even better option. The geometries are close enough that it feels very similar to OCR bikes 

Who would like the Piave? If you do your own wrenching and don't mind taking most of a bike apart, just to put it back together correctly, the Piave is for you. If you don't think you'll be making any warranty claims for the life of the bike, the Piave is for you.

Who wouldn't like the Piave? If you want a bike thats ready to ride the second your credit card is billed, go to the LBS. If you don't do your own wrenching (major league stuff, like headsets and wheels), don't get a Piave. If you don't know what size bike you should ride, definitely don't mailorder a bike!

Honestly, getting this bike was a big experiment, and depending on your wallet, an expensive experiment. I was prepared for the worst, but pleasantly surprised with what I got. However, I'm already on the lookout for some old 105 (or better) square tapers to replace the ironworks that are on the bike now 











Note: I'm not a pricepoint shell out to pull a con on everyone. I'm a mountain biker who needs to start riding some road miles for endurance training. I was looking for a bargain basement road bike, and I'm happy I found what I was looking for.

op


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## carioca (May 27, 2005)

ohpossum said:


> ....I'm already on the lookout for some old 105 (or better) square tapers to replace the ironworks that are on the bike now....



Nice to read the review on a lower end bike. Not everyone can afford a second bike worth thousands of dollars... I was considering the same bike as a winter bike. 

For your square taper BB, try Campagnolo, they still use square taper, and if I am not wrong, it is the same size as Shimano's square taper. 

Let us know how it rides!


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## FTF (Aug 5, 2003)

carioca said:


> For your square taper BB, try Campagnolo, they still use square taper, and if I am not wrong, it is the same size as Shimano's square taper.


 The tapers are different.


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## carioca (May 27, 2005)

FTF said:


> The tapers are different.


Ok, nevermind, then.

Nashbar does sell some square taper BBs that are 105 level.

UN53 Bottom Bracket


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## cydswipe (Mar 7, 2002)

*Nice review.*

I was looking at those last week. I'm really appreciative of your review. Honest and concise. Thanks!


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## Ramjm_2000 (Jan 29, 2005)

*Cytek inital impressions*

For those of you considering one of Price Point’s Piave or Cyteks I thought posting some thoughts on this bike might be useful as info on these bikes is scarce and I recently helped a close friend of mine pick one of these up. For those not aware Cytek is/was an Australian brand (along with piave and velorazza) and I believe this model was known as the ROMA. As far as I can tell their website has recently disappeared and I can only guess that they either were bought out or went out of business (I suspect that Merida probably absorbed them). Price Point is providing a 1 year warranty with components through the manufacturer further supporting my guess about the status of the company. Anyway after selling a vintage bike that was too big for my friend, and he being the cheap guy he is (sorry J , he asked if I could help him get the most bang for the buck on a new road bike. Being a bikaholic, I eagerly went to work searching for a new rig. I looked locally, online, eBay, everywhere and I have to say the Cytek and Paive are probably the best values out there, hands down. Right out of the box I was impressed with the quality of the frame (double butted Alu), fork, wheels, bars, saddle and stem. The only thing that REALLY didn't impress me was the heavy BB and the bar tape (zero padding and cheap looking). The Sora components are what you would expect and work fine, in fact they work similar to campy vs normal STI. The vuelta wheels are fairly nice and only needed minor truing out of the box. This bike is a steal at $399 and should sell for at least $550 given the parts. The plan is to upgrade the shifters RD, FD, and brakes to campy veloce since he had a bit of money left over from the sale of his other bike. As far as ride quality goes it's a nice Alum frame that rides as you'd expect, stiff but not too harsh. As I stated before, the Veloce components will do wonders for the shifting, plus give my pal a few extra gears. The Veloce brakes will improve braking dramatically as the Sora calipers are just adequate. The only other upgrade I would make on this bike would be to swap tires to 25c for a little bit more comfort. All in all I give the cytek too huge thumbs up for the quality and price!


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## Lifelover (Jul 8, 2004)

edit- delete


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## Lifelover (Jul 8, 2004)

*However*

Given the far superior reputation that Ibex has for their customer service you may have to go with the Classic 3300 .

It looks pretty nice as well


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## Ramjm_2000 (Jan 29, 2005)

*We looked at those...*



Lifelover said:


> Given the far superior reputation that Ibex has for their customer service you may have to go with the Classic 3300 .
> 
> It looks pretty nice as well


especially the IBEX. Bikes Direct has a pretty bad rep when it comes to customer service and the IBEX didn't have a carbon fork and had down tube shifters (why????). Price Point has always great customer srevice (at least in my case) so I felt more comfortable going that route. IMO the CYtek/Piave is still head and shoulder abouve those two options.

JR


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## MR_GRUMPY (Aug 21, 2002)

Any of these bikes would make a good "1st bike". Likewise, any of these bikes would make a pretty good "trainer" or "poor weather" 2nd bike. It's too bad that they didn't stick on a Tiagra shifer, and cheap 9 speed cassette. It probably would have only added $30 to $50 to the price of the bike.


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## Steve F (Nov 2, 2005)

*Cytek.....*

I too bought one of these from PricePoint. As a mountain biker looking for a second bike this was certainly in my price range, and ohpossum's review clinched the deal.

Got this as a Christmas present (don't wives just KNOW what to get you!).

I have about 15 hours saddle time and can echo what has been said. If there is a bike that offers a better bang for the buck, I would like to see it.

Right out of the box this thing took less than 45 minutes to get ready to ride. The brakes need quite a bit of work as did the front deraileur. The rear d was "almost" dialed in, as were the wheels.

I would mostly agree with the comments about the parts. Crank is a POS, but the cassette is not "that" bad. Bar tape..........UGLY and crap. My seat was a little differnt and was a "Piave" model. It is mostly white, with a "sperm saver" cut-out. Surprisingly comfortable, for a low-end product  

Bike rides well, and shifting/braking are more than acceptable. I would sat his bike was more than I expected, and wouldn't have problem recommending it a a good entry level/back up/beater bike. $400?................how much is a decent wheelset cost?


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## Mr. Versatile (Nov 24, 2005)

Nice review. Thanks for that.


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## NicholasJ (Jan 2, 2007)

*Piave Poggio Reviews Continued*

Hey everyone:

i stumbled upon this forum looking for the sizing specs of the Piave Poggio, and have enjoyed reading everyone's reviews. i myself am a Pricepoint diehard (between them and jensonusa.com, it's hard to buy much of anything at a LBS), and came across the Poggio on a whim, and bought it for my daily commute. i must say, it has been an excellent investment, after a few accommodations, and i would be hard-pressed to find another rig of this spec at this price ($450 all-in).

i just wanted to say that i think the wheels are decent, heavy, and harsh on bumps (as with all deep profile rims), and i had some nasty bearing problems with the rear hub but after my repacking job, it's spinning a bit better. the stock BB and crank were total crap, with the locknut coming loose on my third ride and stripping/rounding the square taper hole in the crank arm. i replaced them with truvativ parts and haven't had a single problem since. the seat is white and very ugly, which makes me happy 'cause only a fool would steal it. stock tires wore out in a couple weeks and i replaced the annoying bar tape just today after about a year of solid commuting. cork is nice and comfy. although the overall build feels a bit cheap and slapped together, the bike rocks for the price and hasn't really given me any significant problems other than the crank and rear hub (easy upgrades at this price range). oh, and the frames run small so i would recommend going bigger than you may think you are. i do almost all city riding and the tight compact frame and geometry are great for dodging cars, but a larger frame would be more comfortable and efficient for pure road. (i'm 5'8" and i bought the medium, which i think is around 52cm, but a 54 would suit me better for pure road riding.)


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