Verenti unveils 2015 range with £399 Technique

Verenti, the in-house brand of online retailer wiggle, first launched back in 2010 and the bikes have continued to evolve, being well designed and with keen prices making them very popular. In fact, the £996 Insight 0.3 came 4th in the road.cc Sportive Bike of the Year Awards 2014/15, so impressed were we with it.

For 2015 Verenti have added several new models to the range, with a focus on affordability. The range is spearheaded by the all-new Technique, a £399 aluminium road bike with a decent equipment level. Verenti's previous most affordable bike was a £600 cyclocross bike, so the launch of the new Technique significantly lowers the starting price There are also a couple of new city hybrid and singlespeed models as well. .

£399 Technique

First let’s start with the Technique, which looks to offer a lot of bike for not a lot of cash. Verenti have designed a smart looking 6061 aluminium frame and fitted a carbon fibre fork with an alloy steerer tube. To the frame is fitted a 16-speed Shimano Claris groupset, something you don’t normally see at this price point - you’d expect to spend at least £500 or more to get a similarly specced road bike.

Look at another brand popular with entry-level road bikes and even the £449 Boardman Road Sport only manages a lowly in comparison Shimano 2300 groupset on an aluminium frame, while the Giant Defy 5 does manage a Shimano Claris groupset, but costs £499. So the Technique has a clear £100 saving over some of the more mainstream offerings at this price.

An 11-28 cassette and compact 50/34 chainset is going to help you up the hills, and Tektro R312 dual pivot brake calipers are going to deal with the task of slowing you down. A pair of Jalco 32-hole rims are laced to forged alloy hubs with Kenda K-196 tyres.

The handlebars, stem, seatpost and saddle are from Belgian brand 4ZA. Verenti provide a claimed bike weight of 9.9kg (21.8lb). A bike at this price is never going to be a featherweight but that’s a decent weight for the parts, and certainly about as light as you’ll get at this price.

The Technique is available in six sizes from XS to XXL, and it looks to have a geometry that sits some way between a race and sportive bike. The 56cm size has a 547mm top tube with a 140mm head tube, 572mm stack and 402mm reach, and a 72° head angle and 74.5° seat angle.

On paper the Technique looks a thoroughly compelling road bike for somebody new to cycling, for a bike to riding to work or college, or getting the miles in at the weekend. It would be a smart choice for tackling any sportive this summer, and needs to start training now. We’re going to find out how it performs as Verenti are sending one into the office to be tested, so watch out for a review soon.

New urban range revealed

Verenti have also launched a new urban range. The Division is a hybrid with a 6061 aluminum frame and carbon/alloy fork, and is available in two builds, priced from £449 with Sora, to £599 with Tiagra. It's a nice looking bike with a smart paint job, with externally routed cables for simplicity and decent finishing kit.

This more expensive model also has upgraded brakes, from rim brakes to Hayes hydraulic disc brakes. Both have flat bars and 28mm tyres, which will provide good comfort for those broken city roads.

Offering simplicity is the Closer, a £349 singlespeed/fixed wheel road bike based around a butted Reynolds steel frame and fork. A pair of Tektro brakes and a simple flat bar and a flip/flop hub, so you can switch between a singlespeed freewheel or fixed wheel, depending on your preference.

Combining an aluminium frame with hydraulic disc brakes and a singlespeed drivetrain is the £449 Transmission. The frame is a 6061 tubeset with a disc-specific rigid alloy fork. The brakes are Hayes Dyno Comp with 160mm rotors and it’s finished with a 4ZA handlebar, stem, saddle and seatpost. Fitted to the Alex MD-19 rims are 28m wide Hutchinson Nitro 2 tyres.

See all the bikes at www.wiggle.co.uk/verenti/