Verenti Technique review

The frame

The Technique’s frame is made of aluminium alloy. The tubes are conventional round section, with a larger diameter down tube for increased rigidity. The bottom bracket is a traditional threaded design and is fitted with internal bearings.

>>> How to choose a road bike under £500

All cables are routed externally, with the stops on the down tube being quite prominent rather than flush with the frame. There’s a single set of bottle cage bosses on the down tube and the bike comes with mudguard mounts at the rear but not on the fork. The bike’s fork is non-tapered with carbon fibre blades, 1 1/8 inch bearings and an aluminium steerer and has FSA headset bearings.

Specification

The Technique comes equipped with Shimano Claris sixteen-speed gearing, with an 11-28 eight sprocket cassette and a non-branded 50/34 compact chainset. The Claris shifters use Shimano’s two lever design, with shifting controlled by the brake lever and the secondary lever behind it.

There are gear indicator windows built into the brake lever body and the gear cables exit from the side of the levers and loop externally to the frame, rather than being hidden under the bar tape like Shimano’s higher end groupsets.

The non-branded quick release wheels have alloy hubs and rims. They are shod with Kenda Kontender Competition 23mm wide folding bead tyres. Brakes are Tektro R312 alloy dual pivot calipers.

>>> New B'Twin Triban bikes

Finishing kit comes from Ridley Bikes’ 4ZA component range. This includes the 31.8mm alloy bars, the stem, seatpost and Stratos saddle.

Ride

For a bike at the budget end of the market, the Verenti’s ride quality is really pretty good. There’s little feeling of flex in the frame under harder efforts and when climbing. Despite the carbon bladed fork, the ride is a bit harsh over less even surfaces though, perhaps in part due to the 23mm tyres, which buck the general move towards 25mm diameter for their better rolling qualities and more compliant ride. You can feel the bike’s weight a bit when climbing and starting out from junctions, but once rolling you can progress well.

>>> How to get into road cycling for under £500

The Claris shifting works well and the lack of ratios isn’t really obvious, as the range mimics that of higher spec offerings. There is a bit of a rubbery feel to the shifting though and it lacks the crisp feel of more expensive options. The brake levers feel a bit narrow and sharp too.

Braking is also lacking in bite, probably due to the Tektro calipers themselves rather than the cabling, as they have a reputation for performance which is inferior to Shimano’s own offerings. A switch of brake pads should go some way to ameliorate things.

Value

Buy now: Verenti Technique from Wiggle for £319.99

The Technique offers a package which is fairly good for its price range. Its 4ZA branded finishing kit is a cut above what’s commonly found, but there are options at a comparable price which use Shimano’s next-up Sora groupset, adding an extra gear ratio and somewhat improved shifting.

>>> Verenti Insight review

Although non-branded, the wheelset is as good as the budget branded items which are typically found on bikes at three or four times the Verenti’s price and the Kenda tyres provide good grip and ride confidence, even if a switch to 25mm width would probably help with ride comfort.