I have noticed a few of the what bike cycle scheme threads recently so thought I would share my experiences of the PX Dirty Disco.
I went for the XL as I am 6”3” with a 34” inside leg. The head tube and reach on the DD is slightly more than that of the XLS,I will be doing a few road miles on it so this was important to me. I was about to pull the trigger and then noticed that they had changed the spec from their own cx wheels to the rather lumpy reet’ards. The guy in the dept for building told me that they wouldn’t have any of them in till the end of March and “We don’t do any changes to bikes on cyclescheme.” That is a bit annoying as they do take a 10% admin fee, making sure they don’t lose out. That peed me off a bit and I spent a fair bit of time looking at other options. However the Apex group and frame package for £1100 was still the best value so back I came. The bike arrived, well build and on time. At the same time as it was reduced by £200 and got the cross wheels back. I swapped the reetards for a pair of crossrides and the post and saddle for a carbon Use and Charge Spoon,the saddle and post alone saved 375g. My old pair of Rasta QR’s in and off I went. Because of my size I had specced the 46 bars and a 110 stem.

First impressions; it is a cracking size for me and fit wise it feels like my old CdF 60cm,the best fitting bike I have ever owned. Just lighter…a LOT lighter…I feel in, rather than on it, but never feel cramped even when on the drops. The apex group is my first experience with SRAM road kit and I feel it is a step above the tiagra eq. The finish is nicer and while the double tap is “different” it is just a case of getting used to it.

The spec is good and special mention must go to the PX gravel road tyres. My commute is seven miles and consists of forest and landy tracks. The tyres are sure footed, not too draggy on the road and predictable. I took it up to the bottom of the Devils knob(Cairngorms) in the hols and didn’t bother to fit the Rocket Rons that I have bought for it.The PX finishing kit is so far unmarked by my attraction to trees and ditches.

The frame does fit a disc rack(sort of) and raceguards can be bodged in. There is piles of clearance as well for fatter tyres both front and back,I have 35mm in and can fit a finger in each side of the fork and rear. The bike is surprisingly comfy for a light rigid carbon bike and copes with singletrack probably better than my old Salsa Fargo (Blasphemy!) due in no small part it lack of weight. The second pic below is what about a third of my commute consists of.

So, overall, Probably the best all-rounder I have owned and one which I feel will sound the death knell of my Niner MCR. Despite the initial customer experience,it really is a cracking piece of kit and hsad made me hanker after the Pickenflick…with carbon wheels to offset the weight difference…
The rest of my commute (smug mode on..)

Nice review, and cracking looking commute! The landrover tracks look pretty bumpy…

Shame about the customer service experience. I couldn’t get from your post if it came with the wheels you wanted or not, I thought you did but then you said you swapped the ree’tards out?

How much did you pay in the end including C2W admin fee? (which is a pain that you have to pay that on top, but I do get why)

Are you getting caked in mud etc from your ride? Any plans to put mudguards etc on?

en noticed that they had changed the spec from their own cx wheels to the rather lumpy reet’ards. The guy in the dept for building told me that they wouldn’t have any of them in till the end of March and “We don’t do any changes to bikes on cyclescheme.” That is a bit annoying as they do take a 10% admin fee, making sure they don’t lose out. That peed me off a bit and I spent a fair bit of time looking at other options. However the Apex group and frame package for £1100 was still the best value so back I came. The bike arrived, well build and on time. At the same time as it was reduced by £200 and got the cross wheels back. I swapped the reetards for a pair of crossrides and the post and saddle for a carbon Use and Charge Spoon,the saddle and post alone saved 375g. My old pair of Rasta QR’s in and off I went. Bec

I’ve been toying with buying a dd for a while in xl. What does your bike weigh with pedals?

Does your bike have the silly front mech pully on to make it a bottom pull?

Ben, I have just taken the raceblades off as everything has dried up here,they did the job,though not as good for off road,and when everything was really crap,I just used the road. The bike came with reet’ards. They sold on ebay for £80 last week. I maxed out the £1000 scheme allowance and paid the extra £100 on top.
Damascus with pedals,and the changes I have mentioned in my post, 8.7kg with really basic shimano pedals and 1970g Crossrides. I can’t remember looking at the front mech and noticing anything Heath Robinson about it,but I will check.

Did raceblades fit ok? Guessing they must have been XLs?

Jealous of your commute, 7 miles on tracks or a road based alternative – nice!

Great pics too

I seriously considered one of these but the lack of rack and mudguard options put me off (so went down the Arkose route). Still like the way they look, and their weight!

Where do you work & live? Looks wonderful!

I shouldn’t have opened this, it’s my theoretical divorce inducing fourth bike…..

I live in a village 5 miles by road from Montrose where I teach. My commute runs along the river Esk,with a loop round the now closed Sunnyside “Institution” that is in the first pic that ups it to a distance worth getting dressed up for. Morecash,look on it as a test of your Wife’s love,if she limits you to 4 bikes,is she really “the One?”

And there are reasonable priced one’s in the classifieds. (hint hint)

I like that a lot.

How much difference between this and the SLX frame? I was looking at both on the website but couldn’t decide which.

XLS frame you mean, presumably?

They’re quite different I thought when I was looking at them. The XLS seems to be more racy

I found the position more extreme on the XLS. I also found the XLS not to be a big feeling bike,

I like that.
A lot.

Great post, interesting stuff!

What do you mean by disc rack?

There is an article somewhere about the difference between the Dirty Disco and XLS frames

Something like XLS is better for racing, Dirty Disco better for all day riding

Great mini review duckman. A few questions; what is the cable routing like on the downtube? I’ve always thought it looked a little “messy”. Any close-ups on that? Also the BB, is it a standard British threaded one?

Cheers

Nick

There you are guys,a strange looking arrangement,but I have had no issues since Feb,despite hiding it under mud on occasion.Bog standard BB with a gxp(Sp) in it.The review is from a PX team guy who says the DD is more of an all day bike. When they used to publish the frame wrights it was lusted as lighter and is also currently what? £200 cheaper. Plus the matt carbon with the red details.. Be still my beating heart!

I keep meaning to add my own post along these lines, but never get round to it. So I’ll chuck it in here:
I was looking at a DD at the same time as OP. Tried one in the car park, like it but didn’t buy. Some wonderful bloke had mentioned that the prices go up and down like a yo you, and lo and behold the price dropped by £200 the week after. Weirdly enough I still hung around for weeks before buying, no idea why, it just didn’t feel right.

Anyway, 4 weeks later I absolutely love the bike. I think it’s utterly amazing. I just can’t ride it slowly* to work. It just zings along in an amazing way. Which is strange cos it’s not actually that light. It compares favourably with my Trek Domane which cost twice as much.

I need to be fair here and point out that it hasn’t rained at all when I’ve used it so everything is still sparkly shining working. I’m sure after a few slop fests it won’t be so bad.

I’m 6ft 1/4 inch and got the large with 80mm stem and 44mm bars. 46 weren’t an option.

I’ve briefly tried it round the cycle track in the garden and it did reasonably well. Not as good as the bouncer but then what do you expect.

After a lot of indecision I’d really recommend one, but do wait until one of the frequent sales.

PS The Tiagra one was around 300g heavier.
* Subjective term

Oh and that pulley wheel thing for the front mech is an abomination.

Yes, the 44mm bars were to small so I got 440mm in the end 🙂

duckman – her love was tested the first time I got a fourth bike – a Blur.

I no longer have the Blur 🙄

Duckman

I see you used to own a Croix de fer, how did it compare to the disco? I’m having trouble deciding between these two and possibly a Raleigh Maverick Comp.

Cheers.

Well…I like a steel bike…But the disco isn’t any harsher over distance. I am off to get a Duke of Edinburgh group over the falls above Geldie Lodge in the Cairngorm’s this afternoon. I will be taking the disco rather than my niner MCR. The elephant in the room is also the difference in weight. Pushing the c de fer up to speed through muddy landy tracks could be a misery,it is 3lb heavier,which you notice. Size wise I sometimes felt a wee bit between 58 and 60 on the genesis as I can mostly get to work off road,but it was sketchy on the 60 at times,but was still the best fit I have had. Xl disco is just a great fit on everything for me.

NB If Genesis ever get the frame out in 853/under 2kg,OR an XL Pickenflick comes up for sale, carbon is rubbish and mine is for sale.

EDIT; just googled that Raleigh,that’s a bargain.

Thanks Duckman.

Yes, my head says steel and the versatility of guard and pannier mounts, but I can’t quite put out of my mind that the disco is a great looking bike and a lot lighter by all accounts.

Decisions decisions.

Yes, my head says steel and the versatility of guard and pannier mounts, but I can’t quite put out of my mind that the disco is a great looking bike and a lot lighter by all accounts.

I swapped from a steel Soma Double Cross with steel fork to a Dirty Disco using pretty much the same parts – wheels, drivetrain etc – bar the brakes which went from BB7s to TRP Spyres and the difference in weight on a digital scale was somewhere around 5lb or more, from 25lb with the steel frame to 20lb with carbon. That makes a huge difference to the feel of the bike, it’s properly fast, but without being overly harsh.

I liked the way the Soma rode, but you do notice that sort of weight reduction.

I fitted a CX70 front mech, I think, and did away with the nasty roller wheel contraption btw.

Yup, those sound like internet scales 😀

Yup, those sound like internet scales

Sports Alpine digital ones, but yeah, I did buy them on the internet. 😉