Morning all.
I’m after a new bike – something that can do a bit of everything including long range trail recce’ing, carrying my 2 year old on the back, commuting and ‘just going for a ride’ type stuff.

I was all set on a Genesis CdF 10 which is at my LBS for £620 which seems like a cracking deal and gets great reviews. Then my eye got caught by the Verenti Substance (Wiggle own brand apparently) – pretty looking thing with a decent spec (full Sora groupset with Avid BB5 brakes). £600 RRP but down to £450 at the minute which seems like an absolute bargain.

Does anyone have any experience of the Verentis? Don’t want to buy something that looks like a bargain and end up with a pig!

Just bumping this up – any experience of the Verenti stuff?

No, but you should also look at the Norco Search – I’ve got the old version and it’s ace!

Can’t help with the Verenti, just ordered a CdF 10! The CdF has better brakes – TRP Spyres, the same Sora groupset, not sure about the wheels. The Substance gets reasonable reviews and reckoned to be close to the Genesis.

Don’t know if the above helps 😕

Norco looks alright.

The thing about the Verenti is that its £450 at the minute which seems like a bargain too good to miss…

Yeah, I looked at the Verenti before I bought my Norco, but the option of being able to test ride first swung it for me. The Norco has a much longer headtube so if you want to have a more relaxed, upright riding position it’s definitely worth considering.

Well I guess I’ll find out – just ordered a Substance. Works out at £150 less than the CdF 10 which my LBS has in which on a £500/£600 bike is a fair whack.

Apparently (not sure how much of this is true), Verentis are actually old stock of other manufacturers stuff repainted and rebadged. Doesn’t bother me – Reynolds frame (albeit 520), full Sora groupset and BB5 brakes tick all the boxes I want from a reliable do-a-bit-of-everything bike. And the big thing – it looks prettier than the CdF IMHO.

First bike with drop bars in over 20 years so looking forward to see how I/it gets on.

Let us know how you get on and need pix, looking to get this bike myself but can’t find much to go on.

I was very tempted by this

But the extra large looked a bit smaller than Genesis extra large. But to the sensibly sized they look a great deal

5’8″ here so went for a small so hopefully it’ll have a stack of standover height too.

Really excited – first properly new bike I’ve bought since forever!

My gf has a substance, looks nice, rides okay, weighs a ton, like as much as my full sus mtb – make you strong like bull 😉

Verentis aren’t rebadged old stock from other brands. Some design by odm so prob that that’s been misinterpreted.

I looked at the weight and its more or less (slightly less IIRC) than the CdF 10. Its a sub £500 steel framed cross bike, i’m not expecting it to be sub 20lb or anything! As long as I can load it up for some longer bike packing type stuff, it can take the knocks associated with commuting/being locked up at the station/off-road then I’m happy with any additional heft vs a less durable lighter frame 😀

You’ll be fine as long as you don’t have to lift it over any stiles. Makes an ideal commuter. I don’t know what tyres are specced on it now, but last year’s came with some horribly draggy Kendas that also flatted a fair bit too. Worth bearing in mind if it feels sluggish. Solid and dependable probably sum it up – enjoy 🙂

Well its arrived. First impressions are good – its certainly not light but it was replacing a fully rigid singlespeed with carbons bits so it was always going to feel a bit heavier.

Lovely thing to look at though and I’ll be trying to nip out for a quick test ride later when I’ll get pics. Seems like a lot of bike for the money though – bear in mind its cheaper than a singlespeed On-One Pompino which has rim brakes!

So what happened to the update DaveBoyWonder?

I guess I can do an update as I chose the same bike over cdf due to cost.
I’ve used it for year round commuting in the UK, a few rides with friends (mostly road but with CX tyres over Dartmoor) and a couple of audaxs.
Tried to set it up for touring with a rack, marathon plus tyres and upgraded the brakes to bb7s.

Coming in as a inexperienced bike rider 2 years ago it’s done 5k miles and been solid. It’s heavy and slow but I’ve ridden forgiving trails with friends and gone out with a group of roadies so covered everything I need.

Edit: had the bike 2 years now