K2 t nine twister?

[ginny]

Hi everyone. This is my first post here. I am also relatively new to road bikes so excuse me if this is just a dumb question. I am thinking of buying a K2 T nine twister (last year's model) in medium (52-54cm). I am 5'6"ish and very narrow. It seems that any bike I buy will be a dramatic improvement over my Specialized P2 I have been taking on road rides. Does anyone have any suggestions on this bike. I can't really find reviews on it. It's about $1200 bike (I'm getting it for less), but it has decent components... any opinions at all would be welcome! Thanks!

[baskingshark]

I have a cheaper K2 T:9 road bike (Whirlwind). I posted questions about it on TEF before I bought it. I didn't get any positive views of the brand in terms of their bikes in general, nor the T:9 range in particular. Most people had either neither heard of it, or were aware only of their skiing brands. So, I was a bit nervous about buying it.

However, it was the only road bike with a woman's specific frame that I could afford (I have short arms in relation to my height, so any non-WSD bikes I tried stretched me out too much), so I went with it, rather than compromise and buy the hybrid that my budget was more suited to.

I don't ride far or fast, but for what I do, it's been fine so far - I'm very happy with it.

[Torrilin]

I can't vouch for K2s WSD bikes or road bikes. I've got a K2 Zed 1.0 mountain bike fitted out as a utility bike. The frame rides pretty comfortably provided I'm not heavily loaded. Even pretty big potholes or sharp stops don't really jolt me. If their road frames are comparable, you should be pretty happy with the ride. Downside: the downtube is *fat*. Really fat. Hard to park fat. Much of the frame tubing is oddly shaped, so add-ons may be hard.

Despite all I read about "beware of cross-chaining", the only time I have dropped a chain was pretty clearly someone helping it while I was inside the grocery store. The chain isn't noisy unless a shift doesn't complete (commonish if I "shift" when I'm not moving). They clearly did something pretty right with the drivetrain. The brakes work well, even when wet. Components all seem to work together pretty well. It's got some braze-ons that you wouldn't expect for a mountain bike (like ones for fenders and a rack).

The saddle that came with my bike was *awful* for me. I swapped it for a beater saddle that's shaped like a Brooks while I save my pennies. Same exact saddle does great for my partner.

The bike is noticeably lighter than comparably priced mountain bikes, cruisers and hybrids. That is what sold me on it. I could pick it up and carry it, and a lot of the other bikes in my price range were heavy enough that they were hard to lift.

Definitely look the one you're thinking of over carefully and give it a long test ride. You may be pleasantly surprised with the quality. K2 doesn't seem to do a good job highlighting some of the features on their frames.