Review - Forme Longcliffe 5.0

A couple of months ago, I bought a Forme Longcliffe 5.0 road bike. My wife wanted to try out something a bit sportier than her Giant hybrid and I was after a winter bike that I didn't need to be too precious about. Our budget was very tight (£300ish), so the three bikes we considered were Decathlon's B'TWIN Triban 3, Halford's Carrera TdF (which was £249 at the time) and the Forme Loncliffe 5.0 which was on offer at Rutland Cycling for £329 (since buying the bike, the price has fallen to £299).

We didn't really fancy the 70 mile round trip to Decathlon, so decided to narrow it down further to either the TdF from Halfords or the Forme. In the end, we went with the latter for a number of reasons:

• Compact chainset (the TdF uses a full size and the Triban has a triple)
• Weight
• Aluminium forks rather than steel (the Triban incidentally has carbon)
• Frame geometry
• Preferred the way it looks
• Halford's service very shoddy in comparison to Rutland Cycling who let us have a proper test-ride.

General specification:

• Frame - Forme 7005 Aluminium, Double Butted, Mudguard Eyelets
• Sizes - 48cm, 51cm, 53cm, 56cm, 58cm, 60cm
• Fork - Forme Alloy Blade, 1-1/8" Alloy Steerer, Mudguard Eyelets (Please note: The fork on this bike is a straight blade and not curved as per the image)
• Handlebar - One23 SL Alloy 31.8mm, 144mm Drop, 77mm Reach
• Stem - One23 SL Alloy, 28.6x31.8mm, 7° Rise
• Handlebar Tape - Forme Ergofit Cork, White
• Headset - FSA No.10, 1-1/8" Semi-Integrated
• Spacer - Forme Alloy, 3x 5mm + 2x 10mm
• Bottom Bracket - FSA Square Taper, Sealed Cartridge (68/110.5mm)
• Chainset - FSA Tempo Compact, 50/34T
• Pedals - Wellgo R090, 9/16" Cro-Mo Axle, Clips & Straps
• Chain - KMC Z72, Semi-Plated, 8 Speed
• Saddle - One23
• Seatpost - One23 SL Alloy, Micro Adjust, 31.6mm, 30mm Layback
• Wheelset - One23, Alex Ace 17 Double Wall Rims, Formula RB31 & RB32
• Front Mech - Shimano FD-2300
• Rear Mech - Shimano RD-2300, 16 Speed, Short Cage
• Shifters - Microshift SB-R082, 16 Speed
• Cassette - CSR86, 8 Speed, 12-25T
• Brake Callipers - Forme Alloy Dual Pivot, 47-57mm
• Tyres - Kenda K177, 700x23c, Fast Rolling Sport Tyres

 The general advice when buying a road bike is to buy a good frame & wheel combo - these are the building blocks for everything else. From reading the spec, and looking at the bike in the showroom, it was clear that although the frame in particular represents excellent value, Forme have needed to make a number of compromises to bring the bike in at this price point, in particular:

• Aluminium forks
• Microshift shifters
• Sunrace rear cassette

The ride
I wanted two things out of the bike - a commuting to work (which is just three miles away) and longer Sunday rides of about 30 to 60 miles, mainly in the quiet country lanes of Leicestershire.

My main bike is Carbon Boardman, and prior to that I had a Specialized Allez. I hoped the Forme would be pretty similar to the Allez, but in practice the ride is definitely harsher (largely due to the aluminum forks I think) and the Microshift shifters are more awkward than the Shimano 2300 I had on the Allez. On the plus side, I prefer the compact chainrings.

According to my Strava results, over longer distances there's very little performance difference between the Forme and my Boardman - regardless of the bike I seem plod along at a steady 12-15 mph.  Tackling hills certainly feels a lot more sluggish on the Forme, and it lacks the acceleration that my other bike provides, but not to the degree I was originally expecting.

In terms of comfort, the bike has quite a relaxed geometry and so is very good on longer distances. With aluminum forks there's no cushioning, so after a few hours on rougher roads your hands are left feeling like a pneumatic drill operator's. I've recently added a second layer of bar tape, so I'll see if that helps.

Microshift shifters
As you may have guessed by now, I'm really not a fan of these at all and I think they really let the bike down. The lever that runs below the unit (alongside the brake lever) is fine, but the top button clunks awkwardly through the gears. There's also a tendency to catch the forefinger nail in the corner somehow. As I've read in other reviews, switching between the front rings often requires a couple of clicks to jump properly and even then it doesn't inspire confidence.


Modifications

Since buying the bike I've made a few basic alterations:

I switched the Sunrace rear cassette for basic Shimano HG50 8speed 11-28t. This substantially increases the gear range and the Shimano cassette has a better reputation than the Sunrace. As it is only 8 speed, the jumps between the gears are a bit 'clunky'. It takes a while to get the hang of juggling the gears between the large and small crank in the front in such a way that you don't loose momentum and power when you're changing down on a hill climb. The wider-ratio on the new cassette is definitely recommended though and ensures the bike will get up pretty much anything.
It took a bit of fiddling to get the gears running smoothly, but now they've bedded in they work a treat.



On one of my early rides, I had a bit of a fall - without doubt the main reason was that I was going too fast around a bend on a wet road! Although it won't mitigate stupidity, switching the cheap Kenda 23mm tyres to Continental Gatorskin 25mm and the standard brake blocks to Clarks CPS240 performance blocks should at least help in future. The Gatorskins have a good reputation for puncture-resistance and can be ridden at a lower pressure (95 psi) which should help with both comfort and grip in the wet over winter.

Switched the standard pedals for Shimano M324 Combination pedals (flat on one side, SPD on the other)


Finally, I've also wrapped a second layer of bar tape to help reduce the substantial road buzz tht come from the alu forks.

Conclusion
If you buy this bike in a sale, it's very good value - a proper road bike that's ideal for winter and occasional use.