With the Piazza 21, Pegasus has created an inexpensive trekking bike that is in the right place wherever solid functionality is important. Everything you need for safe cycling is on board - if you only ride irregularly, you don't have to invest more.
A bike for all occasions? Bicycle enthusiasts will probably now be thinking of a well-equipped all-rounder that you can use for years to ride through thick and thin, through the winter rain to the office and on summer bike tours through southern landscapes. But that's not really what is meant here. A bike for all occasions, that can also mean something like “We have a bike in the basement just in case”. Like taking an umbrella with you just in case. A bike that is perhaps not used very often, but is then reliably on the spot. That is functional rather than glamorous; has less to do with attitude towards life and more to do with everyday use. In short: everyone should have a bike in their basement - and this bike could be the Pegasus Piazza 21.
Pegasus Piazza 21 – Proven technology at an affordable price
Which of course is primarily due to the price. The official recommendation is 649,95 euros, but numerous providers deviate significantly from this. If you do a little searching, you'll find the trekking bike for 500 euros, and if it's last year's model, no problem either - bikes in this price range are very constant in terms of equipment, as the innovation cycles here are long. Derailleur gears with 3×7 gears have been the trekking standard for decades, and even though the top models today have 2×11 or even 1×12, the combination of seven-speed rear sprocket and triple chainring at the front is by no means outdated. In this way, a relatively high overdrive gear can be combined with a "stocky" mountain gear - this means that the rear wheel completes less than one complete revolution per crank revolution at the front.
Wide gradation with 3×7 gears
In practice, you will mostly be on the middle chainring, use the largest only on downhill stretches and the smallest only on the mountain - actually a pretty manageable thing. The performance of the suspension fork with 40 mm of travel is also clear - sounds like little, but some cutting-edge gravel bikes are also equipped with short-travel forks (30-40 mm of travel), from which one can conclude that basic shock absorption can definitely be achieved in this way.
V-Brakes: simple but reliable
What is better in the budget range - technology that looks like "more" or simpler material? With the Piazza, the product planners opted for the latter and have mechanical rim brakes installed, not simple disc brakes. And that's a good choice, because the simply designed wheel rim cutters are easy to maintain and can withstand long downtimes without any loss of functionality. They also have potential - if the first brake pads are worn out, you can noticeably optimize deceleration with the slightly more expensive cartridge brake pads. The wet braking behavior of the V-brakes is also fine, so from a technical point of view there is little to be said against them. Incidentally, what can also be said about the LED lighting system - automatic parking lights at the rear and 30-lux spotlights at the front are already significantly more than the minimum requirement of the StVZO.
Elsewhere, the low price of the Piazza shines through more. Pegasus mounts a saddle candle instead of a patent support, which becomes unpleasantly noticeable at the latest when the saddle angle is adjusted. It is also not enough for an Ahead stem, although the classic quill stem makes height adjustment easier, even if it is significantly more elastic. On the other hand, there are reflective tires and a system luggage rack to which special accessories can be clicked.
Many shapes, colors, sizes
And that makes the Piazza - available in three frame shapes, up to four sizes and up to five colors - really a bike for all occasions, for everyday use, for smaller tours and for all situations in which a reliable bike is required. It can certainly have a long life - the aluminum frame is virtually indestructible, and the simple technology can be renewed and optimized at will. Who knows, maybe the humble trekking bike will awaken a dormant passion for cycling?
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