I reckon I've seen to many Santa Cruz's on the trails for them to be boutique - Blur's used to be quite a common sight at Glentress.
Bike Forum
'Boutique' bikes
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Posted 11 months ago #
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Errr, according to stw'ers a VW can't possibly be boutique because they're such a big brand... yeah right...
Posted 11 months ago # -
Boutique might depend on audience as well - frames like Ragley, On-One, Cotic, Dialled Bikes are pretty commonplace on STW but perhaps they'd be boutique anywhere else.
Posted 11 months ago # -
The 2009 Turner models had some problems at the so-called taco weld, which got a warranty swap. Think 2010+ have been ok.
I suppose these 'boutique' manufacturers have less testing resources, but I followed the Turner blog b4 buying mine and it seemed to me that they had done as much as reasonably possible and then supported customers for problems found later.
I tested a Turner against a Giant before I bought mine and the price difference was justified by the performance improvement imho.
Posted 11 months ago # -
The term boutique here is a total misnomer and it's totally subjective. It might be relevant when talking about handbags or jeans but bikes, like cars are designed to perform not just look good and are judged accordingly. That's why
this ford
is infinitely more expensive and prestigious than this ferrari.
Nissan is one of the most common, non "boutique" car brands in the world but the R390 is one of the most exotic and most expensive cars in the world because it's racing pedigree and uncompromising design.
In the same way this specialized
or this honda
will get a lot more attention down the trails than ANY ibis, or turner or any other limited production expensive bike you care to mention, no matter how bling.
An ultra rare, ultra expensive bike can still be a piece of sh*t and will be regarded as such.
Posted 11 months ago # -
Just because you think it ransos, it doesn't make it anywhere near true.
No, but the fact that I'm right and you're wrong does.
Posted 11 months ago # -
To tell if your bike's boutique or not just ask yourself this question.
Did the first picture you saw of it look something like this or did you see it being advertised in any of the popular mags?
stu 29 high roller3 (1) by singlespeedstu, on FlickrIf the answer's you saw it advertised in a mag then it ain't boutique.
Posted 11 months ago # -
No, but the fact that I'm right and you're wrong does.
I may be wrong on your planet. On Earth, giant bikes are not of a higher quality than anyone elses. Earthly fact.Posted 11 months ago # -
I would class a boutique brand as being small scale and hand built for that particular individual.
Boutique to me would be Moots, Potts, IF, Eriksen, Black Sheep, Roberts etc.
I wouldn't class S-Works, Ibis, Turner, Trek etc as boutique as they are mass produced standard geometry / colour frames. Although they are still fantastic bikes that I would love to own.
Posted 11 months ago # -
luckily I own no "boutique" stuff so I can soundly mock all your ego chariots safe in my mediocrity
Posted 11 months ago # -
My Kona Big Unit definately isn't boutique
Posted 11 months ago # -
Although it's very much loved.
Posted 11 months ago # -
A good example of a boutique analogy would be something like Jones.
You can buy one direct from him for thousands and wait years.
Or
You can buy an off the peg number which is very very similar and have it in a few weeks for hundreds.Posted 11 months ago # -
I suspect that, for most buyers, then a Jones is bought based on what they hope it'll be (or how they hope it will be perceived) given that it must be difficult getting a test ride. Once you've splashed that sort of cash then you're bound to want to think it's great and tell everyone so, even though many of us look at it and think that it must be crap!
Posted 11 months ago # -
I suspect that, for most buyers, then a Jones is bought based on what they hope it'll be (or how they hope it will be perceived)
I had a test ride on a Jones before buying.
I don't realy consider my Jones to be propper "boutique" though as it's not a custom built frame.
I didn't get to test ride my Black Sheep as it is a custom build. But I knew what i wanted and how to get it from other stuff i'd owned and riden so it wasn't a problem.
Posted 11 months ago # -
jimjam I totally agree, boutique is no guarantee of quality and is sometimes used perjoratively. The GT40 is undoubtedly a better car than many that have carried the prancing horse, but as it carries the same badge as a Fiesta its not a boutique brand.
And in regard to SC, the heckler became entry level when they knocked a good few hundred quid off it, stopped development and limited the spec, paint and graphics. Nothing against them (I owned a nomad and nearly replaced it with a heckler) but SC made a conscious move to expand their range, and downgrade their single pivot bikes to "entry level" status.
Posted 11 months ago # -
m-c, then there are some brands who recognise that and then create their own boutique label which creates the allure and cachet necessary to sell very high end stuff with enough distance from the mainstream brand to stop associations becoming an issue.
eg Shimano with Yuyema. I'd say the Yuyema brand is boutique, even if it is Shimano's.
Posted 11 months ago # -
Munqe-chick - Member
jimjam I totally agree, boutique is no guarantee of quality and is sometimes used perjoratively. The GT40 is undoubtedly a better car than many that have carried the prancing horse, but as it carries the same badge as a Fiesta its not a boutique brand.
Sure it's got the same badge as a Fiesta, but the point is that it has everything that could be ascribed to "boutique" and much more - performance, history, rarity, value, exclusivity etc. It makes a mockery of the idea of boutique.
If you're going to qualify boutique purely by badge snobbery then you are back to a jeans and handbags analogy, ie, it's something that's more expensive than an identical or better product by virtue of it's label and or it's price tag.
Posted 11 months ago # -
I don't see any bike as 'boutique'. Bikes a bike. Some look nice, some look shit. They all get covered in mud and be a larf.
Posted 11 months ago # -
Exactly jim jam. Look at the German auto tuning houses, or maybe even Cosworth. Boutique in a large slice of the meaning, but they're still on mainstream cars.
Just because the GT40 was made by an in house "boutique" racing department of Ford, does that make it any less boutique/special than a Cosworth? There's probably as much cooperation between Ford "main" (whatever that is) and Cosworth than there was between them and the team behind the GT40
Posted 11 months ago # -
no they don't coogan, people who say they own boutique bikes only take them out on sunny days, and even then they can't larf, because you can't smile and look cool at the same time. Miserable is the look. or pouting.
Posted 11 months ago # -
I sometimes get it wrong and look miserable and pouting when i'm on one of my none boutique bikes or look happy when i'm boutiqued up.
It's so difficult knowing what look to pull on each type of bike.
Posted 11 months ago # -
I hope this thread has helped!
Posted 11 months ago # -
Not really.
Maybe I could get charliethebikemonger to make me some toptube stickers with instructions on. That way if I got confused I could just look down and seek the advice of someone in the trade.
Posted 11 months ago # -
What I don't understand is why something like a cotic is not considered boutique. You hardly get them in mainstream bike shops and to me 'boutique' = niche
Posted 11 months ago # -
Ooh, but are Boutique and Niche the same thing???
I think Anti-Boutique is the new Niche...
Posted 11 months ago # -
Bouniche?
Posted 11 months ago # -
Or Nichetique.
Posted 11 months ago # -
Posted 11 months ago #
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I may be wrong on your planet. On Earth, giant bikes are not of a higher quality than anyone elses. Earthly fact.
Really? I was having a look at an Apollo bike the other day. If you genuinely believe that Giant bicycles are not of higher quality then I suggest you visit your nearest branch of Specsavers, without delay.
Posted 11 months ago # -
I kind of think if anyone has ever heard of the bike you're riding, it's not boutique enough. 'Boutique enough' is a new concept I just invented to take some of the black and white thinking out of the whole boutique debate.
Under the overall concept of 'boutique enough', bikes can range from 'just boutique enough' at one end of the scale to 'much too boutique enough' at the other.
A Jones, for all its rarity and beardy weirdy heritage is somewhere in the middle, 'just about boutique enough in a dark cellar' if you like.
If I were to tell you what bikes I owned, you'd never of heard of them because they are all, without exception, 'much too boutique enough'.
Hopefully this'll help you frame the debate within more helpful parameters.
Posted 11 months ago # -
Wun...
Hollyhocks.
The main purpose of boutique bikes is to make the buyer feel they are somehow superior to others; that their own choices and taste are more refined and discerning than the Common Herd.
So, person what buys boutique bikes = insecure impotent inadequate individual, basically.
(Runs off to exchange bikes for bog-standard Spesh Rockhopper...)
Posted 11 months ago # -
elfin, make sure you wear you Naomi Klein "No Logo" T-shirt while you're at it to emphasize your utilitarian ideals.
Posted 11 months ago # -
I'm wearing a very exclusive top-quality Limited Edition BBB T-shirt right now. It's ok though I'm allowed to.
Posted 11 months ago # -
But elfin, nobody knows what boutique means.
I was just starting to think a similar thing actually.
I'm suspecting that boutique means liked by elitist asshats who would shop at places like velo refined.
I'm glad my turner isnt considered boutique.Posted 11 months ago #
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