• This topic has 44 replies, 33 voices, and was last updated 6 years ago by paton.
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  • British/European Road Bike Brands for A Yank Snob
  • yourguitarhero
    Free Member

    One of the American lasses off my uni course is a roadie.
    She “only rides Bianchi and Campagnolo” etc, very into that sort of thing.
    She’s been talking about getting a bike over here, and I have mentioned that there are probably some pretty nice bike builders she’d never of heard of who might surprise her/offer an alternative.

    So… em, who are they???? I’ve been thinking Mason and Rourke… anyone else? Shand.. though maybe not her style
    I’m not massively clued up on this style of bike.

    Oh, and money isn’t really an issue for her

    kilo
    Full Member

    Mercian or Rourke for old school established frame builders

    scaredypants
    Full Member

    She “only rides Bianchi and Campagnolo” etc, very into that sort of thing*.

    hard to see her being interested in makers without major race heritage then, and with the best will in the world, “multiple milk race winner” might not cut it

    *(I can’t be doing with that sort of bullshit myself)

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    BigJohn
    Full Member

    I took my “money no object” pal to Rourke’s a few weeks ago. They weren’t his cup of tea as he prefers the swoopy carbon look, and the 953 didn’t do it for him.

    My other pal who was with us did get bitten by the bug and his 953 frame should be ready in May.

    As well as Milk race winners, Jason Kenny and Guy Martin are customers and a few of their cast offs are lying around – including the one that got dented when a Spitfire engine hit it.

    beej
    Full Member

    Are you after British or Euro?

    Sounds like she likes brands with history so for British in addition to the ones mentioned above, Condor have been making bikes since 1948.

    For Euro, loads of them. Colnago, De Rosa, Orbea, Wilier Triestina etc…

    aP
    Free Member

    U.K. Framebuilders
    Also people like Quirk, Donohue etc

    frankconway
    Full Member

    Ricky Feather, Field, Justin Burls, Dave Yates.

    kilo
    Full Member

    Condor have been making bikes since 1948.

    I believe they just buy in frames made elsewhere nowadays.

    ogden
    Free Member

    Field Cycles

    beej
    Full Member

    I believe they just buy in frames made elsewhere nowadays.

    Like Bianchi then! 🙂

    I think Mercian and Rourke are probably the best suggestions, but you’d done those.

    What about Pashley? Brompton?

    srshaw
    Free Member

    I would say you cannot get more British than Brompton, which are certainly made in England. What about the Genesis volare in 953 tubing. Probably made in Taiwan though.

    nasher
    Free Member

    This Italian brand is doing it forir me at the mo

    Steilbel

    tomhoward
    Full Member

    Sick bikes.

    Bit left field, but how about English? Made in America, by an English bloke, who’s last name is also English…

    Look utterly glorious too, if that’s a consideration…

    TheDoctor
    Free Member

    Sarto, Pegoretti, Zullo, Time, C60 Colnago, Jaegher, of 5he top of my head, plenty to go at though.

    paton
    Free Member

    There is a list of some frame builders here, some do road frames some don’t.

    https://www.velocipedesalon.com/forum/f10/framebuilders-europe-42599.html

    Is it a plastic Bianchi ?
    [video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1bRZk2SZpo[/video]

    And where is Campagnolo made these days?

    paton
    Free Member

    https://www.instagram.com/paulusquiros/

    https://www.instagram.com/fieldcycles/

    [video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxwPyLgIeoo[/video]

    [video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ca6XMQAZVZU[/video]

    [video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7kteB8TY7Q[/video]

    [video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OR_u2IZGh0[/video]

    [video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seUi2KRj4U4[/video]

    [video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MQF1nadGRg[/video]

    perditus
    Free Member

    Bespoked will be around quite soon. Just go and choose one.

    vdubber67
    Free Member

    “And where is Campagnolo made these days?”

    Seem to remember reading that they’ve ‘low costed’ their production of carbon bits out to somewhere like Romania??

    Amusingly at least some of their carbon fibre pre-preg raw material is made in Derbyshire 😉

    aP
    Free Member

    “And where is Campagnolo made these days?”
    Amusingly at least some of their carbon fibre pre-preg raw material is made in Derbyshire

    Well, I guess that’ll have stopped by March 2019.

    TheBrick
    Free Member

    I am being judgemental here but it sounds like she is a label snob rather than a bike snob, so anything that is just “very good steel frame” will not wash, you will need to sell a story of a brand that she can resell to her mates for qudos (sp?) points.

    MrSmith
    Free Member

    There are loads of Italian bikes out there far nicer than bianchi and the other ‘frame painters and Italian flag applicators’ that do not actually make anything themselves any more.

    Like Casati, Sarto, Pegoretti, Tomassini etc.

    dovebiker
    Full Member

    Anyone who thinks Bianchi are a premium Italian marque doesn’t really know Italian bikes – they’re not even Italian-owned and 99% of their stuff is made in the far east. If you’re talking British-made then you’re almost exclusively talking steel , Reilly or Enigma for titanium and can’t think of any UK produced carbon road frames. Mason are far-east produced as are most UK ‘brands’

    jameso
    Full Member

    Mason are far-east produced

    – Italy actually.

    davidtaylforth
    Free Member

    Alot of brands that have heritage/race pedigree probably don’t do bespoke frames

    Pinarello, Time, Colnago, Merckx, Wilier, Look etc.

    I think De Rosa still do custom steel frames though.

    There’s also plenty of builders that made frames for other companies to put their brand on, Pegoretti is one of them but you’d have to do some internet research to find the others.

    davidtaylforth
    Free Member

    Mason are far-east produced
    – Italy actually.

    Yeh, I think alot of the Condor frames are also made in Italy.

    Infact they still sponsor a team and they’re in London and the Super Acciaio frame looks mint.

    jameso
    Full Member

    ^ they are. TBH not that it counts for much to me as a buyer. A good factory yes, location – not sure if it matters.. but I can see the appeal of working in Italy rather than Taiwan or China for a bike brand.

    cookeaa
    Full Member

    I have to ask OP, why do you need to re-educate her?

    Bike/brand snob or not, has she sought your advice, or is this simply an attempt to “fix” someone else’s taste?

    aP
    Free Member

    Sarto make most of the Condor frames.

    jbproductions
    Free Member

    I have to ask OP, why do you need to re-educate her?

    Bike/brand snob or not, has she sought your advice, or is this simply an attempt to “fix” someone else’s taste?

    Indeed, some top mansplaining going on here.

    MrSmith
    Free Member

    Sarto make most of the Condor frames.

    With deda carbon tubing like a lot of other Italian custom builders, but Sarto have their own tubing used exclusively for their frames.
    It wouldn’t surprise me if Condor use other factories for their frames especially steel (like Barco who make a lot of frames with more well known Italian brand names slapped on them)

    Sanny
    Free Member

    DeAnima Cicl for the win. Gianni Pegoretti working in steel and carbon. I have just taken delivery of a custom DeFer gravel bike and it is something rather special.

    TiRed
    Full Member

    Rourke 953 would be my first choice. She can claim British, custom and state of the art steel. Probably unheard of in the US.

    For Italian, it has to be pegoretti for the finish. Dario has a big following in the US though, so not exactly rare.

    Personally, I’d like an English from the US, as I love what he does with steel.

    For truly exclusive, Ben can make you something 😉

    And forget campag vs. Shimano, that ship sailed years ago, nobody worries about it any more. For a steel bike’ it has to be Etap with no cable bosses whatsover.

    EDIT if she really wants British, Baines flying gate, Paris galibier or a curley hetchins would certainly get her noticed back in the US. That was the reason for the designs in the first place! All available as modern reproductions.

    mikewsmith
    Free Member

    jbproductions – Member

    I have to ask OP, why do you need to re-educate her?
    Bike/brand snob or not, has she sought your advice, or is this simply an attempt to “fix” someone else’s taste?

    Indeed, some top mansplaining going on here.[/quote]

    I thought it was just a trick to “get to know her a bit better” 😉 if she knows what she wants and likes why try and change that.

    shermer75
    Free Member

    Pegoretti would have been my choice also

    yourguitarhero
    Free Member

    Ok.. where did I say I had to “re-educate her”? She asked me about bike brands over she might not have heard off as she is American and has moved here.

    Thanks for the tips though, we’ve been doing some online bike porning.

    thomthumb
    Free Member

    Talbot frame works. Make some awesome bikes.

    #Framebuilderfridays : Talbot Frameworks

    mrblobby
    Free Member
    paton
    Free Member

    [video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ryiy4rKnKXg[/video]

    scud
    Free Member

    [/url]Capture by Scud75, on Flickr[/img]

    This for me, love the classic lines but modern components and paint..

    DSS1

    HansRey
    Full Member


    As mentioned before, if you want to be a tart and get a great bike, go English.

    I’d love one.

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