LOL at all the hope comments, every time someone mentions them you get about a 50:50 "they're great"/"loads of issues" split. I think if you get good ones, they're good, otherwise… So I accept some pairs are good, possibly great. But hope fanboys need to accept they're not all good! Also the comments above about "good customer service", I'd rather not need to find out!

Having said that, I love their hubs. But i'd not touch one of their headsets. "great spare parts availability" hah, try getting some replacement bearings for a previous generation headset. Or try getting them say, a couple of months after they stopped selling them…

Tiwan? I thought the brakes and hubs were made in UK

I wasn't referring to Hope, it was aimed at frame manufacture.

If I could I'd go for the Following.,…..

Frame – Something handbuilt and 853 – Pleanty of builders still about (UK)
Forks – USE Sub (UK)
Headset – Hope (UK)
Stem – Use (UK)
Bars – USE (Taiwan made)
Brakes – Hope (UK)
Brake pads – Clark (UK, Wales !!)
Hubs – Royce (UK)
Spokes – DT (Swiss)
Rims – Mavic (French)
QR's/seatpost clamp – Hope
Tyres – Conti (German)
BB – Royce (UK)
Cranks/chainring – Middleburn (UK)
Seatpost – USE (UK)
Seat – Brookes (UK)
Chain – hmmmmm ?? SRAM (USA/Taiwan)
Pedals – Look (French)

To save the worry of mechs I'd go singlespeed…….

Oh and don't forget X-Lite bits and bobs as well

Oh and don't forget X-Lite bits and bobs as well

No forget them, really.

If it works use it, does it really matter where it comes from?! Best bike I've owned is my Trance X0. Better built and finished than my old heckler and many more expensive frames, bearings last for ever and the combination of Japanese, American, French and Italian bits work beautifully.

The Asians just know how to make stuff well and at low low cost, why support british industry if it's substandard and more expensive to boot!!! And I fall in to the hope doesn't work category, replaced old xt brakes with mono m4's worst thing I ever did!!!

at low low cost

You might have been right this time last year. 🙄

And has anyone ever tried warrantying anything made by Shimano? You get your broken product back, plus a eyeful of spit.

And has anyone ever tried warrantying anything made by Shimano? You get your broken product back, plus a eyeful of spit.

Yes an external BB, oh how they must have laughed at me.

Fair enough Mr Agreeable, I live in oz at the mo, our currency collapse wasn't as momentous as back home, more reason to be glad I'm here currently!

And I got a bit carried away tightening the bleed nipple on some xt disk brakes, they replaced the whole set up for free, which was nice!!!

"And has anyone ever tried warrantying anything made by Shimano? You get your broken product back, plus a eyeful of spit. "

I've only had to do it once- a deore shifter that arrived on a new bike in the shop that broke first shift. That came last week, it has a new shifter already. In 12 years of mountain biking I've never had to do it myself.

Not my set up of hopes that causes issues, it's how they come. The first set I ever had arrived on a new bike, from the factory. Pulling the lever in the back yard and the caliper burst.

So, in your experience, hope and shimano have similar reliability issues (jiggered on new bike)

I was under the impression that Middleburn were developing an outboard BB crankset.

When? there certainly taking there time over it, there will be a new standard by the time they finish.