….shit.

i’m starting with FSA. based simply on the fact that FSA stands for Full Speed Ahead. i just think it’s proper naff.

on-one, raggley I.E all those made in some guys shed brands, we know there not made in some guys shed, also why the **** would i want some thing designed in some guys shed, i want some one using CAD in Taiwan to design it, as this is were the best bikes come from these days.

oh how foolish that post makes you sound.

A competent designer can use a CAD system in his front room if he/she wants!

As long as my bike doesnt come with an oval head tube i dont really care where it’s designed or built.

I’m not keen on Kona for some reason. Don’t really know why and have nothing against them, I just wouldn’t buy one.

I think the most interesting bit about this conversation is how easy/difficult it is for companies to get a bad/good image in the market place.

Everything you guys have mentioned is not something you know to be fact – just the way you ‘feel’ about the company based on fairly trivial stuff you believe about the company.

Intriguing and yet crucial to the companies involved hmmmmm

Brand x is probably the dullest company name i can think of.

I agree Brand X really is a poor name, doesn’t really make you want to go get one, as good as they probably are!

A competent designer can use a CAD system in his front room if he/she wants!

i want a several of them to design the bike supported by a huge R&D department with lots of money to spend, and also a huge factory so every thing is made in house by them selves! hence i got a Giant

Stratton and British Telecom. And for good reason.

Specialized

Specialized

How?? It seems they’re like top of everything lol.

GT.

On an opposite tack, I always irrationally liked scary fast rocket power parts

In fact I’m off to scour eBay to find some gloves.

scary fast. now there is a name I’ve not seen in an age

Boadman.

Yes, they are great value.

Yes, they are probably great bikes.

But no, I could never bring myself to buy a bike from Halfrauds.

(Sorry James.. )

British government PLC
Generic Authority

bag of (EDIT) uselessness

Swear filter didn’t catch my very sweary swear word! 😯

Funnily enough, I really love FSA headsets – I’ve run them on a variety of bikes over the last 10 years or so and never had a problem with any of them. I think in all that time, I’ve only had to swap the cartridge bearings in one of them, and that was my commuter bike which takes a hell of beating from the material used to surface the Forth and Clyde canal path – it’s like bloody grinding paste when it’s wet.

Crank Brothers for me – every now and again I get lulled into buying something shiny – last was 20/20 pedals, and they lasted less than 6 months before the bearings went. Meanwhile my DMR V8s just keep on going…

Thinking crank bros are shit isn’t irrational though, it’s very very rational. They are shit.

Scott, not sure why but just do.

For some reason I think on-one are crap despite everything I’ve ever bought having been fine. It’s stupid and I don’t know why.

Giant

Cannot explain it at all, never ridden one and never had the slightest interest in any of their road or mountain bikes.
I just find them all dull dull du……. Zzzzzzzzzzzz

Thinking crank bros are shit isn’t irrational though, it’s very very rational. They are shit.

Agreed. My view on Crank Bros products is one of style over substance, without the style..

Giant

Cannot explain it at all, never ridden one and never had the slightest interest in any of their road or mountain bikes.
I just find them all dull dull du……. Zzzzzzzzzzzz

thats just how i used to feel about them, but every one ive ever riden just felt right. dull yes but they ride really well and thats what matters to me, Also you most probably have ridden one, just with a different name on it, they are the biggest frame make in the world, hence why they have money to invest in frame design, quality control etc

Giant bicycles. I’ve never liked em

Giant for me too. Yes, I know they ride quite well.
That current thing with all of the blue cable outers etc. YUK.
Chris king too, no idea why just does nothing for me.

giant are great at taking other peoples ideas and cad and nicking em….not mtb related

Play.com.

road wheels by any chance?

Lake. They seem to be pretty good shoes, but I’ve said it before: Image is everything. If you want to look good, then don’t go with the logo design submitted by the CEO’s 8 year old son.

GT since Halfords started stocking them, Kona since Halfords stocked them, not a fan of Scott either – graphics are a bit ott for me.

Scott, Giant, GT, Manitou, Marin and Whyte.

i like what manitou are doing maybe they can drag themselves out the doldrums
podge…no giant trinity

has anyone mentioned orange? and not the phone company

orange they suck ass

On-one… Raggley…

And I’m sure there are others out there like them.

Anything that says – This-Is-Cheap-As on the downtube just ain’t doing it for me, particularly if it’s also at the same time trying to cultivate some sort of knowing cliquey, nichey, in-crowd exclusivity with it.

I’m never quite shure about this ‘Designed for British conditions’ nonsense, either. As if we are somehow uniquely special in the world and want to be treated that way. Other countries really do have mud too! And I’m not too bothered about the benifits of being able to get my whole leg between a 2.5″ rear tyre and my chainstay TBH 🙄

everything sram apart from their chains. Don’t know why – like the OP says, its irrational. But I wouldn’t own anything by SRAM apart from a chain and I’d never use a Shimano chain (even though I have one in the spare’s bin).

Don’t ask me why

Giant
Specialized
Rock Shox
SRAM *Edit, as per above – Like their chains, don’t like Shimano chains*
On-One
Planet-X
Ragley
Stans (Well apart from the liquid)

any company that want to charge 6.5k for a bike…..saw a spec today 8.5k erm……..no
has anyone sat down and figured out the actuall cost for example adding up the cost of each component pretty sure theres still 3k left in the pot even with a top spec build.

^^^thanks honus – makes me feel less wierd now!