Chilling thought: CB used to design and make Scuba equipment 😯

I just hope their reliability was a different order of magnitude!

Privateer were a bit sycophantic – didnt really give them much of a hard time about their stuff falling apart. But coo’d about their “design” ethos….

bleughh.

Indeed. More engineers, fewer “designers” required at CB imho

I bet Scuba divers the world over are feeling much safer now they just make crap bike kit….

I won a CB pump in a race once, BNIB, didn’t work at all – completely broken before it was unwrapped…

top quote: “You can’t please everybody. Our objective is to make the cycling experience better for some people*…”

* Make your own guess as to who “some people” might be? 😉

Hell all of my cb kit works well. I’m happy better then the crap pedals shimano make

On a recent bike holiday I went on, one guest had a CB stem that wouldn’t hold the CB bars in place properly. Quite special to be that bad – £70 bikes in halfords mostly have bar/stem combos that work.

Sorry mike but you’ve no place on this forum if you can’t follow the “CB are crap” line.

crap pedals shimano make

which are those?

In the interests of ballance my candy’s are on their third winter with only slightest bit of play. My last experience with SPD’s were Time (fell appart in arroud 6 months, tried several pairs, all the same), and shimano (OK, actualy really good, as long as it wasn’t gravely mud that cloggs the mechanism).

Crank Brothers get a hard time yet there customer service is faultless.ive got crank brothers kit that has not failed,looks dope and enhances my riding expierence(which is why we upgrade no?)these guys broke the mould on components and continue to push forward,iam in love with crank brothers and slowly over time my dream build is dripping with crankbrothers kit .These guys are awesome stop hating- haters-ride more hate less???!

Clipping properties of cb are miles ahead of shimano. The mud clearance alone is great. When they do wear out they can be rebuilt. Current xtr are disposable I read. What’s not to like.

and wear is this interview viewable from please?

mikewsmith – You’re talking about one product…have you tried their dropper seatposts (joplin), wheels, headsets or stems? All I’m going to say is that there are much better products, by other manufacturers, out there.

I’ve seen enough other people’s pedals depart from their axles while riding to convince me to stick with Shimano for the time being. The only other thing I’ve used of theirs are the headsets which have been very nice so far).

watsontony – Member
and wear is this interview viewable from please?

http://www.privateer.cc/p/buy-individual-issues.html

Use the 50/50 pedals on both my bikes. When no.3 comes along, it will be treated to the new design 50/50. Admittedly not tried their other kit though.

http://www.privateer.cc/p/buy-individual-issues.html

Is it in Issue 12? Have you got yours?

Andy

(now full of anticipation)

No doubt that CB have had problems in the past.

i think of late though they have upped their game when it comes to their kit.

Certainly current reviews seem to show that to be the case…

an article about a company isn’t a product review

doublepost

trevron73 – Member
Crank Brothers get a hard time yet there customer service is faultless.ive got crank brothers kit that has not failed

How do you know that their CS is faultless if your kit hasn’t failed?

i think of late though they have upped their game when it comes to their kit.

Are you including the shockingly designed Kronolog seatpost in that statement?

Failed at reading comprehension?

wot Jo said.

Privateer and Rouleur both do articles that allow companies to give information about their background, their ethos, their development process etc. Sometimes it’s Italian frame builders with 100 years of history behind them, sometimes it’s newer companies with less than 10. It’s all interesting.

No one expected the Gary Fisher interview they did a while back to ask him about why the early steel GF Rigs all cracked – it’s not what it’s about.

I use a fair amount of CB kit. I understand about their need for maintenance and also have received excellent back from 2Pure when I’ve needed it within warranty period. I don’t need an article in Privateer to do that.

Having said all that, I’ve not read the article but there does seem to be apicture of someone rebuilding an eggbeater in there 🙂

I was thinking of switching back to Time for my pedals, I do love the design of the CB stuff but realised I have a box full of **** pedals. I wonder how much of the bad rep comes from OE pedals and the really rather poor even for budget smartys.

Are you including the shockingly designed Kronolog seatpost in that statement

Nope.

I know nothing about that piece of kit.

Anything else?

Often wondered where CB would be, in this country at least, without 2pure as backup.

* 11 years using eggbeaters and it’s siblings, with no failures, just lots of shonkyness.

…looks dope…

These guys are awesome stop hating- haters-ride more hate less???!

Did you type that seriously, trevron73? 😆

Crank Brothers get a hard time yet there customer service is faultless.

Good job really…

wot Jo said.

Privateer and Rouleur both do articles that allow companies to give information about their background, their ethos, their development process etc. Sometimes it’s Italian frame builders with 100 years of history behind them, sometimes it’s newer companies with less than 10. It’s all interesting.

Good comment. Agreed.

mikewsmith – You’re talking about one product…have you tried their dropper seatposts (joplin), wheels, headsets or stems? All I’m going to say is that there are much better products, by other manufacturers, out there.

Got a joplin, an iodine wheelset and 3 or 4 sets of pedals. Perfectly happy with all of them and none have needed to go back. The smarty pedals I got in 2007 have a touch of play in them but I paid 20 quid 5 years ago for them so I’m not overly stressed about rebuilding them as I have a pair in the spares box.

Oh, I think I have a multitool as well which is quite good.

Now, the BB30 on my road bike that went after just over 500km of good weather riding, that was shit.

which are those?

The top of the range Xtr Trail, which seems incapable of staying on its spindle?

I bet Scuba divers the world over are feeling much safer now they just make crap bike kit….

They should have stuck to scuba – if that kits fails on first use people are less likely to grumble about it on internet forums the next day 🙂

Personally – two crank brothers purchase – both failed on first use

crap pedals shimano make

which are those?

also wondering

My CB multitool has done fine for quite a few years now, got rust spots quite quickly but hasn’t fallen apart

edit

The top of the range Xtr Trail, which seems incapable of staying on its spindle?

Ah, haven’t heard about those (bit out of my price range anyway) bog standard shimano pedals seem to go for quite a long time, I’ve (slowly) killed a couple of pairs singlespeeding but the ones on my geared bikes last really well.

The top of the range Xtr Trail, which seems incapable of staying on its spindle?

Unlike CB 50/50’s then……….oh wait.

Privateer and Rouleur both do articles that allow companies to give information about their background, their ethos, their development process etc. Sometimes it’s Italian frame builders with 100 years of history behind them, sometimes it’s newer companies with less than 10. It’s all interesting.

+1. read several articles in privateer about brands i wouldn’t buy a bike from (nicolai/ orange) but come away with respect for the ethos

Wrecker, I wasn’t defending CB just answering a question suggesting shimano were free from failure. Loads of posts on here about XTR failures and seen it first hand.

Agree with comments that a company article isn’t a review and there is a middle ground between being critical and being a hagiography. I’ve enjoyed all the profiles I’ve read whether I was a fan of their products or not- its nice to hear that at the heart of most companies are fans of bikes.

We have a Joplin that filled with water and seized first ride, had terrific service from 2 pure and its been fine since. I wonder how accepted CB would be without 2Pures stellar support.

Privateer and Rouleur both do articles that allow companies to give information about their background, their ethos, their development process etc. Sometimes it’s Italian frame builders with 100 years of history behind them, sometimes it’s newer companies with less than 10. It’s all interesting.

Aye, and they do have occasional misfires (the Indy Fab article in a recent Rouleur was a horror, and it became apparent the author hadn’t done their homework).

Andy