Lusso

+1 for Vauxhall

Every recent Vauxhall I have driven has been noticeably worse than various other cars that cost the same or there abouts. Not bad cars but just not as good as others in a hugely competitive market.

My nomination – Microsoft Lumia phones. My 640 is nothing but brilliant and was less than £100. Now running Windows 10 and better than ever.

Agreed. I’m already in mourning as my Nokia goes back next week to be replaced with a Samsung.

Cars has to be Skoda, surely.

Skoda have now rebounded from joke brand to desperately overrated, very ordinary cars. Always put up as the best thing ever, despite little to actually put a shine on the brand.

Except for the rear legroom in the Superb, there is nothing in the range to excite, yet they are still the Car de Jour to some.

D2B fingerless mitts. Cheap and comfy.

My Vectra is about to clock up 200k but the engine is an Alfa and the gearbox Japanese!

On that note Alfa- The only people that have problems are those that don’t look after them… infact its the same with any car.

Some people here have short mammeries…

Saracen were one step behind the UK ATB (ahem) revolution in the mid 80’s. You either had a Muddy Fox Courier or a Saracen Tuff Trax. There wasn’t much else in the ~£200 entry level real mountain bike market (initially at least).

As for Rohan, they were revolutionary. They introduced synthetic Superstriders into a market of Harris Tweed. Bags followed that were again, revolutionary. Quick drying walking troos are ubiquitous now, they weren’t then. AFAIK Rohan suffered the same dip in fortunes as Karrimor, Mountain Equipment etc and had to adapt to survive. Adapt meaning more mass/downmarket than where they were before.

Morgan Blue….
It’s in your bike shop….but you would always walk past it….don’t …it’s the best stuff

Raleigh is a difficult one, good till the 80’s then lost it with the MTB boom, producing lots of low end bikes (there Special Products Division – M-Trax/DynaTech were good, never understood why they got rid of these), still produced low end and lived on the brand name till they were taken over by Accell, who seem to be doing a good job at getting the brand back to being good again.

I still use my old Saracen killi flyer in the summer and it still ride just fine but then It was probably just an off the shelf frame from the nice people in Brazil. It’s a mid 1990s one with rst usa forks and many anodised colours

Madison and lusso clothing is very good

Bondus hex keys , very cheap but the best

And an odd mention for specialized tyres

The whole workshop at work is now full of Morgan blue stuff , it just works

Raleigh are over rated if anything. I have the misfortune to deal with them daily. Their bikes are expensive and rubbish, coming to us with rusty parts after having been checked apparently in the UK before despatch, their backup is appalling and their “Probuild” wheels could only be sold once I’d stripped and rebuilt them as they were incorrectly laced and about 5mm out of true.

Carrera on the other hand are under rated, especially the hybrids.

Skoda have now rebounded from joke brand to desperately overrated, very ordinary cars. Always put up as the best thing ever, despite little to actually put a shine on the brand.

I don’t know, a lot of people still have issues with Skoda. Most of my colleagues / friends rip the piss out of my vRS. Mainly for being a Skoda.

I don’t think mine is the best car ever but it was the best balance of things on my company car list. It’s not more dull than my other options (A3, Golf, 1series). Anyway, I digress…

Manitou appear to be underrated if my experience with my new Mattocs is anything to go by.