Theres so many big brands out there like orange, trek, giant etc. etc. but what if you want something a little more 'unique'. On-One and ragley used to be able to offer the 'unique factor' but they are getting about now and becoming more and more common. There are obviously the makes like Cotic etc. but what other small bike makes are there?

Just a general question
cheers

Sounds like a case of nicheitus.

Symptoms include beard growing, spending half your life in a shed, and owning bikes that were made by someone no one has ever heard of.

small bike brands that are good become big bike brands, small bike brands that are rubbish stay small unless they are hand welded by dave in his shed.

Dialled bikes
Cotic
Sanderson
Curtis
Solitude?

Just do a search for singlespeed pictures on here, bunch of nichemongers so they have the obscure brands. I have a 456, from before they were cool.

but what other small bike makes are there?

Global

Buying a Halfords/Decathlon/Ridgeback type brand is the new niche.

Carrera/B-twin/Genesis FTW!

On-One and ragley used to be able to offer the 'unique factor' but they are getting about now and becoming more and more common.

Web sites are not the rest of the world. One of the owners of my local bike shop had never heard of On One…

One of the owners of my local bike shop had never heard of On One…

one of my LBSs charge on one tax!! 🙄

Rock Lobster..

brooklyn machine works, very small company (1 boss, 1 welder, 1 intern)

There's far more hype about small brands on here.

Devinci

They're made in Canada don't ya know!

Are Nicolai small enough?

I don't think Orange would consider themselves a big brand. Popular, yes, big, no.

There's hundreds – have a trawl through the 'custom builders and other makes' forum on mtbr. Hell,there's probably brands that have their own forum on there that you won't have heard of.
Or did you put the question wrongly? Did you mean British firms? Or mtb builders?

There's loads of large manufacturers in the rest of the world that don't have importers for this country as well- even the Europeans- just think of the new brands that have arrived over the last few years, all perfectly formed on arrival.

If you want REALLY niche, why not go and do one of those courses where you make your own frame??? Can't remember the guy's name (braces for impending onslaught), but it was a feature in ST mag about, oooh, 2 years ago, I think…

Doesn't come any niche-er than that!
"What frame is that?" "Oh, this? I designed, welded, finished and built it myself… One-of-a-kind, you know…" 😉

I was getting at this kind of thing the other day actually. Why large established brands are charging silly money for some of their bikes, that offer no better value for money over other 'lesser' brands. There was a similar discussion on a thread about a Carrera bike someone was thinking of buying.

http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/has-cycling-become-a-bit-of-a-rip-off-activity

http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/would-you-buy-a-carrera

I was curious as to why this £2600 Decathlon bike might in any way be inferior to similarly specced bikes costing double that or more, from other brands.

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/comp-pro-fc-900-72884310/

talking about building your own… has anyone done it?

id be very interested in giving it a go with obirobkeno's 'bike builder guy' or by myself. "go in head first" I find to be the best approach"

Get a 2010 Stumpjumper FSR.

I got one in January and have seen exactly zero out and about since then, apart from one at the 24/12 this weekend (it was a carbon S-works I think).

One mate of mine rides a Whyte E-120 and the other a SC Heckler. They were pretty abundant at the 24/12 while me on my bland silver Mondeo-bike was feeling smug & (almost) unique.

Mythic/Banshee are fairly small and niche at the moment but I am sure the Spitfire they just brought out will get a lot of press recognition in the UK.

id be very interested in giving it a go with obirobkeno's 'bike builder guy' or by myself. "go in head first" I find to be the best approach"

Dave Yates. Every time I've looked the courses have been booked up for the foreseeable future. Nothing til 2012 now.

Get a 2010 Stumpjumper FSR.

I got one in January and have seen exactly zero out and about since then, apart from one at the 24/12 this weekend (it was a carbon S-works I think).

You're not looking very hard, they are everywhere, I saw more than 2 at 24/12, and they're not exactly race bikes! Not a bad thing, they're very good bikes, I quite like seeing people who have the same bike, I've made a few changes so they'll never be 100% the same as mine!

Since when was a 456 'cool'? That must be a joke, surely.

Build your own frame course: http://www.daveyatescycles.co.uk/custom_bike_frames-About_The_Course-44.php

I passed a chap on a similar Epic to mine at 24/12 – 'nice bike' I said 'thanks, but you've got something hanging off yours' he replied. I panicked and he chuckled to himself. 'Merc'd' as the kids say.

Just buy an ASDA special and kit it out with top end kit.

That is the new thing to do.

Pace – no welders though

"brooklyn machine works"

I like them actually, they are on my lottery win list, this is my "dont really need one but want one" sub list.

I want one and I want one now.

Whooops the race link model I meant:)

HAH this one ……..

Don't think something's going to be better just because it's rarer.

Mug's game, that.

The big brands are usually excellent.

Whooops the race link model I meant:)

Its hideous.

I know it's hideous, but I still want one dunno why, bit like pot noodles I suppose :

Brooklyn Machine Works are truly hideous

Brooklyn Machine Works are truly hideous

but work really well, go figure?

Ventana have a guy who cuts and mitres the tubes, a welder, a cnc operater a heat treater and painter all done by the same person, and an assembly guy and a lovely lady who sorts all the office stuff out.

What's going on with the drivetrain at the front on that Brooklyn Machine Works bike? 😕

2 chains innit.

zero pedal feed-back and that.

(in essence, the main pivot is concentric with the BB – but not that BB, the other BB – see?)

anyway, Brooklyn' are just a bunch of soul-less corporate sellouts compared to katipo!

ns bikes and transition, both relatively small over here.
anything that doesn't have a uk distributer

I really like the Brooklyns. I think owning one of them is a bit like owning an old/classic car, a bit of a chore and you have to have a passion for it (labour of love i guess)

A couple of lads i went to the alps have had them for years (not anymore though) – they were a bit unreliable and we were always having to fix them, it seemed liek it was worth it though.

They were the bikes that everyone seemed to gawp at when waiting at lift stations etc.

I've got a Gary Fisher, a Lynskey and a Robin Mather.
Do I win ?