Alright Chaps,

What UK based bike companies are there about? I prefer putting my cash into UK companies, and back into the economy where I can, thinking at the moment:

Designed and built:

Orange
Whyte
Moda

Designed:

On-one

Anymore to the list?

Cheers chaps

Ricks

Do a search on STW. It’s been done to death (though no antelopes or conveyor belts were harmed).

Built: Curtis, Pashley(?) Bamboo bikes

Designed: Saracen, Genesis, Ragley, Nukeproof, Charge.

Cheers Druid, apologies for sucking up forum space on a well done topic.

ricks

And where are tubes drawn from which the bike is fabricated?
And where is the steel and chomium mined from which the 853 is made?
And who manufactures the ink in the Orange decals?

ooooo, “nth degree” sourcing 😉

Well, I’m thinking profit-wise, wages and taxes 🙂 simples.

given the mark-up on taiwanese welded frames, Id say just about every bike sold in the UK generates the bulk of its profit in the UK 🙂

There we go.

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/uk-bike-companies

Profit-wise, you’d be better buying a Ragley or Nukeproof from CRC, given that they are responsible for design, import, distribution and (probably) build. From whatever headline price they’re selling them at, only a tiny proportion of your cost would be going offshore.

druid is that a crafty swipe? 😉

LoCo – not actually. Just trying to help out the OP (Stoner makes the same point above…)

And where are tubes drawn from which the bike is fabricated?
And where is the steel and chomium mined from which the 853 is made?
And who manufactures the ink in the Orange decals?

Exactly. I doubt very much that there is any bike frame which is genuinely made in the UK. Welding up bought-in tubes doesn’t count for much more than sending your design to Taiwan.

sorry druid, made me giggle a bit, I see what you mean, knowing Rickon I can’t ever imagine him on a Ragley or Nukeproof 😀

Are whyte UK made? I thought they were Tiawan like everybody else?

18bikes
Mercian (and plenty of other old skool frame builders)

Orange use Reynolds aluminium tubes, which are made in Birmingham. and most frame builders use stuff from them as well.

All on-one bikes are designed and assembled in the UK. The tubes are made and welded together and painted in Taiwan.

LoCo – you’re probably right, although would mind a Piglet for the winter 😉

I put great store in pre and post customer service.

Monosyllabic and late replies show lack of respect. If your ‘busy’ or tired of answering the same old questions remove the ‘contact email’ from your website.

As such I’ll shop with anyone in the world that shows my $$ and patronage respect.

I’ve found some UK companies lacking in this respect. As mentioned on the other thread- ask me in person, I wont post it on a forum though.

I think just buying a bike that is designed by a UK company that are based in the UK is good enough, you can get into the nitty gritty of tube sourcing and where the paint comes from etc but either way the end result is that the profit goes to the company in one way or another.
Its a nice thing to buy British, i have a Charge bike and a Land Rover car… good job too as when the LR breaks down i use the Charge to get me to work too. 🙂

The profit comes to the UK company?

So what if the owner is a ****?

Are you interested in how he or she spends that profit or is a good person?!

Bizarre. For me its product and customer service. I’ve no idea or clue what happens beyond that. If pushed I’d hope the staff in factories are treated fairly.

Piglets do look rather nice, I trying to ignore other potential purchases though as it’s starting to get a bit silly having 2 or 3 bikes being in the process of being built up 😳
Although an on one 29er of some kind would make a rather nice winter hack…..

Enigma handbuilt in Sussex

Does anyone know about profit markups? E.g. steel manufacture, tube manufacture, frame fabrication, frame design, retail?

I’m guessing the biggest wedge is in retail.

I still stand by the suspicion that specialized and giant along with quite a few other big names employ more people in the uk than many uk based brands.

I know the Harrogate Specialized shop alone employs more people than on one in their office.

plus if people in china and Germany held the same “only buy local” policy my company would see its exports drop by over 50% and exports are 75% of our business which is based in a rural community employing a large chunk of the locals.

as such I couldn’t give two hoots where my bike bits come from, its all food on someones plate.

Empire bikes – ok only a DH bike at the momnet in production, but there is an AM 150 mm travel bike being tested at the moment. Saw it at Caersws recently and looked really nice. 66 degree head angle and about 30lb in weight with a sensible build (no carbon or real bling).

Pipedream cycles is one of my favourite UK designed bike at the mo. great desing and (although i havent got one yet they are meant to ride well.

“So what if the owner is a ****?” You choose another.

Simple.

Why not do it yourself? 😉

http://www.thebicycleacademy.org/

😆 stoners got it pretty bang on though.

How many welding fabricators are actually employed making the Five and 224?

I’ll back Hope though- no idea where the stuff is made/comes from.

Surely Cotic deserve a mention. No doubt well covered on the other thread. Sorry.

No doubt well covered on the other thread

Why was the other topic closed?