Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 94 total)
  • What bike brands you are loyal to?
  • kudos100
    Free Member

    I was thinking about this the other day and I am pretty loyal to certain brands for different bits of kit. Once I find something that works and lasts, I rarely bother looking elsewhere. A few of mine:

    Hope (hubs)
    Rockshox + Fox (shocks and forks)
    Shimano (groupset and shoes)
    Mavic (rims)
    Maxxis + bontrager (tyres)
    Troy Lee (hoodies and DH gear)
    Renthal (bars and chainrings)

    What brands are you loyal to and why?

    whatnobeer
    Free Member

    Cinelli road gear. It looks beautiful, the first road bike I ever bought was a Cinelli and they have a real sense of fun about the company. Never seem to take things too seriously, and still produce really top notch kit.

    bristolbiker
    Free Member

    Does not compute – surely it’s a case of appraising the best technology/price/service/fitness on a case by case basis?

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    binners
    Full Member

    Stella Artois. Why? WTF’s it got to do with you

    OUTSIDE NOW!!!!

    joao3v16
    Free Member

    I’m not particularly loyal to any brand.

    For a lot of purchases it comes down to what’s available at the best price at the time.

    My main criteria is that it’s a brand I’ve heard of and has a generally good reputation, or at least the item I’m buying has a good reputation even if the brand overall isn’t fantastic.

    rocketman
    Free Member

    None of them. Same with food, drink, music, books, tech, no matter what the brand if it’s shite I won’t buy it

    tails
    Free Member

    Shimano brakes, fsa headsets

    relliott6879
    Free Member

    Fox
    Kona
    Hope
    Mavic
    Easton
    Shimano

    kudos100
    Free Member

    Shimano brakes

    Pretty sure these will be added, once my avid/formuala’s die.

    elzorillo
    Free Member

    Canondale & Kona bikes, Hope products.
    Used to be Specialized but they lost their way (IMHO)

    Lionheart
    Free Member

    Would have said not fussy and willing to go for what ever, then thought about and a pattern does emerge, still a bit of a mix:
    Hope Hubs on most bikes
    Shimano on all bikes
    Avids on nearly all bikes
    More Conti tyres than others
    More On Ones than other makes
    Mostly Fox forks
    Mostly CK headsets

    But definite pattern else where:
    Mostly Macs for 20 years plus – only Macs for last ten
    Only ever had Orange mobile and now prob 15 years, not sure but when ever they started
    Only ever been eclipse broadband now 13 years,
    And think i have only ever worn M&S underwear!

    GlitterGary
    Free Member

    Apollo.

    sefton
    Free Member

    kcnc

    crikey
    Free Member

    Castelli, Scott clothing, Giro helmets, Oakley specs, Giordana shorts, Shimano groupsets and SPDs, Mavic wheels, Selle Italia SLR saddles.

    vinnyeh
    Full Member

    Easton carbon.
    Thomson
    XT

    on the flip side, used to religiously buy Specialized shoes, saddles and helmets, and had a few of their bikes over the years.

    After the Epic fiasco stopped buying their stuff irrespective of how well it fits me. Reinforced by the Volagi business. Specialized have a big history of litigation

    mega
    Free Member

    Specialized

    My Enduro broke and the guys in Chessington fixed it for me (new fork sir – sorry about the inconvenience) and tuned the suspension while I waited

    Then I bought a Stumpy and kept breaking spokes in rear wheel. My excellent LBS (Cycleworks) got on the phone to Spesh, who said sorry and gave me £350 store credit towards a new set of wheels of my choice

    honestly – they are brilliant

    njee20
    Free Member

    Oakley glasses
    Spesh shoes and helmets
    Gore winter gloves
    Stan’s rims
    Schwalbe tyres

    10pmix
    Free Member

    For clothing it used to be whatever was top of the ‘biggest reduction’ filter on CRC but now it has to be Endura for everything. The only MTB stuff I have worn that doesn’t fall apart,split,tear,shrink,run,come unstuck or generally look knackered after a few month’s riding.

    bajsyckel
    Full Member

    Sunn (1990s) frames
    TIME pedals
    Magura Brakes
    DT Swiss 240s

    julianwilson
    Free Member

    Ooooh, this is just what bike distributors want to hear!

    I will only remain ‘loyal’ to my favourite products (rockshox, mavic rims, gore, kmc, spesh for shoes, superstar for all sorts) as long as they are good value for money in terms of performance and/or longevity.

    If I could afford brand new bikes I suppose I might feel partisan towards a particular brand if their aftersales/warranty was good. (Specialized for example with lifetime frame garuantee, but only as good as your local spesh dealer!)

    honourablegeorge
    Full Member

    Hope, because of the numerous good experiences with them fixing my stuff for free when they were well within their rights to do nothing

    Thomson, because their stems and posts are understated, and high quality.

    Shimano cranks, ‘cos I’ve never had a problem with one.

    Easton bars, ‘cos they’re the right shape.

    thisisnotaspoon
    Free Member

    661, not blindly loyal, but I do have a full face, pressure suit and armoured shorts. It does fourfill the good/cheep/fits criteria.

    DHB clothing, it may be wiggles own brand, but like 661 it’s good/cheep/fits.

    Specialized tyres at the moment.

    Hope – but mainly 2nd hand, can’t justify new prices.

    ononeorange
    Full Member

    For me:

    Hope – hubs and brakes
    Mechs and shifters – SRAM
    Forks – Rockshox

    Sticking to the above (for me) keeps maintenance simple. I like the “feel” of them too.

    Shimano cranks (usually) and SPDs

    I like the Thomson stems and seatposts etc but that’s a case of what I can afford. Have been using Maxxis tyres recently and have been impressed.

    thisisnotaspoon
    Free Member

    Ooooh, this is just what bike distributors want to hear!

    Not really, only 1 person distributes thompson posts, everyone else is wondering why their lighter, stronger, cheeper, better made posts can’t sell in the same way.

    muckytee
    Free Member

    Hope, looks so nice and works

    Nukeproof, simple, effective and a good price.

    Fox clothing and Endura

    Shimano SLX, can’t go wrong with it

    jonba
    Free Member

    not so much loyalty but brands that always get on a short list.

    On-one/planet x – love my 456 and have had many small items from them (not necessarily on-one branded)

    Bought a Cayo because it was good value and have since got a Mares cx bike because I liked the road bike (I looked at others but it fitted my requirements best).

    DHB – because I’ve liked nearly everything I’ve bought from them clothes wise and when I need kit they are a first port of call.

    Merlin cycles wheels – because they’re well built.

    Montane – not so much bike related but I realised I own 5 of their jackets (2xvelos, dt velocity, extreme pile and pertex and now hyena) and a pair of trousers so that might count as loyalty

    stumpy01
    Full Member

    Not really trying to be loyal to them, but inadvertently, Specialized.

    I replaced my 01 Stumpjumper FSR with a 2010 model. I really wanted to get an EX8, but I didn’t get on with the test one, whereas the Stumpjumper felt right straight away.

    I’ve had Specialized gloves for years and they seem to last well & do the job (although my Gill and 661 gloves are just as good), I’ve got a Spesh jersey that must be 5 years old and is still in great condition and a pair of their tights that are really comfy and are lasting well.

    Oh, their tyres seem to work OK too although I wouldn’t go out of my way to look for them (I normally get what’s going cheap).

    My head doesn’t suit their helmets though and I’ve never had any Spesh shoes or anything.

    Lots of companies make nice kit, really. I try & get stuff that does the job, fits into budget and looks nice. I like to say I don’t really care about the brand but if I can get a known one (e.g. Easton) for the same price as an unknown one and they are intrinsically the same, I’ll probably go for the known brand.

    lunge
    Full Member

    Specialized shoes
    Shimano drivechain and pedals
    Selle Italia saddles.

    MrSalmon
    Free Member

    I wouldn’t say I’m loyal as such but I prefer known quantities over unknown, so once I’ve factored that in to whatever price point/quality range I’m looking at it does tend to be the same brands that come up.

    julianwilson
    Free Member

    Not really, only 1 person distributes thompson posts, everyone else is wondering why their lighter, stronger, cheeper, better made posts can’t sell in the same way.

    …and Mr Thomspon disibutor is trying to work out how much more he can rack up the UK rrp before we stop buying them.

    chakaping
    Free Member

    Not sure about “loyal” but always had a soft spot for WTB.

    Suppose I like how they seem to do their own thing and have some great, underrated products.

    Shimano for transmission stuff and Hope for hubs. Also getting hooked on Maxxis rubber.

    cheese@4p
    Full Member

    Great after sales service keeps me going back to Hope and Turner. Other than that I’m open minded.

    joeegg
    Free Member

    Where are all you Orange owners!

    julianwilson
    Free Member

    joeegg – Member

    Where are all you Orange owners!

    At ten to five on a thursday? Trying to locate their Audis in the works secure underground car park, I should think. No 3G down there 😉

    wrecker
    Free Member

    Shimano drive and point one racing; I love the split second stem and podium pedals. Also like Chromag parts and Dakine clothing.

    bol
    Full Member

    Specialized clothing and shoes – cheap, fits and good quality. Tyres are nice too
    Cotic frames – ride well, look nice, made nicely, like the brand values too
    Easton bars – just seem to do the job very well and fit me
    SRAM drivetrain – like the way it works
    Avid brakes – like the way they work, and they’re cheap used (due to the Hope tax)

    I’m not completely loyal to any of them, but they tend to be the place I look first. Other stuff I’m less fickle about.

    yossarian
    Free Member

    Hope hubs
    Magura brakes
    Specialized shoes
    SDG saddles
    Salsa bars, actually salsa everything

    tazzymtb
    Full Member

    phil wood
    goldtec
    FTW
    middleburn
    shimano- old school last for years BB’s (none of this HTII bother) good no fuss disk brakes

    stuff that just works

    xcneil
    Free Member

    Cannondale
    Planet x
    Mavic
    Torq
    Rapha
    SRAM on mtb
    Shimano on road & cx

    oldgit
    Free Member

    None now. I was Giant through and through, but loyalty can blind you to other good stuff on the market
    I was Shimano now I’m SRAM
    I was Vittoria now I’m Challenge.
    Mavic rims have been a constant though

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 94 total)

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