[Closed] Are there any brands you'd think twice about buying?

Won't buy
RaceFace but i think thats more to do with shit service from Silverfish.
Marzocchi last 3 forks i've had has had problems.
Hope brakes.

Seriously what are some of you people talking about, Saladdodger how are Giant cheap and nasty. Wozza surely fox forks are great :¬(

There will always be brands that I shy away from due to irrational adverse associations.

I find brands which have huge budget ranges or associations hard to take seriously, my memories of loads of kids at my school with £200 giant ATBs in the 90s makes it hard for me to take Giant seriously or lust after.

Bit of Top gear esque snobbery really like when Vauxhall try and make sports cars and Jezza et al take the piss.

I have never used crank bros or and spd pedal but I'm surprised they are mentioned so much as I thought that egg beater pedal was the market leader in spd's.

Also giant bikes WHAT they are surely one of the best big suppliers of quality bikes covering all disciplines in the world, and I heard the customer service is superb.

I'd think twice about Truvativ cranks after the last set I owned (ISIS) developed an annoying habit of falling off (non-drive side) at the most inconvenient time.

Avid brakes. Great when they work but [b]VERY[/b] high maintenance.

Fox clothing (I'm too old)
Marin - not that old!

Crank Bros again, their pedals bearings are terrible and they had the audacity to claim that the first generation were "maintenance free". Then the second generation had grease-ports. Hmm.

Gore clothing, because I don't have a money tree in my garden.

For bike brands, I wouldn't buy a Giant as they made the second worst handling mtb that I've ever ridden. Or a Trek for no good reason.

I may be cutting my nose off to spite my face, but I wouldn't buy a Santa Cruz thanks to a certain group of riders who were all kitted out with them and acted like tossers.

Turns out, I'm more angry than I thought I was...

Can only think of 3.
SRAM gears, not because of anything they've done, I'm sure it is great, I'd just use the equivalent Shimano kit instead, but conversely, if at all possible I'll use a (is it a or an?) SRAM chain over a shimano one.

Ellsworth, because the owner is a thieving cock

Continental Tyres - just don't work

Erm, thats about it

I thought the about turn by many people on here when Madison/Saracen showed the new Kili and Ariel was quite funny 😉

What is so bad about Ellsworth's owner?

Kona because of the shocking design/vfm combo.

Cannondales have just never appealed to me aesthetically.

Marzocchi because of their shocking reputation.

Ditto Crank brothers.

MARIN I forgot MARIN I hate MARIN!

I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHY!!!

Maybe I need help? I loved them in the late 80's early 90's

Trek, very good bikes, but their associations with Lance, George W and one or two others puts me right off.
As a company, they also had a habit of buying up smaller, more innovative firms and damaging their image. Icon,bontrager, Rolf, Lemond( Gary Fisher seems to be doing OK though)
More than the rest though THEY KILLED KLEIN!!! ,THE BAS****S!!! 👿

Race Face - their bearings are shite, so is their customer service.
Extralite - one of their seatposts nearly killed me when the seatclamp sheared off whilst doing 40 plus down the side of a mountain.
Anything out of the XACD factory (Airborne etc). - because its bound to break.
SPECIALIZED - For stealing other peoples ideas.
LYNSKEY - Don't like the way they are trying to own the custom titanium market.

yeah what did the ellsworth owner do?

Ran
"2pure - Member
Crank Bros- i've never had anything from them , but i was talking them at MM in the summer a about 30 secs in to their reply i was thinking "tossers". I say them that was CB's distributors.

care to shed any light on that speshpaul? "

Yeap more than happy to sure.
Buy the time MM came round i had basically all of my new bike ready to build except for a headset. I quite fancied a CB Cobalt XC, quite a bit of cash, i liked the look of it but i wanted to touch one before i parted with my cash. My LBS would order one, but if i didn't like it in the flesh, i'd feel obliged or they would be stuck with it.
So there is your stand at MM, i wondered over and asked if you had there i could look at?
The reply i got back was basically that you didn't sell headsets to the public because you are all idiots and would trash both the frame and the headset when we tried "bodge" them in!
Although there is probably some truth in that, i didn't ask to buy i asked to look! Failed the 1st test, not listening.
1st impressions and all that.

A bit worried to see hope brakes mentioned a few times,just bought a second hand bike with hope m4,s,why are they so bad,what should i be looking out for.I always thought hope stuff was good quality(never had any hope stuff before mind you!)

Sram- just not a fan of the feel.
Crankbrothers- I like bearings that last.
Hope- unreliable stuff with poor brake lever feel.

Superstar- the most unpleasant, rude, decietful, unreasonable, lieing little man in the entire bicycle industry pedalling taiwanese toss.

Mikey - hope brakes seem to be love or hate. I have nothing but praise for them myself. some folk seem to find difficulty with them - others not. IMO easy to fix if they go wrong which again IME is rare. all parts available easily if you do need them.

I am not sure if there are " friday afternoon" sets out there or if it is user error. Personally they are the only brakes I would use. Pads last thousands of miles and lots of power - single finger braking to lock wheels.

Other folks experience seems to be totally opposite to mine.

I have six sets bought secondhand, used by me for years - one caliper rebuild and one master cylinder rebuild - neither of which was difficult to do.

Blimey i'm going to have agree with TJ on the hope one.

Crankbrother pedals.
Fox forks.
garmin toys.
Any niche 29er/SS brand .. as irratating as the sorts that ride them...

fatsimon mk2 - Member
i would as long as i live never ever buy superstar sh*t ever again pads that last one ride and when i asked about sending them back it was surggested that i hadn't fitted them right lol iam a mech engineer with 20years of working on forklifts or plant machinery oh and ive got a 2:1 in mech engineering so up yours superstar

+1 for the Hope brakes - I've done 10s of thousands of miles with them since my first C2s back in 1997 (I think) currently running Mono M4s Mono minis & V2s - all work fine & the pads (only ever use genuine Hope or EBC) last ages even in the Alps.

SCOTT bikes for me. Don't know why, but just never ever liked the brand.

cannondale; because they are ridden by fascistic types

superstar - plonker- shit components

661 gloves; last all of 10 minutes

hope brakes - to many kneecap smashing bolts

truvative/sram/bontrager chainsets - preload and sealing is rubbish bb's last all of about 3 months.

crank brothers - apparantly the pumps are good but the pedals are shocking; everyone who has them talks about maintenence and rebuilds; fine but shimano last forever.

SRAM and Avid - pish.

Scott- skinny 9 stone kid bro had a frame crack at the swingarm pivot weld, just out of warranty (the last 6 months being in a riding-free foot-and-mouth epidemic) and they told him where to go. Had some Scott spd shoes that fell to pieces quickly too. Wont touch a scott product again.

Trek, though I like the Remedy Ive always seen them as a souless megabrand (dont have an issue with Giant or Spec though...). Gary Fisher as I've never liked any of their bikes and hate the "inventor of MTBing" shctick.

Marin as I've never figured out what the point of them was. Fugly full sussers whos Mondeo like popularity drowned the market of individuality for a while, and worthy but forgetable hardtails overshadowed marketing-wise by the farm-gate full sussers. Not particularly rational but hey.

SSC purely on reputation here.

Continental after they seemed to stop putting rubber on the sidewalls and my XC's split after a few rides, many years ago.

I'm actually a bit conservative and loyal as a consumer, Ive always loved Konas but will happily admit that their spec/value balance plunged about 10 years ago, and they lost all small manufacturer nichey value when they went to halfords, and will always look at Camelbak as hydration pack of choice having been served well by them (still use my 1998 Havoc as my main riding pack). Only wear Giro lids etc.

Cosmic Trail. 8)

(Only Local Motion framepads for me...)

mikey3 - I'm one of the hope brake haters and have spoke to TJ on the forum before about this, for me I have no complaints about build quality, the pads do last, they look smart if thats your thing.

My problems were, they didn't feel strong, which for me I want to stop on a coin. The rotors warped something rotten, every month I'd spend a hour with washers trying to centre the rotor and the squalled like you wouldn't believe. Also pad change was a faff in comparison to magura or shimano saint, whose systems are very simple so a little unfair perhaps.

Hopes floating rotors are on the other hand amazing, comparing saint power to mono mini power is not really fair although I have run some giant MPH brakes that were better than the hopes.

Anyway I wouldn't worry if they are not right for you just flog them and by some shimano.

@tails, anlegov

Remember when Turner's were 4-bar bikes with a linkage system that the turner guy pretty much came up with? Not the horst link, that was the Nicolai guy.

When Turners changed to use faux-bar, that was essentially because Tony Ellsworth thought "Hmm, nice design, I think I'll patent it", then started trying to charge Turner (and others) to use his own design.

Blatant IP theft, but unfortunately unless you are a huge corporation you aren't going to have the funds to fight it, as the US patent system is horrendously ballsed up.

Tails - have yo seen teh hope video on how to centre pistons? - it really is a revelation. You only need do the washers once - to centre the caliper on the rotor. then you centre the pistons in the calipeer according to hopes instructions.

Horse for course - mine have plenty of power but there is a much softer lever feel than other brakes and less initial bite - Thats very much a like or not thing. if yours were short on power something was wrong.

khegs - the US patent is unenforceable in Europe however on the horst link = simply because it had been done before.

haha! good to see Kona, Marzocchi and DMR in here! I own a Kona with Bombers, and a DMR Sidekick with Kona P2's 😆

From previous experiences I'd never buy Manitou or Rockshox, though I imagine RS have improved since my last set since everyone seems to rate them again now.

Trek/Gary Fisher/Specialized - irrational and non-evidence based dislike.

Bell Helmets - (IME) Crap fit and fall to bits easily.

I once had a SSC bottom bracket for a couple of weeks..................

Conti Explorers - *shudders*

Garish anodised anything! Some folk weren't around in the 90's??

Cheers tails i,m quite happy to see how they go ,i,m not to hard on my brakes usually but as the bike i,ve just bought is the last bike i,m ever going to buy i,d like to know the stuff on is going to last(apart from the things that are going to wear out with use of course).
The bike i,ve just bought second hand is a cove hustler and the way it rides i can,t see me ever wanting/needing another bike,rides like a dream.

Surprised to see Fox forks mentioned. What's the beef with them?

Any company that produces bikes that makes it difficult, by way of design, to change the componentry. By this I mean features like Gary Fishers G2 geometry that limits what forks you can run; Cannondale's lefty (special hub/heaset etc). I actually refuse to buy Cannondale anyway.

For a long time I refused to buy anything from Freeborn because the guys at the Horsham branch are c*cks, but Rob at Esher is a great bloke so I go there now. That is also where I bought my last bike from. Yeah I know the money ends up in the same place, but I'll forgive that as the service at Esher is top notch.

Also, Tioga ever since the Factory DH tyres came out, they were everywhere! Mainly I think because the sidewall logos looked good at the time, can't think of any other reason! Only tyres I've swapped back to my old worn ones!

Raceface.

Ever since my Evolve X-Type cranks destroyed themselves due to a design fault and the subsequent lack of any help from their customer service dept I am hugely dubious about buying any of their products. I'm not alone, I have a friend with an identical issue with a pair of Deus cranks who shares my attitude.

So in summary. Everyone hates everything ever made by any company that's ever had anything to do with mountain biking. I refuse to buy any bike that has wheels. The hubs don't last, the spokes offend me, the nipples sound rude and the rims are all bent in a horrible uniform manner. Don't even get me started on the words and numbers they have on them ...

Nonsense: I think the point is that there are certain companies that seem to come up over and over again, which is quite interesting - namely Crank Brothers, Endura, Cannondale, Hope, Manitou, etc

Same old Same old for me:

Crank Bros pedals - Lucky if they last a week.
Formula brakes - Lucky if they work.
Manitou Forks - Lucky to last the ride home.
Continental MTB tyres - Lucky if they don't kill you.
Pace forks - Lucky for them if they make retirement without being lynched.
Jones frames - Oooh look at me, lucky me, look at me arn't i Lucky.

Never had any probs with product or customer service from:

Fox forks - run them for years, they've been very good.
Hope brakes - 2nd to none for customer service, but the 1st gen mini (the silver split caliper ones) was an awful brake for me, it kept leaking between the two halfs. The discs are not the best thou.
Endura - although it sounds like i've just been Lucky 😆

No issues with Hope here, although I do have a Bulb hub that keeps going wobbly every three months and requires new bearings.

I've two sets of M4 brakes, a stem, hubs, seatclamps and headsets. The customer service is excellent and the Hope guys seem more than pleased to chat about their products.

If they can fix my Bulb hub I'll name my first born after the company.

Righto,

I dislike in no particular order

MBR mag = OVERHYPED marketing / magazines that pander to such bollax and the trendzzzz ie : for ever 'extreme' kit for the all singing middle manager : All mountain bikes which weigh a ton and just arent needed by most uk riders - ie full face helmets / goggles etc for normal trails which some have ridden quite happily on for 20 years with retro tech !!! 🙂

as to comapanies

PACE stuff - forks were /are shite / old square frames poorly made coupled with sublimely shite customer service then and now - thats based on personal and friends experience within / out biketrade

Orange - were brilliant - not as good now...

SSC kit for obvious forum reasons - and my pads always falling apart

Endura stuff used to be fantastic - not impressed last few years...

ISIS bbs and Crank bros pedals = dont last

FOX forks re unacceptable wear

Specialized bikes and their dismal own brand shox - but their customer service is top class to be fair

Sram gearing and chains = shite.

Shimano shadow mechs = shite.

Companies I love

Hope / Trek = ace support. I do like hope brakes too... I havent owned a new bomber so I have no prob with 'zocchi

I like Giant bikes...

I actually really like maddison for their service = top class - dislike their prices for stuff though !

I rate King despite high costs...

thats all folks !

mikey74 - Member
Nonsense: I think the point is that there are certain companies that seem to come up over and over again, which is quite interesting - namely Crank Brothers, Endura, Cannondale, Hope, Manitou, etc

Rubbish.

Cannondale has been mentioned about the same amount of times as Giant, less than Trek or Spesh.

As many people like Hope as dislike etc, etc.

Your own irrational prejudices are pretty obvious.

I wonder why people dislike one particular brand while swearing by another which might produce almost identical products?

As I've said many times before, isn't marketing great? We're all slaves to it whether consciously or not.