[Closed] companies that you irrationally or otherwise think are a bit.....

on-one, raggley I.E all those made in some guys shed brands, we know there not made in some guys shed, also why the **** would i want some thing designed in some guys shed, i want some one using CAD in Taiwan to design it, as this is were the best bikes come from these days.

oh how foolish that post makes you sound.

A competent designer can use a CAD system in his front room if he/she wants!

As long as my bike doesnt come with an oval head tube i dont really care where it's designed or built.

I'm not keen on Kona for some reason. Don't really know why and have nothing against them, I just wouldn't buy one.

I think the most interesting bit about this conversation is how easy/difficult it is for companies to get a bad/good image in the market place.

Everything you guys have mentioned is not something you know to be fact - just the way you 'feel' about the company based on fairly trivial stuff you believe about the company.

Intriguing and yet crucial to the companies involved hmmmmm

Brand x is probably the dullest company name i can think of.

I agree Brand X really is a poor name, doesn't really make you want to go get one, as good as they probably are!

A competent designer can use a CAD system in his front room if he/she wants!

Stratton and British Telecom. And for good reason.

Specialized

Specialized

How?? It seems they're like top of everything lol.

GT.

On an opposite tack, I always irrationally liked scary fast rocket power parts

In fact I'm off to scour eBay to find some gloves.

scary fast. now there is a name I've not seen in an age

Boadman.

Yes, they are great value.

Yes, they are probably great bikes.

But no, I could never bring myself to buy a bike from Halfrauds.

(Sorry James.. )

British government PLC
Generic Authority

bag of (EDIT) uselessness

Swear filter didn't catch my very sweary swear word! 😯

Funnily enough, I really love FSA headsets - I've run them on a variety of bikes over the last 10 years or so and never had a problem with any of them. I think in all that time, I've only had to swap the cartridge bearings in one of them, and that was my commuter bike which takes a hell of beating from the material used to surface the Forth and Clyde canal path - it's like bloody grinding paste when it's wet.

Crank Brothers for me - every now and again I get lulled into buying something shiny - last was 20/20 pedals, and they lasted less than 6 months before the bearings went. Meanwhile my DMR V8s just keep on going...

Thinking crank bros are shit isn't irrational though, it's very very rational. They are shit.

Scott, not sure why but just do.

For some reason I think on-one are crap despite everything I've ever bought having been fine. It's stupid and I don't know why.

Giant

Cannot explain it at all, never ridden one and never had the slightest interest in any of their road or mountain bikes.
I just find them all dull dull du....... Zzzzzzzzzzzz

Thinking crank bros are shit isn't irrational though, it's very very rational. They are shit.

Agreed. My view on Crank Bros products is one of style over substance, without the style..

Giant

Cannot explain it at all, never ridden one and never had the slightest interest in any of their road or mountain bikes.
I just find them all dull dull du....... Zzzzzzzzzzzz

thats just how i used to feel about them, but every one ive ever riden just felt right. dull yes but they ride really well and thats what matters to me, Also you most probably have ridden one, just with a different name on it, they are the biggest frame make in the world, hence why they have money to invest in frame design, quality control etc

Giant bicycles. I've never liked em

Giant for me too. Yes, I know they ride quite well.
That current thing with all of the blue cable outers etc. YUK.
Chris king too, no idea why just does nothing for me.

giant are great at taking other peoples ideas and cad and nicking em....not mtb related

Play.com.

road wheels by any chance?

Lake. They seem to be pretty good shoes, but I've said it before: Image is everything. If you want to look good, then don't go with the logo design submitted by the CEO's 8 year old son.

GT since Halfords started stocking them, Kona since Halfords stocked them, not a fan of Scott either - graphics are a bit ott for me.

Scott, Giant, GT, Manitou, Marin and Whyte.

i like what manitou are doing maybe they can drag themselves out the doldrums
podge...no giant trinity

has anyone mentioned orange? and not the phone company

orange they suck ass

On-one... Raggley...

And I'm sure there are others out there like them.

Anything that says - This-Is-Cheap-As on the downtube just ain't doing it for me, particularly if it's also at the same time trying to cultivate some sort of knowing cliquey, nichey, in-crowd exclusivity with it.

I'm never quite shure about this 'Designed for British conditions' nonsense, either. As if we are somehow uniquely special in the world and want to be treated that way. Other countries really do have mud too! And I'm not too bothered about the benifits of being able to get my whole leg between a 2.5" rear tyre and my chainstay TBH 🙄

everything sram apart from their chains. Don't know why - like the OP says, its irrational. But I wouldn't own anything by SRAM apart from a chain and I'd never use a Shimano chain (even though I have one in the spare's bin).

Don't ask me why

Giant
Specialized
Rock Shox
SRAM *Edit, as per above - Like their chains, don't like Shimano chains*
On-One
Planet-X
Ragley
Stans (Well apart from the liquid)

any company that want to charge 6.5k for a bike.....saw a spec today 8.5k erm........no
has anyone sat down and figured out the actuall cost for example adding up the cost of each component pretty sure theres still 3k left in the pot even with a top spec build.

^^^thanks honus - makes me feel less wierd now!

Giant,Specialized,Kona,Scott,Commencal,Trek,Cannondale,Marin,Whyte,Ghost,Cube,Intense,Santa Cruz,Yeti,Ibis,Turner,Nicoli,Pivot,Niner,Orange,DMR,Chris King,Hope,Sram,Shimano,Magura,Fox,Marzocchi,Rock Shox,DT Swiss,Crank Bros,FSA,Easton,Richey,Thomson,Race Face,Maxxis,Schwalbe,Continental,Kenda.....Any and all of em,every last one of the shysters 👿

French Fancies- WTF, they aint fancy at all and are frankly the dull mans cake of the Mr Kipling world. As for the obvious troll re On One etc I aint going to bite 😆

Rorschach rides a Lapierre then? 😉

? French bikes are dull? Saying the same thing about cheapy steel hardtails is trolling? 🙄

Trek, in my head they're just evil and trying to take over the cycling world.

Fox, nice forks for a few rides then oil everywhere/ wobbly stantions, seal wear etc. They're like marzocchi divided by one.

apple .i know they're not a bike company,but couldn't think of a bike company that i do not like.apple on the other hand overpriced/underpowered pieces of tat,run by rupert murdoch wannabe (all show,no go e.t.c) 😉 ready to be flamed 😀

It can all change, I never thought I'd buy a Saracen again.....but I have!

ready to be flamed

/sigh

Vauxhall. Strikes me as the very definition of middle England blandness.

i want a several of them to design the bike supported by a huge R&D department with lots of money to spend, and also a huge factory so every thing is made in house by them selves! hence i got a Giant

I have a feeling this kind of customer does not understand bike design too much and would rather trust a big brand. Fair enough. But for those of us that know their bikes, we can enjoy riding the Ragley, enjoying the new school geometry that got glowing reviews from the magazines, and safe in the knowledge it is one of only a few steel hardtails out there to pass the latest though CEN crash tests, and with 160mm forks!. Oh and knowing that it was hand made in one of the best factories in the East. @cotic (twitter) Still want a Giant?

big souless companies like Trek

also why the **** would i want some thing designed in some guys shed

some great ideas have come out of guys in sheds, it's the British inventor way 😉

Ilovemygears, do you work for Giant? 😉

[i]I have a feeling this kind of customer does not understand bike design too much and would rather trust a big brand. Fair enough. But for those of us that know their bikes, we can enjoy riding the Ragley, enjoying the new school geometry that got glowing reviews from the magazines, and safe in the knowledge it is one of only a few steel hardtails out there to pass the latest though CEN crash tests, and with 160mm forks!. Oh and knowing that it was hand made in one of the best factories in the East. @cotic (twitter) Still want a Giant?[/i]

That's the one with the oval headtube, right?

Saracen (sorry Stiggy!),

Used to look great when I got my Saracen TuffTrax in '94. These days looks like a 5 year old designed them; particularly the graphics. Realise they might be getting great reviews, but IMHO they look awful. Hope Madison sort it out soon and employ a decent graphic designer (or just go back 17 years and get those designs back!!)

Also Giant,

Had a couple, and agree they ride great, but just seem to have no 'character' what so ever.

crikey - Member
I have a feeling this kind of customer does not understand bike design too much and would rather trust a big brand. Fair enough. But for those of us that know their bikes, we can enjoy riding the Ragley, enjoying the new school geometry that got glowing reviews from the magazines, and safe in the knowledge it is one of only a few steel hardtails out there to pass the latest though CEN crash tests, and with 160mm forks!. Oh and knowing that it was hand made in one of the best factories in the East. @cotic (twitter) Still want a Giant?

That's the one with the oval headtube, right?

and the shitty paint and the bent bits etc..

No problem jambo 😀 The stickers are all removable and they're about to send out a new set (less lairy!) A small price to pay considering how much fun it is (Ariel).

Fair enough. But for those of us that know their bikes, we can enjoy riding the Ragley, enjoying the new school geometry that got glowing reviews from the magazines,

i know more than you 🙂 you believe magazine reviews...rofl

Christ, almost 60 posts and no mention of the UK's most abusive purveyor of discounted brake pads 😯

geoffj - Member
Christ, almost 60 posts and no mention of the UK's most abusive purveyor of discounted brake pads

i know more than you you believe magazine reviews...rofl

I'll believe them over you any day.

Oh, and the customer reviews are glowing too.

beginning to wonder if ilovemygears works for giant, or is just some random mad guy or someone who thinks he is funny.....sratches head

I want to like Cotic, but that headbadge character just cheapens the whole affair. It's like a 1995 school desk biro scribble. A bad one.

Shame as they make some really good stuff.

Oh and Outland, Diamondback, Da Bomb, I think Cannondale's often have nice frames but sh*t componentry.

Trek and Giant seem a bit bland (although I know there are some good bikes bearing their names).

I ride a Dialled PA, it's flippin awesome and I love that it's a bit unusual.

[i]apple .i know they're not a bike company,but couldn't think of a bike company that i do not like.apple on the other hand overpriced/underpowered pieces of tat,run by rupert murdoch wannabe (all show,no go e.t.c) ready to be flamed [/i]

Jesus. You get the opportunity handed to you on a plate and that's the best you can come up with?

Here's why you should irrationally hate apple.

Start with their adverts. Condescending bile.
"Haven't got an iphone? What a low life scum sucking pervert you are."
They don't actually say those words but you'd have to be on a life support machine not to see the intent.

Lets look at the hardware. It's so perfect. So slick, so well put together. You can't fault that stuff! Yeah, it's a bit pricey but oooh, aluminium, polished like a mirror so you can look at your own jumpers. NICE!. Nothing wrong there , eh? Well there is, ever seen stepford wives? That's what you're sticking your dick into when you buy an apple product. Hey! I'm not going to stop you, it's probably a great experience having sex with someone who *always* loves it. An apple device will never drag its teeth over your helmet by accident, they are always retracted. Is that what you want? Do you get danger from a rollercoaster? So be it. You've been defined.

Software.
Yeah, looks nice, works well. In Utopia. Which doesn't exist by the way. It's a made up place that exists only in the heads of drug addicts and Apple store employees. (Who would never take drugs by the way, risk averse you see). Here in the real world there are nasty people. People who can take your iphone or your ipad and have all your passwords in less than five minutes and then give it back to you without you even knowing about it. Try that on a PC.

Steve Jobs.
Remember Uncle Frank? He's the reason you can't touch girls in their special places. Is that him on the telly? He's called Steve Jobs now.

Microsoft.
You think Apple and Microsoft are owned by different people?
Welcome to AppleWorld.

*That's* how you irrationally hate Apple.

Can't say there's any company that I hate everything they produce, either rationally or irrationally.

So many that I thought I'd never own, Giant and Apple very good examples, now I'm on my third Giant road bike and waiting to see what the new iPhone is like to replace my 3G which I've loved.

Plenty of the companies mentioned churn out a lot of rubbish but also some complete gems. Like Avid, I swore off their brakes as I completely hate the Juicy range (only tried up to the 7) but after trying a bike with Elixir CRs I've bought a set and on the look out for another.

Only company that really fits the bill for me is Muddy Fox. I spend ages reading and re-reading their catalogue in my early teens deciding which one I wanted and completely loved it when I got it, then they went completely downhill and started producing supermarket bikes. Even that is more disapointment rather than hate.

Troy Lee Designs.

The "design" seems to be just slapping a huge TLD logo on it.

But for those of us that know their bikes, we can enjoy riding the Ragley, enjoying the new school geometry

And the award for most sanctimonous comment of the day goes to... WTF does that even mean!?

The only recent bike I've ever had from a 'smaller' manufacturer was the only one to have had fundamental problems, and they royally shafted me when it came to repairing it. Doesn't necessarily mean a better product, but larger manufacturers have a lot more money to throw at these things and are in a position to offer better dealer networks and after sales support (and IME that also means better products!).

As for brands I don't like irrationally; Manitou are about the only one I can think of that I'd actively avoid. I'd never buy FSA though, just look a bit naff.

Jesus. You get the opportunity handed to you on a plate and that's the best you can come up with?

Here's why you should irrationally hate apple.

Start with their adverts. Condescending bile.

Trek. If only for closing down Klein.

French Fancies- WTF, they aint fancy at all and are frankly the dull mans cake of the Mr Kipling world.

Pistols at dawn, heretic!

Can't really think of any companies I hate off the top of my head. Possibly Activision due to their habit of buying really good UK studios, then shutting them a couple of years later (RIP Bizarre Creations, etc). And Bobby Kotick is Satan.

I find it a bit strange how easy it is for certain brands/companies to flit in and out of favour...

Saracen having been bought out and effectively relaunched have, within 18 months, gone from the last brand most would ever consider to a viable choice for quite alot of people... interesting

others such as Kona and GT have gone the other way, simply by allowing distribution via Halfords and perhaps thinking their brand carried a bit more weight than it did, putting up prices too much... it doesn't take much to scare people off...

I've never really had any problems with the likes of On-one, DMR, Ragley, etc... they seem like reasonable value to me... Although I know a fair few people will turn their nose up at these brands but seldom state much of a reason.

I think there is a fine line between distain for a company because of some/all of their actual products (Prior experience and interweb tittle tattle often play a part there) Vs plain Brand snobbery (Dismissing the Brand because of it's presentation or a perception of "Cheapness"), I'd like to think I'm not a brand Snob, but I'm sure I drift into this catagory from time to time, and I bet most STWers do too...

My own irrational dislike is Kenda tyres, no real problem with them, they just seem Gash somehow...

Scott - my prejudice stems from the days when Scott bikes carried 137 duplicates of the Scott logo on the frame, tyres and wheels. It struck me as trying far too hard. I can't remember the last time I was in a bike shop that actually sold Scott bikes.

Trek - they used to look like the type of bike that Ned Flanders would ride, plus of course one was owned by that famous presidential gibbon. The new ones are very desirable (IMHO) though.

Southeastern Trains - because I have to endure them every day. Expensive and poo.

Sky - We have hundreds of TV channels, yet I can never find anything I want to watch. 55% is reality TV, 25% seems to be various flavours of music I'm not really into and the remainder is repeats of other programmes I used to intentionally miss.

Sky - We have hundreds of TV channels, yet I can never find anything I want to watch. 55% is reality TV, 25% seems to be various flavours of music I'm not really into and the remainder is repeats of other programmes I used to intentionally miss.

I know with Virgin TV it seems it's more like 80% of its output is various iterations of CSI and Law and Order...

Here's why you should irrationally hate apple.

Steve Jobs doesn't wear a belt with his jeans, that is the [b]ONLY[/b] reason you need.

This is a dumb thread though.

Giant...if only for the rabid fanboys (biggest bike brand, blah blah...Trek is the biggest actual brand, giant just makes alot of bikes for other people...and no I don't ride a Trek) tho I'm really peeved at them for their new "standard" for steerer tubes...complete bs if you ask me...

P.S. crank brothers really are crap. thats why they went belly up and got bought out.

(LATE EDIT) I hate apple products because they feed the hipster movement. I blame Steve Jobs for the return of everything garish returning from the 80's/90's and the sudden coolness of PBR (really, that is def NOT a good beer)

i'm resurrecting this thread to put CONTINENTAL MOUNTAIN KINGS MKII on the list. but this isn't an irrational one....

had two rental bikes this week rolling on MK mkIIs and after a week of mostly asphalt riding the side knobs are destroyed; either hanging on by a thread or missing completely leaving the inner carcass weave showing.

proper pants!

yet Rubber Queens are top tyres (if perhaps a little thin on the sidewalls).

i'm also going to irrationally add the Scott Genius. i've seen so many in the past week being ridden by slighty overwieght, over-middle-aged, easily led types that i don't want to be seen to be one of them. the sales people must love it!