Cycling brands..? Middleburn.
A quick Google shows BETD bought them out (the name anyway), but they used to make so many desirable components.
I've got one of these from around 2015 and its not bad at all. Its a carbon Raleigh - bought it second hand for not much. Not sure where or who is behind it but certainly not made in Nottingham!
As for Raleigh not being that good - there wasn't a kid in my school who didn't lust after a Raleigh Road Ace in the early 80's
As for Raleigh not being that good – there wasn’t a kid in my school who didn’t lust after a Raleigh Road Ace in the early 80’s
There just wasn't the range of choice back then though - Raleigh and errr possibly Peugeot!? Cycling was a pretty niche sport!
If you had an interest back then it was your local custom Road Bike builder you lusted after - in my area that was Mercian.
Dare I suggest ... On-one?
One time purveyors of workmanlike bikes for riding, have got swallowed into the branding and design mess of pkanet-x.
Bring back the inbred, tinbred, keep the scandal, resurrect the pompino. Leave more bling to Titus, gravel drop bars to pkanet-x, road to Holdsworth....
Sorry but i would have taken a TI Team Replica over a Mercian any day. In my area the CTC rode Mercians!
I do remember seeing a Colnago when the Milk Race passed through and being swayed though....
Dare I suggest … On-one?
One time purveyors of workmanlike bikes for riding, have got swallowed into the branding and design mess of pkanet-x.
Gotta be careful what you say about PX/on-one's situation these days or you might get deleted.
Merlin, both the yank one and the UK one.
When I'm a billionaire I'm buying Muddy Fox off of Sports Direct.
Make Muddy Fox Great Again.
Brooklyn Machine Works
I was really into their stuff coming off the back of rider owned BMX companies.
I had a Racelink with Avalanche forks and a Parkbike. My mate had an Minilink/FQ and also a Park. Super rare cool stuff.
Pharrell Williams bought into the company and it went to shit shortly afterwards.
Nowadays it's been reborn in Japan mainly doing Gangsta track frames. Its heyday of big travel steel downhill frames are long gone.
I've followed/tracked my old Racelink - I sold it to a guy in Norway who later sold it to another Norwegian. It was sold on again last year to a collector in Japan where it's now hung on someone's wall.
Chainreaction and wiggle…
Brooklyn Machine Works
I had a Park too - one of the few bikes I've owned I really regret selling, partly because it was an ace ride and partly because it'd be worth a shit ton now!
(Can’t do heart emoji’s on the computer)
Assuming you're not on a mac, press the windows key and full stop. ❤🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🖤🤍💔❣💕💞💓💗💖💘💝
Not sure where or who is behind it but certainly not made in Nottingham!
Aren't Raliegh a dutch company or something now?
Edit: Yeah, company also owns Lappierre and Haibike. https://www.raleigh.co.uk/gb/en/about-us/history/
Cannondale is unfair though, they make among the best road and gravel bikes and the MTBs I’m aware of (Jekkyl, Habit) look very good. Seemed like they did more “weird for the sake of it” stuff in the past TBH.
CDale fan from back in the day but not been too inspired by their MTB stuff this past decade @cha****ng. Seems to be in a good place now though - one goated XC bike, new jekyll looks really good, don't know much about the habit tbh.
Jekyll has been a bit uninspiring for a long time though (imho), so they were definitely lacking something in that space that most MTBers would look at first and foremost. Missed opportunity as the jekyll 26 won a couple of the early EWS series, but didn't really innovate into the 27.5 / 29 models.
Their current CX offering is hopefully temporary, but more likely a sad commentary on the commercial realities of designing and selling cyclocross bikes. SuperX and CaadX were absolute mainstays of cross racing.
cough pinarello cough i would vote for from their lovely steel road bikes to now (wears flameproof outfit)
My local shop has one of the Raleigh TI team bikes for sale – fully restored.
I think that's one of the modern replicas actually, they can't have been that popular, they still seem to be available and they only made 250 of them!
Answer.
Remember when everyone fitted hyperlite bars and an atac stem?
Pretty much an "also ran" at best these days. Maybe say the same for Syncros
Raleigh still have a big place at Eastwood, Notts - no idea if anything is built there though.
And they have an extensive range of mountain bikes available!... 😬
https://www.raleigh.co.uk/gb/en/bikes/mountain-bikes/
Deffo Syncros, just Scott OEM bits now aren't they?
Hareydan
Chainreaction and wiggle…
A golden ST badge to this post please!
How about Panaracer?
Remember when the Smoke and Dart were the tyres to have? The Fire XC Pro too?
If they blew the Fire XC tread up a bit and got the compound and carcass right it could still be a contender I reckon.
orange. They were a competative brand selling bikes that had some advantages at competative price points. They're now just a brand for middle-aged bimblers who wanted an orange when they were young
cough pinarello cough i would vote for from their lovely steel road bikes to now (wears flameproof outfit)
I'm the other way round.
Retro road bikes look terrible. All that wavy cable everywhere, skinny round tubes. Urgh. Modern road bikes with their sleek lines and integration look great (well, most do - Pinarello still manage to look like the designer created a model out of liquorice then left it on the radiator overnight before the frame builder found it and went "yep, I can build that...")
Other way round on MTB. Retro bikes (mostly) look great - that Zaskar a few pages back for example. Modern MTBs however are mostly ever more generic shapes with increasingly ridiculous angles.
[img] 
[/img]
Juli Furtado's 1992 World DH-winning bike. That looks fast standing still.
[img] 
[/img]
That looks like a collection of filing cabinets were welded together then dropped from a great height at which point the wheels splayed out and the frame got half compacted and half splayed.
When I’m a billionaire I’m buying Muddy Fox off of Sports Direct.
Make Muddy Fox Great Again.
It'd be interesting to see what could happen to it outside of Sports Direct, as a small brand. There was talk of a revival when I was at Evans , not long after we were bought by SD. Did some work on branding and styling, range plan and so on but thb my gut feel was that it'd gone too far for too long to do much higher end, retro-revival will only sell a few Courier and Explorer inspired models for a while. There it would need to be street/urban influenced entry-level MTBs to sit alongside sportswear and trainers in SD and be Evans alternative to Carrera. The most fun model could have been the mini Explorer, a yellow stroller bike with a paw print disc wheel.
orange ... a brand for middle-aged bimblers who wanted an orange when they were young
I would be angry about this, except that I'm a middle aged bimbler who wanted an orange when I was younger.
Raleigh Chopper. It was never as good once they removed the double saddle and bollock-whacking gear stick.
IRC tyres
I remember loving the Kujo and El Gato. Another one that would still hold its own today with a tweak of the compound.
What I love about Orange bikes is that for all the complexity in sus bike design and people going on about jack and squat, for 15+ years there's always been someone around who's fast AF on a single pivot Orange, who doesn't care much for settings and hardly ever services their bike. Orange have stuck to what they're good at. Some of them are ugly for sure, could say that about most FS bike ranges though. That one up there ^ looks good to me, purposeful and no BS. Real shame they lost their place with steel hardtails though.
I think that’s one of the modern replicas actually, they can’t have been that popular, they still seem to be available and they only made 250 of them!
They were complete bike only weren't they, with a fairly poor build spec, considering where the heritage of the Raleigh Ti brand/bike came from. Should have been a full Record or Super Record mechanical build and priced accordingly.
I mean, Raleigh during the GOD and Peter Post team eras was one of the all conquering road brands (even if some of the frames were built by other frame builders!).
Raleigh Chopper. It was never as good
; )
...you're obviously not old enough to remember the EPIC wheelies you could do on them!!
...or the ability to transport 3 mates around the village!!
...and the day you upgraded from a Chipper to a Chopper!! 😳🤯
🙂
My local shop has one of the Raleigh TI team bikes for sale – fully restored.
The Push Cartel, in Ambleside, does a few bespoke retro builds, inc sourcing complete group sets (unused) from the 90s!
This one was very impressive, took me right back - used to have the same wheels..
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52907498595_6210bb6dc1_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52907498595_6210bb6dc1_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2oBfL4D ]Retro Cinelli @ Push Cartel, Ambleside[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/brf/ ]Ben Freeman[/url], on Flickr
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52907260764_35f7dcf26f_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52907260764_35f7dcf26f_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2oBexn7 ]Retro Cinelli @ Push Cartel, Ambleside[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/brf/ ]Ben Freeman[/url], on Flickr
Retro road bikes look terrible. All that wavy cable everywhere, skinny round tubes. Urgh.
*Removes gauntlet, slaps crazy-legs across the face
I demand satisfaction sir!
Manitou, I don’t think they’ve been mentioned yet
Kirk Bikes
X-Lite
…you’re obviously not old enough to remember the EPIC wheelies you could do on them!!
I am, just!
OK controversial and not sure if 'a shadow of' is right, but Campagnolo. Flaws aside (all parts brands had flaws) they made the most beautiful components. Now, a load of melted carbon HR Geiger-styled nonsense that does nothing for me. Athena 11 was the last elegant groupset they made. In the same period all road groupsets have got more ugly/technical styling so in a way they've kept up. I think SRAM's road styling is most appealing now? Maybe.
Anyone bought by Trek: Bontrager, Fisher, Klein, Lemond. Became just another brand, or killed off completely.
Brooklyn Machine Works
They've brought a new BMX out, would be good to see a revived Super Trucker to compete with WTP and Fingers Crossed. IMO the magic left with Doc, who would have had an Brooklyn AM9 over a Superco Silencer?
And Manitou have been famously shite since people realised seals could actually seal if you used the right ones. If you wanted them to work you had to spend a lot of time stripping them. Or just buy Marzocchis.
*Removes gauntlet, slaps crazy-legs across the face
I demand satisfaction sir!
This +1.
Each to their own and all that but I say Codswallop to your assertion. Skinny steel on anybike is and always be the sexiest of all the options.
Hareydan
Free Member
Chainreaction and wiggle…
Ohh Sir. You are SO spot on.
Field +Trek too whilst we're at it (another to be sucked into the Mike Cashley abyss of appalling everythingness just like MF, Karrimor, Slazenger, and several other other former quality UK outfits now under the Sports Direct hall of shiiite that I'd rather gouge my eyes out than buy from).
I have an emmelle in the basement to make into a retrogrouch pub bike thing. Now I know they have a reputation.
But the is tange tubing, tange dropouts and tange forks. Everything is Shimano ex300 from memory nice allow stem aswell. It's clearly wasn't a terrible bike that they ended up being famed for.
Skinny steel on anybike is and always be the sexiest of all the options.
And you are so wrong. FACT!
@crazy-legs I can stand second for you sir. What is your choice of weapons?
Marzocci surely? Buttery smooth game changer with an incredible 100mm of travel when everyone else was using terrible 63mm elastomers. Z1 was the fork of dreams.
Then RS and Fox figured out how to build air forks well, and Marzocci regressed into an MZ and MX line which felt like they didn't want to try to be nice forks. And now you hardly ever see them.
They’ve brought a new BMX out, would be good to see a revived Super Trucker to compete with WTP and Fingers Crossed. IMO the magic left with Doc, who would have had an Brooklyn AM9 over a Superco Silencer?
Yeah the Silencer was beautiful. Not sure who or what is behind the new BMX stuff - the brand just feels a bit hollow now.
And you are so wrong. FACT!
You could not be more wrong. You could try to be more wrong, but you would be unsuccessful.
Cove Bikes. They did some ace hardtails (Stiffee, handjob) but now just a shop selling GT bikes with nothing new for years.
I bought my Kona Munimula from their shop in Deep Cove, Vancouver. So I pretty much represent this thread. Like so many of us.
Genesis for me. A few years ago I could happily have gone to them as a single make for all my bikes. They've got a few nice gravel bikes and utility bikes currently, but one road bike, one rigid MTB, (out of stock) no kids bikes.
And the DayOne is made of Aluminium! 😨
I worked im Moores Cycles on a weekend as a teenager in the early 90s. We had some nice Emmelles I remember a pair with (or maybe three) with metallic mottled paint and ovalised/externally butted tubes. The 200gs kitted one was purple/black and looked great. I think the 300LX one was gold/black. My dad still has a Tange framed Emmelle but it has a more "grown up" paint job and regular tubing profiles.
We also sold a LOT of £99 BSOs. At Christmas we'd spend 5 mins cutting them out of the shrink wrap they arrived in and pretty much putting them straight out for Sale. I'm sure not a single one lasted until the next Christmas! 🤣
I thought Brooklyn Machine Works went on a ‘sabbatical’ in about 2016 and never came back?
Cove Bikes. They did some ace hardtails (Stiffee, handjob) but now just a shop selling GT bikes with nothing new for years
I had a Cove stiffee for 14 years.
I emailed them about a replacement and they got back to me with some factory built titanium jobs. They looked very similar to on one and sonders titanium bikes. Have they stopped doing them as well?
https://m.pinkbike.com/forum/listcomments/?threadid=212154
@ransos without the proper suffix your comment doesn’t stand FACT!
Anyone who makes their point by shouting is clearly an arriviste and unsurprisingly cannot appreciate the timeless elegance of a skinny steel bicycle.
i see a lot of Konas out and about and my formerly local shop stocked them, they look good to me. the shot themselves in the foot in the UK when they let halfords sell them.
santa cruz, though making good bikes just don’t seem to have the magic that they did in the past.
Each to their own and all that but I say Codswallop to your assertion. Skinny steel on anybike is and always be the sexiest of all the options
i have a halfway house opinion on this. The frames themselves were and are lovely. There’s a beautiful simplicity in straight round tubes. The full bikes on the other hand, can look terribly dated. Cables flying everywhere, idiotic group sets, shifters mounted in weird locations.
Like a Lamborghini countach, admired in its day, inferior in practical terms to a modern fiesta/ half decent Halfords road bike
The fixie craze of a few years ago capitalised on making these old style frames look good.
And last year somebody on here had a custom built steel single speed with modern geo and components which was quite possibly the nicest mtb I have ever seen.
Surly. I'm not sure they've updated their designs for... 5 years, maybe?
Klein? 🙁
I’d love to see what they would be making now.
I think there’s some really harsh judgement on here about a lot of bikes. For me most of the companies that were bought out just so the brand name could be applied to some low budget crap are the worst. But a few have managed to evolve well. Marin are online only I think, but have a pretty big range of bikes.
Are Devinci still around?
Surly.
Sorry, but they've lost it completely.
The last gen Disc Trucker was perfect, the new one is a mess.
As is pretty much everything apart from the Bridge Club.
Ridgeback.
Madison's brand. Lovely understated hardtails, nice tourers.
Genesis.
What a waste.
Originally lovely bikes to ride, specced well and nice geo.
Now? No ta. The geo on the smaller sizes, especially the tourers is appalling. Almost unrideable.
The Cove Stiffee was just as twitchy as my Rock Lobster, but even higher and less compliant.
A boggo Inbred was a far nicer bike to chuck around.
Santa Cruz. A mainstream USA brand overpriced in the UK and fetishised by drivers of tasteless German ego chariots.
Buy a Spesh. Put the rest of your cash into a bigger woodburner or pizza oven. That'll impress your appalling neighbours far more than a mass produced bicycle.
I think Kona lost it when they went to predominantly alloy frames as opposed to steel. I had a 95 Cinder Cone, and the rear drop out/chainstay parted company. Claimed on warranty, and received a Pahoehoe alloy frame, did not feel the same.
Santa Cruz. A mainstream USA brand overpriced in the UK and fetishised by drivers of tasteless German ego chariots.
ouch that hits close to home
I thought Brooklyn Machine Works went on a ‘sabbatical’ in about 2016 and never came back?
As said, they have a new BMX frame. No idea who Brooklyn is any more though.
A bit like Evil actually, they did well making hardtails and then... Is it even the same company?
Surly.
Sorry, but they’ve lost it completely.
The last gen Disc Trucker was perfect, the new one is a mess.
As is pretty much everything apart from the Bridge Club.
I bet you secretly want a Ghost Grappler even if it does sound like a contradictory bathroom code.
Nah.
I shall never, ever, buy a 650b equipped bike, purely on principle.
I'd love a Krampus or a Wednesday though.
Santa Cruz. A mainstream USA brand overpriced in the UK and fetishised by drivers of tasteless German ego chariots.
Buy a Spesh. Put the rest of your cash into a bigger woodburner or pizza oven. That’ll impress your appalling neighbours far more than a mass produced bicycle.
🤣 Good stuff 👍
Howies? Did have some cycling kit and used to be everywhere.
Santa Cruz. A mainstream USA brand overpriced in the UK and fetishised by drivers of tasteless German ego chariots.
ouch that hits close to home
Ditto, though I take solace in the fact that one is a fantastic bike and the other is a fantastic car and that makes the haters angry 😜
I have owned an Intense, Turner, Cove and Lapierre and sadly agree with the past glories sentiment. I’ve also owned a few Oranges which I’ll now throw into the mix. I really want to still like them, but that proto with a glovebox 🤢
all the brands that trek ruined:
bontrager
klein
gary fisher
Santa Cruz. A mainstream USA brand overpriced in the UK
They make really good bikes, and the warranty is second to none. Yeah, they have a rep for being bought by high earners that don't know any better, but there's a reason for that.
I'd 3rd, 4th? the opinion about the fetishist that some middle aged blokes have about skinny tubed racing bikes from the 60's and 70's. They look shit and they ride shit.
And to add to the burning pyre of good companies that have ended up on the heap of has beens - I'm throwing Morvelo, who used to do a pretty exciting range of really nice MTB kit, but since being bought out have just ended up chasing really weird millennial gravel fashion, or really half assed roadie gear.
Now? No ta. The geo on the smaller sizes, especially the tourers is appalling. Almost unrideable.
Tell me more? I'm interested.
Charge -- if they still exist
Edit: it's worse than I thought. They seem to only make ebikes now and utility ones at that
So from things like this:
To this:
Skinny steel on anybike is and always be the sexiest of all the options.
If you made me pick the best-looking full-sus MTB, I'd probably go for the Starling Murmur stainless.
Regarding Charge, sorry I'd take the e-hybrid over that ti fatbike.
And they did already have probably the best name in the biz for making eebs.
😀
They look shit and they ride shit.
It's impressive that you only need seven words to be so completely wrong.
Great you can lust after the bike that looks like it should be fast, but in fact weighs not far off my trail bike and handles like a wet noodle, that can't stop, has shit gears, and magnet in the spokes and some ugly assed cable running up to a "computer" that at the end of the ride if you wanted to keep the data, you had to write it down in a book.
It's the same nonsense that tries to pretend Austin Marinas were somehow cool. They're not. The idea that creativity or elegance peaked with bicycles made in the 1970's when in fact it was a wasteland of "tradition" and closed minds is weirdly pervasive in a sport that has literally never had it so good..
Great you can lust after the bike that looks like it should be fast, but in fact weighs not far off my trail bike and handles like a wet noodle, that can’t stop, has shit gears, and magnet in the spokes and some ugly assed cable running up to a “computer” that at the end of the ride if you wanted to keep the data, you had to write it down in a book.
It’s the same nonsense that tries to pretend Austin Marinas were somehow cool. They’re not. The idea that creativity or elegance peaked with bicycles made in the 1970’s when in fact it was a wasteland of “tradition” and closed minds is weirdly pervasive in a sport that has literally never had it so good..
Wtf are you on about? I like the way classic steel frames look and ride, and never said a thing about using ancient components. I'll be using mine for a 600km audax this weekend in preference to my modern frame.
I’ll be using mine for a 600km audax
Ah, explains everything, you have my sympathies
Ah, explains everything, you have my sympathies
I realise I'm on shaky ground by revealing that I actually ride my bikes.
Charge — if they still exist
Edit: it’s worse than I thought. They seem to only make ebikes now and utility ones at that
In fairness, they'd probably sell 10 of the E Bikes for every fat bike they sold to beardy weirdos*, which is is dead useful for a company that wants to pay it's staff and continue trading.
*A noble demographic, of which I am proud to belong.
On Charge, I should clarify that that's just one of the first nice google images that came up -- I'm not a fat bike fan, but the Cooker single speed's always looked nice