[Closed] Hope cranks

Why can't I buy them??????

Because Hope don't feel they're ready for sale? Witness how long it took them to (temporarily) get a seat post on the market...

Cranks, bars etc have been used on loads of team bikes not gone into production.

Just get some raceface atlas cranks and a hope sticker...

I'm led to believe that they are nearing production but I wouldn't hold your breath if I was you. The seat post wasn't called 'eternity' for nothing.

Apart from having Hope written on them and probably coming in various colours, what awesome features do Hope cranks have that is going to make a blind bit of difference to anyones riding? ...just curious 😕

They give better modulation. And when they crack you get a replacement quick. (and for everyone who thinks Shimano are good- how many stories have you heard about them breaking then getting replaced really fast, eh? EH?)

i think being a fairly small company (compared to shimano/sram) prototypes take longer to test plus its a totally new product, so no years of R&D and probably money.

I would prefer to wait an Eternity than get a seat post through my japs eye.

Does Hope even have the production capacity to add cranks to their lineup? If their machines are going at full tilt, they may not be able to add products without investing large sums in more machines and workers. And they may not have that money stuffed in a mattress somewhere.

Or, what if they would expect the cranks to be less profitable than the stuff they are currently making? They are a business, after all...

A thing of beauty!

[img] [/img]

[quoteAnd they may not have that money stuffed in a mattress somewhere.

I'm sure I read in an interview with the MD in one of the mags they're in a comfortable position for cash. And they are about to build a velodrome on the factory roof.

Ask HOPE directly, or await announcement at EuroBike.
http://www.eurobike-show.com/eb-en/

JoeG - Member

Does Hope even have the production capacity to add cranks to their lineup? If their machines are going at full tilt, they may not be able to add products without investing large sums in more machines and workers. And they may not have that money stuffed in a mattress somewhere.

Or, what if they would expect the cranks to be less profitable than the stuff they are currently making? They are a business, after all...

Hope are building a Velodome on land they own by their building, under the velodrome they are expanding the factory and increasing machine capacity - hardly the actions of a company strapped for cash.

Realistically a machine capable of making cranks is going to be 100k + - not a huge investment for hope, they will use their existing staff to setup production (as they already have if the proto is so polished) and they just require operators to change parts etc - I know its not as simple as that as we manufacture at work but they are well setup to add a simple one-product production machine(s)

I can see hope expanding further into the future - a full groupset maybe? Would be great to throw out some competition to the big guys for the higest end stuff like XTR and XX1.

now purple is back I can sleep easy at night.

aaarrggghhhh.

I can see hope expanding further into the future - a full groupset maybe?

I can see a full drivetrain of the bits you can CNC or forge - they were playing with cassettes years ago after all, can't see them doing chains, mechs or shifters though.

I believe they lease their machines.

Macavity - Member

Ask HOPE directly, or await announcement at EuroBike.
http://www.eurobike-show.com/eb-en/

Which eurobike? 2011? 2019?

i think being a fairly small company (compared to shimano/sram) prototypes take longer to test plus its a totally new product, so no years of R&D and probably money.

I believe they lease their machines

That's my understanding as well.

Hope seem to have a pretty solid approach to business (based on numerous interviews they've done over the years):

From memory they avoid borrowing money to expand and then having to service debt. They 'lease purchase' the machines to work on profitable products until the machines are paid for then they put them to work on R&D stuff.

It seems to be working well for them and is rather a refreshing approach to the [Manufacturing] business in the UK!

🙂

I think Hope probably know this would be a bit of a pointless product in any other market, functionally it won't be in anyway "Better" than Shimano/SRAM/FSA/etc equivalents and the economies of scale thing is unlikely to ever tip balance in favour of nibbling a few cranks a day out of billets Vs forging hundreds of the buggers...

They sell items like this on a couple of points, exclusivity/plain old cost (a bit of a vanity purchase?) people who are into bikes will know how much you've spent on blingy cranks, [I]Britishness[/I] this is of value to some people... Its not a [i]bad[/i] business model, they'll sell every one they make, limited supply and a highy RRP make for an aspirational product...

I can see hope expanding further into the future - a full groupset maybe?

You Can? Considering it took them 4~5 years to go through designing, prototyping and testing their 9t sprocket based cassettes (a really good idea TBH), only to end up dropping the product and jump on the big top sprocket bandwagon with everyone else, I'd suggest Hope's design to development cycle is simply too slow for them to ever approach competitiveness in the drivetrain market, it's still mostly the territory of the two big S's...

i thought small companies (that also do production in house) had incredibly fast R&D

There's no rule that says they have to do "Fast R&D"...

Hope probably need to stick to the "Slow burner" products, parts that don't require rapid development and subsequent re-development; hubs, brakes, chainrings, bottom brackets these things don't really need to change much year on year. Their hoops were a good move, people like buying a complete package not having to source/spec parts and find a builder... But their lights are a lost gamble IMO, lovely (expensive) housings but in a market where the electronics inside can change rapidly (new awesome emitter every 8-12 months) and the far east/importers are growing their share of the market fast, hope were a poor fit in that segment...

All IMO of course...

POSTED 2 HOURS AGO #
slowoldman - Member
I believe they lease their machines.

Very few companies lease cnc machines - they will be financed maybe

I was reliably told by a machine rep who sold the company I work for some machines - they also supply hope who invest regularly.

Anything over 5 years old will be owned by them now.

If hope didn't keep being successful I would be a little butt hurt, they are the best we have in the uk.

But their lights are a lost gamble IMO, lovely (expensive) housings but in a market where the electronics inside can change rapidly (new awesome emitter every 8-12 months) and the far east/importers are growing their share of the market fast, hope were a poor fit in that segment...

Isn't it Supernova that let you send their lights back and upgrade the innards? FWIW I'd like Hope to do a R-series dynamo light, but I suspect I am being a nichemonger.

Ayup offer that. But even the upgrades didn't really keep them competitive. Mr Trout did some Hope upgrades with newer LEDs that gave them a new lease of life... Always thought Hope were in a good position to offer that sort of upgrade but then their lights have often seemed a bit of a half-assed effort, as if they're just less into it than they are other stuff.

There will be a hope groupset, just it's going to be singlespeed 🙂 Yes I will be buying some cranks when they release them, bit of a fanboi. Be interesting to compare them to Middleburns which I have on one of my bikes and love them.