[Closed] Which bike brand would you never, ever buy?

It really naff's me off when someone slags off a bike brand off simply because of its name ..in particular Santa Cruz .
By all means go out and test one of their bikes and then give a considered opinion ..and if you don't like it after that then fair enough .
There is a reason why they are popular and that's because they make a ****ing good bike !
I had a Nomad 1 from new in 2007 and it was and still is a tremendous bike which my 14 yr old son is getting as much pleasure from as I did and in my eyes it is still a work of art and never let me down .
If I had the budget at the time ( July 2016 ) I would have bought a 5010..still the best bike I have personally ridden ..but my Whyte T130RS..pushes it a close second...very similar in terms of geometry.
Now to the bike I would never buy ..an Orange 5 650b..based on a test ride I had a couple of years back ..
I'm not just Orange bashing for no reason here ..it was a demo day at Kielder ..the rep spent a good bit of time setting the bike up for me ..but Jesus it felt like a complete plank in comparison to the Nomad ..and up to that point I really wanted to like it ..

RaceFace and try to avoid brands distributed by Silverfish, even though I have an Evoc bike bag.

Evil because of the way they washed their hands of their customers early on and then bleated about being the victim.

Santa Cruz, well because most of my mates are SC fan Bois and I'm an Intense rider (at the moment anyway).

That's about it, Giant and Trek are out at the moment because most of their FS bikes have vertical shocks which I think are ugly, Trek doubles-down on the fugly stakes with colour coded linkages BARF.

I've softened on Orange and may buy one next time around, I would have run a mile 2 years ago.

Contradicting myself [i][b]even[/b][/i] further...

...I'd be unlikely to buy a Yeti. Nothing to do with how they ride or the company itself; I'm a lover of the company's heritage and what it's done for the sport.

I just don't like the colour.

Who actually buys Saracen bikes these days though? I'm sure they are nice enough bikes, there own brand Kore finishing kit is shite(i've had wheels explode) you just dont see any out on the trails...do you?

I used to say I would never buy a Kona, when they were still pumping out stinkies and the magic-link or whatever it was called. But now they've made the process.

Love watching all the santa cruz fanboyz getting riled up 😆

Anything by a physchopath and a bully

I just don't like the colour.

This is brilliant. Perfectly irrational.

This was not intended to be a thread where anyone DEFENDED the brand they like. I have refrained from retorting to the various comments about the brand of bike I ride. Let's keep it that way.

Irrational distaste only, please.

Who actually buys Saracen bikes these days though? I'm sure they are nice enough bikes, there own brand Kore finishing kit is shite(i've had wheels explode) you just dont see any out on the trails...do you?

I see quite a few, Ariel's or whatever they're called and I'm not much of a bike spotter.

I think the only thing stopping me now it the price, they used to be YT / Bird sort of money, but now they're sitting mid-table like Spesh / Trek etc and with similar spec for the money they're sort of lost in the mix.

Orange

Trek - for their habit of buying then wrecking once-great companies

Pretty much the On-One/ Plannet X ethic, no?

Ellesworth. Just couldn't ride something that ugly.

I bought a plastic Specialized. Never really liked the Big S because, well, reasons. Anyway, the SWAT innovation finally changed my mind. It’s a really well thought out bike. I’ve had my mind changed.

Wouldn’t have an on-one. I’ve taken the pee out of them too much now, can’t go back.

+ 1 for YT

The Jeffsy Pro Race that has been sat in my garage unridden since delivery three weeks ago is a testimony of what can go wrong with direct buy. Bike was delivered with a bent REAR rotor. Worked from home today to make sure I was in for the delivery of spare rotor and headset top cap bolt, which some overzealous monkey had used a tork to fit rather than an allan key and shredded it, I hate to think how tight the headset actually is.

Only to discover they sent a 200mm rotor instead of 180mm. Their incompetency astounds me. Though I prefer to laugh rather than cry.

That said...... it is a stunning bike!

Surely you can get a 180mm rotor from somewhere in the meantime?

Rhyater ..
I tend to disagree ..you started out defending the brand's you liked and then moved on to the very rational decision ( in your mind) as to why you disliked a certain brand ..

GT. I just don't like the triple triangle thing aesthetically.
Trek / Specialized all very anonymous and not the best value for money
Raleigh. owned a craptivator, put me off for life

Anything else? I would say BSO brands, but my most recent buy is a diamondback, which arguably went through a BSO phase.

trailwagger - Member
Saracen - Because of the reputation they had (at least amongst my piers) back in the day. They were likened to Carrera. Reputations like that stick, as I can clearly see they make some decent bikes now.

Definitely a generational thing, I wanted one, and by the time I got one they were a Halfords brand, but I still rode it absolutely into the ground (you know those "Davey McRadface rides a BSO off jumps and breaks it", that was me, keeping it together for a whole two years, by the end the freewheel barely had any clicks left and the chain wouldn't engage in anything other than big-big.

Pretty much the On-One/ Plannet X ethic, no?

Naaa, they buy once great brands, and ones you've never heard of, and fail to absolutely anything of merit with them.

No one knows who Selcoff or SAB are/were, and most probably had no idea who Viner were. But they do know that they're now just the same as a P-X frame with £200 more on the price tag. At least they tried with Titus, the fireline could probably sell like hotcakes if they just cleared the stock and updated the geometry.

Holdsworth they really should have done what Genesis did. Build really nice steel bikes that people wanted. Which they kinda did, although they seemed to be either priced way too high, or way too heavy.

It really naff's me off when someone slags off a bike brand off simply because of its name ..in particular Santa Cruz .
By all means go out and test one of their bikes and then give a considered opinion ..and if you don't like it after that then fair enough .

Me, I ride a SC, but I'm also the guy that will stop at the side of the trail to help someone out who has bust a chain and has no tools with them. I won't bitch at them for their like of preparedness, or the fact that the bike clearly needed a service...5 years ago. I'll just try my best to get them riding again. But hey, I've got an SC so I must be a sheep following the herd and a bit of a cock. Ho hum.

Not really interested in playing the branding game, just being satisfied with the collection of parts I choose to ride. I don't give a hoot about branding as my bikes get de-stickered and repainted a single, drab, matt colour. As long as i'm happy with the frame and components then it really doesn't matter. There may be a correlation between some of the things I want, and a particular brand's image or values, but that is just happenstance. I care about how the bike rides, and a degree of aesthetics (like which drab colour), but have no interest in what a sticker on a frame or rim might signal to others about my consumer choice.

Trek - boring
Giant - boring [u]and[/u] ugly
Pinarello - poseur's bike
Ellsworth - gopping font use

Never ridden any of the above, and probably never will.

Got a Saracen Zen steel frame in the spell when they were a total joke. £35 off eBay to throw all my spare parts on for a long travel HT. It's still running many, many years later and keeps getting taken out the garage. Not my go-to bike at the moment but it has just got the lights attached for my night ride bike. Absolutely love the thing!

There's nothing I wouldn't consider if it was the right price and rode well. However, the one brand that would seriously have to turn round would be Muddy Fox. Saved up for so long from my paper round/washing cars to get one in 1994 and so disappointing when I came back to the sport in the early 2000s where they'd ended up. They would have had a lot of brand loyalty from me from the early days.

Would not buy IBIS as dislike the shape and expensive.

Yeti.
Don't like the UK importer.

I'd buy one from the us.

I have an irrational dislike for the new generation of frame builders who paint bikes in fancy colours and have a big social media presence.

Rapha (although it's also expensive).

Kinesis Tripster Ti, Mason bikes, Hunt wheels. I've probably been exposed to too much of the marketing, but they just strike me as MAMIL brands and nothing else.

Rational dislike for Specialized due to their dodgy lawyers and the Mountain Cycle/Cafe Roubaix/Epic Wheels sagas

Wow No Whyte or Marin on the list?

Whtye/Marin are great with warranty though.

I've snapped one Marin and two whytes and they've always looked after me very well.

trek

Specialized aren't high on my list becuase of their litigiousness, never say never but I can't see myself paying anywhere near their list price.

Other than that though I'm all about VFM, so if the price is right and the bike is good and I've not heard horror stories about the aftersales service then I'm game.

I'm on my 3rd Saracen now, I've got a Vitus, I've had a Calibre, I'd have a Carrera (but Voodoos are better - got one of them) I've got no issue with Giant's being boring, or Santa Cruz being ubiquitous.

Ibis Frames are gopping
Yeti Dont really know
Santa cruz Fanbois
Any road bike
Anything that hipsters would ride

Cube - no idea why, [i]I just don't like them[/i], about as irrational as you can get...

trek because of what lance armstrong and trek what they did to greg lemond and how they went about suing anyone who dared question lance and drugs.

**** trek

Orange.

Cube - no idea why, I just don't like them, about as irrational as you can get...

Same here, but if I'm honest, I think its the god awful Eurofluro™ colour schemes..

YT

Stands for Youth Talent and I have neither.

Specialized (bully boy legal arses)

This. Bought the Café Roubaix Tee shirt.

Cannondale - BB30 on the CAAD8 is just awful. I'm out.

By contrast, I'm a Giant fanboi (road and mtb). Great performing bikes, backed up by decent R&D at a good price point. And they make fabulous plastic bikes (for everyone else).

I once would have said spesh and trek because of the big corp tactics, but my last two bikes have been a spesh enduro 29er and a slash 29er, because when I bought them they were the best bikes that met what I wanted. So now just "on one".

Giant. Dunno why. I think the brand comes across as being totally mainstream. Like buying a Vauxhall. I can’t imagine looking at my Giant and feeling a swell of pride

there own brand Kore finishing kit is shite(i've had wheels explode)...

Ah, the great Wheelgate of 2014? I went through two hubs from that period.

I know what the issue was tho – ironically not really Saracen's fault, as it happens. I'd buy another Ariel.

Giant. Dunno why. I think the brand comes across as being totally mainstream. Like buying a Vauxhall. I can’t imagine looking at my Giant and feeling a swell of pride

Fair comment.

A mtb with a derailleur, so that's almost all bike brands. 🙂

Also any bike with curved frame tubes. Straight tubes are lighter and stronger.

Giant, boring even though I know they make good bikes.
GT as most are horrible looking even though back in the day were great.
I know people slag of Santa Cruz for being owned by BMW drivers but I have to say my 5010 rides really really well. Best bike I have ever had out of a fairly long list.

Trek are quite dull but they do make great riding bikes. I probably wouldn't buy one but I would be happy to ride one. You know it won't be a bad ride.

I have Treks and a Cube, both brands that I'm now a bit miffed with for the shoddy way they treated my LBS, with unrealistic demands made on a small shop to buy stock that would never sell and then when they parted company, refusing to help out with supplying specific spares saying the owner would have to go to the nearest manufacturers dealer. Thanks a lot Cube, that's 25 miles away now.!

Giant have never floated my boat but plenty of people like them so I suppose it's just me.

Cannondale - Took a bad bail on one a while back - it was the bike, nothing to do with the rider...

Giant. Dunno why. I think the brand comes across as being totally mainstream. Like buying a Vauxhall. I can’t imagine looking at my Giant and feeling a swell of pride

Yes, they're very "mainstream", very bland but generally a very good tool for the job. THey tend to be bought by people that have a clue, or don't have a clue. Unlike the more niche brands that're often bought by people who like to think they have a clue......and then you watch them try and do a manual 😀

Trek - Due to the way they buy up brands and make them disappear or take their ideas and put them on their bikes. Also the price fixing they seem to get away with. Trek can't be sold online and bully shops into keeping the same price until the next years models are released only then they allow a small drop in price. If they catch you offering their bikes in a promotion they kick off.

Specialized- Too many cases of bullying smaller brands over patents and throwing their weight around.

Ellsworth, they don't stand behind their stuff at all and the owner has a terrible rep.

Cube, Same here, but if I'm honest, I think its the god awful Eurofluro™ colour schemes

toned down a lot the last two model years, actually too conservative now imho

Any road bike

OO/PX.
And that's a completely rational choice based on not dealing with lying dickheads.

Avid-- do I really need to explain?
Spesh and Trek (Just no)
Canyon &YT (the whole direct selling thing doesn't sit well and distorts the industry imho)
Ghost

Evil - expensive, ugly, reputation for cracking and poor customer support
Cannondale - just never appealed to me
Banshee Rune - couple of mates have/had them and the bolts/washers/top hats holding the frame together are awful - seem to be prone to coming loose and very sensitive to precise torque to stop this happening
Yeti - couldn't justify the price to myself

Cannondale - proprietary parts....WTF?
Orange - girders....WTAF??

To my shame I now own a Trek Top Fuel but the reviews & deal I got.....(Sorry Greg.... 😳 )

Evil, simply because I think they are hideous, regardless of how they may ride.

Big Spesh fan here; never had one I didn't like. They can be dicks but equally they've done some great stuff too - they were one of the first brands to make a bike that could be ridden uphill but be great on the way down. The 2005 Enduro / SX Trail's were proper game changers. I loved my SX Trail which was still going strong when I sold it in 2005. One of my favourite bikes ever.

My never to buy list includes;

Giant - they're just meh to me.
Cube - er, dunno just don't like them
Merida - just don't get them
Evil - for the reasons discussed already
Nukeproof - just think the name / branding is a bit poo
YT - don't get it. GVM but meh.
Canyon - apart from the Sender they look poo

Trek were on the list but some of the recent bikes look ace.

Cotic. The old 26" BFe was not suitable for long travel forks like they claimed. The sizing and reach was almost BMX compact. They were stiff as a budget Alu BSO. Why pay extra for a heavier steel frame!

I'm weary of all Hotlines brands, particularly for frames. Had three, two from different Hotlines brands with multiple defects. They just don't seem able to weld the rear triangles on straight and are not afraid to bodge/hide defects and top it off with a shite paint finish.

Canyon, cos the logo is bloody awful. Backward sloping font! Yeuch

I don't think there's any brand I wouldn't buy, lots of bikes I wouldn't look at for various reasons but nothing based on brand alone, I'd look at anything for the right use at the right price (bought all the unpopular oo, trek, spesh, cannondale and currently love my unbranded carbon...)

Don’t think I could ever say never if they were at the right price but it’s unlikely i’d buy:

Evil, warranty.
Trek, ruined far too many truly innovative brands.
GT, had a bad one.
Santa Cruz. Underwhelming test ride, would have a Yeti or Hope instead.
On One. Turned to mince with no interesting bikes.

I get they have some but really? It’s just a name...

I'm sure they are good bikes, but we are allowed to be irrational... It just puts me off them (not that I'm their target market. They won't give a shit)

Trek, Giant, Cannondale, Cube, Orange, Mondraker, Scott, Commencal.

Don't know why but they just leave me cold.

Looks at at this thread.... looks at my two Giants..... starts crying

Orange - my mum can produce better welds, also why don’t they smooth them down? If I bought one I’d be tempted to grind them smooth
Santa Cruz - great bikes but every time I visit the in-laws I go to Hurtwood and it’s full of nobbers on them in full face gnarmets, would feel like one of them if I bought one
As per SC for Pinarello on the road, they never say hi, nob-wheelers
Spesh - just boring as they’re everywhere
Bought a canyon years ago when the nerve first came out, now too common so like a direct sale spesh
Planet X as it’ll fall apart and they won’t care

Lot of insecure people who sound like they want to like SC, but are trying hard not to conform 🙂

Me and the missus didn't really get excited by SC when we first started biking, now we both own one. Can't afford an Audi though now 🙁

Seeing as no one has mentioned Whyte.. They are in the same category for me as Giant. Supposed to be great bikes and ride well, but for no rational reason, I just can't see me ever owning one.

I don't really dislike any brands, just some don't really interest me. Lapierre is another.

Lot of insecure people who sound like they want to like SC, but are trying hard not to conform

I think it's enve myself....

Hmmmm.
I'm with davidtaylforth^^^ on pg 3 about the exploding number of 'boutique' frame builders.
Should say that I'm not a serial bike swapper; don't upgrade components often, in my case N+1 has been mathematically limited to 4.
Maybe I've been.....lucky but I have no entrenched negative views about any bike or component manufacturer; yes, stuff fails and manufacturers usually say OK we'll sort it.
I don't do jumps or big air - just ride.
Frame materials are all (generally) good these days; I have Ti, aluminium, carbon & steel - Lynskey Cooper stock frame with bespoke build; Radon Sage - used - for £600 with Force 22 & a wheelset which CRC sold at £700; Kona Kula Watt ex Torq team 26" race bike with carbon frame- about 19 lbs all in; Indy Fab steel deluxe 29er which is a rebuild project.
The Radon is better than the Lynskey on road for a small proportion of the price; the Kona 26er takes some beating.
IMO you don't always get what you pay for.
It's easy to be influenced by fancy paint jobs which distract from considerations about build quality and geometry.
So much of the bike industry appears to be a triumph for the marketeers in convincing me/you/us that we really need the latest 'innovation'; niche to the Nth degree.

Cube, Merida,

Because I put riders of these in the same box that I put Hyundai drivers into.

I'm amused at the disdain for Giant and Merida, because many of the folk who don't like them are probably riding one, but have paid the Decal Tax to buy a bike made by them but with a different brand name stuck on it. Both are probably the best value for money propositions in the market.

And I'll stick in a good word for On-One too. Their basic bikes like the Pompino, Inbred etc are decently built and good designs. Pay discount prices and don't expect luxury bike finishes or service.

Never ever buy? Not sure. I've zero love for SC though. To me they're sold as a boutique/niche brand but in mass market numbers.

It maybe different elsewhere but here they're 10 a penny, it's like Audis, BMWs and range rovers, largely seem to be bought by people wanting to stand out but instead they just blend into the crowd. (See various "alternative" sub cultures and the associated uniform).

They may all be awesome in their own right but all of the above just make me think "aspirational bore" (or sales rep) due to the numbers you see.

OC my own bikes probably produce "oh God here we go" reactions from most and both appear in the above list a few* times.

*Maybe more than a few in one case, maybe even more than SC.

Fatbikes.

I let my riding do the talking on any bike.

Mongoose for me. No rational reason, I know they make great BMX's and I'm sure their MTBs are good too. I think Chris Akrigg is a great brand ambassador, but just never considered buying one.

I’ll add Merida to my list. They’re just a bit ‘meh’ aren’t they?

I reckon giant aren't that popular as they produce bikes at all price points.. My mum had a giant hybrid, it had very little in common with my trance, other than the name.

I've had many bikes, some from more boutique brands. I currently have a yeti and a giant, and both are superb.

I reckon giant aren't that popular as they produce bikes at all price points..

It's a visual thing for me. I've had quite a few Giants, some of them have ridden great but they've all looked bland TBH.

The new Meridas look pretty swish actually.

Intense, the worst bike I have ever bought, shit quality control, actually no quality control compounded by the fact it took them 4 months to exchange the defective frame. A triumph of style and bullshit over function.

Orange, I have never sat on one let alone ridden one but good god their full sussers offend my eyes, they look shit and I am being kind. There are better looking tractors in the fields and tbh quite a few combine harvesters look more elegant. That said they are honest bikes and I would have one long before any Intense.

ohhh and anything with a Lefty fork, fugly and then some.

Because I put riders of these in the same box that I put Hyundai drivers into.

Hey!

Cannondale, but mostly cos they have too many logos all over them. They are good bikes.

Generally I go for things that are a little left-field, I don't know why cos the riding I do is quite average. So I go for things that are a bit more esoteric so not normally the big brands.
But then again, Trek made some cool bikes about 6 years back - Sawyer, District, 69er etc and I really like the Cannondale Slate.

But mostly I buy when the discount is >50% and I'm not so picky then.

Currently riding a Revolution (Ed Bike Coop), a Rose and a Turner

Ohh and Chris King, had headsets and hubs, headsets were ok, hubs a bit disappointing but sooo expensive without any real reason and Ellsworth because their designer was Isambard Kingdom Brunel

Pb2 - I seriously thought Chris King hubs were the best you could get bar none...?