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What I find odd is your only seem to get this level of animosity shown towards the smaller brands and not the larger companies
What I find odd is that I get the impression some people appear to have had a long experience of poor customer service/reliability with OO.
Maybe I'm misinterpreting but that's the impression I'm getting.
Now I can understand people having repeated issues with say a utility company, after all it's not quite so easy to take your custom elsewhere, but an online bike shop? Surely just one bad experience is enough? Or was the experience so utterly horrendous that they are still affected many years later?
Or was the experience so utterly horrendous that they are still affected many years later?
Exactly my take, its like Brant came round, stabbed their pet dog to death in front of the children, shat on their lawn and then left. Whereas what actually happened was a bottom bracket from the returns pile was accidently sent out as new.
They never had charm but my old Inbred gave me countless hours of fun and happy memories and that's what bikes are for.
Whereas what actually happened was a bottom bracket from the returns pile was accidently sent out as new.
Inexcusable. Salt their fields.
bridges
Free MemberScoroutes; it’s you who is claiming they are ‘conmen, cheats and liars’, so why not elucidate?
This might as well have been pointed at me, too, so:
Bought a frame with a 2 year warranty. It took about 2 months for them to actually send me all the bits it needed to assemble, the usual "at the warehouse" "sent yesterday" "Oh that's weird we've never heard of this before" (literally every one of these frames went out with the wrong bolts, they were still doing it months after mine and telling customers "oh that's weird we've never heard of this before".
Anyway- finish started falling off of it in sheets, within warranty. (actually within a year of me finally being sent the parts needed to build it) Contact them, they say, "It's only got a 1 year warranty, it'd be covered for sure but it's out of warranty". Maybe a mistake? I sent them back a screenshot of the 2 year warranty. They say oh, but that's only for breakages, the finish is only covered for one year. Just a lie". More conversation. "No bike company covers the carbon surface in their warranty", just a lie. "That's only come off because you used helitape" (on other parts of the frame not the bits where it had come off, just a lie). And so on and so on. It was just random lie of the day, whatever excuse they could think of to muddy it or put me off or just kick it down the road by another 3 weeks of nonresponding, even when the new lie contradicted the old one.
I didn't have the energy at the time to take them to court, found someone that wanted the frame and sold it on. Got a Ragley, funnily enough.
Thanks Garry. Yes my expectations for a £1.3k ti bike would be realistic. The problem is that with flat handlebar gravel bikes the choice is limited. My existing "gravel bike" is a CX bike with flat handlebars, it doesn't work well.
Also after recently spending a silly amount of money on a road bike which is used massively every week I can't really justify spending much on a bike which is likely to be used less than once a week.
The Rocky Road obviously ticks quite a few boxes. Why wouldn't you go for Ti in that category btw, possible frame failure on a cheap ti frame?
possible frame failure on a cheap ti frame?
I guess that would be my only concern, prone to failing if not properly welded fully in inert gas (IIRC). But, then at that price do I care if it fails 5-10 years down the line, probably not.
if it fails 5-10 years down the line
I might have dreamt it but I'm sure the guy who sold me the Van Nicolas told me that if a Ti weld is going to fail it will happen quite quickly, ie if it doesn't then it shouldn't in the future.
The Rocky Road obviously ticks quite a few boxes. Why wouldn’t you go for Ti in that category btw, possible frame failure on a cheap ti frame?
Yeah just that Ti frames seem a bit more vulnerable to breakage and I wouldn't expect a cup of tea out of OnOne on anything but the most cut and dried warranty claim. But a good Ti bike for £1300 AND with excellent warranty doesn't exist, so you have to accept some compromises.
The problem is that with flat handlebar gravel bikes the choice is limited
No such thing as a flat bar gravel bike, what you're referring to is a hybrid, they're the same bike but with less marketing.
Anyway, I've had nothing but positive experienced with O-O/PX, they've always seemed a bit hap-hazard but it's worked for me.
I've had a couple of Inbred SS and an Inbred geared a 456 and Ti cyclo-cross. I found the sizing and geometry fitted me well and they were cheap and cheerful.
I think on the inbreds they used one can of spray paint for the whole production run it was that thin and patchy but other than that no issues. The only one I never got on with was the 456.
What I could never understand about OO is the people that would spend £100 on a frame, then proceed to hang all the bling XTR etc off it, surely you could've afforded a decent frame, not one made from scaffolding?
Did someone mention celery!?
My og inbred felt great like a wet celery tied together by noodles
Prior to all this stiffness CEN testing bs
Planet X Dirty Harry headset kept coming loose which was fun with rigid forks
Oh and unless you’ve experienced chainsuck on inbreds then you dunno how lucky you are these days
😉
Had
456 Summer Season
45650b
London Road
Over the years. have been using their podsacs stuff for bikepacking and it's great. Loads of other bargains over the years with zero issues ever.
what you’re referring to is a hybrid
I'm not sure I would call a bike with 2.3 tyres a hybrid. But yeah I understand the point. And I know how names/descriptions wind some people up. When I got my first 29er HT with carbon forks, at a time when 29er mtbs were new, plenty of people told me that it was a CX bike not a mtb.
Didn't we have this thread a week back but with the London Road frame being the issue?
As said then, On One & Planet X are massivly inconsistent so are either perfectly good or totally shocking based on user experiance.
As for the "small brand" comment, they were valued at around £25 million not long back and if you're looking to cash out and don't want to pay any capital gains tax, you'd wise looking at transfering it from from private to employee owned.
As for the “small brand” comment, they were valued at around £25 million not long back
Very much a minnow compared with the likes of Shimano, Specialized, Giant etc!
Plus they've been about for what 15-20 years?, were much smaller when they started and Brant was posting on here every day.
Sorry, I've referred to this on here before but it bears repetition.
For me the charm disappeared fairly dramatically.
I worked there in their heyday around 2012-15 in the bike build/workshop and latterly as service dept manager. I'd retrained and got my Cytec qualification following a 25 year career in sales management which was slowly killing me. The work was good fun the 10 guys I worked with were great and there was plenty of variety.
One morning I started feeling quite unwell with numbness and dizzy spells. A colleague saw me in distress and sat me down then ran round to the ambulance service training centre which happened to be next door, a stroke of luck (sic).A paramedic examined me and organised an ambulance to take me to Rotherham hospital where I was hooked up to various bleeping machines for the rest of the afternoon. After a few hours I was given the all clear and my wife took me home with instructions not to drive for 2-3 days so I couldn't go to work.
When I got that month's payslip, I was dismayed to see that my hourly pay had been stopped before I'd reached the hospital.
What happened then, did you go back? Did your dizzy spells come back?
Did you get a get well soon card and/or a P45?
Did you get a get well soon card and/or a P45?
Was that the rare but desirable carbon half-fat/half plus frame that they obtained after a cock-up in the Chinese factory?
I went back after 2 days, I didn't know at that stage that my pay had been docked, it was only when my payslip arrived a few weeks later. There was no repetition of the funny turn. When they eventually dispensed with my services, they acted in such a half arsed way and in contravention of employment law that I took them to a ACAS and they settled out of court which added significantly to my bike collection. The guy from ACAS had never seen such a clear case of constuctive dismissal. I was happy to accept the bikes to set up my bike guiding business in Cataluña which I was about to retire to.
Loved my C456, it was a cracking bike for hammering
Loved my Ti29er, it was a cracking bike. Constantly.
I took them to a ACAS and they settled out of court which added significantly to my bike collection. The guy from ACAS had never seen such a clear case of constuctive dismissal. I was happy to accept the bikes to set up my bike guiding business in Cataluña
Nice one.
I like a happy ending.
They never had charm they were just cheap bikes that were fun to thrash about, IMO. Now they're not that cheap.
literally every one of these frames went out with the wrong bolts, they were still doing it months after mine and telling customers “oh that’s weird we’ve never heard of this before
I'm curious how you know this?
C456 owner, still going strong as my singlespeed
My first P-X was an original Kaffenback and had some direct dealings with Dave circa 2001, just to show that they were still relatively small beer. I later bought a green Pompino which was cheap - it felt like it was made from scaffolding; heavy, lifeless - I rode it through a winter and then got rid as it was so awful. I just saw them as cheap and cheerful, when they'd bring in some interesting gear or close-outs/bankrupt stock. The problem is they've gone down the Sports Direct route - bought goodwill / obsolete brands and now are just rebranding stuff/any old tat from the Far East. They've done it with Holdsworth, Tomac, Viner, Carnac to name but a few. Admittedly, I did chuckle after Dave bought all Jimmy Savile's bikes at auction...maybe to go with their Rolf Harris' paintings?
Brexit profiteers too (they don’t, or didn’t, remove UK VAT for orders going to the continent)
To be fair, they are far from the only ones - Sonder/Alpkit started doing that too, post-brexit when they set up websites in the US/EU.
I'm not sure where it falls on the 'legal' bit.
Actually I do remember by parkwood frame arrived looking like it had been crashed. Flat spot on the head tube and the mech hanger out the box. But it was sorted.
I think people are a little more tolerant of small companies initially. You expect Specialized to get it right and fix it when they don't. The thing is that if you market yourself as a very personal company (not a faceless brand) then it is taken personally when it goes wrong.
Very much a minnow compared with the likes of Shimano, Specialized, Giant etc!
Plus they’ve been about for what 15-20 years?, were much smaller when they started and Brant was posting on here every day.
And very much a great white compared to Cotic / Stanton / etc that they are usually mentioned against.
Brant is an ex journalist, he knows what he's doing.
Brant is an ex journalist, he knows what he’s doing.
What is he doing which is so wrong?
As for being a journalist, most barely scrape a living together, so not exactly a great training for creating succesful businesses. Might be better to say 'in spite of having been a journalist, he's doing OK'.
Twodogs
Full MemberI’m curious how you know this?
Have you heard of this internet thing? It used to be you could palm customers off with "must be a one off" "must be a bad batch" but when companies still do it in the internet age it just proves they not only don't give a shit about customer service, they also don't give a shit if their customers know they're lying. I got one of the earliest ones with the wrong bolts, they were still sending them out months later, knowing perfectly well they didn't have the stock of the correct bolts and selling the frames anyway. And still telling customers "oh that's weird, haven't seen that before"
It used to be you could palm customers off with “must be a one off” “must be a bad batch” but when companies still do it in the internet age it just proves they not only don’t give a shit about customer service, they also don’t give a shit if their customers know they’re lying.
And yet they're still in business...
From this I deduce that either they only ever sell once to new customers or possibly their service / products aren't as bad as some make out.....
Or c) they have a customer base made up entirely of masochists who like bad service. Although somehow I think that's unlikely.
Have you heard of this internet thing?
So what you meant to say was "literally every one of those frames that went out that people on the internet complained about"
You that on that internet thingy you mention that the people complaining make more noise than the people that are happy, yes?
What is he doing which is so wrong?
As for being a journalist, most barely scrape a living together, so not exactly a great training for creating succesful businesses. Might be better to say ‘in spite of having been a journalist, he’s doing OK’.
Calm down, who said he did anything wrong? he co-founded and built a successful brand then left and co-founded another successful brand. I can only imagine his time in journalism helps in his ability to communicate and engaging with customers.
Footflaps you know how you're saying it looks weird for people to pursue a vendetta against On One. Yeah, the opposite of that...
Footflaps you know how you’re saying it looks weird for people to pursue a vendetta against On One. Yeah, the opposite of that…
I'm starting to wonder they're on the payroll.
I wasn't sure what the opposite of vendetta was so I had to Google it. Apparently.......agreement. calm. forgiveness. harmony.
I'm not getting that from footflaps.
Twodogs
Full MemberSo what you meant to say was “literally every one of those frames that went out that people on the internet complained about”
OK so your alternative theory is that they ordered their frames in, they arrived, they post them out and loads of people get the wrong bolts because they'd specced the wrong parts and didn't do any QC, but some got the right bolts despite the spec error? Does that seem more or less likely than them all being wrong?
(if you care, which I doubt you do, I didn't see even a single person say "I got the right bolts" in all of those threads, not a one)
When I got that month’s payslip, I was dismayed to see that my hourly pay had been stopped before I’d reached the hospital.
Yorkshiremen, making the Scots seem generous since the Romans
For the record, my Scandal frame arrived last year with the correct bolts.
Hasn't Dave Loughran now left the building taking some of the randomness with him? I've always had okay - ie: perfectly normal - experiences with On One, though I factor in a sort of 'One One' expectation premium, so I accept that if I've misjudged the time to stop the On One spinning price wheel of doom, bike prices may go down as well as up. And I don't expect the 400 quid Dirty Disco frame I bought from them on eBay to be finished like a Santa Cruz.
They were one of the pioneers of direct web-selling, which is easy to forget now that loads of people do it. Anyway, if I were looking at that sort of market right now and didn't want the On One factor, I'd go Sonder (aka Alpkit) who are decent people [waits for tales of woe]. The ongoing problem right now seems to be finding anyone with anything in stock for immediate delivery.
Anyway, gotta love nostalgia, though it's not what it used to be.
Technically, to lose charm then they had to actually have charm in the first place.
Not sure about that....
Technically, to lose charm then they had to actually have charm in the first place.
The initial charm was the cheapness, an instant magnet to the majority of bike riders who are as tight as a gnats chuff
Then being early adopters of 29er etc
Then selling to niche needs, SS etc
Back in the day there wasn't much competition for what they offered, now there is lots
Back in the day there wasn’t much competition for what they offered, now there is lots
Really? At similar prices and spec?
I'm considering an On One purchase, possibly a Whippet or a Scandal. I can't find anything that looks as good at the same price - certainly nothing that's in stock
The initial charm was the cheapness
B&M is cheap, doesn't mean it's charming!