[Closed] Any one else think Nicolai look s@*t.

Not nic(h)e enough for you, eh? 😉

yes.
so much so I can't even be bothered clicking your link

Uh-oh! It's another 'people in liking different things shocker' thread.

No, quite niche but just look as if they were designed 50 years ago.

Looks can be deceiving

orange 5 too...? maybe.

I'm not saying they are crap bikes or ride badly but come on, did Fred Dibner design them int coal shed.

Definitely look ugly, however that wouldn't put me off buying one, they look purposeful & industrial and that I do like....

Not to shabby on the eye...

Amazing to ride

[img] [/img]
[img] [/img]
[img] ?w=500&h=375[/img]
[img] [/img]
[img] [/img]

just look as if they were designed 50 years ago.

Take away the forks and I think it's time to get back in yer glass house and put the stones down...

😉

Please will the person who owns the custom green anodized one please stand up and ermm post pics!

jizz jorgous ❗

[img] ?psid=1[/img]

it needs no further discussion 🙂

*Tw4tfart insult fail*

What the **** has 'tollahs bike got to do with the swede thinking Nicolia's look shite?

based on the pics above, yes.

CFH posting a picture of the 'tollahs indy fab towel rail is going to have no effect on the swede, although he might add some general insults of his own 😉

doh SSstu, too quick and beats me to it

H
I
D
E
O
U
S

CaptainFlashheart
You have me confused with a certain attention whore. That abomination is the tollah's.
AND Ton thought I was a ginger yesterday. Has the tollah stolen my personality.

I am aware that it's not yours, but it was more making the point that many bikes

just look as if they were designed 50 years ago.

Some like 'em, some don't.

CaptainFlashheart, you are banned from this thread for being an inaccurate, back peddling nobber 😉

back peddling nobber

He has a coaster brake on his bike?.....that's quite niche 😉

I quite like them. purposeful.
there's gotta be something badass about owning a camo bike made from girders.

I quite enjoy the colourblind-madman-on-crack-with-a-CNC-machine-in-the-shed-and-too-much-meccano-as-a-child aesthetic they have going on. And they ride [i]lovely[/i].

I've always wanted one,they look sturdy,made from proper bits of tubing and close up the welding and attention to detail is amazing,personally i hate all the hydrodeformed bikes,but each to their own and all that!

I think they look great. Much lighter than they look too.

Regardless of how old-skool they look, they at least look like a collection of bike tubes and not a bit of welded filing-cabinet like an Orange 5.

If they rode utterly amazingly I'd have one. If they ride just like most run of the mill then I really don't see the point of the extra expense i.e. made to look different to make them niche for niche's sake.

We tried to buy a Nicolai custom build full suss tandem but the UK importer seemed a bit unhelpfull when we mailed them with a few questions about the build...

I have always had very quick response from Simon @ Nicolai UK....

Amazingly I have also had super quick answers back from Kalle Nicolai ...

Worth contacting Nicolai in germany on the tandem...

I think there is a few about!

Good Luck!

To be a bit fair to the brand...

The first picture is of a Nucleon DH from 2003, the third is a later Nucleon prototype that never made it into production. Without throwing stones in glass houses there were some odd looking bikes around back then. [url= http://www.bikemagic.com/gear-news/cannondale-2003/2889.html ]Cannondale [/url] was the first thing I googled for - usually pretty good looking frames - but their 03 range had definitely hit a few branches in the ugly tree on the way down.

i like em, bought a argon fr and sold it within two weeks cos it was too small in a xl 26'' version.
i have got a very deep desire for a custom 29r version....... 8)

Maybe we should try speaking direct to Nicolai as the UK folks answered our first email then just ignored us.

Can you buy direct from them?

Yes - drop us a mail. We shouldn't have been unhelpful - all tandems are complete custom. We don't sell complete bikes so would have directed you to a dealer for that part of your purchase.

Tsk tsk. Your bots are working far too slow. 1hour dude. Progressive-Si would have nailed this thread within 15mins and brant would already know that you are contemplating posting a thread.. 😆

Like this one Ton?

[img] [/img]

Sorry simon but after being ingored if i couldn't deal direct i'd rather not bother.

Being ignored before you have our money if just stupid...

Kbrembo..............that's the one mate.
but i red i think...........cos red bikes are faster. 😉

Yes, yes.....maybe it's a strategy - more efficient to deal with all the comments in one go. Or maybe it's been a beer and riding weekend.

Tell me what riding is again? 🙁

I had a spin around the hit the north route this morning including some cheeky roll in's etc. Thats all the riding I've done for weeks now.

Probably will be spamming some pictures of my new Nicolais in the next couple of weeks, so the haters better brace themselves.

Got a Helius AFR and a custom Argon CC 29er on order at the moment. AFR is nearly finished and the 29er frame is due any day now. I found Nicolai uk and Moonglu really helpful on both bikes. They even advised me to wait a few weeks before ordering the 29er in order to take advantage of improved pricing.

Yes, yes.....maybe it's a strategy -

Customer.
I want to buy a custom built full suss tandem.

UK Importer.
OK we'll find out the options and a rough price.

Customer.
Any ideas on price and options.

UK importer.
Silence and no replys from four emails over a couple of weeks.

Customer.

OK I'll spend the money on other stuff. 🙄

It wasn't John Atkins Cycles was it Stu? They seem to want to ignor customers requests!

Hora, there's a lot of function in their consutruction and design. For instance, unlike most mass made bikes and indeed some 'niche' handmade American ones (not mentioning any names because things can get a little 'intense' when you do), the front wheel and the back wheel are actually in the same county as each other. Infact, they are in the same line as each other to a degree of accuracy that a rocket scientist would be proud of. This does two things you can 'feel'.

First is the frame rides like a laser guided missile; it has a degree of integrity and unity that I've not felt in other frames and it goes precisely where you want it to.

Second, the bushings and bearings tend to last a very long time and they don't have levels of stiction that might cause you to think the links were welded together (like another niche US brand that I Gee 'Turner' couldn't possibly mention!)

And yes the samples given above were as ugly as sin, but do you think this is ugly? It might not be pretty, but it's definitely handsome.
[img] [/img]
[img] [/img]

Can't wait for my Helius AM....clearly the looks appeal to me as i have had 2 Orange 5's in the past! I think they look great against all the ridiculous swoopy hydroformed nonsense thats so fashionable right now. Plus, Nicolai's never seem to look too dated IMO.

Singlespeedstu - I've always found Simon and the other guy at Nicolai UK (Mike?) really helpful, even despite my prolonged dithering around my refurb' request. Maybe you were just unlucky and caught them at a particularly busy time???

Well seeing that this has turned into the "I love nicolai's" thread, orange 5's, now there's a load of old bollox 😉

Lol@ The Swede, I agree 🙂

Maybe you were just unlucky and caught them at a particularly busy time???

I've dealt with small custom build one man outfits that have waiting lists of over a year and still got email replys from them...

I [u]do[/u] love my Nicolai 😀

And that's okay as long as I don't 'love' my Nicolai.

Singlespeedstu - everyone's allowed one mistake, surely??? [s]Come on, feel the love...[/s] (Edit - bad choice of words given my previous post!).

I can feel the love.

They'll never be feeling any of my custom though. 😉

Stu, hold on to that clutch bag 🙂

I'm not saying they are crap bikes or ride badly but come on, did Fred Dibner design them int coal shed.

Oi; it's '[b][i]Dibnah[/i][/b]', you philistine. 'Ave some respect! 😡

Agree with you re their looks though. Not designed by a person with any sense of aesthetics, that's for sure.

[img] [/img]

That is truly, truly nasty. And all those nooks and crannies to collect grime. Quite possibly the ugliest bike I've ever seen a picture of. I spose it's only saving grace is that you won't have to look at it, if you're riding it. And your riding mates will.

Actually, in that respect, I think I quite like it! 🙂

Propperly gopping though in't it? Let's be honest.

That one surely needs a German SS dispatch rider on it. 😯

Or 2

[img] [/img]

No actually it's ****in 'orrible, proper baby-frightener. 😯

my nicolai has taken an absolute fukkn beating and is still straight on the original bearings.

quality frame.

As I said in an earlier thread. Elfinsafety. Sensitive boy.

There are nicer looking bikes, but I would brake those. Not too heavy either, with a very strong build this weighs in at 32lbs

[img] [/img]

I really like the industrial look, it does what it needs to do. May look into getting an AM next year, although it may take longer than that to choose what colour....

gotta be like pinder's.

ano black with green x-love.

In fairness, I'd struggle to name a huck bike that wasn't hideous.

Personally I hate curvy bikes, love the straight-tubed honesty of the nics.

I quite like them, they are purposeful, very German and appear to do the job they are designed to do, although I've never ridden one.......then again I always fancied a Rotwild 😳

Pretty bikes are for tarmac.

That ugly thing is a bit of a cheap shot, its really old and was probably some sort of concept bike. The bikes with G boxxes would be much prettier with normal gearing but that's not what Nicolai is about.

personally I think the majority of his bikes look pretty nice, industrial and purposeful. I would prefer to buy one of them than a number of the other boutique brands that everyone gets excited about: Orange, Ventana, Ellsworth for example.

As above, using 7 or 8 yr old concept bikes is hardly a fair example. Give me a hand built Teutonic frame over a mass produced Far Eastern hydro-formed frame all day long (apart from my Anthem X as I love that).

Functional, well engineered, tough - I'm building a new 'aircraft grey' Helius CC. I love the fact it has a no nonsense, getting on with business look. Simple clean lines but with great design touches like mirroring the oval cut outs in the suspension linkage and chainstays.

simon nicolai, how's the riding?

didnt think orange was boutique.. 😉

some nicolai's look gash, some look proper tasty, in a functional, hard as nails kind of way

[img] [/img]

He hee

I even ride mine too!!
[img] [/img]

How can people say my Ion is ugly,Its a stunning work of art and rides even better

[IMG] [/IMG]

And this was my FR before i sold it to get the ION

[IMG] [/IMG]

so ugly the internet pixies have prevented the images from making peoples eyes throw up 😆

booooo

you've gone back to fix it!

[img] [/img]

No someone is going to come along and tell me this is better looking 😆 😳

tazzymtb - Member

so ugly the internet pixies have prevented the images from making peoples eyes throw up

booooo

you've gone back to fix it!

🙂

I rode a mates Nicolai Helius CC today. An excellent bike - in fact I want one.

They have an industrial look about them that appeals to me.

One mans ugly is another mans wife - it's all in the ride.

if you want an industrial looking bike get a sinister. At least it's proper red neck engineering and proud, rather than german panzer chic

ianpinder - Member
There are nicer looking bikes, but I would brake those. Not too heavy either, with a very strong build this weighs in at 32lbs

I LIKE that one. Which model/option is that???

I could warm to the 'industrial' looks if they could stop the dyslexic thicko that's responsible for putting the bloody transfers on back to front........

I quite like them- sure they're a bit brutal looking, but that's sort of attractive in itself in a 'form-follows-function-and-that's-it' kind of way.

Judas Priest. Have you seen the pricing?

WHAT The fick?!!!

No I do not understand how anyone can call my old Helius ST ugly:

[IMG] [/IMG]

[IMG] [/IMG]

I was rather fond of my Helius FR too:

[IMG] [/IMG]