My Sick! experance

Man, this is the thread that just keeps giving…

In fairness your opinion is going to be biased as you are meant to me making one of the crowd fund bikes for them are you not? – you have a financial interest.

Wasn’t that frame meant to be ready for delivery soon (or already?) too, how are they coming along?

Edit – they were meant to be finished in January, so is that Sick or your fault Mike?

I certainly do not have a financial interest, other than having paid for materials which are never dead investment of funds be it for this or the next job.

If you were a customer then perhaps contacting sick and asking them might be a better option than asking me? I don’t work for them and can’t comment on the status of their project. haven’t heard anything from Jordan since before Christmas but did know there were several other manufacturing options including FTW at the time.

I did speak to Lee their engineer the other day simply because people had been asking me the exact same things you just tried , though i detect a hint of malice in your post rather than a friendly question

Lee however gave me the impression he was in the same boat as me?

After that conversation with lee I concluded with with Brant helping them that they may improve . conjecture on my part of the conversation they will possibly have had is that no one has died yet you will ride out the storm in a teacup for the orders you can’t deliver on tomorrow despite and got them access to mass manufacturing overseas to deliver goods and make money. To get their core business actually moving and not mess with side fluffy vanity projects where they can give people their money back….could be wrong like

I mean absolutely no malice to you in any way.

I just thought it worth noting that your positive attitude towards them (one of the very few) may be due to you doing work for them? – I assumed as you had posted pictures of CNC parts from their crowdfund frame and that they publicly said you were making it that this was the case.

Pretty bad for all involved if those bikes can’t go ahead what with the huge time their designer Lee must have spent on them, yourself getting started with parts and the refunds that will have to be dealt out.

I mean absolutely no malice to you in any way.

I just thought it worth noting that your positive attitude towards them (one of the very few) may be due to you doing work for them? – I assumed as you had posted pictures of CNC parts from their crowdfund frame and that they publicly said you were making it that this was the case.

Pretty bad for all involved if those bikes can’t go ahead what with the huge time their designer Lee must have spent on them, yourself getting started with parts and the refunds that will have to be dealt out.

Fair enough it’s no bother I have always said to anyone in the area if you want to nip in here and see what goes on …no bother

As I said earlier what can be said online can open you up to all manner of legal implications….I’d love to launch a brand but I sit on the engineering side of things ,and I know lee does too for sick whilst holding down a full time job in industry , one of the downsides of being at that end of the spectrum is you tend to deal in black and whites and hold your hand up when you **** it royally and not how you can spin something….and sure I might be able to flog frames but I don’t have the temperament or skills to deal with people

Yes we Programmed all the parts some of those blocks of aluminium are 100 quid each it requires 4 per frame + machine time and proving out , my workshop is busy doing other things also margins are higher on BMW or Porsche track car parts than frames but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t help them out as I have others in the past for no financial gain

And honestly despite the fact I sometimes want to be a beligerant **** (edit …I know I can still be ) other people have taught me a few life lessons I thought I had under control and had mastered and now I suppose to a degree I got second chances too

hence I’m not so much for or against ….tough lesson for me that one

Mr.mcd
I think it’s great that someone actually has the balls to come in on this and speak up with what they believe. Let’s be honest, if it’s all one sided- can accuracy be maintained without bias? Probably not. Thanks Mr.mcd for the posts.

As an individual customer from one those wee islands by Australia, the ignoring of emails can never acceptable. It’s not a negotiation. We can’t do shirt from down here if a company stops replying. By Sick cutting contact after purchase, they get a unique response. We’re all in it together down here, we know the same people, we ride the same places etc. Shag each other’s wives, all related, you know how it goes…
So Sick got this kickback via us.
They’re welcome! And you guys are too! lol check out my latest post if ur bored

Sounds like you can be too much of a nice guy sometimes Mike.

You know enough about your work and business to know what your worth, all the best with it.

To be clear, other than a hookup of the level I’ve done for several other industry contacts, in late Spring last year, I am not “helping them” whatever anyone may claim.

Mick your also assertive but humble and above all mostly helpful in what you post

That maybe something your alluding to with things you have mastered over the years.

It’s a fine line to tread before you become obnoxious – and that rubs folk up the wrong way. Watching from the outside I can’t help but feel that confrontational attitude is paving the way for some of the comments/reactions the other party are recieving.

No matter who you are it never does good to burn bridges with anyone – the industry is small and relitively cyclical.

As an individual customer from one those wee islands by Australia, the ignoring of emails can never acceptable. It’s not a negotiation. We can’t do shirt from down here if a company stops replying. By Sick cutting contact after purchase, they get a unique response. We’re all in it together down here, we know the same people, we ride the same places etc. Shag each other’s wives, all related, you know how it goes…
So Sick got this kickback via us.

I ain’t having a dig ,not here to cast aspertions defend deny cajole just a bloke on the www…people will use whatever you or I or Dave down the road writes and use it to prop up their own argument, I sure hope the end result isn’t you going **** you mick I told you so in whatever time period it takes to sort you out

That said

Ihave sent plenty of stuff down to australazia to help people out often at my expense I once remember Darren Baum ( unless your into road bikes you might not have heard of him) telling me that getting stuff machined down there was really really hard ( his other piece of sage advice was to keep my **** g mouth shut and just make cool shit) , I used to be part of that framebuilders community before I kind of turned my back on it , but hey I sent plenty of stuff down there sometimes people might send me an email and I would reply a month later I was working two jobs too , but they got free stuff often hundred of bucks worth of machining so they could make frame jigs that I also put the plans out there for free for them to use ( disclaimer we did also used to sell them ), the other end of it was even if you didn’t have anything to sell , the emails you would get saying you had practically just ruined someone’s business?? Because you failed to actually sell them anything , , im not making it up. Henceforth I get your pissed.

I get that you are stuck between shit and a slice of bread here and maybe I’m wrong in having faith in people generally being good but sometimes failing….I’ve got that tshirt too (let down people in the past myself) it won’t make it any less of a PITA for you matey as I said in opening I reckon if your right and I’m wrong then it’s open season that you can call me a silly naive c*** .

Hi Mick. Shame this association isn’t still active:-
https://m.facebook.com/Sopwamtos-Society-of-People-Who-Actually-Make-Their-Own-Shit-184981991584053/

Is there a similar group for people who actually believe their own shit?

😉

Is there a similar group for people who actually believe their own shit?

Yes , yes there is

mick_r ihought they were all still at it

Yes , yes there is

Haha.

I was thinking more of Sick Bicycles, but I take your point.

I’m impressed, took 2 coffees this morning to digest all this.
I can’t comment on most of the above, I’m purely an end user.
But in breaking news, and not to change the subject or anything. I tracked down the dude who won the Sick comp of that pic everyone was posting in June.
Tim’s burned orange DJ frame. A bmx’er with rediculous ability won it and had the privilege of becoming Tim’s burned customer.
I say customer because as you know, the buy-in over the years to be able to launch out of bowls with a deathwish (hehe) doesn’t come for free.
Sick would have chosen someone that suited them, for the likes, the free publicity and all that BS we’ve become accustomed to seeing.
Oh, did the guy get his bike? What do you think.

I have read all of this and the “other” sick thread ,could be a classic written in an attic & I’m saying the “guy” didn’t get the bike?

“Is there a similar group for people who actually believe their own shit?”

Get on the phone to netflix – that just HAS to be commissioned!

So you are saying the guy won a competition to win a frame that already exists but they didn’t give it to him?

That’s what it looks like, from ggs insta (the apparent winner got in contact)

There was a frame on the net
By posting a pic, you might get.
Posted he did, he was just a kid
Tryin’a do a skid, without a lid.
A won a nice bike,
For a follow and a like
But for all his effort
He can take a hike….

senor j, I could draw you a picture from the comfort of my attic if you prefer?

£100 for a CNC machined alluminium billet , of which 4 are required per bike?
I am not doubting the price , but if 4 billets at £400 are needed, plus all the other tubing , welding , ancillary componants required then there is very little left to cover anything.
Marketing, shipping, insurance, ( they must have PL insurance surely ?) paint , stickers , wages , tax , NI , pensions , phone bills, BB costs , Bank fees , big windows etec

does not add up unless theses frames are £3k a pop

does not add up unless theses frames are £3k a pop

And some – that’s just the raw materials BEFORE you start machining and there will be several hours of machining then inspection then anodising.

You can hire one at Swinley Bike Hub now apparently.

You can hire one at Swinley Bike Hub now apparently.

For the full Sick! experience hopefully they take your money, then disappear for several hours into the lockup before you get your bike.

does not add up unless theses frames are £3k a pop

The sleipnir is. But it includes a pinion gearbox, cranks, two chains, idler wheels, shock and an onyx hub. Reckon that’s a grand+ even at trade.

Oh dear oh dear….

https://m.pinkbike.com/forum/listcomments/?threadid=211801&pagenum=3

Seems an email to all those waiting on frames within 48 hours was too big a challenge.

Christ, they are like the Brexit of bike brands.

Delayed another vote email response.

Brexit? Think I heard something about that here last week. How far do you have to be from Europe when you go brexiting?

Someone say Europe? Did I hear Germany? Speaking of Germany and all of its efficiency… have I got the story for you…

Well there’s a dude on the mtb-forum over there with the problem of having 2 wulf frames. One he waited aaaages for(standard) then in December he received another one. No reply from Sick-standard- it now lives under his bed, doesn’t know what to do with it.
Pretty stink, what did Germany ever do to piss people off besides putting a grip shift on their pinion gearbox…? GG

Christ, they are like the Brexit of bike brands.

Hardly Theresa May shall have delivered upon her Brexit promise before they deliver on anything.

Oh dear oh dear….

https://m.pinkbike.com/forum/listcomments/?threadid=211801&pagenum=3

Seems an email to all those waiting on frames within 48 hours was too big a challenge.

Ok so two people didn’t get frames according to that thread, It is mostly made up of Tom Howard and some others stirring the pot.

How many other brands can you name where 2 (plus here) people haven’t had frames, months(years) after they were promised them? I’ll wait.

Well, my new Orbea Oiz demo is being delivered tomorrow after being ordered in June. 9 months, from a major brand. So everyone can struggle with delivering on time occasionally.

When did they promise delivery? Was it listed as in stock? I get that stuff has long lead times (I’ve been waiting on some brakes for 6months, some cranks for 3) but there’s no excuse for no communication, and then radio silence when folk decide enough is enough and want a refund.

Hardly Theresa May shall have delivered upon her Brexit promise before they deliver on anything.

Ooh – this could be an interesting race. Which will come first? Brexit or…

I wonder if I’ll ever get my Gnarpoon t-shirt. I only bought it because it’s an STW joke 🙂

You want a gnarpoon shirt? As the copyright holder I could bang some up, £25 to you sir and I will deliver within the next 14 days (*)

(*venusian days)

lol – So the shirts arrive before the Gnarpoon frames ?

Perhaps all the missing frames will be on their stand at the London Bike Show?🤔

Posting for Tom so he can go to bed: 😉

Update.
Thank you all for your very kind messages of support and understanding.

This week we move in to our first office.
For the last 2 years we have either worked from home, often with a kid under one arm or a toddler jumping on our respective heads. Or borrowed the studio space at night, not ideal for a growing business.

We’ll be restarting live streaming on instagram and YouTube next week. Something I’m really looking forward to. We’ve missed the face to face part of the job.

The first step towards bringing better service?
Structure. Being able to be all in the same room will allow us to collaborate and problem solve far easier. We have room to assemble bikes and do QC checks, it’ll be nice to have space to enjoy the fun bits of the job.

Me and Tim have split the communication workload down a bit so some (hopefully, most) of you waiting for an update may have heard from us by now. We wanted to reach everyone during the first 48 hours. However, a stumbling block is, we need the supplier and manufacturer to confirm dates with us, at the same time we are whipping them to deliver with as little delay as possible. So we are awaiting some updates still, but only because they are busy physically making things. As we are updated, we’ll get that info out there. At the moment the Manufacturers have advised, we have 2 very large deliveries scheduled for the 13/16th March and a final one within a few weeks after that.
Competing all outstanding Wulf (AM & Ruby) / Hacksaw / Deathwish / Hangman orders. Bringing us up to date.

It was great to see the photos of stacks and stacks of frames, and, the new dropouts, all produced in house, mean that we don’t have to rely on outside fabrication as much. Something that was causing delays, these are some of the things we’ve bene working towards.

Frank has moved in to a big premises in Vermont allowing him much more capacity for building, we are patiently waiting for the Gnarpoon project to hit speed.
(And a couple of other surprises from the USA)

As we mentioned before, we have also taken on 2 more manufacturers to help us scale up production. It’s an incredibly exciting time for the team. We probably won’t see the first frames until the start of summer, but we’ve been working with these guys for a while to get things right first time. Really helping us shoot this company to the moon.

We’ve also expanded our screenprint studio,
So we’ll handle a majority of clothing in house.
All in all, we’ll get to be more involved in all the processes.

Keep your eyes peeled as we’ll be doing a big singleprint Sunday to test all the new gear out

We know mistakes have been made. And we are working towards solving them. We are here for you, just busy chipping away.

Changes *will* take time, we see this journey as continuous improvement rather than slapping a band aid over it and hoping it will be OK.

We’re getting there, thanks for your help and patience.

Jordan (& Tim, Zam, Lee)

However, a stumbling block is, we need the supplier and manufacturer to confirm dates with us, at the same time we are whipping them to deliver with as little delay as possible. So we are awaiting some updates still, but only because they are busy physically making things. As we are updated, we’ll get that info out there. At the moment the Manufacturers have advised, we have 2 very large deliveries scheduled for the 13/16th March and a final one within a few weeks after that.
Competing all outstanding Wulf (AM & Ruby) / Hacksaw / Deathwish / Hangman orders. Bringing us up to date.

Or the short version…
We still have not worked out that promising things we can’t deliver is bad, so we are going to blame other people for the fact we made a promise we could not keep. But stuff will be he please please please please don’t hit refund me on paypal, PLEASE!!!!!

We know mistakes have been made. And we are working towards solving them.

If only they would just stick to this message rather than blaming suppliers and life in general

band aid

Are they Yanks??

We’ll be restarting live streaming on instagram and YouTube next week. Something I’m really looking forward to. We’ve missed the face to face part of the job.

Sorry, just here enjoying the show, but I love this personal touch….