The shop owner replied “I wouldn’t touch Turner with a barge pole, really badly built and terrible customer service”. Bonus point for first person to guess the name of the shop!

The shop that happened to import Ellsworth at the time, Freeborn* was it?

*Disclaimer I know nothing about them, just guessing from brands mentioned.

but been told that some designs have had “issues”

I think there were some paint and finish QC issues with early Ragleys, but thats all I know of.

some designs have had “issues”

He got the wall thickness on the first ever batch of rigid forks they did wrong I think so they weighed about twice what they needed to?

That would be them. Also heard the owner praising one of the shop boys who had just got off the phone to a customer for “talking him up to the next level” when he had wanted one set of brakes but got chatted into ordering a more expensive set. Fair enough I suppose, running a business and all that but having that conversation when I was stood at the counter seemed a bit unprofessional. It was also clear that the reason for doing so wasn’t in the customers best interest but down to profit margin, doubt they told him that somehow.

my lbs is so funny at times. its owned a run by a nice guy only bad thing he knows nothing. latest example is a broke the plastic brank arm/ bearing preload bolt on some cranks so i took it in to see if he had a replacement. He did not, i was not surprised but i was surprised when he said he had never even seen one before and pretty much said is was my own fault for buying specialist stuff!

Its no surprise he did not have ones in stock but never seen one WTF???

he said he had never even seen one before and pretty much said is was my own fault for buying specialist stuff!

😯 😯 😯

For flip’s sake….

I’ve never owned any Brant designed frames, but been told that some designs have had “issues”. Any troof in that?

He’s the only designer I’ve heard of who created a bike that was described by the press as ‘the best hardtail in the world’. He innovates and pushes boundaries all the time. Most of the time it works (brilliantly)…sometimes it doesn’t. He’s always worth paying attention to though.

I’ve never owned any Brant designed frames, but been told that some designs have had “issues”. Any troof in that?

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fs-853-inbred-full-bike

That said, it’s bad form for an LBS to slag a competitors bike off. Even I could bite my lip if I was selling bikes in a shop. Which may actually happen at some point. 🙂
Good bikes, they ride well, My 853 Inbred is a keeper, I love it. 🙂

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fs-853-inbred-full-bike

I still say chainsuck isn’t the frame’s fault, but there’s not much point in arguing with anyone on that one.

I didn’t design that, sorry.

Oops, true. Edited, my apologies 🙂

I’ve proved you wrong on the chainsuck thing though. 🙂
Frames don’t CAUSE it, no, but the tight clearances on those frames made the consequences of it impossible to deal with. You saw what happend to mine in a year of chainsuck. I’m still using the same frame, the exact same crankset with the same rings on it and it simply doesn’t happen any more. But it took a new chain stay to sort it….. It’s a great bike, I’ll never sell it.

i’ve heard a lbs slagging of on-one.
not the bikes, but the price they sell some of their parts for. less than the trade price that they pay. i could see their point, but i still bought the forks from on-one. 😀

Oldest sales technique in the book: slagging off the competition.

Also, the biggest sales faux-pas. True salesmen NEVER run down the competition.

I also took a frame and headset into my lbs (usually I use the threaded bar trick but it was a nice frame) and was told that a headset press was a specialist, expensive piece of kit and it wasn’t worth them buying one. Never went back but I drove past at the weekend and they’re still going.

I’ve never owned any Brant designed frames, but been told that some designs have had “issues”. Any troof in that?

Well you could ask anyone with an El Guapo !!

buzz-lightyear – Member

I’ve never owned any Brant designed frames, but been told that some designs have had “issues”. Any troof in that?

Well, one of my Ragleys was built right. But to be fair none of it was design flaws, it was all manufacturing/QC. And the good one is a bloomin masterpiece so I guess it balances out.

I’ve never owned any Brant designed frames, but been told that some designs have had “issues”. Any troof in that?
Well you could ask anyone with an El Guapo !!

Yes, damn it. I was so close to buying one of those too, now I’m glad I didn’t. Is it just the medium with the issue?

Took my £80 456 into my LBS to straighten the derailleur hanger which I’d mangled on a night ride.The old guy fixed it ,retuned my front and rear mechs so all my gears ran smoothly and charged me a fiver.As I was leaving he said he couldn’t understand why such an expensive frame didn’t have a replaceable derailleur hanger 🙂
BTW my El Guapo BB height is 14 inches and I still managed to bang my pedals twice today.Can I get new frame? 😉
Come to think of it my Spesh FSR is only about 12.5 do you think they will replace that under warranty 😉

I’m not sure this is the right thread to be discussing the El Guapo and its many issues 🙂

Yes, damn it. I was so close to buying one of those too, now I’m glad I didn’t. Is it just the medium with the issue?

We are working through issues, taking care of people who preordered, getting our ducks in a row, and then will have clear news of product to sell.

.

brant – Member
Yes, damn it. I was so close to buying one of those too, now I’m glad I didn’t. Is it just the medium with the issue?
We are working through issues, taking care of people who preordered, getting our ducks in a row, and then will have clear news of product to sell.

That’s good. Looks like a bargain once it’s sorted.

Vinnyeh…

Lynskey 456

And the latest Brant-designed version…

2013 Ti 456 Evo

Brant I love you but no other frame that I’ve owned has suffered from a grazed stay. I run the most basic heavy chains until they are finally lighter than XTR ones on every bike. Its a 456 thang 8)

Brant I love you

I must say it’s a fairly abusive relationship if that’s the case.

#offtothepub

Hold yer horses,Brant.Don’t vanish just yet! Those rt58 framesets.. are they nearly ready to go on sale?

i took my 456 ss into my LBS to get a headset pressed (also bought from on-one)

he was just recommending a 456 to the other customer in there as i walked though the door with it. asked if he could show the guy it and was saying how great they are for the money. It’s not a good highly recommended LBS for no reason 😉

hey Brant, that disc road bike you had a pic of, will that be on sale soon ???

I keep an eye on Brants work.
Heard the 456 was gaining a bit of a following as a classic hard tail so thought I would try one.
I think the thing thats been missed is yes the geo is bang on (and was ahead of the game when introduced)
Importantly there really good value for money. Pick one up new or second hand, ride it for a while if you dont like it as much as you hope sell it on get a good second hand price.

That said I have had a look at some of the stories about the El Gap and a mate had a carbon FTM that wore rear bushings out at an alarming rate.! I guess these are problems on-one will have to address that they inherited from Titus??

First one steel summer season 456 total hoot!

then a Ragley mmmbop

now got a Ti 456 (Lynskey version)Love it! 😀

LBS’s are funny old places.

I go out of my way to buy from my local but only if its not wallet suicide plus or minus 10-15%. However in return for the business I do give them, they provide an excellent service, have quite happily built up two C456 bikes where only some of the parts are purchased from them, and charged very little. They even took them for a spin and said they were fantastic and made recommendations for minor component adjustments.

In complete contrast, was up in the surrey hills on my yeti and suddenly had a very nasty noise from what sounded like the BB. Was passing by a well known Santa Cruz shop in peaslake so asked their advice. Owner took one look at me and said he didnt want to know as he was too busy. Wouldnt even take 1min to look at it to give his 5pence worth. So I error’d on the side of caution, left the lads to carry on and went my separate way to the car and took it back to my local I purchased it from. In 2mins literally they noticed the drop outs had worked their way loose and regreased and tightened it with a smile…

So its swings and round abouts. Its a shame that online retailers can get away with the massive discounts, which although good for us punters, has the opposite effect somewhere else.

I guess with all high street retailers, now is the time to find a new model of improving revenue by creating new value added services which keep us punters coming back for more.