A thought from another thread…
What brand in your eyes make bikes that you would buy ‘just because it is them’ and why?

Who do you trust to make a bike without you seeing it or demoing it that you would buy regardless of what a review said?

Ibis… 🙂

I wouldn’t trust any brand to make a great-riding bike, i’d wait for the mags to review 😉

actually, that’s probably true: I’ve never extensively tested a bike before buying and have never been massively disappointed – I’m either fairly easy-going in terms of fit etc or else I’m incapable of discrimination

I’m (slightly) interested in after-care though – spesh, marin and turner are brands that I perceive to look after owners well (have never owned any of these though !)

I think I would trust Vitus, for some reason

I’d never buy a bike just because it was made by “them”. Buying without taking a test ride is taking a punt, it could be a horror when it turns up or may not fit as well as you were hoping. I’ve taken quite a few punts, some were ok, some were sold on shortly afterwards.

I think the question is – would you trust a brand to design a bike that does what it says?

I think with brant and cy, as examples, if they said I’ve designed this bike to do ‘x’ I woudl believe them.

Of course the real question is do I want a bike that does ‘x’ or am I looking for somethign to do ‘y’ on?

It’s over 10 years since I test rode a bike before I bought it – everything since then has been bought frame only, mail order and often 2nd hand. I tend to look at frames now in terms of stuff I’ve owned and liked and how the geometry compares.

I’ve never test ridden a bike and often it’s impossible if you are building yourself.

For components that I see as critical I base my opinion on past experience (or price in the case of shimano hubs). For things like bars, seatposts, grips I ust buy whatever offers the best value to me at the time.

Having said all that I always buy shimano drivechain because I want compatability between my bikes and have never had an issue with it except for the shadow xtr mechs.

Nicolai – handmade, attention to detail, no fancy bends or hydroforming just for the sake of it – functional design

Time was I’d buy a cannondale HT sight unseen, no problems. Great heritage of making Al frames, and I’m very comfortable with the L sizing. Best warranty in the biz, as well.

Things have moved on, though, and the focus seems to have shifted to carbon for really exceptional HTs. Don’t really like the current CDale HTs as much as their classic CAAD5s etc.

Having lusted after, and not long ago bought, a Yeti and finding out it lived up to my expectations then I guess I could buy another one without a demo if I was forced to choose.

I’d never base it on a mag review though – Apparently my ASR flexes too much and the carbon rear breaks all the time.

Specialized.

Anything with a warranty should be OK from a broken bike point of view, but I wouldn’t trust any of them to make a bike that rides well without either riding the bike first or discussing the bike with people who have ridden it that I trust.

If it looks good, I’ll buy it, subject to finance. Woudl require some pretty serious negatives to stop me taking a punt. I’m probably an idiot, but it’s working out well so far……

Hopefully Friday’s delivery of a never-seen-in-the-flesh frame will continue the trend!

And having thought I’d never buy anything without a demo I forgot I recently bought a Van Nic Tuareg frame never having ridden a Ti bike or a Van nic before.

I guess a lifetime warranty and great deal help though.

Bikes – Nothing stands out for me. Trek and specialised seem to back there products with a great warranty and no doubt are amount the top spenders in development. My next bike probably wont be either though.

Components – SRAM have never let me down. Magura and shimano brakes seem simple and robust. Not convinced by Avid or Formula, maybe I just prefer mineral oil.

Clothing – Gore – Expensive but some of the best bike clothing I have and very durable.

none, and I’m not that naive.

despite having at least one bike for every day of the week I only really buy new bikes when one breaks. (and would happily replace all with the exact same frame)

I think with brant and cy, as examples, if they said I’ve designed this bike to do ‘x’ I would believe them.

Lol. very funny 😆

Santa Cruz

Not trendy, but I’ve never had a bad bike from Specialized. Closer to home, Orange are a brand I have total faith in. And I’ve never had a bad item of clothing made by Gore.

Superstar Components

What brand in your eyes make bikes that you would buy ‘just because it is them’ and why?

IMHO this has to backed with personal experience of either the brand or the person making the recommendation. There is no

just because it is them

in isolation. Specialized tick the box for me on this, but that is based on experience.

It used to be that I would only ever buy Nokia phones, HP printers and Canon cameras (I wouldn’t have a canon printer in the house or office). It’s not rational, but it does reduce choice and let’s me focus on need.

Of course, you chuck apple into the mix and it all gets a bit dogmatic.

Nont by a brands reputation of making good bikes alone but I would definately avoid a company with a reputation of poor customer service.
I would never buy a Tomac or a Pace for example. Same with shops.

geoffj – Member
Superstar Components

Thinking about it, as I’ve got older I’ve become less and less bothered by brand and less and less brand-loyal…

Turner

If we’re talking complete bikes – none. I will always test ride before buying.

I’ve had phenomonal service from Oakley twice, replacing broken things (my fault) for nowt. They’d be my first choice for all eyewear because of that.
Gore kit – definitely great quality that I would search out again.
I’ve had Orange, Cannondale and Santa Cruz bikes that I’ve loved and have a soft spot for…but wouldn’t take a punt on them again without testing, seeing reviews, taking STW feedback etc.
And i’ve good luck with Shimano for so many years I’d be reluctant to try SRAM, Campag etc, but easy availability is also a factor in that…

Big mass distribution brands all the way, never buy anything that depends upon the personality designer’s viral marketing skills or friendly relationship with journalists.

Major brands invest more in R & D, have a proper distribution network & you can actually see/test ride before buying. Brands are so despised by the internet bikista that any shortcomings are soon highlighted.

Personality brands well intentioned backroom boys with bright ideas, but customer has to buy unseen from website, so bike sold on reputuation rather than performance/suitability.
Owners are so ‘on message’ that any objective reviews impossible and volume of sales so small that QC samples will be very low numbers.

all IMO of course and after all a bikes a bike………..

Bikes are judge mainly by 2 things; design and quality of construction.
I don’t think that the mainstream brands have the monopoly on those.

Turner – I was joking about Vitus as it is one of the ads that is on this page for me.

Bikes are judge mainly by 2 things; design and quality of construction.
I don’t think that the mainstream brands have the monopoly on those.

but how do you judge a product you cannot physically assess ??

Oh, and you forgot “colour” 😉

I was joking about Vitus

Isn’t that one Brant Richards has been scribbling and colouring in for?

but how do you judge a product you cannot physically assess ??

You can’t, and I don’t pretend otherwise.
Reviews are to be taken with a pinch of salt as the mags promote the biggest ad spenders, personal reviews are skewed because an individual has spent money on a product. And in any case, reviews are subjective and bike preference is personal.
You could make a loosely informed guess based upon the quality of manufacture of previous bikes, the geo, design of suspension, customer service etc. Oh, and colour (how did I miss that?) 😀

Isn’t that one Brant Richards has been scribbling and colouring in for?

No – Mattmagic scribbles and colours in. I wave my hands about.

Specialized.

Partly due to having owned a few and partly because a couple of people have told me they’d NEVER buy one – these people happen to be complete fukdiks and anything they say isn’t worth listening too 🙂

I’ve bought the majority of bikes I’ve owned without slinging a leg over them:
Santa Cruz Heckler Mk1
Turner Flux Mk1
Cotic Soul Mk2
Cotic Soda (Lynskey one)
Yeti Big top
Trek Madone Mk1
Fixie Inc Betty Leeds

Only ever been dissapointed in 2 bikes i’ve owned,
Custom built Eddy Merckx Corsa Extra (early 90’s)
Planet X Uncle John

I tend to go on “if they look right, it’ll ride right”. Apart from the Eddy Merckx, my “theory” has worked out.

Mattmagic scribbles and colours in

he does a very good job of staying inside the lines.

fukdiks

That gets my nomination for insult of the month

As a woman, I pretty much have to buy blind cos there’s never any small men’s bikes for me to demo. I’ve made some mistakes along the way for sure.

Am pretty cynical as regards ‘trusting’ a company – you have to see through their marketing tosh first. 😉

Probably the only bike-related company I trust is Gore Bike Wear.

That reminds me…. have you got an email address i can use CG?

send me one on mdownie at thebikechain dot co dot uk if that’s cool.

For some reason I really like Specialized bikes. I think its probably something to do with the suspension design has been around forever and they arnt totally redesigning it or jumping on the latest bandwagon all the time. I know their frames will just work well. However I dont think I would trust their suspension and their habit for specing shocks that are odd sizes is just bloody frustrating.