Unhappy Sick Bicycles Customers. BEWARE!

I’m going to buy all those frames and rebrand them as the feeling better now bike company. So customers have no frames and the builders have no money. It’s amazing how two people can screw over so many and still not simply hold their hands up and just apologise properly. Marino have just proven that Sick have been lying regarding status of frames.

Just a technicality, but I think the Sick Bikes fiasco is more akin to a pyramid selling scheme than a Ponzi.

IIRC one of the main hooks of a true Ponzi is the promise of massive returns on an initially small investment, the massive returns of the first few ‘investors’ being paid for by the small initial payments of a growing number of people who have heard about an ‘amazing opportunity’. It all goes tickety boo, of course, until no more investors can be found quick enough and someone doesn’t get paid. Then it collapses just as quickly as it grew.

From the small amount of case law I studied (and I may well be wrong here), but wasn’t one of the attempted defence arguments at one of the first trials to do with this sort of thing a ‘plausibility’ one? I.e. the returns were so apparently ridiculous that, actually, investors must have known it was in some way crooked and so were also culpable(?)

The Sick Bikes thing is more like an accidentally constructed pyramid selling scheme. I say ‘accidentally’ because I doubt that was the initial aim, but a combination of testosterone and childishness meant that the moment to hold their hands up went by and they kept taking more pre-orders to be able to buy the frames for the earlier ones. “Just one more and we’ll be fine, you’ve just got to hold your nerve”….

I love that from Marino, Jordan and James (the pointless customer service chap) told me the frames were in customs, bloody odd way to spell Peru that.

Well this is all the most marvellous entertainment, absolutely splendid, but I really must be off to my bed.

If they’re not allowed to be called Sick any more, and assuming they survive more than the next week or so, How about Spanner Patch Bikes?

I think if I was the Sick guys reading this & PB tonight i’d be thinking “that’s it – it’s over” there is no way any company could ever return from such negativity to ever salvage any shred of respect or decency.
Trouble is a lot of people ARE going to lose money though – it’s been spent on fancy ti cranks and crap 3 spoke wheels.

Rusty, you’re assuming that they actually paid their bills with Spengle and Cane Creek…

call me stupid but where can i see that Marino FB post in its orignal form? I’ll be buggered if I can see it anywhere

Haven’t seen Spengle post anything for about 10 pages…
Is he liking the coverage I wonder…?

Ive just had an email back from Marino, Tim and Jordan told him they havent paid because they are having problems with Paypal. Shysters, conmen, liars call em what you like. How they will be able to show their faces on a trail anywhere baffles me

Weren’t they due to be at the Malverns later in the year?

From the small amount of case law I studied (and I may well be wrong here), but wasn’t one of the attempted defence arguments at one of the first trials to do with this sort of thing a ‘plausibility’ one? I.e. the returns were so apparently ridiculous that, actually, investors must have known it was in some way crooked and so were also culpable(?)

The Sick Bikes thing is more like an accidentally constructed pyramid selling scheme. I say ‘accidentally’ because I doubt that was the initial aim, but a combination of testosterone and childishness meant that the moment to hold their hands up went by and they kept taking more pre-orders to be able to buy the frames for the earlier ones. “Just one more and we’ll be fine, you’ve just got to hold your nerve”….

Some of the Madoff investors said exatly that – it was obvious Bernie was stealing from somebody, we just didn’t think it was us.

You see thievery like this Sick bikes fiasco and it seems incomprehensible on the face of it, like what type of dead-eyed sociopath would construct such a ruse? But reality is like you say – just normal people getting out of their depth and things fall apart, the centre cannot hold.

I feel sorry for Marino, they’ve really pulled the wool over his eyes.

Indeed, like so many others it sounds like they have been fleeced

As another Worthing local I keep half expecting to see them at the Steyning trails or somewhere else around here. That is assuming they actually ride bikes of course. If I do what should I ask?

I think Marino will be okay – at least he still has the frames, peel the Shick decals off and sell them on Ebay/Stw classified. It’s the end customer that is going to be shafted big style.

Do keep up, Rusty. I’m going to go out on a lamb and guess you’ve missed the low quality punnage.

the whole situation seemed like a matrix management nightmare.

How can you implement matrix management when you only have two employees? Do they change hats and talk in different voices so they can pretend to have inter-departmental discussions?

There’s 4 directors, plus folk helping out, like James in ‘customer service’…

It’s good to see you shoulder the blame Davosaurusrex.

Do keep up, Rusty. I’m going to go out on a lamb and guess you’ve missed the low quality punnage.

Sick definitely need to build a more close knit relationship with their customer base. Communication to date has been woolly at best. The Ramifications for them are going to be harsh.

I can’t believe the shear effrontery of them, someone needs to put pen to paper

Those Marino frames will be pretty good, no doubt. Worth keeping an eye out for when they pop up being sold direct.

As another Worthing local I keep half expecting to see them at the Steyning trails or somewhere else around here. That is assuming they actually ride bikes of course. If I do what should I ask?

After gathering some details on here in advance and letting it be known that they are there I would suggest:

“Is the engine running in that van/car?”

those XACD frames on alibaba actually look alright …… unlike the mock ups on sicks website which looked pretty horrific

Spengle is a they not a him, there are 47 of us, with a 60%/40% female/male split in the business.

We’ve met and spoken with Jordan over the last few months – we were also a year late delivery our first wheels and it was less than fun for everyone involved – we know their pain as a business, and can empathise with their customers.

would we still work with them, yes absolutely no doubt. running a business is hard, growing a business I really hard – and self financing is an absolute killer.

They had, nay have, responsibilities to each other, to suppliers, and most importantly to customers – and they screwed up how they dealt with their growth – but they won’t be the firsts and wont be the last.

How they move forward will be of interest, we hope it’s with caution, and humility – an with someone more customer-focussed taking control of their customer relations.

Iv’e already contacted Marino and offered to purchase the two frames I ordered direct from him if (or when) Sick don’t pay him.
Jordan told me on the 15th of May he was ” fighting to shore and dispatch the frames” this was from the order that Marino had built, the one he still has pending payment.
Liars and shysters

Some clarification re James.

May I ask you please stop saying I work for Sick Bikes. Or ‘help out’

The relationship I have with Sick Bikes is they are a client of mine:

One of the businesses I own is a remote inbox triage service. A bit like a virtual assistant

Sick have used my company for a while.

I do not work for them.

I’ve just been catching up on events and it makes for pretty brutal reading!

Did they honestly think that PB interview was going to be their big comeback? How many times have they been given the chance to publicly ‘set the record straight’? I initially thought that article was a big cop-out on Pinkbike’s part but as it turns out, they didn’t have to add anything. The absolute avalanche of bollards that comes straight from the horses mouth is damning enough.

Their fanboys are nowhere to be seen in the comment section. It’s a massacre.

I can’t even imagine, in my wildest dreams, how they could salvage anything from this. Surely they’re dead and buried now?

And before anyone accuses me of being a ‘hater’ who wants to see a small company fail, when I bought a Spooky, a Brooklyn, an S&M, a Charge, a Cotic, a Geometron etc.. etc.. they all took my money and provided a quality product in return. You know, the fundamental stuff.

EDIT:

How they move forward will be of interest, we hope it’s with caution, and humility

A bit of humility would have went a long way over a year ago. Way too late for that now.

an another note does anybody know the surname of the csutomer services guy? I know hes James, but I find it odd that they mention customer services and how jordan shouldnt do it in the PB article but they never mention James. Am I being a tin foil hat wearing conspiracy theorist by saying the article was written by JAMES Smurthwaite ?
Anyway I’ve sent the PB article writer this
“Hi James
In light of the recent article/advertorial/poor excuses with Sick Bicycles and their version of events (lies in anybody elses language) would you consider sending out a list of questions about our experiences dealing with them? Just to give some sort of balance to the lies and mis-information that they have provided you with in the article?
I only ask as I ordered my frames 16th Jan 2019, was told delivery circa 1st March,then 15th March told they were in customs and Jordan was “fighting to shore and dispatch the frames” oddly enough I found out yesterday that the builder of those frames still has them because Sick hasnt paid him.
Maybe you should ask Marino Bikes as well, because Sick have also lied to him and left him out of pocket. I have a list of emails since 16th Jan with a set of replies that would make you question everything they have said to you in that “article”
I’m more than happy to compile them into a timeline for you to enjoy. I’ll be honest some of the emails make me look like a whiney **** but I have been constantly lied to by Sick Bicycles so I’m not ashamed to put it out there.

Hopefully you’ll follow up on the article with the voices of the customers
Cheers
Chris “

would we still work with them, yes absolutely no doubt

Nice to hear you got paid

Great article Hannah.

I can’t believe any reputable business would want to work with these man children again after all this.

I’ve got a funny brain and will be instantly put off by a product if they are associated with something or someone I don’t like. It’s a shame as I’m drawn to weird and different products and I do like my carbon wheels. I get called stubborn quite a lot at work 🙂

First comment I’ve made on this shower of shite, but I can’t help feeling that I’m not the only one that does this.

I skimmed through the PB “article” as I got bored of the guff that was being spouted. I doubt we’ll ever find out where the money went, all people can do is have an educated guess.

You lot do know the the sheep breed is Merino don’t you? 🤔

Spengle is a they not a him, there are 47 of us, with a 60%/40% female/male split in the business.

Sorry folks. No intention to be rude [/dannybaker]. I thought it was a single person not a company responding. My bad.

It’s probably already been noted but their “we’re back..” Instagram post has comments disabled. Presumably a mistake there…

Another +1 For great article by Hannah and a fair point by Mark, too. I need a few t-shirts come to think of it

As another Worthing local I keep half expecting to see them at the Steyning trails or somewhere else around here. That is assuming they actually ride bikes of course. If I do what should I ask?

I pretty much cycle past their tattoo place daily…

I’ll let you all know when a big shipping container turns up…!

DrP

Don’t think it’s the same james, james smurthwaite is (was?) editor at Dirt, which seems a bit of a fall from grace to be penning such a tug job of a piece like that.

Also, when the pinkbike advertorial went live i’m sure it was titled something like “a lot of people wanted to see us fail” but now it’s just about responding to angry folk. Did PB realise they went a bit far?

Spengle, thanks for joining in here. It’s brave for a brand to dive in to the bear pit that bike fora can be!

I like your stuff, even though it’s not really for me. It’s quirky, niche, different. All good things. Yes, people think your wheels are odd, some don’t like the looks, but no one thinks you’re a bad bunch of people.

From a business reputation point of view, a read of this, and the assorted PB commentary on the topic should surely give you cause for concern.

Jesus christ and i thought i had problems. I feel sorry for all involved.

just normal people getting out of their depth and things fall apart, the centre cannot hold.

Next thing you know you’re arranging to have your wife kidnapped and someone winds up getting fed in to a woodchipper.

That pb article is just a rehash of what they (sick) were telling people 6 weeks ago wasn’t it?. Pb need to have a good look at themselves for publishing that crap.

Could be worse, it could be 48 articles a day on the EWS.