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Came across a couple of brands today, for sale in the UK, one of which I'd only seen abroad before, and the other I'd never even heard of! I'm sure if you're brought up in their respective native countries, they're very popular, but I wasn't, so they were new to me in the UK. Just like say Whyte, Orange or Planet X/On One may be in this country for instance.
Anyway... The 2 brands... Bergamont (who I'd seen before when in Germany), and Bottechia. The Bergamont 29er looked quite well specced and good geometry for the money, the Bottechia's less so (typical Italians!) and their road bikes looked to me like a cheap Chinese knock off Pinarello! But that's just my opinion...
So what other brands that are popular abroad do we not really get in the UK, or do we actually get but surprisingly nobody really knows about it?
Bergamont had a uk disty. They didnt offer much over other brands and were quite expensive
Bottichia do a line in recumbents thats popular with audaxers
hmmm "do not get in UK"
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/bottecchia-r625-8avio-athena/
bit of provenance http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottavio_Bottecchia
One brand that is pretty much unheard of over here but fairly common in various parts of Europe is RAM from Bulgaria. At least, I've never seen one in the UK other than one owned by a Polish guy I knew, who brought it with him.
Some pretty tasty looking bikes in their range.
and their road bikes looked to me like a cheap Chinese knock off Pinarello! But that's just my opinion...
In fairness Pinarellos look like cheap Chinese knock offs of Pinarellos 😀
An Italian brand called MDE Bikes has only recently started to be imported into the UK. They're quite well known in Italy, but barely known over here. I'm riding for them/the UK distributor this year on their Carve 6. They're hand made in Italy and you can have custom geometry, as I've done with mine: XL seat tube, top tube to be perfect with a 50mm stem and a slightly slacker head angle.
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The company:
http://www.mdebikes.com/wordpress/frames-2013/
The UK distributor:
http://www.sps-distribution.co.uk/
Bottechia have been around for years one of my mates has a Bottechia of Colin Sturgess hung on the wall
rocketdog, didn't say you don't get them in the UK. Read what I wrote... I had never seen them before, and didn't know of them myself. Obviously they're available through a distributor though!
Bergamont had a uk disty. They didnt offer much over other brands and were quite expensive
Fair enough, they may have been, one I was looking at was well priced I thought. Might have been a 2012 model with significant reduction in price mind. Just looked at the geometry for the 29ers too, REALLY short back ends yet reasonable mud clearance! Not saying I'm about to buy one, but looks quite good though...
Biscuit Powered - Member
One brand that is pretty much unheard of over here but fairly common in various parts of Europe is RAM from Bulgaria. At least, I've never seen one in the UK other than one owned by a Polish guy I knew, who brought it with him.
> http://www.ram-bikes.com/eng/
A couple of ram sponsored riders down in the West Country.
Boy at work has a monsen ( he lives in jo'burg )
He was going to buy in houston but spesh couldnt touch momsen for quality and weight at the price.
Checker Pig, a blast from the past. They made snowboards BITD too.
Lots of steel mtb frame builders sobre and bronto spring to mind.
MDE have been brought into the UK for years and years...
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Good looking bikes them Brontos
I can only apologise for that mistake then. I do know that only recently SPS Distribution has started to get the all round bikes trail bikes, like the Carve, out there, which is why the Enduro team was formed. There is also a Downhill team too.DaveyBoyWonder - Member
MDE have been brought into the UK for years and years.
Is there still scope for a company to start distributing or act as customer service for any cycling companies?
rocketdog, didn't say you don't get them in the UK. Read what I wrote
one of which I'd only seen abroad before, and the other I'd never even heard of!
not heard of Bottechia, bloomin noobs! 🙄
Swobo?
I'm not sure that tiny little custom builders count but every time I'm at Eurobike there's some humungous stands from companies (usually German) that I've never heard of.
Here, this should keep you busy
[url=] http://www.eurobike-show.com/eb-en/list-of-exhibitors/index.php [/url]
Bottichia do a line in recumbents thats popular with audaxers
Bottecchia? I think you're confusing them with Bacchetta 😉
Guess who's bringing the MDE's in????
"MDE also produce high quality components as well, ranging from pedals to bashguards, all of which look suitably bomb-proof and show the same attention to detail as their frames," said riderruncompany's [b]Elbry Sandland[/b].
😀 😀 😀 😀
The virtual absence of KTM amazes me.
They used to bring MDE into the UK but it is now definitely SPS Distribution, which is run by Steve Parr, the man behind the UK Gravity Enduro Series.Guess who's bringing the MDE's in????"MDE also produce high quality components as well, ranging from pedals to bashguards, all of which look suitably bomb-proof and show the same attention to detail as their frames," said riderruncompany's Elbry Sandland.
Good news for MDE then!
MDE- they need to change that graphic from MOE's name
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hunk system? Have a word! 😆
The virtual absence of KTM amazes me.
http://www.freeflowbikes.com/Full-Suspension/Complete-Bikes/KTM/
😆 It actually says 'I-LINK SYSTEM' but you're the 4th person to think that it said hunk system. The spaces between the letters on the decal are just a tiny bit to small.hora - Member
MDE- they need to change that graphic from MOE's namehunk system? Have a word!
http://www.freeflowbikes.com/Full-Suspension/Complete-Bikes/KTM/
Yeah, I know there are a few outlets, but I've never seen a bike in the wild, or even here.
Terrible! It reads like HUNK. Graphics misread. I wont be the only one when I see it on a trail/mucky. A fellow riding his Moe Hunk suspension bike.
I-Link System being misread as Hunk System is nothing compared to the problem C LI N T EASTWOOD had early on in his career.
Well at least he wasn't called 'Burt'. I just don't get how Burt Reynolds made it with that name 😆
I have a Swobo?
I-Link System being misread as Hunk System is nothing compared to the problem C LI N T EASTWOOD had early on in his career.
I used to work for a company called Market Research UK. My email address was:
bob@MrUK.co.uk
which suggested I worked for some kind of mens' beauty pageant organisation 😳
We distribute Massi bikes. a relatively unknown but high quality Spanish brand. They have been going for years, since 1934 in fact.
It will become a more well known brand. Working hard on that but we need to keep the niche thing going too.
http://www.r53sport.com/index.php/products/massi-bikes
We distribute Massi bikes. a relatively unknown but high quality Spanish brand. They have been going for years, since 1934 in fact.
Good value clothes, too - at least here in Spain.
A freeride model. Have a word cheesy Spanish brand
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We always used to chuckle at "Heavy Tools" when we went to the occasional euro race......
And there is a totally different Canyon bikes company in Switzerland.
www.canyon.ch
I remember being in Switzerland a couple of years back & encountering the Thömus brand
They had some decent looking bikes, but fairly pricey for the spec
Tried googling them but couldn't find anything much, so maybe they don't exist any more
Have a look at Shockblaze, another Bulgarian brand who are producing some very nice bikes at fantastic prices, road and mountain bikes and just launched their 29er range.
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Hargroves were bringing them in.
KTM's def here. There's a £5500 full suss only three miles from here in the local shop.
[url= http://www.radon-bikes.de/xist4c/web/home_id_9081_.htm ]Radon[/url] are pretty big in Europe and are one of several German brands which are virtually unheard of in the UK (despite them being along the lines of Rose and Canyon - and now available through bike-discount IIRC) together with [url= http://www.bergamont.de/en/ ]Bergamont[/url], [url= http://www.simplon.com/ ]Simplon[/url] (who all do Road / CX / MTB / etc), and [url= http://www.rotwild.de/en/ ]Rotwild[/url] (who do very good bikes apparently), [url= http://www.conway-bikes.de/en/ ]Conway[/url] and probably a few niche road brands I've forgotten.
I've not seen another Rose (Road or MTB) on my travels yet, other than the one I'm sat on.
http://www.rb-bike.cz/
http://www.pdcracing.com/bikes.php
http://caminade.eu/?l=en
http://www.zumbicycles.com/
Pronghorn don't seem very well known.