Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Fetish cycles track frame

Has anyone here heard of this frame? I can hardly even find any info on the company other than i have seen some of thier other bikes on ebay going prety cheap.

http://www.fetishcycles.com/images/Img332.gif

I think the factory that makes leader frames also makes these. They share many of the same disgusting characteristics.

looks a bit like the Leader frame...someone have a pic of one for comparison?

hmm...maybe different track ends?

EDIT: beat me by a couple seconds

i had kinda thought so too but a little searching found a thread on another forum where someone made the same assumption about a different frame and some guy who foks for fetish came on there and disputed the accusation

http://fetishcycles.com/

i've got a fetish MTB frame (SS, of course) that i got from ebay and i love it. it's built like a TANK.. probably the toughest aluminum frame i've seen. it's got a bunch of extra cable routing and stuff, but it was dang cheap and hella strong. the powdercoat seems a bit jinky tho (cable rub is wearing thru pretty quick). all in all it's dope.

hahahahaa

http://fetishcycles.com/images/Img27.gif

it's just too cliche

hahahahaa

http://fetishcycles.com/images/Img27.gif

it's just too cliche


What was that? I couldn't hear you over all the breasts....

I have a Fetish Cycles frame (Obsession). It is definitely built like a tank.
The only thing I question about the company is the supposed 'deals' on
ebay.

Somebody on ebay who lives in the same city as the Fetish Cycles shop
seems to have an unlimited supply of frames to sell on ebay. I've never
heard of anyone actually purchasing one of their frames directly from
them at the listed prices.

$200 is damn cheap for a nice alum frame no questions there.
Do I believe that I saved $600 by getting it on ebay? Nope.

This is my completed Fetish frame:
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=108762

Pick it up if the price is right for you, I'm sure you'll be happy.

Kaz

I think the factory that makes leader frames also makes these. They share many of the same disgusting characteristics.

is the seat tube supposed to be used for storing things? U.G.L.Y.

is the seat tube supposed to be used for storing things? U.G.L.Y.

built in stash pocket (sorry... couldn't resist)

you can put your weed in it

the edible kind of course

i had kinda thought so too but a little searching found a thread on another forum where someone made the same assumption about a different frame and some guy who foks for fetish came on there and disputed the accusation

Well, if they're not made by the same people, then the two factories should start an all asian ugly weld competition. It would be like an alleycat, but they would weld frames and judges would award prizes for "Ugliest overall weld", "Weakest weld", "Most misaligned frame", "Quickest ugly weld", and "Strangest thing stored in the seattube". Additional festivities would include "worst tech support" and "lamest photo with a finished frame."

What was that? I couldn't hear you over all the breasts....


what's that? fetish cycles is actually owned by my white of fyxmotosis??

just kidding. looks like they rented out a hot topic for their little picture day.

seriously though, i ride my bike in knee high white platform boots all the time. the fishnets provide more than enough ventilation.

i think it looks pretty cool, I havent heard of them before but for 200 bucks, why not buy an Iro frame?

seriously though, i ride my bike in knee high white platform boots all the time. the fishnets provide more than enough ventilation.

Pics?

Why do people make those huge rough welds? Dear lord they are ugly.

I became a dealer for Fetish Cycles about a year ago. It tooks me quite a few phone calls and emails to even get setup with them.

Besides being a little slow to respond on phone calls and emails, and shipping the products I have received and sold from Fetish have been wonderful.

The problem we faced as a dealer, and why we ultimately have continued to sell their products is a slight questionable business practice.

There is a seller on ebay (bikekingusa I believe) who Fetish has told me is NOT from their company but is rather an indepenent distributor of their products. This "distributor" obviously buys Fetish products for LOWER prices than a dealer can.

The issue arises when the Distributor, rather than selling to Dealers, sells the products on ebay for LOWER prices than the dealers can BUY. So as a dealer I can buy the frame on Ebay, for cheaper than I can buy directly from Fetish.

I brought this to the attention of the owner of Fetish, who basically told me that this distributor buys a lot of frames so they will allow her to sell at whatever cost she wants. Which basically means that there is no point to be a dealer for these guys.

That being said, the frames are great.
Their complete bikes tend to have some issues (overly untrue wheels, missing parts like QR Skewers, bolts for disc brakes etc) which they are very slow to fix/replace.

So if price is your primary motivator and you want a good looking frame, Fetish is a good option and ebay is your best place to buy them.

By the way, BIKEINGUSA the seller on ebay is GOOD. She may price the products so that dealers have no incentive to deal with Fetish, but she is quick to ship and very good with communication (better than Fetish themselves).

I have had many Fetish frames come and go through our doors and have never had an issue with them at all.

PS. Ignore the prices on the FETISH Site. I am convinced that they are only there so that you feel like you got a deal when you actually buy them. Even if you as a consumer called Fetish direct they would sell the frame for less than listed without a second glance.

my welding experience is mostly with steel, maybe a total of 10 minutes with aluminum, but from what i understand, smoothing the aluminum welds significantly weakens them...

check out an aluminum motorcycle frame... "a fallen stack of nickels"...

looks like the same frame to me: http://www.leaderbikeusa.com/Auction%20Road/735TR/LARGE%20BLUE/PIC1.jpg

so ugly.

my welding experience is mostly with steel, maybe a total of 10 minutes with aluminum, but from what i understand, smoothing the aluminum welds significantly weakens them...


my guess is the “smoothing” is done by making an additional pass over the weld with the TIG torch. a wash pass or bead or something like that. a big no no when it comes to steel, but I don’t think it’s a problem with aluminum since it undergoes heat treating / artificial aging after it’s finished. I think cannondale does it.


check out an aluminum motorcycle frame... "a fallen stack of nickels"...

that ***** is hard to do!

My aluminum cannondale has smooth welds.

Motorcycle frame welding: I had an aluminum sportbike. I thought those were robot welds?

OMG these bikes are so UGLY.

My aluminum cannondale has smooth welds.
might be why some people call them "crackandfail"s... not giving you a hard time, i've never owned a cannondale, i've just heard that their welds crack...



Motorcycle frame welding: I had an aluminum sportbike. I thought those were robot welds?

the two pearls of welding wisdom i was given were:
for aluminum: "it should look like a fallen stack of nickles"
for steel: "it should sound like sizzling bacon"

like i said, i really have no experience with aluminum, but i know the people who taught me would grind down and smooth steel welds all the time, but it never happened with aluminum...


and again, note, i'm really just making some slightly educated assumptions about this...


all that said, the welds on the fetish frame look waaaaaay better than on the leader...

Yup, the Fetish and leader aren't the same. In addition to the welds, note the difference in seatstay cluster placement and the headtube junction. Track end shaping is also different.

My aluminum cannondale has smooth welds.

Motorcycle frame welding: I had an aluminum sportbike. I thought those were robot welds?

i thought cannondale hand sanded their welds?

I have no idea. Can you tell from these pics?

From what I know, Leader bikes is Taiwanese owned bike company with their own manufacturing with a division selling in the USA.

Fetish is an American Company that has their frames built in Taiwan. I know of at least half a dozen serious manufacturers in Taiwan, and I know that they probably build frames for several companies each, so I am sure there will be some similarities. I am fairly sure that the frames are built by separate manufacturers.

These companies need to spend more money on decal design.

God damn.

Thanks Don. What are the consequences of sanding a weld?

$200 is damn cheap for a nice alum frame no questions there.
Kaz

It sounds about right for $25 worth of tubing and $3 worth of labor. I know you like your frame, and you should - it gets you out riding and that is what counts. Just my grumpy 2 cents on Taiwanese made frames.

Sorry, but the prices of Fetish or Leader really aren't so great when you consider they lack a fork and headset... probably don't have a seatpost clamp either.

Target now sells a roadbike for $99 that has horizontal dropouts (and bolt on rear wheels)- granted it is geared with shifters at the stem, and it weighs 40lbs... and I've never heard of the brand, and the derailleur (and maybe even the chain) is made of plastic. It does have a fork and headset, and probably would make the cheapest conversion for a NEW bike. You'd even have some wheels that are mostly round to work with... and drop (albeit not pista) bars.

Sorry, but the prices of Fetish or Leader really aren't so great when you consider they lack a fork and headset... probably don't have a seatpost clamp either.

Target now sells a roadbike for $99 that has horizontal dropouts (and bolt on rear wheels)- granted it is geared with shifters at the stem, and it weighs 40lbs... and I've never heard of the brand, and the derailleur (and maybe even the chain) is made of plastic. It does have a fork and headset, and probably would make the cheapest conversion for a NEW bike. You'd even have some wheels that are mostly round to work with... and drop (albeit not pista) bars.


The Fetish, Leader, IRO, JADE or any OEM Taiwanese frames are going to have their positives and negatives, but the TARGET, or WALMAT $99 specials will give you nothing but heart ache and will cost you MUCH more money in the long run (or even short run) if you ride more than around the block once or twice a year. Literally there is NOTHING good about these bikes.

Most shoes cost more than $99 nowadays, so don't think for a second that you are getting ANYTHING worthwhile on an entire bike that is costing you $99 Retail (which probably cost $30 to manufacture).

The Fork will be crap, the frame will be HEAVY crap (the frame probably weighs 25lbs on its own), and the headset will likely feel like its grinding after two or three rides. Its not even worth the effort to take parts off it. You're MUCH better off buying an old beat up roadbike from the eighties at a garage sale and doing a conversion than wasting your money on one of these dollar store crap machines.

You WILL get what you pay for.

I was completely joking about the conversion- except that I actually DID see such a road bike at Target today. I can't imagine that the could even build one for the cost of wholesale.

i put a wal-mart kids bike together for someone once. it had a three month warranty on parts and a six month warranty on the frame.

yeah ... we did a neighborhood bike fix up event yesterday and all the kids came out with their wllmart/target/kmart specials. they were such a pain to work on because they just were not designed to be ridden for more than a summer let alone worked on. one older dude did bring in an awesome green puch road bike from the 70s and that was the highlight of the event for me.

if i were to make a line of kids bikes, they would be bmx frames with very adjustable seats and stems, mtb tires and a single speed coaster brake. after yesterday, i'm convinced that kids just don't need derails. cause no one brought in a bike the would actually shift. crap just got in the way.

AMEN! Brother, AMEN!

DW

ahem, that's Sister! ;) But the sentiment is still the same.

AMEN! Brother, AMEN!

DW
Damn, Don, didn't you see the XX? How could you have missed that?

There are others out there that know we get what we pay for, would desperately love a handmade frame, but need to scour the cheap market for the best out there for the price.

Because Tig welding isnt as pretty as fillet brazing steel...
the welds have to be larger to make sure you have penetration between both tubes to have a strong joint.

this is just another example of a $61 OEM frame...be careful guys ( and gals )!

DW

How can I get my hands on a 61$ frame? Also, what does OEM mean? Thanks.

There are others out there that know we get what we pay for, would desperately love a handmade frame, but need to scour the cheap market for the best out there for the price.

AMEN to you too!

How can I get my hands on a 61$ frame? Also, what does OEM mean? Thanks.

Oh man, everytime we talk about the OEM frames, someone asks where they can get one for $61 dollars. OEM stands for ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURER. In Taiwan, there are several OEMs that make frames quite a few US Based companies.

The Companies that import these frames (which we have learned that some of which, in the Track frame realm anyways, wholesale for $60-ish each are required to bring in hundreds (I believe the minimum is 100) of frames in a single order to receive the deal. In order for this price to exist, mass production of these frames is required. This is why you see several small companies, with similar looking Alum track frames (Jade, Fetish, IRO, Leader etc...)

Don't think that $60 is a price that YOU can get. After shipping, customs, storage and profit margin, these frames are put on the retail market for $200-$300.

This is a great option for many people, as the frames look decent, work decent and are affordable, although someone always complains about how ugly the welds look (this is just a common look in Tig Welded Frames).

So if you WANT one of those $61 Frames, get a Fetish, a Jade, a Leader etc...but unless you want 100 of them, pay your $200+ (which is still nothing) and get out there.

But, if you want a bike that doesn't look like the thousands of imported frames that look exactly like it, that is MADE in North America, look to the builders like Don Walker, Winterborne, Marinoni etc.. to build you a frame that although will cost you more, will be:

1. High quality and will have personal care taken on a one by one basis

2. Have YOU in mind when being built (not just a number on an assembly line, and have your stubby legs or lanky arms taken into consideration when built. It will fit you.

Not to mention supporting your local builders will keep this art alive, and not lose the entire cycling market to mass/machine produced frame makers.

So in short, you can one of those frames pretty much anywhere I mentioned above and more, just NOT for $61.

very informative post

Cool, thanks. Yeah, I knew that 61$ was an immpossibility, I was just being a smartass.

not funny... or cool.

DW


Welcome to the internet :rolleyes:

We need to put a few signs up around here... "Don't feed the animals", "Don't taunt the framebuilders" etc. ;)

Hey now, TIG doesn't have to be ugly.

http://entirely-adequate.com/brazey.jpg

Hey now, TIG doesn't have to be ugly.

http://entirely-adequate.com/brazey.jpg

Add: but it doesn't have to look good either. :D

Add: but it doesn't have to look good either. :D

It doesn't need to. ;)