General Cycling Discussion - Useless Product Catalogues!

Has anyone else had this problem? I am in the market for a new bike and have been requesting product catalogues from any and all manufacturers just so I can see what everyone has to offer and do some home comparisons on materials and components etc...

Well, most companies have been very good at sending me the info and others I have never heard from. Some have actually followed up with emails etc.. asking if I received the catalogues and whether there was anything else they could help with.

Now for my big beef. Some of these catalogues are absolutely uselss. They are nothing but picture books with no information whatsoever. The two worst culprits are Pinarello and Colnago. Do they rely strictly on their overwhelming reputation? There is no mention of materials used for each type of frame, no weights listed, what type of fork they are using and so on.

Sites like Trek, Marinoni and Giant have wonderful catalogues with almost any information you could look for other than test riding them. This is what other companies should be emulating.

Does anyone know where I can find some relative info on Pinarello and Colnago bikes with descriptions of the different models. Their websites are also useless so please don't direct me that way.

Thanks for listening to my rant!

Mike

perhaps this is because these companies exclusivly sell their goods through dealers (which I assume are knowledgable about the product) otherwise it just sounds like bad business....

have you tried talking to a customer service rep? maybe they can give you the details about certain products...

I really don't know were Matheson, Onatrio is, but if you are nea rMissasuagga, or Etobicoke, there is a Pinarello Dealer right there and the name of the pinarello dealer is "Pavan Cycyle", I can give you there telephone no. is905 624 66 14, this people are really good and the name of the owner is Antonio and will attend to you in the most professional way.....

Captain Crunch,

I agree 100% with your gripes. I get really annoyed with picture-book catalogs that don't give much info about the product.

Mike, for info on Pinarello bikes try this link (from Competitive Cyclist):
http://www.competitivecyclist.com/bike_pinarello.htm
For some info on colnago frames try:
http://www.worldcycling.com/merchant.mv?Screen=SFNT&ti=Bikes+%26+Frames&page=bikes.html
This is not as good as the Competitive Cyclist site (no geometry), but it has frame construction and weight for some models.

Thanks to everyone for the responses. I will take a look at some of these websites. I have seen the Pavan site and although it has not been updated lately it is a lead.

I will check out the other sites tonight.

Mike

As far as Pinarello and Colnago are concerned-they don't have to make good catalogues. Every bike they make is eagerly awaited buy a buyer, usually by some rich yuppie in a coastal city that who has more money than sense. They buy matching jerseys, too......

Originally posted by Poppaspoke
Mike, for info on Pinarello bikes try this link (from Competitive Cyclist):
http://www.competitivecyclist.com/bike_pinarello.htm
For some info on colnago frames try:
http://www.worldcycling.com/merchant.mv?Screen=SFNT&ti=Bikes+%26+Frames&page=bikes.html
This is not as good as the Competitive Cyclist site (no geometry), but it has frame construction and weight for some models.
Poppaspoke,
That is an awesome site, thanks for sharing.
Oscar

Well, things I am more interested in will be the price and the weight, but not many manufacturers provide that on their websites.

Then when I visit the shops, the shopkeepers will just bull**** a weight cus they themselves do not know.... like when I visited a GT shop and asked how heavy is the 01 GT Avalanche 1.0, that guy just said, Oh, very light, about 10kg..." which is total bull**** cus it certainly did not feel like 10kg, in fact, I weigh it to be 14kg!

As for test riding... it hard cus I can't take those new bikes to trails:(

I guess it's more of trusting the components and the bike company to give you the right thing.

Product catalogues don't do much for me at all. I prefer to see it in person, not a lousy photograph, when buying, I go by feel, not component list, If I test ride a highend bike that has all the latest stuff, but doesn't feel right, I won't get it. If it's a lower end bike, that has house/midlevel parts, but it feels great, I'll get the lower end bike and then have them swap out the house and mid range parts for the latest parts. Also, if it is some ultra high end name, doesn't mean it is the best racer/lightest/most uptodate bike around. It's all about the rider and what the rider does with the bike when parts break, not the bike, not the company. For example, I have dusted people on much higher end bikes in a race while I had my AC1 in for repairs and was using my Warp DS1 as a race bike. If there is a bike company that really impresses you, give them a test ride before you buy, you may find out that those bikes aren't what you expected. If that bike company treats you well, and you are impressed, get the bike, if you are very satisfied with the bike in later years, stick with that company. The company I like happens to be Giant.
:)

G'day Captain,
I have to disagree with you about the Pinarello catalogue. My LBS happens to be a Pinarello Distributor (dealer) (and the owners visit the factory at least once a year) and the last time i was in their looking at the Pinarello catalogue, i definitely remember their being facts and figures about their different frames including geometry. Your catalogue may have been put out by the US distributor. Also www.pinarello.com has information about their different bikes swell, I think its a pretty good website on par with any other companies I’ve looked at. I am just saying my bit.
Stew

unless a catalogue includes a way to pay for the bikes i want then they are all useless to me.