Mountain Biking - What sells a bike to you

This thread came to mind after I continue to read about people not satisfied with curstomer service, warranties and anything else involving the company itself. It made me think why do people here buy the bikes they do. If you go to any forum and do research you will find the same companies having warranty replacement problems yet people buy those bikes and then complain when they are slow, charge for 50% or don't warranty it at all...so here is the question.

What is you primary concern when buying a bike...

1 - cost
2 - value (cost vs strenght)
3 - strenght
4 - warranty
5 - customer service
6 - ahhh coool I hear this bike rocks let buy it without knowing squat diddly about the company

Better yet list them in order of importance since all of these are important.

(I posted this in another forum and am trying to get a bit of a cross reference)

For me personally

1 - value
2 - warranty
3 - customer service
4 - cost
5 - strength
6 - its cool

Marlstrom,

Got them in the right order for me, though strength isn't such a huge issue as I stick the XC side of things most of the time. I definitely want a bike that will hold up though. I'd be interested to see what other people think.

-Moab

warranty??

I never really thought much about warranty... but I guess that's because I make my own rides from parts.

Now, insurance... that's a good idea, I gotta look into that.

1 - Reputation of the builder (References)
2 - Bike's fit & performance when complete
3 - Builder's responsiveness to questions
4 - Delivery on time at agreed upon price
5 - Cost
6 - Drool factor

Originally posted by robertsdvd
warranty??

I never really thought much about warranty... but I guess that's because I make my own rides from parts.

Now, insurance... that's a good idea, I gotta look into that.

See I brake things and as of late when buying new warranty means more than almost anything...I hate companies that don't back their product with a good warranty

1 - value..GIANT won me from the beginning.
2 - warranty..I broke a frame (NRS-1), GIANT replaced it quickly and free)
3 - customer service..see #2
4 - cost...GIANT, again - always good stuff for low dough.
5 - strength...OK, so I broke a frame. But it was a lightweight XC geeky frame that I started hucking with. I suplemented it with an AC Air Light for when I feel the need to huck.
6 - its cool...I don't care so much about this. Lots of guys I ride with have high buckaroo, super cool boutique bikes (Titus Switchblade, Santa Cruz Bullit, Intense Tracer, Intense Uzzi, C'Dale Jekyll, etc.)...I can kick butt with the best of them on my budget GIANTS!!

My primary consideration is frame design, or rather performance.
Being a clydesdale, strength is secondary!

I really don't care about anything else, because frankly, if the design is top-notch, it's gonna cost a bundle and value is intrinsic. If it's the best, then it's worth the money. Customer service is also very important, but most of the stuff I buy is usually upper end, and the Co's know the value of their reputation!

L8R

Originally posted by Maelstrom
1 - value
2 - warranty
3 - customer service
4 - cost
5 - strength
6 - its cool



For me it would be:

1 - value
2 - customer service
3 - strength
4 - cost
5 - warranty
6 - its cool

Oh, we're suppose to arrange the list! Duoh!

1 - its cool (my interpretation of frame design)
2 - Strength
3 - Value
4 - Customer Service
5 - Warranty
6 - Cost

L8R

Being new to this and having recently bought my 1st mtb, (stumpjumper) there would be 2 things i'd look at if i had to do it again.

1)- it must have the components i want so that i don't have to replace 1/2 the bike aftermarket. I would look at the components and try and find a balance between price of the bike and what components i'd wanna replace. The higher the $, the less tolerable of components i'd wanna replace.

2)-reputation. again, being new to this i'd have to trust friends who know something about bikes, and reading reviews to find common threads.

If you go to any forum and do research you will find the same companies having warranty replacement problems yet people buy those bikes and then complain when they are slow, charge for 50% or don't warranty it at all

I don't mean to change the focus of the thread but I sure would like to read some of the comments about service/warranty problems etc. that have been posted to this forum. After doing a search I found a few but does anyone remember the topic (warranty problems/ service) being the subject of a thread?

Originally posted by Bikedud
I don't mean to change the focus of the thread but I sure would like to read some of the comments about service/warranty problems etc. that have been posted to this forum. After doing a search I found a few but does anyone remember the topic (warranty problems/ service) being the subject of a thread?

Not really here. I posted it here because this group of people tend to be more adult. I wanted to cross reference the info for my personal info with the other forum I posted in. Most people here tend to do a lot of research and know that stuff brakes so complaints are minimal. What gets me is people buying bikes from a company where customer service has been questionable in the past and then people having those same problems and going off in some long winded rant. I agree the customer service sucks, is slow or inadequate, but its your own fault for buying the bike/part/piece from a compay known to suck.

I have a small list of companies I don't even look at for just that reason unless my own experience ended up being different.

My list:
1. Strength
2. Value
3. Customer Service
4. Warranty
5. Brand Reputation (ie. will they work with you in an honorable fashion and have they been around long enough to develop a good rep.)
6. Cost
7. Zoot Factor

Originally posted by Raiyn
My list:
1. Strength
2. Value
3. Customer Service
4. Warranty
5. Brand Reputation (ie. will they work with you in an honorable fashion and have they been around long enough to develop a good rep.)
6. Cost
7. Zoot Facctor

I am gonna guess that zoot is how cool it is :D

Yes. BTW Thanks SO much for highlighting my bad spelling :rolleyes::beer:

Originally posted by Raiyn
Yes. BTW Thanks SO much for highlighting my bad spelling :rolleyes::beer:

Funny I didn't even notice the spelling :)...