Freestyle Frames, What Gives?
 

So I've never gotten a solid answer on this before, but what is the real difference between frames from these different manufacturers?
All I hear is "this sucks" or "that sucks" and it all seems to revolve around the color or weight of the bike.

I've looked at bikes from Diamondback, Eastern, Fit, Kink, Giant, etc and still can't see any big difference.

There seem to be only a few things that sepearte the bikes and those are:
-Frame material- basically you got 4130 CrMo, 4130 main tubes, and HiTen steel. No differnt blends of steel, no different thicknesses or butting or shaping. Definetely not any different method of construction.

-Bottom bracket- Mid, American, Spanish, etc. No real bearing on ride as far as I can tell, but whatever.


So can anyone give me a real answer as to what makes a full CrMo Eastern differ from a full CrMo Kink or Diamondback, besides one "sucking?"

For the most part, you hit it on the head. Color and weight. Having a full 4130 CrMo frame is better than a partial CrMo and def better than steel. One variable might be top tube length. Most range from 20 to 20.25 to 20.5 to 20.75 or 21 for street/park bikes. Flatland frames top tubes tend to be smaller at 18 to 20. There also some slight differences in chainstay lengths making it easier to manual (wheelie) than others. Other than geometry, it's apples to apples. Bottom brackets are the same way too. To answer your question, there is no real difference between a CrMo Eastern, CrMo Kink and CrMo DB. It's all hype. Ride what you like. F the haters.

That's what I've been saying. Some kid comes in wanting a CrMo Eastern that we need to order in, when I've got a CrMo Diamondback for $2-300 less.

Eastern is mostly about aesthetics and looks. Some of their parts, even in their higher end completes, are garbage. Even their full Chromo bikes aren't up to snuff with other completes.

Not to be a juicebag, but can you explain "why" they some of their parts / completes are garbage? What is the criteria used in determining this? I don't have an Eastern so you won't hurt my feelings.

The overall quality of their parts. Horror stories all over the internet of things snapping/falling apart. And just look at their stupid ideas. Cutting holes out of their frames to save half an ounce? Really?

Eastern has a lifetime warranty and lifetime trade options on their frames.

What do you plan on doing with it?

As one who builds and sells Easterns, I have to say that it is an aesthetic company. The whole idea of cutting holes into their seat tubes is one of the worst ideas I've ever seen;
1. Because of it, there is not nearly enough claming torque on the seat post.
2. Once water gets in there, the frame is toast. BMXers on the whole do not know how to maintain a bike, and do not grasp the concept. Therefore, the bottom bracket gets rusty, and over the course of a year or two, the frame rusts out from the inside.

In addition, their aluminum chainrings are bent within a day or two, either they take a small hit and get their wobble on, or the ring gets torqued crooked. That happened when I took an Ace of Spades for a spin, I torqued the thing crooked. That shouldn't happen to anything.

On top of that, the people who run Eastern are complete *****s. They have internet outlets and LBS outlets. The prices that placed like Dan's Comp are selling these things for are like $10 above our cost. Ther is no way to keep up. Either Easten gets rid of us, or they get rid of their online outlet. They can't have both.

Tommy: Let's think about this for a sec, Ted, why would somebody put a guarantee on a box? Hmmm, very interesting.
Ted Nelson, Customer: Go on, I'm listening.
Tommy: Here's the way I see it, Ted. Guy puts a fancy guarantee on a box 'cause he wants you to fell all warm and toasty inside.
Ted Nelson, Customer: Yeah, makes a man feel good.
Tommy: 'Course it does. Why shouldn't it? Ya figure you put that little box under your pillow at night, the Guarantee Fairy might come by and leave a quarter, am I right, Ted?
[chuckles until he sees that Ted is not laughing too]
Ted Nelson, Customer: [impatiently] What's your point?
Tommy: The point is, how do you know the fairy isn't a crazy glue sniffer? "Building model airplanes" says the little fairy; well, we're not buying it. He sneaks into your house once, that's all it takes. The next thing you know, there's money missing off the dresser, and your daughter's knocked up. I seen it a hundred times.
Ted Nelson, Customer: But why do they put a guarantee on the box?
Tommy: Because they know all they sold ya was a guaranteed piece of ****. That's all it is, isn't it? Hey, if you want me to take a dump in a box and mark it guaranteed, I will. I got spare time. But for now, for your customer's sake, for your daughter's sake, ya might wanna think about buying a quality product from me.

Eastern, I think, is for the kids who don't know stuff about BMX and are "y0 mAn I g0t an 3A5t3rN!" I have to admit though, they're warranty isn't TOO bad. My friend snapped a 3 year old Traildigger, called Eastern up, and no questions asked they sent him a new Grim Reaper.

There you go. If the frame rusts, luck you a new frame.

Seat tube bad? Lucky you new frame.

My Snap On tools come with a lifetime warranty on the box. Should I just buy tools from K Mart without a box for my pillow.

K-Mart sells Craftsman now. I'd buy tools from there.

Straying off subject, I'd buy Craftsman before Snap-On. Less expensive, high-quality, and if you break a tool, just go to a retailer and they'll give you a new one. With Snap-On you've gotta wait for the truck.