is there a brand you particularly loathe?
01-09-14, 10:08 PM
#26
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I can't say I dislike any specific brands, but older treks do nothing for me. They are just kind of "meh".
If a bike has tow different color rims, then I loathe that bike.
If a bike has tow different color rims, then I loathe that bike.
01-09-14, 10:10 PM
#27
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De Rosa.......burn me now!!!
Anyway, who wants to ride a flowery named bike??
Anyway, who wants to ride a flowery named bike??
01-09-14, 10:10 PM
#28
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Well, the OP made no mention of vintage, so I have to say cheap, modern, Chinese made mountain bikes like Schwinn and Mongoose. The reason being my son in law brought me two of these "slightly used" gems that he "got a good deal" on and expected me to turn them into actual bicycles. Ha- it's impossible.
It was hard to tell him they weren't worth the trouble.
It was hard to tell him they weren't worth the trouble.
01-09-14, 10:10 PM
#29
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Not the first time I've heard that.
Colnago for me
DD
Colnago for me
DD
01-09-14, 10:11 PM
#30
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Interesting that Trek, Cannondale, Specialized, and even Schwinn, we've got the big American companies pretty well covered.
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01-09-14, 10:27 PM
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Not my cup of tea and honestly, if you look up uneven build quality in the dictionary, there is a Raleigh right there in front of your very eyes.
No thanks.
01-09-14, 10:46 PM
#33
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C. Itoh was already mentioned, That brand did gall me a bit when I first saw one and along the top or downtube was text: C. Itoh World's Finest Bicycle. I think I was 11 or so. It was plain to me that it was not, but I was an absolutest, Cherry brakes are not the finest.
I avoided Colnago for decades. Any concept of the bikes being "hand built" was lost to me when in 1975 Bikeology Bike Shop boasted in their advertising that they had 500 Colnago frames coming that year... Doing the math, with them being just ONE retail outlet caused me to take a dim view of Colnago for quite a while. Now I own three. They are from before 1974, so I am sticking to my view in that regard and I must admit that in the dark days for road bikes of the mtb. era that Colnago straighten up their act. The bikes looked much better again.
Raleigh gets close to loathing status for my having to build up any number of Records in the mid 70's where one of the key operations was to straighten the frame so the bike would shift decently, some even came with wheels that while 4X laced the final crossover was not interlaced to make machine building that mush faster. Rather than working with labor, they just took more and more value out of the bike that they rendered themselves unable to build a decent bike. Eventually having to go offshore to have bikes built for them and undermining their reputation in the process.
I avoided Colnago for decades. Any concept of the bikes being "hand built" was lost to me when in 1975 Bikeology Bike Shop boasted in their advertising that they had 500 Colnago frames coming that year... Doing the math, with them being just ONE retail outlet caused me to take a dim view of Colnago for quite a while. Now I own three. They are from before 1974, so I am sticking to my view in that regard and I must admit that in the dark days for road bikes of the mtb. era that Colnago straighten up their act. The bikes looked much better again.
Raleigh gets close to loathing status for my having to build up any number of Records in the mid 70's where one of the key operations was to straighten the frame so the bike would shift decently, some even came with wheels that while 4X laced the final crossover was not interlaced to make machine building that mush faster. Rather than working with labor, they just took more and more value out of the bike that they rendered themselves unable to build a decent bike. Eventually having to go offshore to have bikes built for them and undermining their reputation in the process.
01-09-14, 11:18 PM
#35
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Wright Cycles - oh, oh, the bikes must be so special just because they built an airplane. Wright Cycles look like they were built in Taiwan.
01-09-14, 11:21 PM
#36
What??? Only 2 wheels?
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Loathe? I was never a big fan the Stingray stuff. Were they even real bicycles?
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01-09-14, 11:25 PM
#37
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These are particularly loathesome, particularly because Ikea and its ownership is especially loathesome:
01-09-14, 11:32 PM
#38
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Well we seem to have a clear front runner with Specialized getting better than half for some vairied reasons.
01-10-14, 12:16 AM
#39
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Me too on Specialized. They have more money that God, and they seem to want the rest of it. Nothing as chilling in the terms of developing the market as one huge player willing and able to slap down anyone they see as a competitor to some small, insignificant corner of the their empire.
I know they've made some very nice equipment over the years, some of it much nicer that anything I could afford, but since we're talking "brands" here, not the bicycles themselves, I'll pitch those litigious b@stards into the heap.
I know they've made some very nice equipment over the years, some of it much nicer that anything I could afford, but since we're talking "brands" here, not the bicycles themselves, I'll pitch those litigious b@stards into the heap.
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● 1971 Grandis SL ● 1972 Lambert Grand Prix frankenbike ● 1972 Raleigh Super Course fixie ● 1973 Nishiki Semi-Pro ● 1979 Motobecane Grand Jubile ●1980 Apollo "Legnano" ● 1984 Peugeot Vagabond ● 1985 Shogun Prairie Breaker ● 1986 Merckx Super Corsa ● 1987 Schwinn Tempo ● 1988 Schwinn Voyageur ● 1989 Bottechia Team ADR replica ● 1990 Cannondale ST600 ● 1993 Technium RT600 ● 1996 Kona Lava Dome ●
01-10-14, 12:49 AM
#40
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schwinn
surley, I know all the hipsters love em but I think they are more hype and name recognition then anything
jamis
mongoose and diamond back used to be big names in the bmx world but now they are ****.
kona
I dont loath them but......
surley, I know all the hipsters love em but I think they are more hype and name recognition then anything
jamis
mongoose and diamond back used to be big names in the bmx world but now they are ****.
kona
I dont loath them but......
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01-10-14, 12:54 AM
#41
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Never like Cannondales and could not understand why they had such a strong following. After that, any department store bike from the 70;s such as Columbia, Murray, and Huffy. Nightmarish to repair-the cheaper the bike, the more complicated and pain in the rear end they were to work on.
01-10-14, 01:11 AM
#42
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This is becoming a very interesting thread with Canondale taking a very interesting second place. I always liked Canondales despite there fiobles over the years stiff as hell frames with short too strike clearance, hard to get bolt on dropouts on some models and some realy funky Canondale only forks and headsets. The quality on there alluminium frames and paint has been second to none and nearly all there models Road or MTB have come with some very nice components.
01-10-14, 03:32 AM
#43
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Neither Nishiki nor Fuji do anything for me. Fuji's as a flip do well, but the ride is unremarkable and their low end bikes are really dreadful. Nishiki just lack aesthetics IMHO. Giant falls in the same camp too.
01-10-14, 05:21 AM
#44
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I have about a dozen old Specialized MTB's in various stages of completion. Their business practices are really bothersome. But I also can't get rid of the bikes. It's a tough one isn't it?
01-10-14, 05:32 AM
#45
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"Loathe" is kind of a strong word - but the dealer-based bike brands I probably would not buy new are as follows:
Raleigh (indifferent build quality for far too long)
Trek (Aluminum bikes were too rigid; Armstrong vs. Lemond debacle)
Specialized (Sinyard is the benchmark for scumbag hipster hypocrite)
Surly (over-rated ROC-built hype machines)
Cannondale (road bikes were too rigid)
Fisher mountain bikes (due to Evolution headsets and more-than-occasionally-stupid design choices)
Colnago (lame/overpriced)
Raleigh (indifferent build quality for far too long)
Trek (Aluminum bikes were too rigid; Armstrong vs. Lemond debacle)
Specialized (Sinyard is the benchmark for scumbag hipster hypocrite)
Surly (over-rated ROC-built hype machines)
Cannondale (road bikes were too rigid)
Fisher mountain bikes (due to Evolution headsets and more-than-occasionally-stupid design choices)
Colnago (lame/overpriced)
01-10-14, 05:40 AM
#46
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01-10-14, 05:49 AM
#48
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Definitely Raleigh.
I know lots of people like them, but they didn't have to spend their Saturday mornings building them.
Man, they shipped some stinkers.
I can probably come up with some more brands though.
Working in a bike shop isn't all it's cracked up to be.
Edit: The maddening part of the Raleigh brand was one never knew what issues you would have until you started building. Frame alignment, whacked drop outs and poor/unsafe lugwork were my main concerns usually, but every once and awhile, one came out of the box looking like a million bucks. Now that was happy moment.
I know lots of people like them, but they didn't have to spend their Saturday mornings building them.
Man, they shipped some stinkers.
I can probably come up with some more brands though.
Working in a bike shop isn't all it's cracked up to be.
Edit: The maddening part of the Raleigh brand was one never knew what issues you would have until you started building. Frame alignment, whacked drop outs and poor/unsafe lugwork were my main concerns usually, but every once and awhile, one came out of the box looking like a million bucks. Now that was happy moment.
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Syke
“No one in this world, so far as I know — and I have searched the records for years, and employed agents to help me — has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby.”
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01-10-14, 05:51 AM
#49
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Loathing? Masi's. As being overrated, over priced, and over-adored. Contrary to rumor, Jesus did not ride a Confente Masi into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.
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“No one in this world, so far as I know — and I have searched the records for years, and employed agents to help me — has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby.”
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