chaadster

There are the big brands that are ubiquitous on the streets and in the mags: Specialized, Cannondale, Trek, Colnago Fuji, etc., and there are the rarely seen but well-known small brands that always top the 'cult favorites' lists, like Indie Fab, Baum, Firefly, English, and Parlee.

Are there any brands that you think are undiscovered jewels, overlooked by the road cycling community in general? Maybe specific models that are under-appreciated road bikes though they may carry a better known brand name on their tubes (e.g. a road bike from a company best known for MTBs)?

What do you think deserves more praise, and why? Whether great value, unique styling, superb handling, advanced tech, amazing craftsmanship, or whatever, and irrespective of price, let's see what discerning cyclists a different stripe might ride.

Weatherby

I always wanted a Peter Mooney, something like this but in blue

chaadster

Pic didn't link, but I looked on the website and YUM! I'd not heard of Mooney, but I'm guessing you think it's the artistry and classic craftsmanship that make those praiseworthy. I agree! Gorgeous bikes!

Weatherby

Sorry, I don't know why this site has trouble linking some images.

It was Mooney setup for fast Rando.

WhyFi

It's not a problem with this site, it's some of Flickr's recent changes.

robbyville

I don't know if I'd say undiscovered but for me it's Speedvagen. The term luscious always comes to me when I see one of these. Apparently the ride quality along with artistry is second to none. Definitely my next build when I can afford it.

SV.landing

From a pure utility standpoint, I know some folks who have had incredible success with the Nashbar and Scattante branded frames (aluminum and carbon). Don't know that I'd call them undiscovered gems, but certainly don't get the attention they may deserve simply due to many of our pre-conceived notions

alexaschwanden

Raleigh has good bikes, like the Revenio 2.0.

merlinextraligh

Not exactly undiscovered, but Wilier Trestina is a bit under the radar in the U.S.

They combine italian heritage with cutting edge technology.

Gramercy

Does Ridley count? I don't know anything about the company. When I started riding 18 months ago I never saw any on the road, but now a bunch of guys in the races seem to have Ridley bikes. I don't know where they are made, what their product lineup looks like, etc. Personally I think it sounds like a lower class bike just basing it on the name (like Jamis, another bad brand name).

Also from the sounds of it, around here people used to like Litespeed but they seem to have quality issues in the past few years.

mpath

OP, of course there are! But they're not on the UCI WorldTour so little or no exposure to most folks in N. America. But a bit of European travel does wonders....here's just a few lesser-known brands and some new upstarts....Berria, Peritus, Colner, Coluer, Legend, Eusebi, Mendiz, Author, Maxbike, Kocmo, Festka, Pretorius, N7even, Guerciotti, Bottecchia, Carraro, Pennarola, Kemo, Scappa, Scoppio, Olympia, Scapin, Cipollini, Shockblaze, Gios.

pgjackson

I think Fuji and Scattante are good bikes as well that get a bad rap because some people consider Performance Bike the Walmart of cycling.

I love my Rossetti. Their quality is every bit as good as any big name bike I've seen. Ribble has nice looking bikes from the UK. I've seen some really nice Kestrels out there also. The thing is, all the bikes use the same components (SRAM, Shimano or Campy). Basically all the manufacturers do is make the frame, slap on a third-party groupo package and apply paint and decals. It's not like with cars where everything about a BMW is different than a Honda, good and bad. Those companies make the frames, body, engines, interior, and very little is supplied from a third party.

StanSeven

Ridley and Orbea. Of course, Wilier is another already mentioned.

Boardman is most a tri/tt but they do make regular bikes too

bonz50

I'm gonna come down on the GT GTR alloy road bikes as an under appreciated road bike. I bought one kind of on accident, I was just getting started at cycling and PB had a big sale with double pts and etc. got a helluva deal and said why not. turns out it was actually a helluva a great bike and I've been riding it happily for about 3.5 seasons so far. It has been nothing short of excellent and I got it for about 3-400 bucks cheaper than comparable treks and specialized and it rode every bit as good as the other big brands I test rode. to say i was pleased with the purchase is an understatement. I'm planning on moving on this spring to a carbon endurance geometry bike. but the next owner of this GT is gonna be a happy camper.

PiLigand

Word. I had wondered that as well. It may count. Ridley is lesser-seen around here too. But it's by no means a lower-tier bike. It's a pretty nice brand, actually.

RaleighSport

This thread could be a fairly interesting experiment for someone with a lot of patience. Over in C&V cults evolve around certain brands and models in a lot of cases bikes that would otherwise be overlooked, one could infer that this thread could be an indicator for future cult like bikes.. the results though would take decades to exist.

I love that Mooney, I'm surprised GT/Fuji/Ridley/Orbea have already been mentioned as they are well established and have dedicated fan bases already.

Bah Humbug

One of the guys on my tri team has a Wilier tri bike. Certainly stands out in the crowd.

dtrain

I wonder what Performance will do for the Ridley brand. Good and bad I suppose.

bonz50

GT is much more well known in the MTB circles these days and its been that way for years. I agree with you about Fuji, lotta fuji road bikes around here and on the road. I have never seen another GT road bike while out riding in nearly 4 years, in fact I've seen more ridley and orbea on the road around here. obviously doesn't mean they aren't out there, but certainly not common or ever mentioned among most threads around the 41.

RPK79

One of the larger LBS's around here sell Wilier. I'm not a big fan of their looks myself.

Ricanfred

Performance Bike just started selling Ridleys so we're all going to start seeing more of them on the roads. I think they're originally from Belgium and very big on the cross scene.

RaleighSport

Locality I guess, I see tons of GT road bikes out here but then again I hardly ever see anyone from my locality posting on here with only a couple notable exceptions. I personally would love to get my hands on a 90's Edge frame.

bonz50

maybe so, around here along the WI/IL border its trek country big time. specialized is a distant second with a smattering of C'dale and other small brands

RollCNY

I would love to see more Focus bikes here in the US, or at least in Central NY, as they look to be interesting. I have seen two of their cross bikes, but no road bikes.

When Ridley was doing the Flandrien paint scheme, they had some gorgeous bikes, but they seemed to be dumping bikes after that through every channel available. CC moved an awful lot of them at huge mark downs, and I think that tainted the image somewhat.

I am currently lusting after some Genesis models, and even though they look like a niche English designer, I think they have some slick modern steel and aluminum bikes.

WhyFi

I haven't been there in a while, but they used to have a decent number of them on display at Paragon in NYC, if you find yourself in the city.

MikeM21

Storck