It says

Red
Your
Dead

on their logos, not to mention their html headers, etc.

wow.

And it's "You R Dead" on their main page, blog, shop, etc.

Clearly they are a bit confused.

either that or they just dont care. which makes it seem so strange that a bunch of other people seem to care so much.

Well, if they're trying to have a successful business, they should care.

it looks like a windsor the hour frame.

I want to know why every single "N" on the site is backwards.

Other than those horrifying dropouts and that comically over-sized headtube? =P

It's Hipster Irony and it has wasted enough of our time.

IDK, seriously... who cares? So it's a group (or maybe one person) trying to start a business that they're probably not making any money off of. Think about, over the years, how many people have had an idea to start something with dreams of making it big? Many fail, but some succeed.

In this case, they probably don't have the resources to get discounts on the parts, and therefore when they factor in margin, they probably really don't make anything off a sale of that bike. In my experience of building bikes, $500 is around what it costs to build something from scratch at that quality. So they make $150 on some rare chance that somebody actually orders one. And I highly doubt they are getting dozens of orders per week. And if they do... good for them! Then they have to figure in the labor of assembly and packing for safe shipping.

As a professional who has my own office, I have to do everything on my own. My job is stable, nobody's going to lay me off, and my income has increased 30% every year, even in this economy. I'm sick of lazy people relying on government aid, sitting on their asses, not improving their life, and waiting for free money to come in the mail. America has lost the feeling of entrepreneurship that many immigrants and poor people had when they were trying to make ends meet and they didn't have government aid to help them out. The real irony here is that, because we bail out everybody, nobody takes the bull by the horns anymore. And then when somebody does, they are made fun of? Makes no sense at all.

Now, some tiny speck in Los Angeles is trying to go for it and possibly make money doing what they love to do (we used to call that the American Dream), and then people blast them on this forum.

Shame. I don't wish bad on them... I sincerely hope they do well.

your all being stupid.

I see what you're saying, and I'll even play along for a bit. I myself don't ever really want to work for someone (I'm going for my PhD for that very reason). I would also like to start my own business one day, and I hope that I'm wildly successful. However I also realize that it takes more than a cheap gimmick to be successful.

It seems like this guy is appealing to wannabe hipsters (which is fine I suppose), but isn't the point of the market to be consumer driven? Well it seems like the people of this forum (the consumers) are not happy with the product. Sounds to me like the system is working. I think your heart is in the right place, but to defend this group/company/person just because they're starting a company is silly. I think the difference here is that it doesn't seem like this company is taking the bull by the horns so much as grabbing a horn and hoping they get tossed to the money.

I just saw one of these in davis, ca near the downtown area. i saw it when i was skating around downtown and it was was just sitting in a bike rack unlocked. wierd..

Irrelevant.

In my post I'm saying that I don't think they do make a "lot of dough", my guess would be a $150 profit which is pretty damn small considering the time and labor of building the bike, marketing (website, etc.) and other little expenses to hold a grass-roots endeavor. I have absolutely no experience with the product, so I can't say if it's junk or not... and by your post, you probably have no experience either.

First, I can't find anywhere on this forum where a consumer is not happy with the product. The OP says it "looks" like junk. But didn't say anything about actually riding it.

As far as "grabbing a horn and hoping they get tossed to the money" isn't that what MOST companies do? As long as somebody is selling a product, they are tapping into either a want or need - in a sense, they are exploiting wants and/or needs. So what is the difference if a company labels something as "environmentally friendly" and charging a small extra premium for it? Can we honestly put Whole Foods Market into this same category, as they are obviously riding the health/organic/natural trend and making tons of profit?

All I'm saying is that people ought to actually try the product first and test it, interact with the company and it's customer service, etc. and THEN pass judgement. The OP just started blasting based upon looking at a picture, and that's a bit unfair to the company. I have no probelm with somebody posting a good/bad review of something after they've actually used it or had good/bad customer service.

i believe the owner said in an interview a while ago that the name comes from "red means stop. red stop signs, red lights. with these brakeless fixies, you don't stop, you flow. often you'll run stop signs or red lights, but it's dangerous. You can do it, but watch out. red your dead" (not verbatim, i don't have the interview saved. it sounded something like this though)

so red light, get hit by car. you're dead

it was acknowledged that there was a hilarious typo. people said correct it and start a new company, but they printed all those bike boxes! ****ing comical.

Everyone here should buy one of there bikes then immediately throw it in the garbage. That will show them.

ok

you start first right?

I do believe there are still companies out there where people take pride in their work, build a good product, and don't need gimmick or to appeal to a 'chic' market to turn a buck. Sadly, whole foods does not make that list. I guess what I'm saying is that if this guy really cared about bikes he wouldn't be appealing to hipsters. He'd be appealing to people much like ourselves, to real riders -- the market segment that will continue to buy from him even after the trend has passed.

It is entirely within the OPs right (and this is how the market works) to take a look at the company and start blasting them based on their promo material (website, etc). As it turns out, advertising is a large part of business (especially consumer goods). I would say that we, as posters on this forum, are probably one of a few target audiences of this product. If the response is overwhelmingly poor (as it seems to be), maybe he needs to do a better job of advertising. Would you buy a race car from a guy who's "professional" drivers have only been behind the wheel for 9 months?

Maybe his bikes are the best in the world, you're right, I don't know. What I do know is that I wouldn't buy from him A) because of his grammar mistake, and B) because his site and informational material doesn't impress me.

In any case, this is silly.

^ this + hangover = fml

well if someone's dumb enough to buy one of their bikes, then they deserve to be ripped off i guess

hmmm "dead" in your company name should not be associated with bicycles...