Origin8: Opinions, reviews, thoughts?
 

Any input on this company would be great. How are the parts as far as quality, price? Are they a "lame" brand?

It really depends on the part.

For the most part they are a good entry level brand that is relatively cheap

i have some of their machined light track pedals, they're pretty great quality, think they retail for like 50 though, paid about 30 coz sale, definitely worth it.

i've had good luck with their stuff. good for the entry level it seems.

They are a good entry level brand. I have run their parts without any problems. Finish is not the best but I didnt care.

The bullhorns are plenty decent for 20 bucks.

on par with allcity/soma/dimension/other entry level companies

Thats all good to know, I was wondering b/c I did not want to "missmatch" when buying diff parts to replace some of the stuff on my bike so I guess the main question is would they be on par with my Surly Steamroller? Or should I buy higher quality parts? If so, what brand do you suggest? Thanks

for higher stressed parts, i recommend yuo buy something better quality, such as cranksets. Handlebars, a well-fitting saddle and the like would be fine with Origin8.

LOL. Your steamroller is a cheap TIGed 4130 frame. Outside of x-mart that is about as low-end as they come. Origin8 stuff is more or less the exact same "level" or better.

It's all made in the same factory anyway. Thank god for china

haha, awesome! :)) i just don't know what is what yet....

I've got an Origin-8 crankset and bottom bracket, which I've used for about 700 miles and three cyclocross races.

I've had a couple of minor issues with the crank. The metal seems kind of soft, so I have to be careful with the threading when starting to screw in a crank puller or pedals. Twice I've had a sliver of metal spinning off when I started at a slightly bad angle. I'm also starting to see some wear on the original chain ring, which definitely shouldn't be happening yet at this mileage.

On the other hand, I'm thrilled with the bottom bracket (68x103). It spins smoother than my FSA Gossamer or Deore XT external bottom brackets, and much smoother than the other cartridge bottom brackets I've had. I've had no problems at all with the bottom bracket, though that's obviously what you'd expect at 700 miles.

Sheesh you've been in a real pissy mood lately haven't you?

Dude...that's called insight.

Just telling it like it is...call it pissy if you want. Surly frames are fine. I own one, though its a Long Haul Trucker, not a Steamroller. Origin 8 stuff is fine I'm sure. Some of it may be better than others. I've been comtemplating buying their carbon cyclocross fork for my IRO Rob Roy.

OP, heres the bottom line....Worrying about whether components are on par with your Surly frame is making it more complicated than it really is. Better components will improve your ride, junky ones will make it junk. Its that simple. Over the years I've learned to just buy decent, reasonably priced parts, and not obsess over it too much.

Origin8 is the house brand of j&b importers...Their stuff is largely knockoffs of other company's products that are made for them by asian factories like kalloy (the company that makes the seatpost and stem that come as original equipment on your Surly)...it'll probably serve you as well as anything else in the same price range but I wouldn't swap out any of the stuff on your surly for origin8 stuff unless the original stuff is worn out because it won't be an upgrade so much as it'd be a lateral move...

And don't let anyone let you feel bad about your steamroller....it's a fine bike that'll take a bucketload more abuse than some fancy lugged ultra thin-tubed prissy ride that was designed to be hung on a wall not ridden...

Not really knockoffs so much as sourcing the same parts from the same factory, but slapping on a different brand.
You advice about wearing out the original parts first is spot on (almost). The more you ride (and read) the more you'll understand exactly why and how you want to upgrade your bike. If you just blindly upgrade from the beginning, you are likely to end up just wasting money.

I feel like Origin 8 parts are more about getting the job done at the minimum cost.

i don't see the point of dropping a lot of coin on things like handlebars, stems, and seatposts, hell even cranks. fit first, price second. a cheap pair of handlebars that fits you is better than the $90 nittos that look nice but feel terrible.

i'd put money first into bearings. bb, hubs, and maybe headset. then i'll put down good money for a saddle that feels good. from there it's kinda whatever i can get a great deal on easily

Ah yes, my Thomson stem.

On a serious note, I doubt you'll find much, if any, difference between most parts from Origin8, All City, Eighth Inch, etc. at the same price point. No one is doing any ground-breaking R&D here. It really comes down to service. I got some Eighth Inch cranks because 1) I scratched my brand new cranks, and that bugged me to no end, and 2) they post on the forums, so I wanted to support a company that comes here to participate and get some feedback.

I personally would go with EighthInch over the others simply because I've gotten exceptional customer service from them and have been impressed by the stuff I've gotten or seen on friends' bikes. The finish on their stuff alone blows most of the Origin 8 stuff I've seen out right of the water.

oh i know the steamroller isn't fancy, i love it for what it is and not feel bad about it at all :) I'm just doing research b/c i want to replace some parts or just throw some bling on it...to make it mine i guess.

Origin 8 seems to have good customer relations too. Every time I email them a question about their products they email me back very quickly with very helpful info.

I've got the Origin8 Gary bars on my Iro Rob Roy and they've done quite well for over 3k miles. I ride the bike on singletrack & limestone trails. I've read that Origin8 says not to use these offroad, but they've been plenty strong for me. I'll replace them when they show signs of fatigue. It'll probably be a while though, these are some decent bars.

I purchased thier CX 700 frame. It's a good basic 4130 frame that has every possible feature including disc & canti mounts, plus rack & fender mounts. All for less than $200.