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But bikes are not rocket science. They can be advanced and high tech, but they can also just be ordinary, well built bikes if using good parts. If the parts are

by mongol 4y ago

But bikes are not rocket science. They can be advanced and high tech, but they can also just be ordinary, well built bikes if using good parts. If the parts are good then the bike is good, the brand matters less for a bike than say for a car.

jeffbee 4y ago
Well, I just think a real bike company probably has real bike engineers on the staff already and maybe real engineering experience and resources like FEA models and so forth. These new companies make a lot of mistakes, like Yuba with their forks sheering off, and like Rad with their custom, not-available-anywhere tire size. I feel that with a big brand you're going to get a no-surprises bike.
- justinator 4y ago
  I think what you're going to get from a big brand is a support system for when things go south (ie: a warranty). It used to be that bike shops stocked a few brands of bikes and those brands had a relationship with the shop to provide customer service and a bridge between customer and brand. Less so now after Covid, but it's still a thing. Bikes are one of those things that are sort of figured out how to make (tho eBikes, less so). You can go to a trade show in east Asia, spec out exactly what you want a run of bikes to be, and they'll do all the hard work for you, and ship you a container full of "your" bikes. Many brands use the same bike manufacturer/factory. Shop for some of them on bikesdirect.com. Many of the "brand" names are just stickers - the companies may have existed as something decades ago, but now live as a name only. Even a more established brand will send over the cad files of the frame to be built (usually the only really distinguishing thing in most bikes), then spec out the rest of the parts to be put on it. A few visits to the factory from a brand rep/engineer to get details right (welds, layups), then start pumping out orders.

by mongol 4y ago

jeffbee 4y ago

Well, I just think a real bike company probably has real bike engineers on the staff already and maybe real engineering experience and resources like FEA models and so forth. These new companies make a lot of mistakes, like Yuba with their forks sheering off, and like Rad with their custom, not-available-anywhere tire size. I feel that with a big brand you're going to get a no-surprises bike.

justinator 4y ago
I think what you're going to get from a big brand is a support system for when things go south (ie: a warranty). It used to be that bike shops stocked a few brands of bikes and those brands had a relationship with the shop to provide customer service and a bridge between customer and brand. Less so now after Covid, but it's still a thing. Bikes are one of those things that are sort of figured out how to make (tho eBikes, less so). You can go to a trade show in east Asia, spec out exactly what you want a run of bikes to be, and they'll do all the hard work for you, and ship you a container full of "your" bikes. Many brands use the same bike manufacturer/factory. Shop for some of them on bikesdirect.com. Many of the "brand" names are just stickers - the companies may have existed as something decades ago, but now live as a name only. Even a more established brand will send over the cad files of the frame to be built (usually the only really distinguishing thing in most bikes), then spec out the rest of the parts to be put on it. A few visits to the factory from a brand rep/engineer to get details right (welds, layups), then start pumping out orders.