Bike brand value

ej2320

Hello

Wanted people's options on the topic of good value brands

I'm not talking Rockrider or Carrera here but FS bikes for £2500 +

What would you consider a good value brand? To start it off I'd say Whyte are good value around £2500 mark

spacedog

How do you define value?

cooldad

Er OK.
Your reasoning is...?

97th choice

Cillit bang, that's a good value brand.

cooldad

You don't have a good clllit bang in you.

lbalony

ej2320 wrote:

Hello

Wanted people's options on the topic of good value brands

I'm not talking Rockrider or Carrera here but FS bikes for £2500 +

What would you consider a good value brand? To start it off I'd say Whyte are good value around £2500 mark

Any brand can be a good Value brand. I would say Carrera and Decathalon (makers of Rockriders) are better value than Whyte! The price you stated should not come into it as value is what you get for the amount you spend. Not what you spend.

stubs

ej2320 wrote:

Hello

Wanted people's options on the topic of good value brands

I'm not talking Rockrider or Carrera here but FS bikes for £2500 +

What would you consider a good value brand? To start it off I'd say Whyte are good value around £2500 mark

I would say you would get more bang for your buck with a £2,500 Whyte than you would from a £2,500 bike by the big boys Specialized, Giant or Trek. However if you went mail order from one of the big German firms £2,500 would get you even more shiny bits than the Whyte but you cant try before you buy. I doubt value for money really enters anyones mind when spending £2,500 plus.

cat_with_no_tail

Orange are excellent value

YeehaaMcgee

Cat With No Tail wrote:

Oranges are excellent value

Bananas are a better deal though.

welshkev

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

Cat With No Tail wrote:

Oranges are excellent value

Bananas are a better deal though.

yeah I believe you get more for your lbs

ej2320

Sorry guys, stupid questions can expect stupid answers

I just wanted opinions in terms of parts for the money on bike brands that generally make higher end bikes rather than the cheaper, yet great value Carreras

Would you say cube are good value?

97th choice

Canyon usually win out on absolute component VFM. But if the frame design is poor it's a moot point.

ej2320

I bought my current bike from CRC completely blind not knowing what it's like, turned out alright but I've had a lot of free hub issues and basically it's broken 5 times in a year but CRC won't change the rear hub which is the only long term solution so I've been put off online order brands

welshkev

I very nearly bought a new bike from rose (before I found a decent one 2nd hand) the spec on the bike at £1350 was way better than a lot of bigger brands that I was looking at for over 2 grand

ej2320

I'm not doubting the online brands but I just want LBS support for when something goes wrong

I personally dislike the design of Rose bikes, but that's just personal preference

welshkev

ej2320 wrote:

I'm not doubting the online brands but I just want LBS support for when something goes wrong

I personally dislike the design of Rose bikes, but that's just personal preference

but you didn't say that did you? you just asked what was value for money.

so to answer your question. they're all pretty much the same spec at a certain price point. it just depends what you want to compromise on. some might have better brakes but a worse rear mech or vice versa. some may put on branded hubs but lower spec shifters. etc etc etc

YeehaaMcgee

There's also no real reason why a branded hub may behave any worse than a no-name one.

ej2320

welshkev wrote:

ej2320 wrote:

I'm not doubting the online brands but I just want LBS support for when something goes wrong

I personally dislike the design of Rose bikes, but that's just personal preference

but you didn't say that did you? you just asked what was value for money.

so to answer your question. they're all pretty much the same spec at a certain price point. it just depends what you want to compromise on. some might have better brakes but a worse rear mech or vice versa. some may put on branded hubs but lower spec shifters. etc etc etc

No I didn't and they are great value, I was just saying personally I don't like the look nothing against the brand

Good point there, I guess you buy a Specialized knowing the parts for money value isn't the best but you compromise and pay for a quality frame

Where would that leave Orange in terms of compromise? I wouldn't say it's bad but it's not a piece of fine art and the value is somewhat poor

welshkev

orange are just overpriced full stop. i'm not going to do the usual slag them off thing as I know 2 guys who ride them and absolutely love them - they're good riders too, not your average all the gear no idea people.

but for me they're just too expensive for what you get for your money.

97th choice

Most 'aspirational' brands are.

YeehaaMcgee

97th choice wrote:

Most 'aspirational' brands are.

Only because the people who the "aspirational" brands have marketed themselves to as such, think that "expensive + not something you see every day = aweseomest bikes ever"

prawny

Generally speaking

American = Poor VFM

German = Good VFM

I was going to say British = Very poor, but there's a massive market and that made me reailse that what I'd said above is also wrong so basically I'm posting for the sake of it 8)

Edit:

You can see from my sig which end of the cesspool I'm swimming in. Although I quite like the look of a remedy for my next bike, but we'll see.

97th choice

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

97th choice wrote:

Most 'aspirational' brands are.

Only because the people who the "aspirational" brands have marketed themselves to as such, think that "expensive + not something you see every day = aweseomest bikes ever"

It's not just bikes either.

The Rookie

Nope it's the metallic grey Audi A4 as well.......

97th choice

They have to be white now, keep up...

The Rookie

No thanks, no intention of keeping up at all!

paulbox

I find our perceptions of brands pretty fascinating, especially thinking how my own perception of different brands changes over time.

When I got my first mtb, I loved GT. That was a reference back to bmx days as a kid and all the good times. Then Halfords started selling GT...

I've always loved the Yeti brand, don't know why, but I think it started when I bought a set of their grips for my GT. Have always used them since then. But I had a bit of a downer with the brand when my pivot bearings needed replacing after 9 months and they are 'kin expensive. But I'm now back on track with Yeti though still a bit sketchy on Silverfish... Think a new ARC hardtail might be my next bike.

I used to like the Specialized brand, but didn't like their bikes much, so have gone off the brand. Whereas I don't really like the Giant brand but loved the Anthem (haven't ridden any of their other bikes), but still don't like the brand much.

Carrera are just Halfords in my mind, though I do appreciate that their bikes a re pretty good.

I've never liked Orange, but I can't explain why as I know plenty of people who ride them and love them. Might be because of bike magazines banging on about them...

Trek - I'm a bit meh about Treks.

Cotic - I wouldn't have one but I do like the look of them.

Ragley - Nearly bought a frame a while back to build up, I just like their image and the Marley colour scheme. Good fun, don't take themselves too seriously.

I quite like Mojo's, but one of my mates goes on about his so much I just couldn't consider owning one, don't really know much about Ibis.

I wonder why I don't like Halfords... :?

As for a value for money, a friend bought a £4.5k Slash last weekend for £2.5k because the factory had fitted the wrong coloured chainstay... Beat that!

lawman

The big brands just aren't decent value anymore. Simple as that. Specialized really hit the mark with the Pitch when it was available, great frame, great spec, great price and it pains me to say it considering how much despise them, it actually rode pretty well too. Now they're just over-priced, under-specced and ridden by the audi-types previously mentioned. They do stray away from time to time but they always end up going back.

My bikes have always been a little different, exception to the 456 of course, I hardly ever used to see any Maxlight's about and it's still a rare sight to see any of the bikes Ibis make. Despite being a little less common, they've all been good value for money imo, even the HD. Christ when I bought an s-works stumpjumper FSR frame was the best part of a grand more! It's like rocking up in a half million pound Volvo!

ej2320

Yeti is one of those brands that people will admire, you can't deny they look stunning

Thing about the big brands is there's just a lot around, if your mate sees your new Specialized or Trek or Giant it's like .."meh, not bad" but if it's a Yeti or Ibis it's more like "Wow, that looks brilliant" even if the spec is matched

Carrera and Boardman are plagued by the view on Halfords, they're known for their Apollo £50 FS bikes and the idiots in the workshop and then the stereotypical rider with the full track suit, a lot of people don't like the association with that.

Other then direct order brands I'd have to say value, looks and quality I would say Whyte or Cube

My dream is a Santa Cruz, so damn expensive

Orange I think are great bikes and run like steamrollers but they are poor value and somewhat unchanged in the past decade so are not as modern as a super high tech SB66

To be honest I'd rather pay a premium and buy a Yeti or Ibis that has a quality frame and stunning looks and it's just a bike that people will admire and will make you grin when you see it

I think as far down the big brands ladder I'd go would be cube, any further and you've reached Giant or Trek. Not that they aren't good bikes but I just think they're too common and I'd rather buy something that's just... Special

Maro

A fair amount of the "extra" you might pay out for on a trek or spesh is to account for RnD. These ,among others, are the brands that often lead the way with frame design and getting them to work best with suspension systems. They normally offer some sort of crazy warranty too.

Don't forget that if you buy such a ride form your LBS you are helping that shop to stay there for when you need advise or spares.

YeehaaMcgee

Hmm, most of the genuinely BIG companies aren't too bad when it comes to value, Trek, Giant, GT, they're not overtly awful, like specialised can be. However, most lower-end bikes form the big guys are certainly rip-offs, and I struggle to think of anyone who's worse at overcharging for a basic bike than Marin.