Fall from grace
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bigdawg":9l81jx1u said:
Not wanting to take this too wildly o/t but me and my Bro used to work at Barking Road Safety, training young riders..
We left there one day and my Mum heard us (racing home) from about 3 miles away..
If you're ever up Clacton way (on the 'dale) I'd love to see it
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bigdawg":2rz4fz9y said:its kinda on track because its why cannondale nearly went bust in 2002 :roll:
anyway last one - I usually ride up to colchester on a sunday morning so will letyou know when Im up that way... give you a chance to tape your windows up
Two fork legs, what a disappointment
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Cycling as a brand has fallen from grace simply because it is a corporate affair now rather than enthusiast backed.
Everything has to be profit driven.
A note on Shimano chainrings - M700/ M730/ M900 rings are a different breed to the lower stuff and if looked after, I personally got at least 10,000 miles out of one and its still going in NZ as far as I'm aware.
Everything has to be profit driven.
A note on Shimano chainrings - M700/ M730/ M900 rings are a different breed to the lower stuff and if looked after, I personally got at least 10,000 miles out of one and its still going in NZ as far as I'm aware.
Railway stations aside top thread.
Not really, I'm sure when Raleigh were churning out more bicycles than anyone else in the world (and the sun never set on the Empire etc etc) they weren't in it 100% for the love.
To comment on some of the brands mentioned
GT - definite contender. Not sure what happened towards the end exactly (know we have some on here pretty close to GT so perhaps they can comment) but being bought out be Pacific late 90s really started the spiral. I suspect GT over stretched themselves in the 90s thinking the mtb bubble would never burst.
Raleigh - the days of Raleigh specialist dealers and everyone owning one or more in their time are long gone. They're even in Halfords Like most British industry though the seeds for their demise were sown over decades not months. From what I've read probably the biggest issue for the brand (which is also to be applauded I guess) was their continuation of UK manufacturing. How can they compete at the volume end paying UK labour rates? At least the brand is back out there now though.
Kona - who cares? My view on this brand has stayed constant despite them being in Halfords.
Bontrager - about the only brand I think has done well from Trek. KB did well to jump ship when he did, surely as history will tell the days of the steel hardtail as the default ride for the masses was ending.
Klein - whilst the halo remains around the pre-Trek offering everything after was tarnished a little. As for now? Do they even make anything with a klein logo? And what does Gary Klein do?
Suntour - their top end stuff was ok but shimano killed them on the low and mid range stuff (i.e. the volume stuff, the stuff that pays the bills). Their demise as a major player was inevitable.
And finally onto Halfords. Know a lot of people I worked with during my breif soujourn in 'the trade' now worked for Halfords, some pretty knowledgable people. Although I doubt any of them will be able to use their knowledge of aende l-shaped cranks selling carrera krakens. Unfortunately the big retailers (be it the superstore or website) killing the small local retailer is played out in many many secotrs. Do you support your LBS? Or do you use one of the online retailers?
legrandefromage":3pihpyuu said:
Not really, I'm sure when Raleigh were churning out more bicycles than anyone else in the world (and the sun never set on the Empire etc etc) they weren't in it 100% for the love.
To comment on some of the brands mentioned
GT - definite contender. Not sure what happened towards the end exactly (know we have some on here pretty close to GT so perhaps they can comment) but being bought out be Pacific late 90s really started the spiral. I suspect GT over stretched themselves in the 90s thinking the mtb bubble would never burst.
Raleigh - the days of Raleigh specialist dealers and everyone owning one or more in their time are long gone. They're even in Halfords
Like most British industry though the seeds for their demise were sown over decades not months. From what I've read probably the biggest issue for the brand (which is also to be applauded I guess) was their continuation of UK manufacturing. How can they compete at the volume end paying UK labour rates? At least the brand is back out there now though.Kona - who cares? My view on this brand has stayed constant despite them being in Halfords.
Bontrager - about the only brand I think has done well from Trek. KB did well to jump ship when he did, surely as history will tell the days of the steel hardtail as the default ride for the masses was ending.
Klein - whilst the halo remains around the pre-Trek offering everything after was tarnished a little. As for now? Do they even make anything with a klein logo? And what does Gary Klein do?
Suntour - their top end stuff was ok but shimano killed them on the low and mid range stuff (i.e. the volume stuff, the stuff that pays the bills). Their demise as a major player was inevitable.
And finally onto Halfords. Know a lot of people I worked with during my breif soujourn in 'the trade' now worked for Halfords, some pretty knowledgable people. Although I doubt any of them will be able to use their knowledge of aende l-shaped cranks selling carrera krakens. Unfortunately the big retailers (be it the superstore or website) killing the small local retailer is played out in many many secotrs. Do you support your LBS? Or do you use one of the online retailers?
TheGreenRabbit
Retrobike Rider
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WTB - I head one or two of the founders were less than happy with the outcome of this.
legrandefromage":3to4kzcr said:
I don't think this is quite true, it could be that the spectrum of modern bikes you see are from the big manufacturers but if you dig deep theres still some very cool enthusiast stuff out there.
