What makes you a fan of a certain brand....?
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marge602
Retro Guru
Re:
For me it's Trek and Kona. Trek because it was the first decent quality MTB I ever rode, my mates brother had an 820 and it was so much better to ride than the Raleigh shite we all had, and Kona because another mate bought a brand new Lava Dome in 1991, and it was just a joy to both behold and ride. I own, and have owned plenty of other makes, but keep coming back to Trek and Kona. I think while others are somewhat transient, I'll always have one of each of the two makes that started it all
Regards
Marge
For me it's Trek and Kona. Trek because it was the first decent quality MTB I ever rode, my mates brother had an 820 and it was so much better to ride than the Raleigh shite we all had, and Kona because another mate bought a brand new Lava Dome in 1991, and it was just a joy to both behold and ride. I own, and have owned plenty of other makes, but keep coming back to Trek and Kona. I think while others are somewhat transient, I'll always have one of each of the two makes that started it all
Regards
Marge
Re:
Love Breezers, though lately I'm not so keen on their paint jobs (heresy?).
They're just great handling bikes; comfortable and supple, they ride so smoothly and seem to stick to the trail where other's jolt and judder around. I'm simply a better rider on the Breezer than on other bikes I've tried.
Love Breezers, though lately I'm not so keen on their paint jobs (heresy?).
They're just great handling bikes; comfortable and supple, they ride so smoothly and seem to stick to the trail where other's jolt and judder around. I'm simply a better rider on the Breezer than on other bikes I've tried.
Always fancied GT, AMP and Yeti, they were cutting edge for their time, featuring exotic materials like disc brakes and/or carbon fibre, but somehow Klein and Merlin were attractive in their own way for being handmade works of art.
I never got to ride any of them, they were far and away out of my reach with all the means of a schoolboy still taking an allowance, so they all have this mystique to them.
I never got to ride any of them, they were far and away out of my reach with all the means of a schoolboy still taking an allowance, so they all have this mystique to them.
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The stuff I like now, both retro and modern is influenced by what I had in the 90's, I restored a muddy fox courier comp because mine was stolen in 91, I built a proflex because I'd had one in 92 although the one I built was a 95/96, also had an explosif in 94 although it was a 92 model frame (was hung in the shop unsold for 18 months) obviously I have a lot of oranges, I bought my first in 96, a p7 nickel xt/xtr, it was awesome and I loved it. After this I got in the trade at a GT dealer so I rode them and liked them, then I worked at a giant dealer, I rode giant, meh . . . OK I suppose, then to an orange dealer at which point not only did I ride their bikes I also got to know the people at orange and that makes a difference for me.
So my brands of choice are orange, GT, muddy fox, kona, proflex.
But I am a bit snobbish about stuff now, for example I don't like konas now (generally) but specifically I wouldn't buy anything after the change from second level imports because that's the point they went in to halfords, same with GT, I wouldn't buy anything from the point they went into halfords but also the more recent ones I think suck mainly because of the over use of "zaskar", rather than it being a model name it is now a range, several models with various numbers added to take advantage of the name that people knew as the then top model.
That said the brands above are mainstream brands I have always liked the smaller individual brands/builders.
The stuff I like now, both retro and modern is influenced by what I had in the 90's, I restored a muddy fox courier comp because mine was stolen in 91, I built a proflex because I'd had one in 92 although the one I built was a 95/96, also had an explosif in 94 although it was a 92 model frame (was hung in the shop unsold for 18 months) obviously I have a lot of oranges, I bought my first in 96, a p7 nickel xt/xtr, it was awesome and I loved it. After this I got in the trade at a GT dealer so I rode them and liked them, then I worked at a giant dealer, I rode giant, meh . . . OK I suppose, then to an orange dealer at which point not only did I ride their bikes I also got to know the people at orange and that makes a difference for me.
So my brands of choice are orange, GT, muddy fox, kona, proflex.
But I am a bit snobbish about stuff now, for example I don't like konas now (generally) but specifically I wouldn't buy anything after the change from second level imports because that's the point they went in to halfords, same with GT, I wouldn't buy anything from the point they went into halfords but also the more recent ones I think suck mainly because of the over use of "zaskar", rather than it being a model name it is now a range, several models with various numbers added to take advantage of the name that people knew as the then top model.
That said the brands above are mainstream brands I have always liked the smaller individual brands/builders.
Uncle Grumpy
Devout Dirtbag
For MTBs it's Santa Cruz, GT and Kona. I liked how Santa Cruz, at least some time ago, didn't feel the need to change a bike every product year. GT, I dug the triple triangle and that their RTS and LTS were such well regarded bikes. Kona always had a sense of fun. How could you not like a brand that had a bike called the "Sex"?
Also have a soft spot for early Mountain Cycles and Foes.
For road bikes it's De Rosa and Merckx. And my first road bike was a Clamont, which is an Australian brand with their top end stuff built in Sydney, I have a couple of those.
Redline for BMX. Still have an early 80s MX2.
Grumps
Also have a soft spot for early Mountain Cycles and Foes.
For road bikes it's De Rosa and Merckx. And my first road bike was a Clamont, which is an Australian brand with their top end stuff built in Sydney, I have a couple of those.
Redline for BMX. Still have an early 80s MX2.
Grumps
