Which brands started as cool and have managed to remain so?

[d8mok]

I was thinking , many of the original cool/good brands of late 80s and 90s MTB have either sold out or just became a bit crap.

Which brands have kept themselves true and you’d happily own a retro and new version?

For example I’m a massive GT fan but would never even consider a new GT.

However I own a new Yeti and would like a old one too if one should come up.

Cannondale are another which i own both and like the brand as far as mainstream stuff goes

 

[BlackCat]

Does it have to specifically be bikes? I suppose Orange have always held sway in that regard for me.. though I don’t own a modern one.

Chris King is the obvious choice for components..

 

[Peachy!]

Pace?

 

[Carge]

I'd put Trek in there....
Early Composite frames always get a positive reaction - and their modern stuff is pretty neat.
I've got a 2011 carbon hardtail of theirs and it's rapid - I also wouldn't mind a new SuperCaliber - and the name of that model harks back to early days.

I'd agree on Yeti - I have a modern full-sus and would have something older quite happily.

Syncros and American Classic - both cool bitd - but these days I wouldn't look at their kit in the same way.

 

[d8mok]

Does it have to specifically be bikes? I suppose Orange have always held sway in that regard for me.. though I don’t own a modern one.

Chris King is the obvious choice for components..

I did mean bikes yes but components are no issue to be included. In which case Hope are in there.

 

[d8mok]

Pace?

I love pace of the 90s but I’d not own a modern one personally. They always seem 3 years behind everyone else

 

[d8mok]

I'd put Trek in there....
Early Composite frames always get a positive reaction - and their modern stuff is pretty neat.
I've got a 2011 carbon hardtail of theirs and it's rapid - I also wouldn't mind a new SuperCaliber - and the name of that model harks back to early days.

I'd agree on Yeti - I have a modern full-sus and would have something older quite happily.

Syncros and American Classic - both cool bitd - but these days I wouldn't look at their kit in the same way.

I’ve never been a Trek fan to be honest. Always seen them as a bit too mainstream and corporate. Same for Specialized even though I’ve owned a few and will probably buy another of their road bikes at some point.

 

[Tsundere]

An interesting topic, Muddy Fox springs to mind.

There are also some brands that have become retrospectively cool, like Dawes for example, and to a lesser extent Claud Butler and Raleigh, I know all those manufacturers have great histories and produced some cracking bikes, but for me and my friends at least those are three brands that we wouldn't have been seen dead on during the late 80s and early 90s, no doubt their top competition tier bikes would have found grudging acceptance among us, the brands themselves though seemed very old fashioned and extremely uncool to us kids back then.

But now having seen their bikes stand the test of time, appreciating as we do that even for mass produced bikes they were well designed, well built and possessed real pedigree, and free as we are from the silly addiction to owning the right brands etc, they are far more desirable now than even some of their more sought after BITD contemporaries, and quite rightly so.

 

[1552]

Ritchey frames.

 

[Tsundere]

Also WTB