[golgiaparatus]

Who do you guys thing... out of the big big companies like Giant, Trek, Specialized, etc... is making the best bikes right now?

I was pretty impressed with the stuff I saw from Specialized yesterday... even if it did get the poo-poo in the looks department from some s. I also like giants lineup right now too.

 

[SkaredShtles]

I thought they were all pretty much the same. ink:

 

[dirtydirtysouf]

GF just cause i ride one............but Kona has to be high on the list

 

[N8 v2.0]

GF just cause i ride one............but Kona has to be high on the list

New for 2006 Gary Fishers: Cracked seat tubes now standard.

 

[binary visions]

I don't think there's one manufacturer who makes the best bikes in general. Some of the bikes are superior to what the other mfr's are offering...

I think Trek puts some really, really nice touches on some of their bikes. They did so with their Diesel DH frame, and the Session 77 follows in its footsteps. Not an outstanding design, but the thought put into it and the finish are very nice.

Specialized has a very nice finish on their top bikes as well. The "ribcage" on last year's Demo series was just beautiful

 

[DH Diva]

Specialized. Year after year they put out suspension bikes that work, and always have a lot of options at different price points. Never been a fan of Trek or GF full susupension designs, they seem really hit or miss.

 

[hooples3]

I have always like Kona but there stuff is old..
I am a fan of the Giant Glory... I took one the other day for a spin at Diablo.... the bike just inspires confidence..

 

[Total Heckler]

What can I say... I love Santa Cruz bikes. It helps that its my hometown. But thats just me. I love my Free.

 

[moff_quigley]

I think the new SpecEd Enduro would be a much sweeter frame if the swingarm looked as beefy as the front "triangle" does. For some reason the rear looks all spindly compared to the front.

 

[chicodude]

I'd say giant because they make some of the other guys bikes too...

 

[N8 v2.0]

Specialized. Year after year they put out suspension bikes that work, and always have a lot of options at different price points. Never been a fan of Trek or GF full susupension designs, they seem really hit or miss.

I totally agree... They are working on some 29ers after years of dismissing them... a 29er Endro will be a killer...

 

[MtnbikeMike]

I'd say giant because they make some of the other guys bikes too...

Word is they make $7100+ carbon bikes for someone. neaky:

 

[Joe Pozer]

What can I say... I love Santa Cruz bikes. It helps that its my hometown. But thats just me. I love my Free.

Santa Cruz makes excellent bikes but their customer service blows...

 

[Zark]

There is no simple answer.
It depends on the type o' bike and your type 'o riding.

Giant's Meastro suspension design is really sweet, but if you want a 5" trail bike they don't have one And the Glory.......too ugly for words. I love the Reign, Trance and STP bikes though and their road are really good too.

Specialized has an amazing range and solid designs. Usually they have really solid graphics, but.....For 2007 They jumped the shark with some of the ugliest paintjobs imaginable on the Demo series.

Kona: Refined evolution of proven designs. I appreciate that, even if it seems a bit stagnant. The styling is a bit hit and miss, but this year looks good.

Trek/Gary Fisher: Better ask someone who doesn't have such a strong bias against them I plain hate them as a company, even if I like some elements of some bikes. I will never own one again.

 

[Nobody]

I go with the suspension designs in Specialized and Giant over the other 'big mfg'rs' in general.

of the two, i'd default to Specialized 9/10 times.

Trek is primarily an XC company (not many mountains in Wisconsin) that does some brilliant work in road bikes and light weight XC fs rigs.

For that matter, some of the Cannondales, too.

Kona isn't all that big a mfg'r, so i'd leave them out, but if you want me to savage their dh fs designs, i could rant for a long time.

But, are we talking about 'Innovation' or 'Quality of Make?'

Value for Dollar Spent?

Gotta narrow down the parameters, i think.

 

[N8 v2.0]

For your high end custom bike needs, Titus can not be beaten.

 

[jimmydean]

I think that overall Specialized is making some very nice rides. I have only owned one Spec ('01 Big Hit), but the Enduro has been a line that has been solid for the most part since around 2000, I think.

I don't care for Giant and Trek has never done much for me either. If I was in the market for a mainline bike, the Specialized SX Trail looks like crap, but is a tight bike.

 

[Mani_UT]

You got to give it to Trek for being one the the last big manufacturer to be making stuff in the US.
Technology wise their carbon bikes are untouchable. They have the best, cleanest technology with a manufacturing chain that is all domestic (Fiber, resin, tubes, lugs and assembly) using proven, reliable partners.

 

[golgiaparatus]

I go with the suspension designs in Specialized and Giant over the other 'big mfg'rs' in general.

of the two, i'd default to Specialized 9/10 times.

Trek is primarily an XC company (not many mountains in Wisconsin) that does some brilliant work in road bikes and light weight XC fs rigs.

For that matter, some of the Cannondales, too.

Kona isn't all that big a mfg'r, so i'd leave them out, but if you want me to savage their dh fs designs, i could rant for a long time.

But, are we talking about 'Innovation' or 'Quality of Make?'

Value for Dollar Spent?

Gotta narrow down the parameters, i think.

Just curious what people like out of the big guys when it comes to MTN bikes. I like Specialized a lot, always have. Their designs are great and work super well and last. However I own a Giant because they make solid bikes for cheap and always stand behind their crap. IMHO Trek is doing just okay... toting old designs, that fuel rig is old and I have never liked it anyway.

Not really asking specifics... what do people like, thats about it.

 

[reflux]

I have always liked Specialized Can 'o ale. I'm not in the mood to elaborate, so I won't.

 

[blue]

Word is they make $7100+ carbon bikes for someone. neaky:

Doesn't Merida make Specialized's stuff in Taiwan?

 

[moff_quigley]

I totally agree... They are working on some 29ers after years of dismissing them... a 29er Endro will be a killer...

And will have it's own proprietary fork/hub combo that only has 2mm of mud/tire clearance...no thanks.

 

[chicodude]

Doesn't Merida make Specialized's stuff in Taiwan?

Yea, and giant makes alot of the lower end and a few select mid range bike for a lot of people...I think.

 

[skinny mike]

i think all the big companies except for trek/gary fisher make good mountain bikes. aside from the session 10, every mtb that i've seen from that company makes me cringe.

 

[renorider40]

Giant makes good solid bikes and the maestro suspension works great. They also give you the best bang for the buck in my opinion. I also like specialized because they have good designs and lots of choices and good quality products.
(Edit: santa cruz as well for the same reason as speshy.)

 

[James]

Doesn't Merida make Specialized's stuff in Taiwan?

Ding ding ding!
Merida owns roughly 49% of Specialized, FYI...

 

[bballe336]

Specialized. Year after year they put out suspension bikes that work, and always have a lot of options at different price points.

Yet every year specialized is always the most over priced.

Giant would have to be my favorite big company. They make some awesome bikes that are all incredibly well spec'd for the price.

 

[bballe336]

Yea, and giant makes alot of the lower end and a few select mid range bike for a lot of people...I think.

Giant makes 85 percent of the bikes made overseas. This includes their own bikes and bikes for other companies.

 

[James]

Yea, and giant makes alot of the lower end and a few select mid range bike for a lot of people...I think.

Giant (as of a couple of years ago) made about 4 million frames per year, of which about 25%, or 1 million, were developed as, and branded as Giant. The other frames were for people like Trek, Specialized, TONS of other overseas companies. They started out as a contract frame builder. Funny enough, the people who started Kinesis used to be executives at Giant. They call it "Giant University" because of all the people who move on to start/run other bike industry companies over in Asia.

They do make pretty sweet bikes, and the Maesto stuff is pretty hot. I like a lot of what Specialized has going on these days too, that new 6" travel, 5.5lb Enduro frame is freaking sweet.

JJames

 

[habitatxskate]

i'm going w/ giant and specialized..supposively tomac is coming out w/ a few 2007 models.

 

[James]

Giant makes 85 percent of the bikes made overseas. This includes their own bikes and bikes for other companies.

100% are made overseas...

 

[chicodude]

100% are made overseas...

No, I think he's trying to say out of ALL the frames made overseas, Giant makes 85% of them.

 

[golgiaparatus]

For your high end custom bike needs, Titus can not be beaten.

These other companies offer complete bikes for around $2k... With titus your looking at that with the frame.

I do agree with you though... Titus is a great company. Still today if someone came up and offered me a switchblade for the right price I'd buy it. Today though I drool over the Motolite...

BTW Whoevcer said Giant puts together the best bang for the buck... THats is esactly why I went with them on my last complete bike purchase. I was at 2 shops that I frequent... The specialized was a couple of hundred more expensive they still needed to swap forks and Cranks inorder and match the component spec of the Giant. The tried really hard though... were upgrading the fork and cranks together for like $300, but I couldnt justify that plus the $200 more it would have cost me stock while I had an equal bike with better components staring me in the face for $500 less.

I havent looked in a while but I'm sure If I were to go out and buy a bike right now it'd end up being a trance or a Reign and not an enduro for the same exact reason.

 

[BurlyShirley]

Sounds odd, but actually HARO gives you the best components for the money BY A LONG SHOT. Their frames are pretty vanilla, but their new VPP seems to be a hit. Golgi, check out the Haro Sonix VL120 before you commit. Good deal.

 

[Red Bull]

It doesen't seem like they are getting much love in this thread, but Cannondale has been putting out dope bikes at somewhat
reasonable prices lately. I like 'em.

 

[stevew]

I am surprised changleen hasn't found this thread and imparted his wisdom on the subject? He loves big bike companies.

 

[Westy]

For your high end custom bike needs, Titus can not be beaten.

The few "high end" custom bike junkies I know would argue that IF beats them hands down. All I know is when considering a RacerX it took them 4 weeks to answer my question about getting V-Brake bosses. Unacceptable for a company that demands a premium price.

 

[binary visions]

It all depends on what you need from your "custom" bike, too. I mean, take my Sovereign for example: the fit is not custom. But the tubeset is more custom than what most of the other bike manufacturers offer. IF has their stock tubes that they'll cut to your size, but the tubeset in the Sovereign was custom designed and profiled by Reynolds and Evil specifically for this one bike.

The custom bike world has so many variables that stating that one company "can't be beat" is a little silly... Titus offers their unique exogrid frame, but if you want steel instead, you're SOL.

 

[BurlyShirley]

It all depends on what you need from your "custom" bike, too. I mean, take my Sovereign for example: the fit is not custom. But the tubeset is more custom than what most of the other bike manufacturers offer. IF has their stock tubes that they'll cut to your size, but the tubeset in the Sovereign was custom designed and profiled by Reynolds and Evil specifically for this one bike.

The custom bike world has so many variables that stating that one company "can't be beat" is a little silly... Titus offers their unique exogrid frame, but if you want steel instead, you're SOL.

I think the term "custom" generally assumes that the company will fit the bike to you BV. "Custom Tubing" does not imply a custom frame. Your frame is a stock size. Its not custom built to you. By your definition, all of specs monocoque frames are "custom" because they're all made for only one specific bike.

 

[binary visions]

I understand the implication, I'm pointing out that there is more than one way to define "custom". Why shouldn't custom tubing not fall under that category?

Monocoque isn't quite the same thing, since it's just a stamped mold out of a stock aluminum type and thickness. All frames have tubing and machined parts that are "made" just for the frame, but it's quite different when you custom design a butting profile, wall thickness and tube diameter that's never been done before for a specific bike.

I'm not saying Evil should be designated a "custom bike" company, just demonstrating that there are different ways to define custom, and while Titus may excel in one aspect, there may be another aspect that they fall short in.