[BIGHITR]

I'm curious what Monkey's think of Bontrager quality? I'll explain later but I'm pretty angry at Bontrager right now and avoiding venting my anger on here until I calm down about it. Another part started to break today and it's a brand new bike, 3rd ride for god's sake!!

So, on a scale of one to ten, what do you think of Bontrager quality?

 

[4xBoy]

It's there with crank bros.

 

[Sghost]

They used to make one of my favorite seats?

 

[Serial Midget]

Low end to middle of the road OEM parts, never thought enough of the brand to seek out upgrade replacement parts.

 

[loco-gringo]

Depends on the part. I have some high end wheels that are super nice. They make some cheap stuff too. It's apples and oranges. Trek will take care of ANY issues. Period. It's up to the shop as to how well it's handled. I've never been stifled by Trek while helping my customers.

 

[JohnE]

Old Bontrager frames were cool...wouldnt buy any of their stuff for replacement...

 

[HAB]

Old Bontrager frames were cool...wouldnt buy any of their stuff for replacement...

I fvcking hate paired spoke wheels. Bontrager needs to stop making those fvcking things.

 

[TreeSaw]

I haven't really had any issue with them. Mostly on my road bike, though I do have a brand new set of UST wheels that I won in a race and haven't used (I haven't needed to do anything with my Mavic wheels).

 

[Zark]

I fvcking hate paired spoke wheels. Bontrager needs to stop making those fvcking things.

quoted for truth.

 

[HAB]

I haven't really had any issue with them. Mostly on my road bike, though I do have a brand new set of UST wheels that I won in a race and haven't used (I haven't needed to do anything with my Mavic wheels).

Wait until you're a bike shop mechanic who has to deal with them on a fairly regular basis. And we don't even sell any bikes with paired spoke wheels.

Last week a guy came in with a pair of Bonty Race X Light road wheels that he'd ridden in the salt all winter to get trued. Miraculously the front went fine. The rear, however did not. The aluminum nipples were so corroded that about 1/3 of them just crumbled when I put a wrench on them. That left me with the spokes still threaded in about half a nipple, with the wrench flat gone. The spokes were sticking through the top of the nipple far enough that the screw driver head on the nipples was inaccessable, so all that could be done was to cut the spokes out and replace them. I did them one by one as nipples failed, in the end replacing 7 out of 24 spokes. Granted all that didn't really have to do anything with the wheels being paired spoke, but the fact that they were made truing them as I kept having to replace spokes one by one a lot harder. I'd replace a spoke, try to true it a bit, and then have another one go. Replace it, same deal. It sucked.

 

[loco-gringo]

I am actually a fan of their paired spoke wheels. I hate internal nipples, but it actually easier to true once the tire and strip is off. I have a set of Race X Lite tubulars that I like a lot. Tension knowledge is your friend with any Bonti paired spoke set up.

Alloy is stupid in any corrosive environment. That said, welcome to chi chi wheel land. They all do it.

 

[HAB]

I am actually a fan of their paired spoke wheels. I hate internal nipples, but it actually easier to true once the tire and strip is off. I have a set of Race X Lite tubulars that I like a lot. Tension knowledge is your friend with any Bonti paired spoke set up.

Alloy is stupid in any corrosive environment. That said, welcome to chi chi wheel land. They all do it.

The newer ones have internal nipples too? Terrific. The ones I was dealing with were 4-5 years old, based on the bike they came off.

I can't think of a single advantage to a paired spoke wheel over a conventional one, all else being equal. The biggest thing is that if you break a spoke, you have an opposing spoke RIGHT THERE to yank the rim off true, with no spokes on the same side anywhere near the broken one to take up the slack. Obviously in a conventional wheel with the same spoke count, the distance between spokes on the same side is going to be the same, but at least there's some distance between a broken spoke and the ones opposing it. Also, conventional wheels tend to have higher spoke counts. This is neither universally true, nor a point inherent to the paired spoke concept, but does exacerbate the issue should you break a spoke.

This isn't supposed to be a knock on all aspects Bonty's wheels. For the most part, they seem to be decent, but I maintain that the idea of paired spokes is a poor one.

 

[Ithnu]

I had a set of Bontrager Big Earls on my DH bike a few years ago. They spent one year there and one year on my dual slalom bike. No problems.

I have some King Earl bars on the DS bike, they're fine. I have some King Earl cranks on the DS bike too, they're crap.

 

[Sorgie]

Bontrager is definitely not the first thing that pops into my head when it is time to upgrade, but I also have never had any issues when I did try them.
Late '90's- In college and needed a cheap pair of wheels. LBS had some bright yellow race discs. Not crazy about the color, but they worked great.
A couple years ago picked up some single ply Big Earls at a LBS tent sale because they were too cheap to not try. They ended up being a great northeast trail tire (still use them). 2.5", 750 grams, dual compound.
Last week I went shoe shopping. Tried on over a dozen pairs. Pearl Izumi, Nike, Specialized, Louis Garneau, and Bontrager. The Bontragers were the only ones that didn't crunch my toes and/ or slip on my heel. Not to mention they were like half the price of Sidi's.
Maybe I've been lucky so far.

 

[TreeSaw]

Bontrager is definitely not the first thing that pops into my head when it is time to upgrade, but I also have never had any issues when I did try them.
Late '90's- In college and needed a cheap pair of wheels. LBS had some bright yellow race discs. Not crazy about the color, but they worked great.
A couple years ago picked up some single ply Big Earls at a LBS tent sale because they were too cheap to not try. They ended up being a great northeast trail tire (still use them). 2.5", 750 grams, dual compound.
Last week I went shoe shopping. Tried on over a dozen pairs. Pearl Izumi, Nike, Specialized, Louis Garneau, and Bontrager. The Bontragers were the only ones that didn't crunch my toes and/ or slip on my heel. Not to mention they were like half the price of Sidi's.
Maybe I've been lucky so far.

You should check out the new Mavic shoes! I LOVE mine and Earl really likes his too!

 

[golgiaparatus]

Bonty really only comes on Trek bikes... last Trek bike I bought was nearly 10 years ago. Back then I thought the quality was fine. I remember they made a set of tires that washed out so badly they nearly got me killed a couple times. As for durability... never broke anything that I can remember.

 

[BIGHITR]

Stay on subject people. I'm waiting for enough input to tell you my sob story that will either have you telling me to expect that from Bontrager, or sypathize.

Oh, I've got a duzey.

 

[HAB]

You should check out the new Mavic shoes! I LOVE mine and Earl really likes his too!

For what it's worth, they're pretty much Adidas' old offerings with some tweaks. Pretty nice shoes, though they seem to run kinda narrow.

 

[HAB]

Stay on subject people. I'm waiting for enough input to tell you my sob story that will either have you telling me to expect that from Bontrager, or sypathize.

Oh, I've got a duzey.

WTF are you looking for? Just tell the damn story, you'll get a lot more reactions when you have something interesting enough to bother with.

 

[loco-gringo]

Are you 12???

 

[MtnBikerChk]

Last week I went shoe shopping. Tried on over a dozen pairs. Pearl Izumi, Nike, Specialized, Louis Garneau, and Bontrager. The Bontragers were the only ones that didn't crunch my toes and/ or slip on my heel. Not to mention they were like half the price of Sidi's.
Maybe I've been lucky so far.

Can't be luck - because I just got a pair of Bonty road shoes and same thing. Nice wide toe box and my heel doesn't come up. I've put 75 miles or so on them and they're great!

That and a seat from ~1997 are my only 2 Bontrager purchases.

 

[loco-gringo]

From what I understood about Bontrager shoe designs is that the same crew that designed Nike cycling shoes were working on Bonti shoes. I could most certainly be wrong, and haven't stocked any Bonti shoes yet, but they seemed nice when I looked at samples. The colors were kind of lame though so I still go heavy on Specialized shoes.

 

[BIGHITR]

Okay, you don't have to be angry about it. I'll post it now.

If anyone wants the long story, I'll post it via PM to you. But the short one is, new Gary Fisher King Fisher 1 bike, $3200 price tag, got it for $1850, and the Bontrager Hub broke the first 20 minutes. Replaced internal part under warranty, got bike back three weeks later, 20 minutes on second ride, it broke. Replaced WHOLE hub and relaced wheel under warranty. Got bike back in about 5 weeks. Missed about 8 weeks of prime time riding last summer. Got bike back, didn't ride it again. Parked it over the winter to sell wheelset and bought new Hadley set up over the winter @ over $700. You may recall me asking about the Bontrager quality over a year ago and inquiring about what is the best hubs, wheelset etc., as I was worried over the Bontrager carbon fiber hub breaking on me or being weak. Bike sits all winter till now. So took bike out last week for third ride. Bontrager bottom bracket is grinding from uphill pedaling in a state park on 165lbs of rider. This is the bikes third ride, about one hour on it. First two were about 20 minutes each. Getting the idea yet? The bike has 1 hour and 40 minutes on it since I bought it, the flagship bike they had, and it's broke three out of three rides. I got about one more ride by the sound of it, before I'm stuck back in the woods pushing the 44lbs bike out of the woods again thanks to a broken bottom bracket. It's the same sound I've heard when I had to replace two other BB's on my other bike. That's the short story. There's more to it but why post it to get attacked by assh0les. I'm sure warranty will replace it but at this point, I'm buying another crankset, different brand, and putting all the bontrager parts on the bike up for auction on Ebay all starting at 1 buck. This bike will have cost me as much as an Intense by the time I get done buying new parts to replace all the Bontrager stuff. If I could get my total investment back from Gary Fisher, I'd take it ASAP! My LBS I've been on the phone with for days and he says Bontrager has not returned his call. So now I'm even more left out in the cold, courtesy of Bontrager. And by the way, my LBS is a great guy and I'd buy from him again. It's not him at fault. So that's the story for the most part of it.

 

[loco-gringo]

You're getting BS from your shop. Trek returns calls immediately, if you don't get someone at first try, which is uncommon as the phones are always staffed.

The hub is a hub built for Trek. The bottom bracket isn't a Bontrager BB. They don't make them. Most likely done by Truvativ, but can't say for sure.

Why did the bike get discounted $1300???

btw - Bontrager is Trek and they do business very well. It sounds like you are getting service from a shop that is likely twice as irritated as you are, as they made zero money on your bike, if you bought it from them. That is not right, but could see a shop being that way.

 

[jdcamb]

I think Bontrager stuff is crap. I don't have any on my bike so it must be crap. Who rides that stuff anyways? What does Lance know about component performance. He would have never broke his collarbone if he had been running RaceFace stuff and I should know because that is what I run and I am really fast. I create a sonic boom as I fly down the trails. The stuff I ride has to be good or it would just disintegrate. If you need any additional advice about components just let me know. I know everything there is to know about everything squared! I am that smart, and super good looking too.

 

[Serial Midget]

Damn dude - take some Ritalin...

I think Bontrager stuff is crap. I don't have any on my bike so it must be crap. Who rides that stuff anyways? What does Lance know about component performance. He would have never broke his collarbone if he had been running RaceFace stuff and I should know because that is what I run and I am really fast. I create a sonic boom as I fly down the trails. The stuff I ride has to be good or it would just disintegrate. If you need any additional advice about components just let me know. I know everything there is to know about everything squared! I am that smart, and super good looking too.

 

[jdcamb]

Damn dude - take some Ritalin...

The doc switched me to Aderall. I just snorted my whole prescription and it has done nothing for this damn cold. Stuff is crap!

 

[gonefirefightin]

سطح مرتفع عند مؤخر السفينة


thats what I think of it!

 

[jdcamb]

سطح مرتفع عند مؤخر السفينة


thats what I think of it!

Hah! какого хуя, хули, что за хуйня

 

[BIGHITR]

You're getting BS from your shop. Trek returns calls immediately, if you don't get someone at first try, which is uncommon as the phones are always staffed.

The hub is a hub built for Trek. The bottom bracket isn't a Bontrager BB. They don't make them. Most likely done by Truvativ, but can't say for sure.

Why did the bike get discounted $1300???

btw - Bontrager is Trek and they do business very well. It sounds like you are getting service from a shop that is likely twice as irritated as you are, as they made zero money on your bike, if you bought it from them. That is not right, but could see a shop being that way.

Well that is a new perspective on it. Maybe my bike shop guy is getting pissed because he is fed up with me coming in with the bike broken in such short usage. I got the impression he's BS'n me too with the Gary Fisher not getting back with him part. I don't believe GF would not contact him over a week. I've asked him for a price on a back up frame for later down the road and that was two months ago. I wanted to buy a left over stock frame. Still no price.

As to the reason the bike was discounted, I had a frame warranty from Trek. I didnt like anything I saw on Trek so he suggested Gary Fisher. I had a $300 or $400 off discount or new frame was offered. The Gary Fisher King Fisher 1 was being discontinued at end of 2007 early 08 season, plus end of season year discontinued design, it came down to like $2,200 and $400 off for frame warranty, thus the reason it came down in price. I bought it January 08 when he said they had 17 left in the country. The bike sat till July08 as it was heavy and I wanted to use my other lighter bike to get into shape first before attempting to lug 45lbs uphill. First ride out, 20 minutes in, it broke. I had to walk out of the woods about 2 miles from my car and push it all the way back on a 96 degree day in Maryland. A part was ordered and put in under warranty. Took 2 or 3 weeks. Took the bike out again, and again in just 20 minutes the hub internally broke around the same area. Pushed the bike back in 85 degree heat. This time it took about 5 weeks to get the hub, relace it and get it back to me. It was end of season. I decided rather than get stuck ever again, I'd sell the wheels as new, 40 minutes riding on them and a new hub. Not a scratch on them. So I parked the bike and didn't use it again until this weekend. And again, it's breaking. The bottom bracket, Bontrager again, is crackling inside, grinding.

Considering the bike listed at $3,200 I am shocked at the low quality Trek/Gary Fisher gave me. I'm very upset. I'd like to give the bike back and get my money back, add a grand to it and buy a better bike now. I went with the long travel freeride big hit design for an area that is all single track, overkill yes, but the I went big hit, heavy bike, expecting it to be built tough for serious abuse, thereby lasting me ten years in a state park in Maryland riding on single track trails. And trust me, Maryland state park, tears down 8 inch log jumps I set up to get a little lift over a 7 inch log. This ain't Whistler. There are NO jumps back where I ride. So the bike is under severe mild riding conditions compared to what I'm sure it's capable of. I never expected such low quality parts in drive train from Gary Fisher/Trek. I was really surprized how fast it broke. Now with 1 hour and 40 minutes.on the bike, I'm waiting for my Bike Doctor to get back with me with any word as to the bottom bracket if it's under warranty. I sent the guy several messages, and calls and he seems like he's not to happy when I call him or email him. My last email asking him to also get me a price for a King Fisher frame for a back up years down the road, he answered, "When I know, you'll know."

So I'm kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place.

I'm learning a very valuable lesson.

 

[BIGHITR]

I think Bontrager stuff is crap.

...RaceFace stuff and I should know because that is what I run and I am really fast. I create a sonic boom as I fly down the trails.

I am that smart, and super good looking too.

First sentence: I'm starting to agree with you.

Second sentence: I can see you're fast. I see the stars swirling around your head in your avatar. Tree didn't move when you hit it, did it?

Third sentence: If you are going for the punked hair Carrot Top look, oh my, then YES you are quite the handsome one.

On a more serious note, anyone want some Bontrager components cheap?

 

[Serial Midget]

Hookers shouldn't just look clean, they should smell clean too - but like perfume or AXE. Neither are signs of money well spent.

I'm learning a very valuable lesson.

 

[BIGHITR]

Rode today, same thing. Started quiet, riding in, mostly down, and coming out of the woods, mostly uphills and a few steep ones, creaks, with every pedal downward. 1st gear, crique, crique, crique. Sooner or later, it's gonna go. Just waiting till it does till I pull it and sell it off with the replacement BB. Guess if I spray some AXE on it, the creeking will go away. Thanks Serial Midget!

Oh, and my bike shop guy contacted me by email. He said Gary Fisher rep would be in the park today between 9 to 3, doing demos, take the bike there and see if he can figure it out. Needless to say, I got my email today before I rode at 3pm.

 

[DirtyMike]

Sounds like you got the bike on discount for a reason.


Trek= Bontrager=Gary Fisher


Sounds like your getting a fairly bumm deal, but in all seriousness, sounds like your shop is giving you a bunch of BS, Trek is great with there warranty.


For the original question, I like there stuff......Other than there hubs. I am tired of having to get them warrantied

 

[Sghost]

Get a crankset with external BB.

You'd think you would get good stuff on a 3k bike, but that's the problem with full suspension prices in many cases with certain brands, they skimp too much in certain areas.

This is why so many build up frame sets. By the time you huck things you hate, might as well built full custom to begin with.

 

[BIGHITR]

Yes, I know Trek and Gary Fisher will stand by their warranty, that's not the problem. Trek and Gary Fisher are great about that. It's paying high dollar and having the stuff break SO fast, so early in the bike's life. 1st day out, 2nd ride, and now third ride. I rode it yesterday and sure enough it was creeking again, only on uphill torque sessions on the crank. I'm going to keep riding it, and when it finally breaks, I'll just take it in and get a new BB under warranty. If they don't warrant it, I'll just buy another crankset. I'm just surprized at how fast and the same brand on both problems. And yes, above comment, I do believe next time, I'm going frame and build my own. Better off spending the money and getting good quality parts. I'm going to get my old bike off the ground with a new frame so I have back up when the King Fisher finally breaks. Still no word on a new frame from my dealer. I think I'm going to go to another GF dealer and get a quote. I thought buying a second bike from the same shop the guy might be a little more receptive, especially when he said I was his first big hit bike sale, plus the long travel fork I bought on top of it.

I'll post up pics of the old bike with the new Jamis frame when I get it. Thanks.

 

[DirtyMike]

See what I ifnd interesting about your bike, with all the king Fishers I ahve sold, not one has had as many problems as yours. Seriously, I would have to look at who assembled the bike, maybe go to another shop to have it checked over top to bottom. Sounds like they may have done a partial assembly to get in on the floor, and forgot to recheck before it went home. I think you have some bolts and parts that were not checked properly before you started riding.

 

[BIGHITR]

I'm not sure how the bike came in but it was ordered and yes, I figure assembled. The crankset is not loose. I tried turning the outter ring. The rear hub on the Bontrager King Earl wheelset was brand new. It might not have been assembled right at Bontrager as it was a closed unit that simply needed to be put on the bike via a thru axel. It broke twice. I still have the wheelset with the new hub waiting to sell it off to someone cheap. But the bottom bracket creeking is the sound I've heard and I figure it may last me a few weeks, or break next ride. When it gets loud and starts grinding bad, I'll take it back. Thanks for the comments.

 

[DirtyMike]

Well, I can def understand those hubs going bad, but I dont normally see problems with the engagement, its usually the flange iteself cracking apart. I think your BB itself is loose, not the cranks.

 

[Nobody]

In and of itself, it's just stuff from China.

Bontrager is a wholly owned brand name within the Trek Omniverse. Trek, Gary and Keith are all in the same set of offices.

Brand separation between Trek and Fisher is purely a marketing device to increase market saturation - that is, two bike shops in competition across the street from each other sell one or the other brand and Trek gets paid for all of them.

That being said - it's really hard to describe quality as a brand concept. it's all over the map.

I was at one time or another a dealer for both 'labels' and really, never had a problem with warranty. I could almost always get info from service reps at the HQ the same day.

They were also on a 24hr turn-around on email.