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What is your #1 driving force behind a purchase decision?

zdubyadubya

zdubyadubya

Turbo Monkey
Apr 13, 2008
1,273
96
Ellicott City, MD
For me, warranty/customer service.

I have always lusted after some of the better components, but I would rather sacrifice not having the best to know that I will be taken care of. Two recent threads come to mind, specifically Elka fork damper and carbon Evil. Two amazing opportunities/innovations, but two things that I would avoid like the plague...

Just recently, I want to give a big shoutout to two customer service departments who straightened me out with new equipment at no cost to me... Straitline and SRAM, good on you! :-)
 
kickstand

kickstand

Turbo Monkey
Sep 18, 2009
3,441
392
Fenton, MI
I don't have a lot of cash, so exotic, light, and fancy is out of the question.

For me it is reliability and affordability.
 
JCL

JCL

Monkey
Aug 31, 2008
696
0
Good R&D and well thought out design. Guys behind the products who ride etc.
 
William42

William42

fork ways
Jul 31, 2007
3,926
671
FlipFantasia said:
level of ridemonkey hype
Click to expand...
Thats my big one. I was thinking I might keep riding my 40 that I like alot, but I decided that it just wasn't hyped enough on ridemonkey, and I should only run a boxxer, a 888 evo, or an avy damper. So I took it off my bike and now I have a boxxer team on there. But I think I might have to get an Avy damper cause you can't possibly go fast on a stock boxxer.
 
M

MDJ

Monkey
Dec 15, 2005
669
0
San Jose, CA
The more people b1tch about a company on 'monkey, the more likely I am to buy a bike from them. I'm now holding out for the carbon Evil.
 
Inclag

Inclag

Turbo Monkey
Sep 9, 2001
2,752
442
MA
Function/Reliability.

I stay far far far far away from companies that don't do the necessary validation and inspection internally on their products, especially when these companies utilize outside vendors for product design/manufacturing support. Do the due diligence and perform or source someone else to perform life cycle/destructive/environmental testing and have parts/assemblies inspected at precision metrology houses.

In other words, I try not to buy products from what are essentially "marketing" companies even if they do make me feel all warm and fuzzy trying to correct a problem. Blaming vendors and suppliers is super lame when there is the ability to spend $25K-$50K to make sure a product performs adequately and to specification before it ever leaves the shelves. If it doesn't, then you go hold a vendors feet to the fire to resolve the problem and the customer doesn't get stuck with a crappy product.
 
IH8Rice

IH8Rice

I'm Mr. Negative! I Fail!
Aug 2, 2008
24,524
494
Im over here now
Inclag said:
In other words, I try not to buy products from what are essentially "marketing" companies even if they do make me feel all warm and fuzzy trying to correct a problem. Blaming vendors and suppliers is super lame when there is the ability to spend $25K-$50K to make sure a product performs adequately and to specification before it ever leaves the shelves. If it doesn't, then you go hold a vendors feet to the fire to resolve the problem and the customer doesn't get stuck with a crappy product.
Click to expand...
this should be in a another thread too :thumb:
 
huntandride

huntandride

Chimp
Feb 16, 2009
82
0
Reno
Haha im all about sarcasm and some of the responses on here are pretty good....For real though i like to buy from my fav local shop if possible if not its about geo for me. the parts can be upgraded or selected with model. (buying complete) New Demo II on the way btw
 
p-spec

p-spec

Turbo Monkey
May 2, 2004
1,278
1
quebec
Well for me because I have a good job and work hard,I can afford watever my whistle pleases.

QUALITY,customer service,AMERICAN MADE,quality.I dont really care about weight cause I dont need tampons.
 
bullcrew

bullcrew

3 Dude Approved
Dec 8, 2004
8,910
2,574
I'm dude playing dude pretending to b another dude
Performance and reliability.......... Has to work and cant worry about it destroying itself I do enough damage to stuff to worry about failures from other parts.

Il ike tinkering and trying new stuff but I have my go to stuff now based on those 2 things Ill keep trying new stuff but I have my aces that I keep...
 
al-irl

al-irl

Turbo Monkey
Dec 9, 2004
1,086
0
A, A
it has to look cool for me to be interested after that, build quality, customer service/support and then price.
 
nauc

nauc

Monkey
May 14, 2007
475
3
customer service

lots of nice bikes out there, lots of sh!tty people too
 
chillindrdude

chillindrdude

Turbo Monkey
Jan 18, 2002
1,852
23
Northern VA, a peckerwood with too many guns
in no particular order:

race support -- i'd like to buy from companies that are a major sponsor of a WC team. not necessarily for the hype, but i would suspect that manufacturers do get quite a bit of performance and durability data from having their frames ridden hard by top racers. hopefully, that in turns filters down to me, the consumer, with a solid product.

reliability/quality -- i'm willing to pay a premium for sh*t that won't break after i case something. that being said, i am also mindful that if i buy something race-specific and lightweight, i know that some durability will be compromised. case in point, i love my Trek Session, but it has a downtube ding, from a rock thrown up that may or may not have dinged a Transition TR450

design/effectiveness -- i like to pony up my hard earned dollars for bikes/parts/suspension that i think work well. this assessment is partly based on what i read on the internetz but also from just riding and trying something out. if i get a bike part/frame/fork, and it doesn't work to my liking or style of riding, and i've ruled out improper setup, i will dump it, no matter what the hype or colorway.
 
SuspectDevice

SuspectDevice

Turbo Monkey
Aug 23, 2002
4,171
378
Roanoke, VA
For gravity product- personal relationships, country of origin and feedback from riders that I trust. The thing I value most is feedback from riders and/or designers that have experience with the product that can relate reliable, intelligent information.

Crap in other disciplines- personal relationships, country of origin, manufacturing history and capacity.

If I have to spend money I spend it as domestically as possible and if domestic production isn't feasible for the product (metal rims, tires, shifters) I prefer to buy stuff from companies that design and manufacture in house, especially those companies with a long history producing reasonable goods and a legacy of perpetual improvement.

If I can't afford a pair or domestically made hubs I'll always buy Shimano.
If I can't afford a domestically made carbon fork for a road or cx bike I'll buy a fork from a company like Edge/Enve. I always spec CaneCreek headsets on less-expensive bikes because some of the money I pay even for their imported models goes to pay bike riders who build trails I like to ride in Western NC. Edge and Canecreek make stuff on both continents, and they run emergency runs or super-premium runs to fill stock domestically, not in Formosa.

When it comes to bikes that aren't made in the North America, I buy Giant. Period.
 
Sandwich

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
21,080
5,999
borcester rhymes
i buy bikes from people that build dual slalom courses by hand in 2 days for no reason other than to have fun....

where is that gearbox bike, anyways?
 
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