Do you prefer to collect a Specific Brand or Brands & Why ?

M-Power

Old School Grand Master
Quite a few on here have various different models from a favourite brand or multiples of the same model. What is it that makes you keep coming back to that brand ? Do they all ride similar ?

Alternatively, do you prefer a familiar feel/ handling from certain models from different brands ?

I reference this thread with a comment made recently by the great Gary Fisher, who stated ‘bike racers’ prefer a consistent ride feel and handling.
 
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To be honest the only real factor in my retro collecting is nostalgia. I mostly collect Orange as they were my favorite brand bitd but I also have a couple of 89 Saracens as I had one as my first MTB before I switched to Orange. I've also been known to have a fair share of Marins as my pal got one the same day I got my original Tufftrax. I've dipped in and out of others but not with any great enthusiasm.

Ride wise if I'm honest the Marins were always lovely and solid in a way others were not. A bit numb maybe but very comfy for pottering about on. Retro Orange is ace but is like a naughty puppy compared to the Marins so ace when you feel like it but you need to concentrate more.

For me the ride of retro is not actually that important anymore as I rarely ride them. My 29" full suss with 1200mm wheel base, 800mm bars and 50mm stem makes every retro bike feel weird!
 
Mostly vintage Stumpjumpers for me, think for a few reasons, had a Stumpjumper Comp back in the day, like the visual looks of the bikes from the delicate early steel frames through to the more modern fatter aluminium tubes - all look good to me.

Plus major part is the quality and fact they were there at the beginning of mountain biking - great race history and heritage. Also there not yet at crazy prices compared to some other brands when collecting. :)
 
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Interesting. Seems its more of an emotional bond formed early on in the formative years with a certain brand, rather than specific preferred handling characteristics.
 
Back in the day i could never afford or prioritise a serious bike so made do with cheap Raleigh, Univega etc. When I ended up here I was guided towards boutique British steel, my first proper build being a Pioneer. This was a revelation. The bike I always should have had at the point I settled for less. Just a shame now i'm too old and unfit to do it justice. Over the years I've spent a lot of time and bikes but the Pioneer has stayed. I then picked up an Overbury's road bike that was also sublime and charming. The fact that i could drive by the old shop when i picked it up, the enthusiasm of the seller for the bike and the obvious mythical status of the builder, all combined to make the brand intriguing and desirable. I'm up to four and always on the lookout for more.
 
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M-Power":382vm4h1 said:
Interesting. Seems its more of an emotional bond formed early on in the formative years with a certain brand, rather than specific preferred handling characteristics.

Defo. Couldn't care less which bikes or parts were classed as the best as I buy on emotional ties over everything else.
 
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This thread indicates the power of early ‘imprinting’ and the emotion attached to owning and riding bicycles. Very much the same Damascus experience as THM, when i saw up close and finally got to ride my first FAT. I am more in the ‘i like it cos it rides better camp’. The FAT City Cycles zany ads and antics also appealed to my nature too.

The bicycle industry focuses so much on the technical improvements, styling etc maybe they are missing a big reason why people buy these bikes. I cant really believe that there is such a huge difference in ride and handling between most of the ‘halo bikes’ these days, as they look so similar. So what would pull you towards following a certain brand...in perpetuity maybe ?
 
I collect Hope because thats the route I was directed after buying my first frame and its the brakes that saved a nasty collision when I suddenly noticed the route was blocked by a steel gate.

I also like to collect Hope because I'm lucky enough to own a small but loved number of Hope developmental hubs including one C2/140mm on a screw on ti glide disc, for cyclocross that was never released to the public. and a really early rear with cable brake bnib(no box though lol) I like the way the early stuff is super over engineered, and some of the rotors wouldnt look out of place on the back of a motorbike as theyre made from thick steel, such I reckon was the understanding then of the strengths and forces acting upon them :?

I always wondered though as to why the early hubs were all nice cnc finishes and the cable brake unit looked like it was hammered into shape by the blacksmith down the road. Theyre in a nearly unfinished state :?


Kind of ballooned from there.
 
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So a strong appreciation of the design and engineering of components is another ‘bonding factor’ :?
 
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