Rule Britannia!

hydorah

hydorah

Retrobike Rider
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British industry!

Great when it happens when all participants are united in what they are doing you get a great blend of style, innovation, originality, quality and good old common sense

However I saw this new venture 'Rule Bikes'...

So a new UK Bike builder should be good... But no they are building bikes that look to me like knock offs of US beach cruisers

The branding is vomitouslly tacky, OTT and to be honest downright chavvy with the ubermodern font and overt use of 'British' as a brand element

Finally they appear to feature a chrome plated ash tray of letter rack or something on what I shall call the 'front fender'

Official site: http://www.rulebikes.com/

Will these guys succeed? I don't know... Apparently these things are made in Devon by ex-marines

Some third party blurb

http://www.bikebiz.com/news/read/rule-b ... hes/012809

I've seen one and the paintwork was rubbish. I fear the worst for these guys
 
I may get shot down by many for saying this, but I simply don't like the look of these cruiser style bikes at all, never have, probably never will. What purpose do they serve? Each to their own, but not to my taste.
 
ishaw":25lj70ld said:
I may get shot down by many for saying this, but I simply don't like the look of these cruiser style bikes at all, never have, probably never will. What purpose do they serve? Each to their own, but not to my taste.
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Yeah, not for me either, if you live in a hilly place they make no sense as transport! But when someone builds a nice one, they have an almost architectural elegance to them, so I appreciate them

I think 'off the peg' Pashley have nailed British nostalgia/style bike the best and these guys efforts just look tacky, check out the forks: Bog standard unicrown if anything resembling over size MTB forks. The lack of attention to detail is bewildering
 
They sound like a reasonably ethical company. Good that they're training and employing ex-marines but...£600-£1500 for an average beach cruiser...Launched at London Fashion week, says it all.

I'm assuming that the fact they don't clearly state that it's actually made in Britain certainly suggests that it is merely assembled here.

Our frames are High 10 steel, these are more robust and give greater strength, flexibility and are harder to dent. The downside is, they are a tad heavier....Inner tubes are designed to withstand weights up to 20 stone...The (hub) gears are notoriously reliable! In fact many shops don’t stock them, as they rarely if ever go wrong.
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This sort of thing is just laughable BS.

:Claiming that Sturmey Archer is a British brand is misleading at best. Perfectly good products, but hardly "the best of British" anymore.
:"Components are designed in Devon" but presumably manufactured and shipped from a factory in China, though they don't admit it.
:"90% direct suppliers" being British might be of some use to British parts wholesaling, but isn't helping the balance of trade or domestic manufacturing. Also it's not made clear if that 90% is of value, part numbers or finished product percentage.
:"These direct suppliers source from Britain, the EU and a variety of different countries." Well, that covers the whole world then.
:"10% of future profits to ...charity" At £600 retail, even at gross profit, this would probably only be around £20, net profit would be considerably less.

It's hardly anything new, not really "sartorial elegance, comfort and high quality". 18Kg cheap MIG welded "Hi-ten" steel frame, aluminium seatpin and bars, chromed steel rims, whitewalls, one size...a bog standard cheap cruiser assembled to order in the UK, with some added ex-army charity feelgood factor.

As someone who actually personally manufactures world class custom built products here, in a small British workshop, this marketing direction really pisses me off.

Sleep well,
 
Ugh. Terrible website - didn't bother looking for long, but this:

"High 10 Steel"


High 10? You mean High Ten, as in High tensile strength? :facepalm:



It's a no from me.
 
i have never been a cruiser bike fan really, that said, i sort of like these style of bikes for girls who rarely ride, you know the girlfriend that occasionally on a summers day wants to roll to the pub on a sunday afternoon but would usually never go near a bike.

regarding quality, i don't think these are any better or worse than any of the cruiser bikes out there, felt, electra, they're all pretty much the same. having said that these are not performance bikes and aren't designed to be either.
 
If they were made in Devon, they were not thinking about Devon's hills. Methinks they are trying to tap into the trendy flat land market, which as we know is here today and gone tomorrow but otherwise- yuck!

Marines, were they thinking about tanks ?
 
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