Paul Milnes Finds Another!

[oldave]

He's having a real clear out! This one is very nice (and frame built by Nigel Dean).

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/21-531-all-terrai ... 1e60784c10

 

[Coleman]

That is nice -

Not seen any XCM stuff for a while. I used to have that crankset.

 

[SeeingisBelievingGTMuseum]

He's having a real clear out! This one is very nice (and frame built by Nigel Dean).

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/21-531-all-terrai ... 1e60784c10

So let me understand this...you are are trying to get us to believe that someone in the UK hand welded this 531 frame and put parts on it that were common on a $269-300 retail bike?

 

[Rod_Saetan]

Yes. Is it hard to believe that in order to hit a certain price-point the components would be downgraded in order to give customers a good frame and forks (the toughest bits to upgrade)? I am pretty confident this was standard practise for most big companies - Kona, Trek, Cannondale etc - all offered the same good quality frame (albeit with different paint schemes and model names) with varying qualities of components, I dont know if GT did this as I know nothing about them.

 

[oldave]

Yes Plus 1. Not uncommon as far as I recall. ATB or road.

And...the Big S has always had a strangle hold on its prices in the UK. I once saw a price list in in the '90s and could barely belive the mark ups built into its 4-layer pricing structure. A small outfit like PMC would have had to pay near-retail prices.

Most of the EU e.g. has much stricter competition rules - German bikes tend to come at much higher spec than UK assembled models presumably because S cannot enforce its restrictive trade practices so easily.

Allegedly.

 

[pete_mcc]

Key reason why Nigel Dean frames came with suntour parts was that they were tied to Ron Kitching who imported suntour to the UK. This bike was one of the lower end offerings from the Ron kit catalogue from around 1989 (the pace rc100 being one of the top one). Nigel Dean like many English bikes of the time like Dawes and Claude Butler were not build by one individual but were semi-production line produced.

It wasnt an amazing bike back then and certainly didn't cost that much 20 years ago, but if anyone's willing to pay that for it then go for it. Personally I wouldnt touch it with anyones.

 

[SeeingisBelievingGTMuseum]

Yes. Is it hard to believe that in order to hit a certain price-point the components would be downgraded in order to give customers a good frame and forks (the toughest bits to upgrade)? I am pretty confident this was standard practise for most big companies - Kona, Trek, Cannondale etc - all offered the same good quality frame (albeit with different paint schemes and model names) with varying qualities of components, I dont know if GT did this as I know nothing about them.

I can assure you Cannondale's lowest end frame was on their lowest end bike...sold them back in those days, as was the same for Trek and even Kona. Back then you might get a seat tube chromoly or maybe the main frame on an entry level bike wearing XCT or XCM components. Within the bicycle industry frames are usually spec'd to the retail price point as are the components and it's been that way for decades.

 

[Rod_Saetan]

Yes, the lowest quality frame for Konas were specced on the cheapest bikes, but the point I am trying to make is that that same frame was also specced on higher end bikes, with a different model name and better kit (Hahanna/Lava Dome/Fire Mountain all shared the same frame for years). This is because that way kona could offer a £420 bike without having to compromise the integrity of the brand by providing a rubbish frame, and at the same time allowing people to get something they could afford, and upgrade it as they saw fit. Most companies offered this system, ie Trek 810/820/830/840 all had the same frame.

 

[Unclejack]

I saw this bike a long time ago and have often though about going back to buy it. last time i was in the shop it was hanging just on the right as you go upstairs. But then it had a price tag of £80.00 on it...

 

[legrandefromage]

I think these frames were unique to Milnes as so far I've yet to find something similar whilst researching this threadb (other than another Milnes):

http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewto ... hlight=531


And yes, it was VERY common to find low rent parts on high quality frames. It has been done with road bikes for years previously.

Its called 'upgrading' - buy the frame you want then upgrade as your paper round money rolls in.

Personally, I think this bike is about £225 over priced - frame and forks on their own would be a good buy at £190 or so but that paint job whilst being of its time would give me a headache after a while.

***EDIT***

got confused with a Nigel Dean