I’ve seen them around here and there, but not too many people riding these brands. What is your opinion? I don’t want to bash these companies I just want to get some feedback.
It depends on what type of bike you want. I can speak of Fuji and Javelin.
Fuji makes very nice, underrated bikes in my opinion. I rode Fuji for 2006 and may for 2007. Their tri-bikes have been revamped, but they missed the mark a bit on their high end one. The word is that they have an adjustable seat post on the way. Their middle of the road tri bike looks quite nice, and what was their top of the line for 06 is now their low level tri bike. I rode it for all of 06 in local non-drafting races and had no complaints. Their road bikes are very much a good deal and very nice bikes. My bike shop sponsor was a Fuji dealer and that is one of the main reasons that I switched from Javelin to Fuji.
I rode a Javelin Arcole for 3 seasons and an entry level Javelin Road bike for 1-2 seasons. Both were very good bikes. The arcole was very stiff and fast, and I would not have hesitated to ride it for a 1/2 or full IM. I did a 1/2 or two on it, but not a full. The road bike was a road bike, but it had a pretty flexy carbon rear-end. Simon Lessing has posted here a few times about his Javelin’s and gives them high marks.
I think that both of these companies make great bikes. Where they might suffer is that they are a little bit late in getting carbon tri-bikes out and letting people know what they have coming out. I think that it’s safe to say that neither of them are doing a huge amount of traditional marketing geared towards triathlon. Although Javelin started out as a tri/tt bike company, they have had some organizational changes that may have had an effect on their mass marketing efforts. Both companies have some top tier athletes riding their bikes like Matt Reed (fuji) and Simon and Michael (Javelin), but I don’t see too many age groupers riding them. So, that’s a long way of saying that both companies make nice bikes, but they aren’t at the top of some lists when it comes to selecting a tri-bike.
I had a bianchi steel mountain bike that was great…I like my Jamis Dragon better, but that’s my only Bianchi comment.
Yes. Each of those brands produces good bikes. Which bikes were you looking at, specifically?
Not every bike that every manufacturer produces is a good bike, or a good bike for the money.
I’ve seen them around here and there, but not too many people riding these brands. What is your opinion? I don’t want to bash these companies I just want to get some feedback.
I used to own a Javelin Arcole. The field testing that I did (see below) suggested that it wasn’t quite as aero as a Cervelo P2k (P2T, actually), but I liked everything else about the frameset. In particular, the geometry and handling were very good, the multi-position Selcof seatpost that came with it gave lots of positioning options, the finishwork was excellent, i.e., nice smooth welds and shiny black metallic paint, and the way the cables were routed internally through the frame made it easy to live with (vs., e.g., having to spend hour fishing cables through my old Hooker).
http://home.earthlink.net/~acoggan/whichisfasterthecervelop2torthejavelinarcole/
Not every bike that every manufacturer produces is a good bike, or a good bike for the money.
Amen to that. I currently ride a Fuji road bike and will be upgrading to a tri-bike for next year. The bike is sound, and the quality has been reliable. However, to fit the bike I am on a 64 cm frame. At that size, some riding instabilities show up, especially on fast descents (vibration and a front end with a tendency to wash out in a fast corner). I ride with other people that have the same bike in a smaller frame that do not experience the same issues. YMMV.
I have no experience with their top end bikes, but do believe they make a reasonable quality entry level bike.
I think each of these brands has their strengths. Fuji had a very strong run for several years during the early '70’s “bike boom”. Bianchi is actually (according to them) the oldest bicycle manufacterer still doing business in the world. Javelin is a relative new comer to both of them and they have some nice products.
In the case of Fuji and Bianchi a few factors unique to those two brands have kept them off the triathlon radar in favor of brands like Cervelo, Felt and Quintana Roo- the most prominent triathlon marques.
Fuji has an excellent entry level bike called the Aloha but never got good enough traction in their dealerships to sell large numbers of the bike. It is a good bike if it fits you correctly so that is a shame. Fuji also had to re-position themselves in the U.S. market a number of years ago when currency fluctuations forced a number of Asian Rim bike companies out of the U.S. as the Yen and other Asian currencies skyrocketed against the dollar. It simply wasn’t worth doing business in the U.S. That was the era when the U.S. bike market lost Bridgestone, Miyata and Panasonic as a result of the currency crisis. It had nothing to do with the bikes. It was an economic issue. Most of the brands I mentioned above are still seen in Asia and Europe but never returned to the U.S. The good news is Fuji did stay around. At the time they hunkered down at the low end and are now trying to re-position themselves at the higher end as that segment of the market is robust now.
Bianchi has traditionally banked on their heritage as an Italian road bike builder with their Reparto Corse shop being the inspiration for U.S. projects like the Specialized “S” Works. Bianchi’s decision to go with what they know (road bikes) did not prevent them from inventing an entirely new bike category (the hybrid bike) but it has kept them out of the main stream of triathlon brands. I had an excellent Reparto Corse built Bianchi triathlon bike, only about 200 of which were ever mported to the U.S. That was a great bike.
Depsite Bianchi’s rich heritage and devotion to quality they haven’t penetrated the tri market. It doens’t mean they aren’t good (they are), it just means they haven’t been here other than to dabble… yet.
Javelin has some great product and seems to be trying to find traction in the industry. They face number of challenges and are addressing them now. All the ingredients are in place for Javelin to do well once that set of (internal) challenges is met. That said, the market is crowded and the leaders are well established now. It is tough to un-seat any of the top brands for a shot at the top of the market share heap. The last major coup was Cervelo ousting main line brands for the top of the Kona bike count a couple years ago. I predict another upward movement in 2007/8 will be Felt. Quintana Roo has re-gained a lot of well deserved steam with a very good line-up in 2006 and an even better line-up in 2007.
Hope that provides some insight…
Thanks, that’s what I was looking for.
I ride a 2005 Fuji Professional road bike. Its the full carbon version with a similar grouppo to the cervelo specing. It has a more traditional geometry, long top tube, slack seat tube, but is a very stiff and light frame. I like it a lot.
I ride a 2005 Fuji Professional road bike. Its the full carbon version with a similar grouppo to the cervelo specing. It has a more traditional geometry, long top tube, slack seat tube, but is a very stiff and light frame. I like it a lot.
I have a 2006 Team RC. Basically the same frame, C7 carbon. I agree. For the street value, there really isn’t much that can touch it. They spec well and the frames have done excellent for me under race conditions.
The good news is Fuji did stay around. At the time they hunkered down at the low end and are now trying to re-position themselves at the higher end as that segment of the market is robust now.
Tom - Just curious on your thoughts. What do you think of Fuji’s marketing strategy? I personally think it is undermining their attempts to re-invent their image in the US. I’ve spoken with a number of local dealers in my area. They each indicated that Fuji’s strategy seems to be to inflate their pricing and get their dealers to hang SALE! tags on every model right off the gun. They compared this to Trek which, I was told at least, frowns heavily if they see sales pricing on models that they haven’t cleared or been made aware of.
I don’t know if any of this is true. I ride a FUJI Team RC, but when I see massive sales on a product at LAUNCH I tend to think the bikes are in very low demand (maybe for a reason?) or that maybe the manufacture might not pay as much attention to detail if they have so drastically miscalculated in their demand forcasting.
Am I way off base? Thoughts?
Fuji products aren’t terrible. However, I would never, never recommend them to anyone. I have had severe warranty issues with them, as well as people I know. I’d rather not detail the entire complicated story but it pretty much comes down to my bike’s front wheel failing in a TT, in front of many people, and them completely denying my claim, despite having my LBS on my side. Among many reasons, including flatout calling me a liar and refusing to talk to the shop owner for fear of lawsuit, I would never buy any of their products again… you are better off with a nicer bike for the same price off ebay- where you don’t have to pay for a pretend warranty. I was not rude/pushy or try to threaten the company with a lawsuit, it was amazing the lengths Fuji went through to not replace a frame or even offer me any options… what is an alum frame? $50??? That’s all I needed them to replace, the wheels were to be sent back to their manufacturer, and amazingly the components were fine.
How much is a customer who bought a $2500 bike worth? All the people I will tell to never buy a Fuji? The bike shop ended up helping me out, without help from Fuji.
Was it the wheel that failed or the frame? And, was it the OEM wheelset or was it an after market wheel set?
I’m just curious. PM me if you don’t wanna share here. The only problem I’ve had with my Fuji Team RC I have attributed to the Cane Creek wheel set that came standard…but I’m not sure if I’m being over sensitive on the wheels. I have never had problems with my Zipps or Rolfs, flatting out as much as I do on this particular wheel set for some reason…not matter what I do. Before this year, I would flat out maybe once per year. Now I’m going upwards of 12 times so far in a 5-6 month period with less riding…I even had BOTH wheels flat on me at once after hitting a hard bump in the road.
Again, I haven’t attributed this to Fuji, as I have felt the frame has been quality so far.
I was having trouble editing my post so I will just post again. Everything was OEM (not Cane Creek wheels), I wouldn’t expect Fuji to take care of anything they didn’t sell me. The bike was a few months old, maybe 500 miles?
On a side note, replace your rim strips as soon as possible and see if your problem goes away. I have had wheelsets, that are new, flat like crazy. The first step is to visually inspect the rim and if you don’t see any burrs or problems- then replace the rim strips. 95% of the time the problem goes away.
Yeah, I figured that was the case in your post. I must admit, I’d expect a company to back up the service/product of any company with which they partner.
Of course, I’ve been disappointed far too many times before…doesn’t matter what the product it seems. In fact, cycling is a very small community and pretty supportive of each other…so it is doubly surprising when a company doesn’t support one of its own.
As a couple of really positive, albeit off the topic, stories. I had WONDERFUL interactions with Cateye, Carnac, and Specialized. I had problems with an HR300…no issue…send me a replacement so I could return to the shop for a refund. Had problems with a set of Carnac Silex…again…no problems…responded immediately and worked with me to at least get a new pair at cost. Had some problems with Specialized tires…shot me a new pair of my choice…no questions asked.
All in all, I guess this is why it is so surprising to me I have a bad experience with a company or hear of one in the cycling community.
I’ve raced Fuji’s for 4 years and had no issues whatsoever. They are our main bike sponsor, so our team is on about 30 of them. I have the Team Pro and Team SL. Before that it was the Team Issue and the Team. The one warranty claim, which wasn’t a manufacturer’s fault(guy got sandwiched in a crit and a dropout came loose), was fixed in a timely manner and for little cost to the rider.
Fuji is a generic Taiwanese frame made by, I believe, Kinesis, who makes a few other big name frames. So, besisdes cutomer service, for anyone to tell you that they are junk compared to say Felt, is blowing smoke. Just my opinion.
I have a 15lb Fuji Superlight and love it. It came with Ultgra,American Classic 350’s wheels, FSA cranks. I can not complain.
“I had an excellent Reparto Corse built Bianchi triathlon bike, only about 200 of which were ever mported to the U.S. That was a great bike.”
I’m one of the 200 who have one of these Mega-Pro Bianchi Triathlon bikes. Tom, I still have mine that you built for me. I upgraded to the Bianchi Carbon Crono TT bike last year and just absolutely love this bike. I also ride an EV2 Aluminum, and Veloce Steel road bike.
My wife is the proud owner of a steel Bianchi that was ridden from Vancouver to Halifax in '88. The bike is STILL in excellent condition, with the only things that have needed replacing being the regular consumables. She rides it very rarely now, as she is part of the “mafia”, but still occasionally rides the Bianchi, and still loves it.