local meaning they have more of a LBS feel than a huge corporation…and smaller, not in terms of size of frame, but smaller companies. list some good bike manufacturers besides the giants of the business you can find almost anywhere. The thread started by SoulBike about thier new design made me remember i wanted to find some other options besides the usual, cervelo, specialized, fuji, etc…
Seven Cycles. I’ve been to their “factory” (more of a workshop) in Boston, and they are all about craftsmanship and passion for cycling. Expensive stuff, but if you’ve got the coin…
There are lots of small “brands” out there that “badge” a frame made in China or Taiwan (Planet X, Unreal, etc.). I count those differently, since they assemble but don’t manufacture.
Blue, Argon 18…both great bike manufacturers and you can still find your ride in transition. Neither are “small”, but smaller than the usuals.
Not small, but do a search on Trek here and see the great Customer service and performance, with innovative design. Amazing!
local meaning they have more of a LBS feel than a huge corporation…and smaller, not in terms of size of frame, but smaller companies. list some good bike manufacturers besides the giants of the business you can find almost anywhere. The thread started by SoulBike about thier new design made me remember i wanted to find some other options besides the usual, cervelo, specialized, fuji, etc…
Depending on where you live there may be a small loclbuilder that has earned a strong following. I know people around the Philadelphia area are very loyal to Elite asan example. I live near San Francisco and we have several small local builders that will bend over backwards to make you anything you want. I had a great experience with Brent Steelman on the construction of a custom geometry steel stem, they even threw in a water bottle and socks just for me buying a stem. I’l bet if you ask around in your local cycling community you would get a feeling for who may do good work in your area. The other suggestions are also very good. What you will find is that between a good small builder like a Steelman and a large manufacturer like a Trek is that there are builders of every size that will be happy to work with you.
Elite Bicycles out of philly. you can pick up the phone and talk to dave greenfield (owner) personally. great bikes & great service.
also, ves mandaric made a lot of slowman’s early QR’s back in the day and still makes a mean road or tri bike. i think his website is mandaric.com do a ST search on yaqui bikes and see what people have to say about his outstanding customer service.
brent steelman steelman.com. i have a friend who has one of his frames and loves it.
rock lobster does custom
- Ted Wojcik in New Hampshire.
- Sevenr Cycles in Boston
- Independant Fabrication
local meaning they have more of a LBS feel than a huge corporation…and smaller, not in terms of size of frame, but smaller companies. list some good bike manufacturers besides the giants of the business you can find almost anywhere. The thread started by SoulBike about thier new design made me remember i wanted to find some other options besides the usual, cervelo, specialized, fuji, etc…
what does that even mean? success is the reason why those companies you mention are corporate.
they excel at customer service, making a high quality product, put tons of money into research and design, and offer competitive prices.
why would you want less and pay more?
Serotta
Independent Fabrication
Guru
Seven
There are a million hand made bike builder
Do a google search of the hand made bike shows
.
There is also Titanflex in San Diego. VERY unique bikes and outstanding customer service.
!!!Blatant add warning!!!
I work for a guy who builds custom bikes. I could always find you some people that are really happy with them and I took up going in to business with him because he is a super nice guy and actually still has values intact. Anyway background for him can be found on the website in sig line or you can just PM me.
local meaning they have more of a LBS feel than a huge corporation…and smaller, not in terms of size of frame, but smaller companies. list some good bike manufacturers besides the giants of the business you can find almost anywhere. The thread started by SoulBike about thier new design made me remember i wanted to find some other options besides the usual, cervelo, specialized, fuji, etc…
what does that even mean? success is the reason why those companies you mention are corporate.
they excel at customer service, making a high quality product, put tons of money into research and design, and offer competitive prices.
why would you want less and pay more?
it means exactly what i said…i thought it would be cool to get everyone’s opinion on some “smaller” companies out there who do nice work.
fyi, every thread on here doesn’t have to be an argument or debate, sometimes we could just discuss some stuff.
cheers.
EVERYONE ELSE - thanks for the input, keep them coming.
+1 for TitanFlex. You can read my recent post about the owner Tom’s excellent customer service. He is the only person you will deal with when contacting the company. Very hands on. If you are looking for unique that’s the one. I have personally only seen two other TitanFlex bikes in person.
almost forgot, if you want to ride a rolling work of art (literally) check out landshark bikes. john slawta received an art scholarship and also made bikes for some of the old 7-11 and coors light guys back in the mid-80’s. look at the pics from his website, they’re awesome if you want a one-off.
Sampson Bikes in Boulder, Co.
Dolan is a small company. They’ve acually made a really big name in track bikes but have made a nice TT bike. Check it out.
A guy who uses Easton tube sets similar to Elite and Ves Mandaric is tsunami:
http://tsunamibikes.com/Tsunami_Bikes/Road.html
I know his standard road bikes are like $600, custom geometry is a little extra, but it looks like he can do BB30, seattube cut outs and internal routing based on his past frames.
Dave over at Tiemeyer would probably be my first choice if I wanted a bike from a small frame builder for tri purposes:
http://tiemeyercycles.com/tri.html
Roarke.
Tiemeyer, best known for their track bikes.
Check out Boo Bicycles too, making bamboo frames. Started by a guy out of college.
Too many to count. Parlee, Lynskey, Cyfac (I sell those three) plus off the top of my head, Crumpton, Soulcraft, Sycip, Steve Rex, Steelman, Vanilla, Seven, IF, Rock Lobster, Landshark, and on and on and on…