Where are the Brit Bikes?

[Randochap]

I figured this is the best place to start this thread, as it's the place new people come looking for advice on bikes.

I've been hanging around this forum for a bit now and I'm constantly amazed when anyone comes asking what kind of bike they should get, inevitably they are presented with links to online "shops" selling the usual bunch of US branded bikes (made in Taiwan, Vietnam, China, etc.).

Also, the last time I was in the UK, I noticed how many people were gallumphing around on the road on full-suspension MTBs. Where were all the beautiful road bikes of my youth?

I know that British bike manufacturing went south (or east) many years ago. Before everything moved to Japan in the '70s, the British bike industry was already cannibalizing itself (see the British Cycle Corporation, swept up in the Tube Investments merger of 1960). British builders actually tutored some of the Japanese builders.

Now, Japan is only left with the remnants of that boom -- such as the brilliant i-Cycle/Grand Bois builders.

The second thing I see (and I've belaboured the point endlessly) is that, at least here, there seems to be a complete lack of understanding of what a decent utility bicycle looks like and everyone thinks the cookie-cutter racer boy bikes offered up by the aforementioned brands are too cool for words, even when the user actually would be better served by a touring or utility bike.

So, anyway, why don't I hear more here about Roberts, Dave Yates, Bob Jackson, Mercian, Stephen Shand, et al.?

You may note that half my present in-use stable consists of Canadian-built bikes. I believe in supporting my country's bike industry.

I know that, say, Wolverhampton (my hometown) will probably never boast the bicycle industry it once did, but surely you'll agree that supporting your local builder where possible is a good thing?

I'm not saying there is no excuse to buy a foreign bike (my beautiful Bleriot frame was made in the big Taiwanese factory that spits out most frames these days -- regardless of the brand label), but surely, if you can afford it and you want your dream bike, why not shop locally? Some of these custom and semi-custom options are actually competitive with the dross offered en masse.

This CC member did, and the results prove beyond a doubt the UK still knows what a real bike looks like.

 

[Black Sheep]

my mountain bike is an On-One which is a british company,

however i think they are actually built abroad

my playbike was an Orange made in halifax

my road bike is a 1960's carlton

 

[col]

Is Raleigh still british? Im not sure but would like to think it is.

 

[Randochap]

Is Raleigh still british? Im not sure but would like to think it is.

Nope. Just another brand ... and now decidedly "department store quality."

 

[col]

Nope. Just another brand ... and now decidedly "department store quality."

Pity, would have been nice if it was.

 

[Randochap]

A bit of Raleigh history.

 

[col]

Interesting link thanks.

 

[Baggy]

A lot of people who are looking for their dream bike do go down the custom build route, and will buy in the UK from Roberts et al. The problem is that there just aren't that many local builders left in the UK - although they do seem to be fighting back a bit more these days as steel is becoming more popular again.

People who look in beginners aren't necessarily looking for their dream bike though. When people are starting out or getting back into cycling after a long break they usually want something that won't cost a fortune, can be ridden away without waiting and will do the job until they decide whether they really enjoy cycling again.

That's the position I was in six years ago. My local bike shop tried to persuade me a hybrid was the way to go, but I wanted a drop barred bike that was practical (like my old Carlton). I ended up with a Dawes touring bike, which was perfect for me at the time (although not exactly British). People who sell bikes often have no idea of what a utility or practical bike is, which is why hybrids are so popular. MTBs are also popular because the cheap ones are cheaper than cheap road bikes and you can buy them everywhere. Drop bars also seem to scare people off.

Giant, Trek et al make the bikes that sell to mass markets - and the UK industry doesn't really have an industry that does that any more, though we do have some excellent builders if you want something special and are willing to wait a wee while.

My second bike is a UK built frame, though not custom. Ended up with that because I wanted something a little more unusual, and I wanted it to be from the UK. If I ever have my dream bike, it will be from the UK, and hopefully from Robin Mather because he makes the most beautiful lugs.

 

[Alembicbassman]

Dave Marsh, who runs my LBS custom builds frames.

I have a Raleigh. Nicole Cook rode Raleighs to victory in many races, their HQ is still in Nottingham, England. Warranty registration is via their HQ, which I like better than via some importer as with Giant, Trek, Specialized et al...

Pashley still build in Stratford on Avon and supply Royal Mail with 15'000 delivery bikes. They also make the Moulton TSRs. Airnimal also build niche folders.

 

[mickle]

Raleigh are just an importer these days. At least Giant, Trek, Specialized et al import decent bikes.

 

[amnesia]

AFAIK Boardman is a British brand... presumably made in some far away land though :-/

 

[youngoldbloke]

Quoting Randochaps' OP:
Also, the last time I was in the UK, I noticed how many people were gallumphing around on the road on full-suspension MTBs. Where were all the beautiful road bikes of my youth?

Where are all the road bikes? - drop bar or flat - or hybrids? I took a ride along the Bristol Bath cycle path last weekend, and on that bank holiday afternoon, of the 100s of bikes that passed I saw only half a dozen or so 'proper' road bikes (like my own!), and not many more flat bars or hybrids. The vast majority appeared to be 'MTBs' , mostly of the BSO variety, their nobbly tyres slopping and slurping along the well paved trail. While it is commendable that so many were out enjoying the spring afternoon on their bikes I couldn't help feeling most would have been getting a lot more out of the experience if they had been riding something a bit more appropriate. Why is the heavy, knobbly clad MTB the bike of choice for the vast majority? Is it just a triumph of marketing?

 

[Ant]

I just got my custom built 'British' bike a few weeks ago from here http://www.kinetic-one.co.uk/ and couldn't be more pleased.

However, as Baggy said, you don't really know about these sort of places until you've gotten in to it a bit and taken more of an interest.

The bicycle business has gone the exact same way virtually every other business has gone. 30 odd years ago all the shops and stores in a town would be small unique privately owned businesses. Now it's all large corporation brand names for everything. The cloning of the British high street began a long time ago and bicycle shops weren't any more immune to it that any other business.

Of course you could argue that there's no such thing as a British bike anyway. How many of the components that make up the bike are actually made here? British 'assembled' bike is probably the best you can hope for.

 

[dodgy]

Dolan bikes? I know that some of the frames are made in Taiwan, but aren't some of them made in the UK, too?

 

[bonj2]

One of the reasons people 'gallumph' around (or whatever the term was) on 'full suspension MTBs' is they are cheap, and less of a disaster if it got nicked.

Now, that may be because they can't be bothered to take the necessary security precautions, or because with their busy lives they want to just abandon it somewhere and take off into a shop or whatever. But I think fear of theft is a large reason.

FWIW, I'm not in the market for a new 'best' bike, but I think if I was I would seriously consider going down the custom-made-in-england route. And also FWIW I do also have a raleigh.