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I’ve been a long term Turner rider, mostly I like the way they ride, but also because they seem to go on forever and had excellent customer service. I prefer to buy a bike and run it, perhaps with the odd upgrade, for a long while. However Turner seem to have effectively disappeared in the UK, so who else would you recommend, or who would you avoid at all cost? The magazines, with the exception of the Sick Bike fiasco, seem to avoid giving opinions on this sort of thing.
Standard STW answer - Cotic. My Solaris is still my go-to bike after five years.
BMC. Zero faults.
Cannondale. Zero faults.
On One. Zero faults.
Giant. Zero faults.
Another standard STW answer : Bird. Excellent bikes great service.
If you want something close to the Turner, try Ibis. I used to feel the same as you about Turner but made the switch to Ibis after some issues and not looked back.
What does good reliability mean? Frame doesn't crack and bearings last well?
Harder than you'd think to tick both those boxes.
I've found Trek to be excellent - my Fuel Ex recently developed a crack in the seat tube, and I had a new frame in under 1 week. I'd definitely buy another one in the future as a result of this.
Hope have treated me well ,as have earlyrider, who went above and beyond imo.
& Madison have always done crash replacement on my giro helmets.
Stanton, the guys were amazing with me when I went up and sized up my FS frame.
Kept me up to date all the way.
I had a shit year last year with serious illness and had loads of messages from them asking how things were going. Amazing guys 👍
Hope, Evoc, Oakley all fantastic.
Whatever your good LBS sells.
Sick
Bird
Cotic
Hope
Exposure
And Silverfish - all have been brilliant when I've needed to pester them about something.
I'm hoping riese and muller appears on this list but they're not heavy on mountain bikes full suspension bikes. Guess I'll find out when I file my first warranty claim.
I still deal direct with Turner. Had great service.
They're just not putting much out there currently.
Was thinking of posting similar with regards to replacing a long term Turner. Watching with interest.
Marin, Cotic, Trek for really good customer service, plus people like Hope and Exposure for componenets.
Avoid Yeti, or indeed anything else from Silverfish, like the plague
Giant UK were hopeless when a friend's carbon Trance that was only a few months old and immaculate developed a crack that was clearly a manufacturing defect. They only gave in after he contacted head office and made a massive fuss.
JP
Spesh
Giant
Oakley
Hope
Boa
Read the title and thought Turner, obvious answer null and void. On my 3rd one and loving more than ever.
Bird have been great to deal with on both the bikes I have bought from them and after sales support has been spot on.
Spesh have always been very good honouring warranties and damn quick, too.
GEOMETRON.
both bikes have been faultless
and their service and attention to customer wants is 2nd to none
Anyone bought a Turner recently direct from the US?
2 weeks since the originating dealership contacted Giant about my cracked 3 year old Anthem, all I've heard is my tinnitus. 😠
I'd say Hope have great customer service, but I'd caveat that by saying I'm not massively impressed with their reliability. I've had a number of cracked flanges on their hubs, one freehub exploded after acouple of rides and a light went dicky pretty quickly too. Fair play to them, never been a problem with warranty but I've had enough with the problems and rather go for DT these days for hubs.
Santa Cruz (Jungle) have been great for me. The whole lifetime bearing warranty thing is fantastic although not often needed. I've only had two real problems in 16 years of ownership of their bikes. One was a hole that got worn in a frame in dreadful conditions in France ... new front triangle as soon as you could say help. The second was the much publicised (at the time) problem with bearings turning in a Blur TRC frame. I wasnt even sure I had the problem but, again, new frame within a week. They even sent me a replacement rubber bumper stop for a 6 year old bike for free the other day. Not too shabby service and good reliability if you ask me.