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Following on from the brands to avoid thread, how about brands you always look to first?
I will start with Continental tyres, Campagnolo, Ritchey, Assos, Rapha, Schwalbe, Thomson.
PedalEd, Time, poc, Speedplay, Universal Works, Mykita, Cafe du Cycliste, uniqlo, Zeiss, Compass, Pelikan inks.
I agree with the first two on the list (Conti and Campy 😉 )
Ritchey are generally a brand I avoid (at least for stems and seat posts).
I'll add Sidi for shoes.
Blimey, thought I'd wandered on to a roadie site for a moment there. Still, I guess gravel is the new mtb... 😉
Rockshox, Endura, Shimano, Hope (nothing too ground breaking but it all works and doesn't break).
Maxxis (despite the awful marketing).
Shimano, Castelli, vittora, Pedros, fenwicks, king, sapim, wipperman
Cotic.
Specialized (tyres).
Stans.
Fabric / Charge (saddles).
Uberbike (pads and grips).
SRAM (drivetrain).
Maxxis Renthal Hope ODI Shimano Burgtec TLD in no particular order
Race face for clothing and components
Continental for tyres
Shimano for drivetrain
Rockshox for suspension
Charge spoon saddles
That was all a while ago though, apart from clothing. I really like Race face stuff.
Cannondale
Galibier
Schwalbe
Endura
Selle italia
Shimano
USE
Sensus grips.
Shimano cranks
That's it. Brand loyalty is stupid.
whatevers on sale at the time of needing something.
Salomon for shoes and boots. The last they use is the best match for my feet.
Gore and Endura feature the most in my clothing collection though Polaris is proving to be every bit as good - and cheaper.
Few others really. The above are from experience of finding what fits best.
No two of my bikes are the same brand.
Rockshox, Endura, Shimano, Hope
+1
gwurk - Member
Sensus grips.
Shimano cranks
That's it. Brand loyalty is stupid.
Mine are just stuff I've found I like and that work for me at a decent price. Would still buy other brands if they hit those criteria
Five Ten for shoes
DMR for pedals
Mine are just stuff I've found I like and that work for me at a decent price.
Ah.. Ok. Then I'll add these:
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For bikes- Hope, Endura, Cotic (fanboi).
Shoes- To Timberland boots. Last pair lasted 5 yes.
Madison/Dharco and Endura for kit
Shimano for pedals
Maxxis for tires
Ergon for grips
Open minded about everything else.
Dave Hinde
On One
Mark Anthony Bikes
Seriously, why is this in the ‘bike’ forum?
I'd say Vittoria for tyres, stans for sealant, Shimano for going & stopping, fizik for saddles, Ergon for grips and topeak for on the bike storage
Stans
Shimano shifting
Middleburn cranks
Odi grips
WTB saddles
Hope braking & bb's
KMC chains
Thomson posts & stems
Salsa QR's
All bikes in a state of convergent evolution!
Cannondale
Apple
Google
Adobe
Vans
Animal
Whatever I can get on the secondhand market.
I try to avoid every buying japanese* but obviously in the cycle world this is not easy and I will buy japanese if the alternatives are not as good
* 'cos Japanese government policy is turning albatrosses gay
Conti tyres, shimano shifting, giro/specialized shoes, Kask/giro helmets, Assos / Rapha for road and endura mtb. Fizik saddles (apart from one brooks).
Schwalbe, zipp, assos, morevelo, lizard skins, trickers, Edwin, universal works, montaine, kirkhams (cheese) Kernel (beer) Occapinti (wine)
SRAM drivetrain and brakes
Nukeproof components
DT Swiss hubs
Spesh tyres
Light Bicycle rims
661 pads/helmets
Specialiized for shoes.
Oakley for sunnies.
Shimano for stopping and going.
Selle Italia for saddles.
Decathlon for shorts.
Deda for the road bike.
Garmin for sport based electronics.
Lenovo for PCs.
Motorola or Google for phones.
Zen for ADSL.
Endura,Hope and Raceface
That's it. Brand loyalty is stupid.
says the man loyal to a couple of brands 😉
Salomon/mavic shoes
Er, and that's about it. Everything else as best suited for the job and in budget.
says the man loyal to a couple of brands
I'm not.
No one else makes a grip even close to as good as the Sensus range for riding gloveless all year round. This is annoying as they are actually made by ODI and therefore can be copied by others. The second a grip as good as the sensus comes out at a sensible price there'll be no loyalty to the brand whatsoever from me.
Same deal with Shimano cranks really. Except Shimano manufacture their own and no one else has yet come up with anything as light/durable/affordable as Saints.
Like I said brand loyalty is stupid!
Buying the most suitable product for your use isn't.
Ben and Jerry’s.
Brooks for saddles
Maxxis for ofroad tyres
Continental for road tyres
Chromag wax grips
Shimano for shifting
Vitoria for mtb and cx tyres
Gaerne for shoes
Oko tyre sealants
San Marco saddles
Doombar recovery drinks
Salomon, Mountain Equipment and Rab.
Fits me well and is reliably good kit. I can find a sale pair of Salomon on the internet and know they will fit me and be good quality.
Mcvities.
Ann summer's and Durex
Singular for steel hardtails.
Shimano for gears & brakes.
Lezyne for pumps.
Tunocks. Enough said really.
Aldi
Decathlon
Simply Local
Paramo for jackets and 5.10 for shoe sole rubber. I will buy stuff from others but those are the defaults.
Selle SMP for saddles
Specialized for clipless shoes (road and mtb) and winter gloves
5:10 for flats
Shimano clipless pedals (road and MTB)
SRAM mtb gears
Shimano road gears
Maxxis MTB tyres
Hope lights
TLD protective gear/summer
Rapha for bibs and warm road riding kit
McDonald’s for pre ride food
KFC for post ride food
Hope for nearly everything.
Wellgo for their £10 alloy pedals. I even enjoy stripping them to repack the loose bearings with fresh grease.
Exposure lights
Shimano brakes, gears, pedals and shoes.
Cotic
Paramo
Actively avoid anything American where I can due to Trump and the attitude some of their law makers have to LGBT rights.
Is your boycott having an effect?
Schwalbe
Surly for c/rings
Hope for hubs, Headsets & BBs
On-One for SS cogs
KMC for chains
Sturmey-Archer for 3 speeds and drum brakes.
SDG for saddles
Avid for brakes, but TRP are supplanting them for new purchases
Middleburn
MKS pedals
There's plenty other good brands and I'll use them, but those on my list are products I can trust.
Probably more significant would be an avoid list.
I'd start that with Crank Bros...
Shimano gears (except chains, SRAM or KMC on that front)
Charge Spoon saddles (for MTB/commute)
Decathlon base layers
Specialized helmets
Specialized or 5.10 shoes
Clothing is based on fit/value, saddles for obvious subjective reasons, Shimano stuff on the basis that it just keeps working (except the chains, which are made of cheese and, until recently, didn't have a split link)
Syntace. But second hand.
WTB for MTB tyres and saddles
Schwalbe Durano road tyres
Rapha bibs, merino baselayers and sportwool road jerseys
Exposure lights
Lake winter boots
Hope hubs
Wainwright for post ride rehydration (Viramin W)
Anything else...whatever.
No wonder I’m skint.
Shimano, especially gears, cranks and BB's.
7mesh for clothing, it’s just incredible. The fit, quality and performance is simply second to none and their customer service having dealt with them directly is exemplary. Wish they did gloves and more though!!
Giro for shoes & lids, great fit & value and they seems to last super well. Also used them for years going back to when I bought a zen.
Stan’s for rims & sealant. Rims are ace. Light strong and so, so easy to setup tubeless.
Exposure lights. Only recently started using these but have been blown away. Awesome performance and again the customer service is ace.
Chromag bars & stems. For little other reason than they look the dogs, but to be far the cutlass carbon bars are awesome. Precise but forgiving and the shape is perfect.
ergon saddles
middleburn cranks
endless ss cogs
Jones and stooge framesets
Exposure lights
everything else is down to what works best for whichever bike i'm building
Giant
Garmin
Giro
Shimano (although I have gone to the eTap dark side for TT)
Lindt
Not slavishly loyal to any brands really, but it's hard to see past Rock Shox forks for price/performance/reliability.
And Dakine bags and clothing have impressed me v much.
Decathlon.
FIAT.
Carradice.
Gore.
Surly.
Mavic.
Specialized.
Vans.
Brasher/Berghaus for boots.
Kask - lids.
Giro - shoes.
Shimano.
Rizla.
Rega.
Marantz.
Tannoy.
Vimto.
Hollands.
things that I have repurchased based on previous good experience
Giant Bikes
Shimano Groupsets
Castelli Gabba/perfetto
Fabric saddle
Lizard Skin tape
Howies bib tights
Rapha Core bib shorts
Schwalbe tyres
Deda Zero bars/stem
Heinz tomato ketchup.
Cheaper versions just taste cheap.