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There's brands that have come and gone, of which many of us may well miss now. And there's probably plenty of brands out there too that many people will know of and like, that still haven't been imported into the UK at all.
This is purely a thinking out of the box exercise, and I appreciate many people are probably going to say "29er forks and tyres" (which is totally valid, as they're not that well represented in the UK still), but I specifically mean brands, rather than certain niche products within a range that's already imported...
Personally, I'd like Mavericks back on a big scale as I've always been a fan, and since 2007 an owner too. But they were just never that popular in the UK it seems. I know I can still get hold of service parts etc. if I need to, but there's no official importer any more to my knowledge.
So what do you want to see on the UK shores again, or even for the first time?
Fit Eastern European Women
A bit of sunshine wouldn't go amiss.
"Coffee" shops?
BIKE STUFF please guys... Sorry, should have said in the thread title...
Oakley produce some nice Cycling kit for Japan only, i'd like that available here, also the LTD edition Ichiro Radars
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I had a bowl of this just about every day growing up in Hong Kong
EDIT: just seen the 'bike stuff' request but I'm ignoring it.
Peanut Butter M&Ms
The confectionary equivalent of crack but sadly unavailable in the UK (unless some specialist shop has them somewhere)
more tubbylove 8)
[url= http://www.handycandy.co.uk/images/m&mpeanutbutter.jp g" target="_blank">http://www.handycandy.co.uk/images/m&mpeanutbutter.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
dental hygiene
cliff bars. all of them.
Eeesh
Cheers to Houns for the only sensible answer so far, though I don't think Oakley is a particularly unknown brand in the UK, oooooh since about 1982! 😉
Sorry, I appreciate where you're coming from though mate... Be nice to see the whole range of stuff imported.
But what BICYCLE RELATED brands would you like to see in the UK guys?
cliff bars. all of them.
Stuff currently unavailable in the UK please! 😕
Not just stuff that's unavailable in your LBS, or you might have to order online...
But what BICYCLE RELATED brands would you like to see in the UK guys?
cliff firkin bars!!! ALL of them...meaning...all flavours. The yanks get loads more than us.
Jalapino Pringles
Caffe Con Leche (none of this watered down Italian Caffe Latte or 'flat white' shite).
I drink it before/during rides, so yes it does count!
Not available anywhere - Affordable, electronicaly shifted, gearbox'd, sensible weight Orange 5 (its got to happen sometime).
But what BICYCLE RELATED brands would you like to see in the UK guys?
good quality cocaine
pictures of eastern european women*
*on bikes
Mocha clif shots.
Food of kings!
full range of voodoo frames/bikes.
full range of specialized bikes/ frames/ colour options.
cliff firkin bars!!! ALL of them...meaning...all flavours. The yanks get loads more than us.
The brand is already currently imported...
What brands are currently unavailable in the UK is my question...
full range of voodoo frames/bikes.
full range of specialized bikes/ frames/ colour options.
Again, already some of the range is imported... I'm interested in brands, rather than specific products. Yes, it annoys me too that the UK often misses out on a specific product within a range, but that's not the point I'm trying to get at with this thread...
I'm with timc
Eastern European women are fantastic
A wider selection of Lefty hubs would be good.
Andy
L and P drink from New Zealand.
i used to drink it after riding; its reet lursh!
CAPTAIN CRUNCH is ace, FACT
Who manufactures EPO?
Eastern European women are fantastic
Go out with one then, it's not all it's cracked up to be...
Have I just picked the wrong day to ask this question or something, or is STW about as relevant to Mountain Bikes as Kate Middleton (fit though she is) is from a "normal working class background" as it was put yesterday on the news? Actually, don't answer this one, I think I already know!
Think I'll ask this on SouthernDownhill later, they may predominantly be kids, but they're interested in bikes!
Aye-up ..... there you go, proper bike related and everything.
do scary fast and kooka still make things?
Lefty hubs would be good.
[url= http://www.woodmancomponents.com/Web/Product_Show.asp?Sel=PD&CAID=CA20101004154631&CBID=CB20101007112228&PDID=PD20101010202738&Page=1&Lng=EN&Time=2010/11/17%20%E4%B8%8B%E5%8D%88%2009:35:57 ]Woodman Components[/url] still have one listed on their website, and they're still imported into the UK... I know my mate bought one years ago, I had the job of building it up and it was a job trying to work out how to dish it correctly!
Twinkies. Well, it's a kind of cake so it's technically bike related
do scary fast and kooka still make things?
Kooka headset on one of my bikes funnily enough. I got it cheap as NOS off ebay though, so don't know how new or old it was...
the only reason i cant answer this properly is 'cos I've never bought anything from the US to know what they've got that we dont....
would i be correct in guessing this question is being asked with more motivation than "purely thinking outside of the box"? you seem pretty intent on answers... almost like a business idea depended on it?
Soma
Kate Middleton (fit though she is) is from a "normal working class background" as it was put yesterday on the news?
It was "normal [b]middle[/b] class background", IIRC. Which probably has an element of truth to it, albeit wealthy upper middle class.
Andy
cook bros racing - but i think they have gone bust
the only reason i cant answer this properly is 'cos I've never bought anything from the US to know what they've got that we dont....would i be correct in guessing this question is being asked with more motivation than "purely thinking outside of the box"? you seem pretty intent on answers... almost like a business idea depended on it?
Fair comment, I'm not just on about the US though, could be from anywhere...
And as of the last 3 weeks, I've been back on the dole again, been doing a lot of thinking... In answer to your last question, it's a firm yes/no/maybe... Purely just coming up with ideas at the moment, see if it was in any way feasible, but also just for a bit of fun...
It would be handy if you could get some n-gear jump stops rather than having to email the maker in the US. I emailed weeks ago to get one and never got a reply. Grumble grumble grumble.
VAR bike tools
it's a firm yes/no/maybe... Purely just coming up with ideas at the moment, see if it was in any way feasible, but also just for a bit of fun...
cool 🙂 good idea if you ask me, wish i could be more help with thinking of products but unfortunately i'm still new to MTB and the only products im aware of are what LBS/crc/wiggle/STW tell me about.
looking above there appears to be a market in importing american foodstuffs that isn't just the normal "american sweets" you see on the odd high street maybe?
anyway, can you get natalie portman for me please?
GU chomps
For bacon butties, not steak
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A decent range of Jagwire tube tops would be good - I got a box of 3G's from the importer last year; can I get any more - can I hell.
Andy
Purely just coming up with ideas at the moment, see if it was in any way feasible, but also just for a bit of fun...
So it's just a bit of fun, and when traditional STW "humour" is injected you stomp your feet and demand serious answers which as you'll know ALWAYS encourages more mickey-taking, then threaten to huff off to SouthernDownhill?
I'd like Pabst Blue Ribbon imported please, not really bike relatd but I'd keep some in the bike cave for fettling-related refreshments. HTH...
MEC clothing
So it's just a bit of fun, and when traditional STW "humour" is injected you stomp your feet and demand serious answers which as you'll know ALWAYS encourages more mickey-taking, then threaten to huff off to SouthernDownhill?
So you didn't detect my humour/irony/pisstaking in that statement I made at all then? 😉
Humour works BOTH ways... And I ellicited more responses! So there we go...
Think the general gist I'm getting here is that there's not much MTB stuff, aside from the odd uber niche brand, or a product within a range already, that isn't currently imported. Maybe what I need to do is trawl a few old threads on MTBR for ideas, always a few brands on there I've never heard of (some for good reason though probably).
So you didn't detect my humour/irony/pisstaking in that statement I made at all then?
Nah, completely over my head I'm afraid, but then that's what an afternoon spent arguing with Kwikfit would do to you, well that an absence of emoticons/smileys. Until now I note...
Good luck with whatever you do decide to do...
Someone prepared to carry the full range of Kayland kit.
[i]there's not much MTB stuff, aside from the odd uber niche brand, or a product within a range already, that isn't currently imported.[/i]
I'm not sure we're in a position to tell, are we?
I'm not sure we're in a position to tell, are we?
Which is what I was trying to understand in the first place...
but then that's what an afternoon spent arguing with Kwikfit would do to you
Walk out, go to another garage... TRUST me here... Last year, my only venture into a Kwik Fit ever (they offered an MOT that day for £30) and the thieving ****'s (for that is what they are) wanted £528 to get my Golf through its MOT... I ended up going elsewhere, where it was done for £150... Including another MOT test!
soul cycles
sinister
soma
those European fat bikes
singletrack solutions bar ends
Lenz
gunnar
etc....
This
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Soccer mom's, the internet seems to portray them as a rather lively bunch!
Gelato.
Smooth dusty trails
Skippy Peanut Butter
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Almond m&ms
Baum cycles. Mosquito bikes did them for a while (I think). Things of beauty, probably no different in truth to a Seven or a IF, but I have always like them.
Raleigh USA make some lovely bikes. I covet this:
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Sun and dusty trails please!
Ted Wojcick frames
Soulcraft Frames
Proper representation for
Paul Components
Phil Wood
NJS stuff
recovery drink: coke black, good stuff!
<scuttles off to Sainsburys>
Fair comment, I'm not just on about the US though, could be from anywhere...
All sorts of stuff made (or marketed) in Germany in that case. I've given you your starter - you do your research yourself.
Other Euro stuff I've self-imported includes FRM and Extralite - I have a feeling there's no UK importer for either of those (though they may not be the sort of thing which floats your boat).
Terrahawk:
You can get skippy peanut butter in Costco. Just bough a jar yesterday. 1/3 off too!
more Transition bikes please.
Just noticed the GF Sawyer is listed as available in the UK, so now I'll have to think of something else.
Affordable servants and maids, how one misses his live in maid and gardener.
Risse Racing doesn't have a UK distributor bring some of their stuff in and then we can all service our shocks at home with the help of their wonderful needle valve shock pump.
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the only reason i cant answer this properly is 'cos I've never bought anything from the US to know what they've got that we dont....would i be correct in guessing this question is being asked with more motivation than "purely thinking outside of the box"? you seem pretty intent on answers... almost like a business idea depended on it?
Fair comment, I'm not just on about the US though, could be from anywhere...
And as of the last 3 weeks, I've been back on the dole again, been doing a lot of thinking... In answer to your last question, it's a firm yes/no/maybe... Purely just coming up with ideas at the moment, see if it was in any way feasible, but also just for a bit of fun...
I know the guys who ran Sorted Cycles and they imported less well known brands for several years, including Soma, but in the end they stopped due to the time money/ratio just not working out.
Bundie Rum