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Hi,
Saw one of these for sale on ebay tonight and was wondering whether anyone had seen or generally had a view on the brand?
Was tempted, but they are a little bit of an unknown quantity to me.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/181800786391
Really nice guys (I work for bespoked) and their welds are something else.
You'd rate them up there with Lynskey and Moots, purely to name two makers whose frames I've been looking at?
They seem to have drilled holes in the downtube. Wouldn't that weaken it to some extent? Again, please note that I am not as well versed in these matters as I'd like to be.
Personaly a comparison with lynsky is not a good thing to have
You'd rate them up there with Lynskey and Moots, purely to name two makers whose frames I've been looking at?
They seem to have drilled holes in the downtube. Wouldn't that weaken it to some extent? Again, please note that I am not as well versed in these matters as I'd like to be.
Oops, double post.
What I am confused about regarding the likes of Lynskey is that I hear such conflicting information. Even from people who seem to know what they are talking about, some rave about the quality of the welds and such suchlike whereas other express less complimentary opinions. Lynsket do seem to be a passionate firm, though that does not always translate into quality products.
As most people know, I am partial to a bit of titanium.
I have owned a few, so feel confident enough to chip in:
Seven - by far the best all round. Great build quality, custom sizing included, easy to care for.
Moots - amazing welds, but fairly bog standard plain gauge tubing, and a pain to take care of the bead blasted finish.
IF - nice enough back in the day, but not what they used to be since the move (now see Firefly)
Lynskey - you get what you pay for. Not as well finished. Not as sophisticated. But I never had one snap and they do stand by their product.
Firefly - nice if you can stand the wait.
Serotta (not that they are an option anymore) - awful weld quality, poor tube quality. Vastly over rated.
Lynskey have an unfortunate reputation, but they are probably the highest volume manufacturer, so guess what? They are bound to have the greatest number of faults too. Better to buy a Lynskey frame under another brand since their own stuff has become a bit esoteric in terms of internal headsets, press fit BBs etc. But my experience with my single speed Pro 29er (with the Marmite twisty tubes) has been a pleasure. Not as well made (in terms of weld quality), not as nicely finished (they are clearly a production line finish and lavish less care and attention than some brands), but perfectly nice to ride. If you scour CRC, you can pick up a Lynskey for less than a third of a Moots or Seven, so direct comparison is a little unfair. I am a Lynskey fan. They are a decent option.
I myself have wondered about Wittson. They seem interesting but not especially cheap given their relatively unknown brand. All of the background seems sound though.
I would also throw in Mosaic and Steve Potts.
The problem is that I don't know enough about bike fabrication in order to form a meaningful opinion regarding welds and so on. Some of the Below The Line comments on various webpages have said that some of the welds on the frames look untidy. They seem okay to my untrained eye. Here are some pics.
The other slight issue that I have is buying a frame from a small maker and, despite it having a lifetime guarantee, it then developing a fault and the firm having then turned out to have long gone out of business. This aspect would apply to any firm though. The likes of Lynskey despite apparently having more faults, which as the poster above says is itself debatable given their larger volumes, will at least be more likely to still be around to address the matter.
Thank you very much for all the replies above.
Anyone else here seen one of their frames?
Pretty much what Solarider has said but I'd throw in Kent Eriksen up ther beside or even above Seven. Consistent industry award winner year on year at the NAHBS. When looking for a Titanium or Steel bike I would be looking at the NAHBS website or the Bespoked one. There's a new generation of quality builders coming through in the UK these days and a top quality Steel frame is better than a mediocre Titanium one.
Have a look on Donhou Cycles. Very friendly guy and I'm sure he offered me a full custom build with 953 a few years ago for under £900. Plus if you buy a steel frame then any quality builder can replace a tube as required.
Nobody has mentioned black sheep - some great frames from them, great work but you need a plentiful supply of patience waiting for your order.
Speaking only from experience at looking at pictures of their frames; Darren Crisp or Carl Strong will make you a great bike.
What a weld looks like (within limits) will not really influence how strong it is. I'm not an expert at inspecting these things, but there are all sorts of weld defects you can encounter and only some would be visible, particularly from the outside of the frame.
I've had really not good experiences with a Lynskey built On-Two, however, and whilst I don't think the fabrication was a particular issue, they (like a huge amount of the bike industry, particularly steel and ti framebuilders) seem to be more craftsmen than engineers, if that makes sense. The part that broke really did look like it was a failure waiting to happen even from a fag packet calculation.
What are Litespeed's like these days ? I've been wondering about the Wittsons too. A mate of a mate has a Wittson, said it's very nice and the company were great to deal with.