Purchasing a bike from a big company... or a small company?

AmpedCycle said:

I'm going to be in the market for a bike upgrade in the next year or two, and I was wondering about the different companies and what they offer. I know there's hundreds of smaller companies like Bianchi, KHS, and all that other stuff... and there's the big companies like Trek and Specialized. What I'm wondering is, is there a difference between them? If I bought a specialized sworks, would I get more bang for my buck than buying a cervelo or colnago? Are these smaller companies even worth looking at because they are smaller companies without the advantages that a big company has? I want to make sure I'm not throwing 3 grand away, you know what I mean?

Some smaller companies offer real bang for the buck,others don't. Some big ones like Giant ae also GBFTB. With some you get Bling and Poseur' Points for your buck. If your are gong to be spending 3000 clams you shouldn't even be asking questions like this,IMO.

AmpedCycle said:

I'm going to be in the market for a bike upgrade in the next year or two, and I was wondering about the different companies and what they offer. I know there's hundreds of smaller companies like Bianchi, KHS, and all that other stuff... and there's the big companies like Trek and Specialized. What I'm wondering is, is there a difference between them? If I bought a specialized sworks, would I get more bang for my buck than buying a cervelo or colnago? Are these smaller companies even worth looking at because they are smaller companies without the advantages that a big company has? I want to make sure I'm not throwing 3 grand away, you know what I mean?

If I had 3,000 smackeroo's to spend on a bike I would get an '05 Giant OCR2 Composite with an MSRP of $2000 and spend the rest on boozing and whoring. If I were younger I'd lean toward an '05 Giant OCR2 aluminum with an MSRP of $1000 and spend the rest on boozing and whoring.

If you are ploping down that kind of money I would think that you would be concern about the components that come on the bike and how the bike feels when its ridden and not the size of the company or it financial backing. Also,when you buy, buy what fits, feels good and that you will be content for at least the next three to five years. I would look at the Orbea brand(spaniard bike) very good stuff and has a lot of bikes that range between the 2k to 3500 level.

[quote="AmpedCycle"]I'm going to be in the market for a bike upgrade in the next year or two, and I was wondering about the different companies and what they offer. I know there's hundreds of smaller companies like Bianchi, KHS, and all that other stuff...


I would concentrate on the wheels and components first. IMHO that is where you will see the most bang for the buck. There are lots of good frames out there from companies of all sizes. Trek makes some nice frames that aren't too pricey (The 2300 comes to mind). Take a look at Felt too. They are a smaller company with some very nice affordable frames. I spent less than 3k on an '04 Pinarello Opera with full Campy Record and Proton wheels. I built it myself using a combination of e-bay, excelsports, performance and my LBS. I will probably get some higher end wheels this year and use the Proton's as a spare set, although after 500 miles, I can honestly say I'm pleasantly surprised by them.