The “mid range” bikes are so good now - all of my bros with 20+ years on the bike ride generic SLX bikes now unless they still have connections in the “industry”. Not like BITD when only the best would survive the ride.
Posted by: snowsnake
Posted by: tashi
Posted by: Blofeld
Posted by: Vikb
Posted by: AndrewMajor
Yeah, that beauty screams frame-only review. Really enjoy the lines and also it has a classic Turner meets steel hardtail vibe I enjoy.
Can’t believe they went Onion mount but, as with the Arrival, at least I can ASSume it’s implemented perfectly. Right?
You'll never know until you own one, but my experience with small makers is they will make a problem right. It would still be a hassle to deal with alignment issues, but I don't think REEB would leaving you in the lurch. I could be wrong of course. I guess the other thing is with a steel frame a local builder might be able to sort out alignment issues as well to save the shipping costs/downtime. Hopefully it's not a problem a customer would need to deal with.
That REEB is an great looking bike - but soooo pricy! I’d probably have to cross shop a Nicolai Saturn if I was in that bracket - it manages a vertical shock layout without the trunnion shock…with a very different aesthetic, obviously! (I should also mention the Norco Fluid manages the same amazing feat with completes costing around the same as the REEB frame.) Looking at the clearance under the top tube makes me think they could have fit a normal shock in there with only slight changes to the frame.
I haven’t dealt with too many trunnion failures personally, but my feeling is that frame flex would be as significant as misalignment to the early death of the shock. My second guess here is that a Nicolai would also win the stiffness battle over a REEB or WR1.
As a side note, I can’t get over the new sizing on the Arrival. It’s pretty odd transposing the 1-2-3 sizing to M-L-XL while for the Saturn I mentioned the same dimensions would be XS-S-M!
Man I feel the same way about bikes like this: I appreciate the craftsmanship, localish manufacturing, aesthetics, etc and could really picture myself riding one for a long time…
…but yeah, a Fluid is just about as good and saves me so much $$. $$ that will often go to things in my life far more important than bikes. So when it comes down to it I keep that $$$ and ride generic bikes with very particular parts hanging off of them.
First world problems I guess.
While in a perfect world that Reeb would be mine, the new fluid is almost a perfect match, geo-wise, and the value for $4k (which is what the SST frame+shock would cost by the time it got to my door) is absolutely bonkers.
…or is it the pricing of botique bikes that’s bonkers?
When I built custom homes I LOVED being able to go off on materials and craftsmanship and really do my best. My product was fantastic and I loved that indulgence. But in the end it was all funded by some rich dude making his 6th or 8th house as impressive as possible (mostly) so it’s all a bit of an ego trip. Somewhere between a SLX Fluid, a custom specced REEB and a fully customized Naked we go from a rad functional mountain bike to a rich guy having a wank about how rad a bike he can buy. Where that line is I have no idea, but for me it got pushed way down the price scale when my bike bucks started competing with house bucks and kid bucks.
Praise Pasta that the generic bikes shred so hard now, and all the best to the rich dudes and craftsmen that are able to bring home the bacon and express their craft catering to em!
Posted by: tashi
…or is it the pricing of botique bikes that’s bonkers?
When I built custom homes I LOVED being able to go off on materials and craftsmanship and really do my best. My product was fantastic and I loved that indulgence. But in the end it was all funded by some rich dude making his 6th or 8th house as impressive as possible (mostly) so it’s all a bit of an ego trip. Somewhere between a SLX Fluid, a custom specced REEB and a fully customized Naked we go from a rad functional mountain bike to a rich guy having a wank about how rad a bike he can buy. Where that line is I have no idea, but for me it got pushed way down the price scale when my bike bucks started competing with house bucks and kid bucks.
Praise Pasta that the generic bikes shred so hard now, and all the best to the rich dudes and craftsmen that are able to bring home the bacon and express their craft catering to em!
Some people can appreciate a 50 Year Old Macallan, others would be happy with a Crown Royal and lighting a stack of money on fire. I’m with you on just enjoying all the bike options we have out there - whomever they’re perfect for.
I'm definitely on the "SLX Fluid" end of that scale and just focus on enjoying my rides. From a bike nerd perspective I also find it more interesting to see what a brand can deliver at a certain (budget) price point than what a boutique brand or custom builder can do when the sky is the limit.
Some people can't get excited about a bike when it says for example "Giant" on the downtube. To me it doesn't matter, if it's well made and rides really well, I'm stoked to ride it.
Having said that, I can appreciate craftsmanship and I'm glad there are small frame builders who do what they do. I'd like to learn how to weld and build my own frame one day.
I'm definitely a 'function over form' guy. Performance is the most important criteria to me, followed by thoughtful design, robustness, ease of maintenance, and cost. Appearance doesn't even factor in. Sure it's nice to have a bike you like the looks of, but if the bike makes me happy I couldn't care less what colour it is. I'm partial to Knolly because they make bikes that really work well for me. I do like supporting a small local company, but if a different brand made bikes that suited me better I would definitely consider them. Boutique bikes are beautiful, but unless they perform better they aren't something I would consider buying. Mainstream bikes with budget builds are just fine with me There is no such thing as a boring bike if it's putting a smile on my face!
Since I spend a lot of time on/with my bike riding/wrenching I'd prefer to have a bike I was stoked about aesthetically as well as in terms of performance. However, if there was a F-Ugly bike that offered something amazing that my other options didn't I would 100% ride it. That said I've never found myself in that situation.
Within the limits of what I can afford I would totally spend some extra $$ to get a bike I preferred aesthetically and/or support a company that was doing something I appreciated...such as domestic manufacturing for example.
Although it's not like a company doing something I think is great necessarily has to cost more $$. My GG was a nice example where a company made a bike that I thought was rad, looked nice and performed amazing...with domestic manufacturing and a hilarious company vibe/marketing approach, very responsive customer service as well as a fun owners' group I got to participate in...all at a very competitive price to the completion that was made in Asia and that lacked some of the other elements. I'm glad my GF and I got two bikes from them. Nothing huge in terms of their overall sales, but that's exactly the sort of company I want to see more of and the only way that can happen is if they sell enough product to make it worthwhile. I'm glad I was a part of that stage of the company's development/growth.
I tend to hang on to bikes for a while - I've had my Krampus for nearly 8 years now and Murmur for 3 and have no plans of selling either (maybe the Murmur but it would be to upgrade to a stainless steel front end). As such if the REEB was the "perfect" bike in terms of geo, travel etc then I could justify the cost and amortise it over many years.
Like Vik and GG the company ethos would need to click with me - I couldn't drop that much coin on something from one of the bigger more corporate companies - whereas a small independent company is likely to tick that box.
In terms of performance I'm sure you could pick up something at a fraction of the cost that performs equally well (or better) but isn't there more to mtb that straight up performance? I enjoy things that aren't perfect that have flaws or are not quite fit for purpose - as I'm sure most on this thread do.
Posted by: Vikb
Since I spend a lot of time on/with my bike riding/wrenching I'd prefer to have a bike I was stoked about aesthetically as well as in terms of performance. However, if there was a F-Ugly bike that offered something amazing that my other options didn't I would 100% ride it. That said I've never found myself in that situation.
Within the limits of what I can afford I would totally spend some extra $$ to get a bike I preferred aesthetically and/or support a company that was doing something I appreciated...such as domestic manufacturing for example.
Although it's not like a company doing something I think is great necessarily has to cost more $$. My GG was a nice example where a company made a bike that I thought was rad, looked nice and performed amazing...with domestic manufacturing and a hilarious company vibe/marketing approach, very responsive customer service as well as a fun owners' group I got to participate in...all at a very competitive price to the completion that was made in Asia and that lacked some of the other elements. I'm glad my GF and I got two bikes from them. Nothing huge in terms of their overall sales, but that's exactly the sort of company I want to see more of and the only way that can happen is if they sell enough product to make it worthwhile. I'm glad I was a part of that stage of the company's development/growth.
Yeah the early GG’s were something special. Too bad they’re carbon and priced like all the rest now.
Posted by: tashi
Yeah the early GG’s were something special. Too bad they’re carbon and priced like all the rest now.
I'd love to see GG make some metal bikes again other than their hardtail. I'm not holding my breathe though. I do think given the domestic manufacturing component of their business their frame pricing is pretty reasonable compared to overseas frames.
If $4200 frames are reasonable now, than it’s no wonder that many of us choose more generic bikes. Spending that kinda extra dough would be an unacceptable luxury for my household when there are options like the Fluid A1 available.
Posted by: tashi
If $4200 frames are reasonable now, than it’s no wonder that many of us choose more generic bikes.
Comparing the GG Smash to other similar frames:
- GG Smash = $4,250
- Norco Sight C = $4,400
- Ibis Ripmo = $5,050
- SC Hightower CC = $5,549
You can argue that premium FS mountain bike frames are too expensive. That's a different discussion I'm talking relative to a comparable part of the mountain bike market. Given that GG is manufacturing in the US I think their pricing is pretty reasonable.
As another point of comparison Ibis is building the Exie in the US and selling it for $6,141.
All prices in CAD.
Yes, I am saying that high-end mountain bikes don’t offer enough value to justify their price to me.
I haven’t said that GG isn’t competitive to other similar bikes. Seems like they probably are, but for my purchase decisions it really doesn’t matter, I’m happy with non-high end bikes these days because they’re so damn good.
Posted by: Vikb
Posted by: tashi
If $4200 frames are reasonable now, than it’s no wonder that many of us choose more generic bikes.
Comparing the GG Smash to other similar frames:
- GG Smash = $4,250
- Norco Sight C = $4,400
- Ibis Ripmo = $5,050
- SC Hightower CC = $7,575
You can argue that premium FS mountain bike frames are too expensive. That's a different discussion I'm talking relative to a comparable part of the mountain bike market. Given that GG is manufacturing in the US I think their pricing is pretty reasonable.
As another point of comparison Ibis is building the Exie in the US and selling it for $6,141.
All prices in CAD.
I think you mistakenly got the lowest complete build price for the SC Hightower? Looks like a frame is $5,549.
I like the trail blazing done by GG and WAO to make a viable business model based on domestic carbon frame manufacturing and I hope they succeed and start a trend.
In the meantime I'm pretty happy with my Giant, it cost more or less the same for a complete bike with decent spec as it would have cost for a comparable frame from any of the brands mentioned above. Largest bicycle manufacturer in the world so maybe that puts some people off (big soulless corporation etc.). However they have an office and warehouse in North Van and the people I dealt with there were just as stoked about mountain bikes as us. Besides Giant is a gold level sponsor of the NSMBA and does actual trail work under the trail adoption plan. So despite buying from a big foreign corporation I felt like at least some of my dollars went to support local jobs and local trails.
Posted by: [email protected]
I think you mistakenly got the lowest complete build price for the SC Hightower? Looks like a frame is $5,549.
Thanks for the catch. I corrected by post. Some US sites auto convert into CAD and some don't. I converted the price twice by mistake. SC has me so used to high prices it seemed reasonable to my eye at first glance. ;-)
Given the £ has bombed recently it's a good time to pick up a frame from this side of the pond.
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