Do The Brands Of Bicycles Really Matter?
Any bike shop that stocks only certain bicycle brands will often swear the one they carry in-store is the best.
As a general rule, bicycles of a certain style within a similar price range, are quite comparable with each other.
There’s not a great difference between a Roadmaster, Mongoose, Pacific, Schwinn, British Eagle, Magna or Huffy Bicycle that can be purchased at a department store.
By the same token, an entry level Giant road bike is similar to an entry level Trek, and mid-level Specialized Bikes are similar to those from Cannondale.
Some bicycle manufacturers only make high-end bikes, others only low-end cheap bikes, while some bigger companies sell a whole range of bicycle types in various price ranges.
When trying to calculate the best bike to buy, it is more important to compare bikes of a similar type, using similar frames and groupsets.
These will also generally fall within a similar price bracket.
The best brand of bike for you – can be different to the best brand for someone else.
It depends on your body shape, level of fitness and personal preferences.
Research online and at your local bike shop before buying a bicycle.
About The Bicycle Manufacturers
Broad Spectrum Bicycle Brands
| Name | About | Bicycle Styles |
|---|---|---|
Apollo Bikes
|
Apollo is a well known bicycle brand in Australia, which retails through bike shops. |
|
Avanti Bikes
|
Avanti was launched in New Zealand in 1985 and has since become one of the more popular bicycle brands in both Australia and New Zealand. |
|
Bianchi
|
Bianchi markets itself on the long association with past and present cycling champions to position itself as a leader in innovation.
The Bianchi brand, like Schwinn, has a long and prestigious history. It now sits in the stable of bicycle brands owned by CycleEurope. (CycleEurope is in turn owned by Grimaldi Industri. Other CycleEurope brands include Crescent, DBS, Everton, Gitane, Kildemoes, Legnano, Micmo, Monark, Puch and Spectra. |
|
Cannondale
|
Joe Montgomery founded Cannondale Bicycles in a little shop above a pickle factory. After some tough years, the Cannondale company is now producing high quality bicycles and cycling gear. |
|
Felt
|
Felt Bike frames were first built in 1990 by Jim Felt, and now the Felt Bicycles Company distributes bikes internationally. |
|
Gary Fisher Bicycles
|
Fisher Bikes has until recently been a mountain bike specialist, but entered the road bike market in 2008. The brand is owned by Trek. Gary Fisher is considered to be one of the founding fathers of mountain biking. |
|
Fuji
|
Japan’s Fuji Bicycle brand was born in 1899. Like many bicycle brands, Fuji suffered through the 1990s, and the parent companies in Japan and America went bankrupt.
Distribution rights for the brand were purchased by Advanced Sports Inc in 1998. ASI continues to market and distribute Fuji Bicycles, Breezer Bikes, Kestrel Bicycles and SE Bikes. |
|
Giant
|
Giant started out as a manufacturer of other brands of bike.
After the company began manufacturing Schwinn bicycles, success launched them into a giant international brand. Giant claims to be the biggest of all the bicycle manufacturers. It builds bikes for other brands as well as manufacturing its own brand of Giant bikes. |
|
Klein
|
Klein Bikes, named after Gary Klein, were bought out by Trek, but what is the future for the aluminum frame? It’s not clear whether Trek will ever resurrect the Klein bicycle brand. The Klein brand is still sold in Japan. |
|
Kona
|
The Kona Bicycle Company was founded in 1988 and produces elite MTBs, touring and racing bikes.
Kona has a wide range of models. |
|
Merida Bikes
|
Merida Industry Company Ltd was one of a number of Taiwanese bicycle manufacturers that commenced business making cheaper bikes for other bicycle brands in the early 1970s.
The 1990s saw the firm establishment of Merida as a brand name in itself, although they became known for mass produced bikes. |
|
Raleigh Bicycles
|
Raleigh’s history as a bicycle manufacturer began in 1887.
Over the years, many Raleigh brand models have caught the attention of the public including the Raleigh Chopper, and the Grifter. |
|
Specialized Bikes
|
Specialized soared to fame after the launch of the stump jumper mountain bike, the first to be mass produced.
Although Merida owns a significant share in Specialized, the company founder, Mike Sinyard, retains control of the Specialized brand. The company retails a large range of bicycle types and models globally. |
|
Trek Bicycles
|
Trek Bicycle corporation Owns the Trek, Fisher, Diamant and Villiger bicycle brands, along with Bontrager apparel.
The brand is represented from the high-end to the low-end of the market. |
|
Mass Produced Bicycle Brands
| Name | About | Bicycle Styles |
|---|---|---|
Huffy
|
With a long company history, Huffy bicycles have been bought by millions in chain stores around the world. The bicycles are mass produced and often copy the look and feel of popular high quality bike manufacturers. |
|
Magna
|
Dynacraft Inc has a large portfolio of bicycle brands of which Magna Bicycles is one. The Dynacraft brands are all retailed through department stores and include Anza, Next, Ozone, Rhino, Vertical, Malibu, Avigo and Sonoma. |
|
Mongoose Bikes
|
Mongoose bikes retail in both high performance specialty bicycle stores and in low-end mass production that can be purchased from a department store. The Mongoose brand parent company is Pacific Cycle Inc. |
|
Roadmaster Bicycles
|
The Roadmaster bicycle brand was established by the Cleveland Welding Company. In 1950, the brand was sold on to AMF (American Machine and Foundry) AMG did very well with Roadmaster until the end of the 1970s, and then business declined. |
|
Schwinn
|
Schwinn Bicycles, like Huffy, is a company with a long history that fell on hard times in the 1980’s. It merged with GT in the 1990’s, filed for bankruptcy and was eventually acquired by Pacific Cycle.
After 2002, under Pacific Cycle, the Schwinn bicycle brand was moved into the department store market. More recently, mid-level Schwinn bikes are starting to enter bike shops, including the well regarded tailwind Schwinn electric bicycle and others. |
|
High-End Only Bicycle Brands
| Name | About | Bicycle Styles |
|---|---|---|
Cervelo Bikes
|
Cervelo was founded in 1995 by Phil White and Gerard Vroomen.
The original aim of the company was to help elite athletes win races and Cervelo has carried that philiosophy through to the present. Innovate – Sacrifice – Unite – Succeed – Honesty |
|
Colnago
|
The Colnago bicycles branding has been aligned with professional cycling teams through sponsorship since 1968.
Ernesto Colnago founded the company in 1954. |
|
DeRosa
|
DeRosa bicycles is another of the prestigious Italian bicycle brands that cyclists drool over.
Like Colnago, Ugo DeRosa has been the charismatic leader who has become synonymous with his own brand. |
|
Litespeed
|
Litespeed bicycles gained its reputatation by building high-end bike frames from titanium for some of the big names including DeRosa, and Marin.
After specializing in titanium, the company has more recently launched a carbon framed bicycle. |
|
Pinarello Bicycles
|
Pinarello bicycles are certainly coveted as one of the most expensive brands of bike on the market.
Sponsorship of professional cycling teams has played a critical role in developing brand recognition and marketing Pinarello bikes into the high-end market. |
|
Other Specialist Bicycle Brands
| Name | About | Bicycle Styles |
|---|---|---|
Brompton Bicycles
|
The Brompton bike frame has a distinctive curved top tube, which folds together in the middle. They are designed with commuting in mind when space is at a premium. Brompton is actually one of the largest bicycle manufacturers operating out of Great Britain |
|
Electra Bicycles
|
The Electra Bike company is best know for its Townie model. The Townie has what they call flat foot technology which is a crank forward style of bicycle.
Electra bicycles are designed with the comfort of the rider as fundamental. |
|
Dahon Bicycles
|
Dahon is the world’s largest folding bicycle manufacturer.
The brand was born from a desire to create a more broadly functional form of environmentally sustainable transportation, and this philiosophy continues to drive the company forward. |
|
Haro Bikes
|
BMX freestyle champion, Bob Haro established Haro Bikes in the early 1980s as the BMX boom was at its height.
Bob Haro sold his share in the company in 1988. Some lean years followed, but by the turn of the millenuim, the Haro Bikes brand was once again at the forefront of the BMX market. Haro has now expanded into the mountain bike market and sells a number of different styles. |
|
Sun Bicycles
|
Sun Bicycles is the largest of all the recumbent bicycle manufacturers. They also make hand trikes, tandems, and unicycles. |
|
