Caramel cycles - £200 track bikes

Maybe I've not been around long enough, but has anyone ever started up a new fixed bike company to rapturous acclaim from the forum?

We have Unicack/create/Foffa/Caramel who all get slated. I've got no idea whether any of them are any good or not, I've never ridden any of them and from the look of their websites I'm not even slightly tempted.

Anyway, was just wondering if any new companies had sprung up to be met with reviews like:

"wow, that is a really well conceived frame, well put together with decent components. Yes it's cheap, yes its heavy, yes its OTP, no I wouldn't personally want one, but given the price thats a pretty good deal. Well done!"

I guess it would help if the ad campaign had people looking where they were riding.

To reduce forum views down to their lowest common denominator, you either need to start your company up in Italy (Oooo, Italians are sooooo chic. Oooo and sooooo butch), or suck a LOT of cock to get anyone to approve what you do. Oh, and charge lots of money for your product. High-cost product must inherently be good. Budget product must inherently be bad.

Clearly, caramel failed at chugging.

Maybe I've not been around long enough, but has anyone ever started up a new fixed bike company to rapturous acclaim from the forum?

No, because people who start up "fixed bike companies" have thus far been clueless morons who produce poorly made (at best) dangerous and illegal (at worst) piles of crap designed only to cynically cash in on the equally clueless and moronic hipster market.

Good fixed bikes are generally made by companies who already make bikes because fixed bikes are just bikes, not some new fantastic fashion breakthrough.

To reduce forum views down to their lowest common denominator, you either need to start your company up in Italy (Oooo, Italians are sooooo chic. Oooo and sooooo butch), or suck a LOT of cock to get anyone to approve what you do. Oh, and charge lots of money for your product. High-cost product must inherently be good. Budget product must inherently be bad.

Clearly, caramel failed at chugging.

I don't think that's true.

Look at a company like IRO or charge, who make (relatively) inexpensive bikes that are solid and nice to ride from good materials. Dont see them sucking any cock round here.

What is true is that there have been a lot of complaints from people buying unipack and create bikes—*parts failing, bad durability etc etc

It's a fairly good rule of thumb if something is unusually cheap - either it's badly made, or corners have been cut, or people have been exploited during the process.. or all three.

RPM speaks the truth..

right... pub time

what a video. cmon now...we dont want to encourage people to ride like that?

No, because people who start up "fixed bike companies" have thus far been clueless morons who produce poorly made (at best) dangerous and illegal (at worst) piles of crap designed only to cynically cash in on the equally clueless and moronic hipster market.

Good fixed bikes are generally made by companies who already make bikes because fixed bikes are just bikes, not some new fantastic fashion breakthrough.

agreed

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Anyone know what these bars are? Or at least something similar, checked the definitive list of lists and none seem to have neither rise nor drop like these do

I bet he's the mechanic.

Ha... not quite. My mechanic-ing skills extend as far as assembling my own bikes but I wouldn't trust myself with (a) my nice bikes or (b) anyone else' s life.

designed [for the] clueless and moronic hipster market

Good fixed bikes are generally made by companies who already make bikes because fixed bikes are just bikes, not some new fantastic fashion breakthrough.

This works for me, thank you. Probably also helps to be italian and expensive.

[clicks over to classifieds to buy an italian frame to fit in]

Sorry

Veevee had a go at me for starting this thread

I now see the error of my ways for alerting people to the potential danger and comedy value of these utterly shit bikes

I should have sat back in a bubble of zen calm and felt happy that my complacency had let others buy these pieces of crap that are potentially very dangerous, will cost the users more money than a decent bike in the long run and will probably discourage people from the true joy of cycling.

I am clearly an inconsiderate asshole and feel duly admonished and terrible for my actions.

I apologise to all concerned.

All their 'Scruffy Racer' conversions have freewheels and no rear brake - are they even legal?

They are sold as new bikes and whole aren't they?

If so the lack of bell and reflectors is enough to get the police involved, let alone the one brake ss.

To reduce forum views down to their lowest common denominator, you either need to start your company up in Italy (Oooo, Italians are sooooo chic. Oooo and sooooo butch), or suck a LOT of cock to get anyone to approve what you do. Oh, and charge lots of money for your product. High-cost product must inherently be good. Budget product must inherently be bad.

Clearly, caramel failed at chugging.

what about shop 14, good bikes, good service, not everything is cheap but you get good things etc etc

or tokyo fixed - lots of bling etc, generally good service with the odd slip in standards

both of those shops are run by people who are well versed in bikes and have a passion

foffa, caramel etc appear to be run by chancers, who like the idea of cashing in on a "scene"

caramel folk on here have asked some fairly basic questions

"*hugo7, please can you explain why you'd stay away from french bikes?
im not french, but have a few 80s peugouts, a stan stablinski and a womens meral to fix up at the moment.
thanks"

"**any share some advise on this Peugeot P8E circa 1975?
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_w8pKI02vBAI/TFlTVrbBzFI/AAAAAAAAIKg/rSWO35fmZHw/s1600/IMGP2058.JPG
is it english threaded?
how much is it worth..."

"**i also recently bought these two white peugeots:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_w8pKI02vBAI/TFlTslZboEI/AAAAAAAAIKw/G63FJ-FGMaE/s1600/IMGP2069.JPG"

"**anyone know of stan stablinski bike frames?
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_w8pKI02vBAI/TFlUdqqAVpI/AAAAAAAAILA/TyUw9L3yAbA/s1600/IMGP2066.JPG
i found out on wiki that stan was world champ in 60s-70s,..."
*

oddly there are now a couple of peugots and a stablinski for sale on their website

none of this gives me any confidence in their ability but if you want to go and buy them please feel free

In response to the question of whether or not any fixed bike companies have been started up that the majority of lfgss approve of I have two words:

shop 14

I know that they aren't always perfect, but they have put time and energy into their designs and their builds and it shows.

oi canadian witch

i had already commented on them

but will +1 your statement

James you did the right thing

I find it offensive that the bike pictured above is used as representative of their model they sell on the website, when it is clearly nothing of the sort

I did not do the right thing

VeeVee told me so, thankfully she is not judgemental because of her buddhist training and was not looking to be judgemental of me.

That is what she told me

I must believe her

...and we all know ceaser is a just man....

We have Unicack/create/Foffa/Caramel who all get slated. I've got no idea whether any of them are any good or not...

This means aren't harsh enough about these kind of bicycles.
Foffa is a bit different because of the history with "the mechanic" and Foffa himself trying to change his ways. But as for Create bikes and their spin offs, they're utterly shit, end of.
The best piece of advice I was ever given was "If it seems too good to be true, it probably is". Which applies fully to buying a new fixed gear bike for £200. If you look at something like the Fuji Track, it comes with bottom of the range, but decent components for £350. Anything less than that and you've got to cut corners somewhere.

Anyone know what these bars are? Or at least something similar, checked the definitive list of lists and none seem to have neither rise nor drop like these do

Here's a selection;

http://www.freshtripe.co.uk/Freshtripe/Handlebars,%20Headsets%20%26%20Stems.html

This means aren't harsh enough about these kind of bicycles.
Foffa is a bit different because of the history with "the mechanic" and Foffa himself trying to change his ways. But as for Create bikes and their spin offs, they're utterly shit, end of.
The best piece of advice I was ever given was "If it seems too good to be true, it probably is". Which applies fully to buying a new fixed gear bike for £200. If you look at something like the Fuji Track, it comes with bottom of the range, but decent components for £350. Anything less than that and you've got to cut corners somewhere.

+1

I cant believe some people still seem to struggle to understand that the fact is, you get what you pay for! end of story...

Another example of good new UK companies building fixed gear bikes (amongst geared/single-speed builds), Feather Cycles, they don't come cheap, but are good quality custom builds, hand built by one man...

+1

I cant believe some people still seem to struggle to understand that the fact is, you get what you pay for! end of story...

Another example of good new UK companies building fixed gear bikes (amongst geared/single-speed builds), Feather Cycles, they don't come cheap, but are good quality custom builds, hand built by one man...

Agreed. Feather frames are some of the nicest out there, and built by a guy who seems utterly sound, and into what he does for the right reasons. I'd love one - they're all beautiful.

no no

we must all stop being assholes

there is no need for us to warn people about shit create, caramel or foffa bikes

that would be asshole behaviour

-1 @ JordanD

I disagree. And its why I've always championed OTPs.

Maybe you've noticed, and maybe you haven't, but you get what you pay for, is a changeable thing.

There are reasonable OTPs that lose more than half their price in an end of year sale. If the bike was okay to begin with, and there is still a profit made by the retailer, then the original mark up was a big one. Other OTPs jump £200 or in a day - the On-One Pompino and the Ellis-Briggs Fixed Road, are two examples of popularity increasing the price (admittedly, the Ellis-Briggs is more of a handmade effort than would normally be seen in an OTP list). This is where smalltime newbie retailers come in. They see the popularity of cheaper priced cycling products.

Therefore, with people looking for money-making opportunities, it would be silly to ignore a growing market. We get into advertising and are still considered fresh, and more and more nodders commuters look to join our happy family.

Some will fall by the wayside, as even good shops like TourDeVille, or others will not survive due to their very poor reputations. Its good that people like dancing james give the new ones a tough time, because it should help them to sharpen up their products. Its helpful. But at the same time, I hope we don't bury small businesses that actually want to do better, just because we never gave them a chance.

Agreed. Feather frames are some of the nicest out there, and built by a guy who seems utterly sound, and into what he does for the right reasons. I'd love one - they're all beautiful.

Yeah he's a sound guy, proper into what he does. He'll discuss everything with you throughout the build, so you know your getting exactly what you want...

But thats what its about, not buying cheap parts thrown together by some businessman trying to cash in...

Theres just something a bit cringeworthy about about coming onto the forum solely for shameless self promotion, acting like a customer etc.

Saying things like "oh i know where you can get some wheels" etc.

But thats what its about, not buying cheap parts thrown together by some businessman trying to cash in...

But its okay for, say, Giant or another large manufacturer to do it?

Remember, that there is huge mark ups for them in the SS/FG arena. Its easily seen by the sale prices of the bikes.

True, they are put together better than some of the small retailers that have been mentioned in this thread. But they need to improve.