Big Bike Brands Explained for Newbies

You want a new bike, but there are so many different brands. How do you know where to look? Let's go through some of the biggest and see what's what. Starting with Specialized. We've all heard of Specialized, right? Big American bike brand. Made the first mass-produced mountain bike. They have evolved into one of the biggest performance bike brands in the world. And there's no denying that they're at the cutting edge of bike technology. Producing some of the fastest bikes ever made. And they make pretty much everything else bike related as well. To a very high standard. And a very high price. It's not just good products that got them to the size they are though. They are pretty cutthroat with their business practices. Which is why some people do not like them. They have a reputation for suing people. So I love Specialized. Giant is aptly named. It's the giantest bike brand in the world. So giant that they make bikes for other brands as well. In their factories. Both in Taiwan and in China. Some people think they're boring. A bit safe. A bit beige. On the flip side though, they are pretty good value. Oh, and the founder didn't start riding bikes until he was 73. Colnago is the highest profile of all the Italian bike brands at the moment. Thanks to Team UAE. Namely, Taddei Picaccia. And all of his success over the last few years. Sales have skyrocketed. But they always had a devout customer base. And they've always made some lovely bikes. Most models are made in the Far East. Except for the C68. Aren't they usually classic looking bikes? Until the Y1RS came out. Which... Jesus. Trek. Another big American bike brand. Born around the same time as Specialized. They exploded in popularity. Largely due to their sponsorship of the infamous Lance Armstrong. How could it have taken place when I've never taken performance enhancing drugs? Obviously things didn't exactly go smoothly. He was busted for doping. Lost all of his Tour de France titles. Trek overall still benefited though. And now they make a huge range of bikes. From top-end race bikes. With, well, this hole in it. To commuters and mountain bikes. And they have a sub-brand called Bontrager. Selling all kinds of accessories too. How many times do I have to say it? Cervelo is a Canadian brand. Known for very aero designs. Massive in triathlon and pro bike racing. They do not make a cheap bike. It's all performance. They made aero bikes way ahead of their time. And they were the first bike brand to run a pro cycling team. And a dedicated women's team. Which was also ahead of its time. So props for that. Bianchi was founded in 1885. And is the world's oldest bike brand. Famous for its celeste green colour. Based in Italy they mainly focus on high-end race bikes. We are making road racing frames. Of course Bianchi is really famous for road racing. And have a real cult following. And apparently are bringing production of their frames back to Italy. Most big bike brands get their bikes made in factories over in China or Taiwan. So this is pretty big news if it's true. Cannondale. Another one from the USA. They were founded in the 80s. Making aluminium bikes ahead of their time. They were always quite innovative. Coming up with mad things like the lefty fork. Pretty cool. And annoying things like BB30. And then they've changed back to threaded BBs. Thanks Cannondale. And really good stuff like the CAD range of aluminium bikes. Highly regarded as some of the best mass-produced aluminium bikes ever made. Now they have all of the usual offerings in the high-end department as well. But frankly, we're all waiting for the CAD14, aren't we? In 1921, Shozabro founded Shimano Ironworks. Shimano is a freaking huge fishing rod company. That also makes some bike stuff. Quite a lot of bike stuff. They sell 80% of the market share of group sets. So chains, cassettes, brake systems. You'll see them on high-end bikes. You'll see them on entry-level bikes. And they have a reputation for being reliable and high quality. And also for crank sets that snap. That was the older ones though. And they had a massive recall. The new ones should be fine. Pinarello. Italian bikes. Which you'll be paying a premium for. They're like the Lamborghini of bikes. They have a very distinctive look. Sometimes they've got wavy forks and wavy chainstays. They were big anyway. But then they had the Team GB effect. Around 2010, British athletes were winning left, right and centre on Pinarellos. Along with the Team Sky pro team. And everyone wanted a Pinarello. They also have the most Tour de France wins of any brand in the modern era. And it's worth mentioning they all have Italian threaded BBs. So don't thread your bottom bracket in the wrong way. I might be speaking from experience. SRAM is the USA's answer to Shimano. They focus on performance products only. With wireless shifting and 1 million gears. And an app that connects to your bike. So you can do stuff to it. They're known for... Well, people used to moan about their front derailleur performance. Quite a lot. But the newest iterations, they have fixed that. It worked great. And the newest versions have the best braking you can buy. So good job SRAM. Wilier is an Italian brand founded in 1906. Again, they tend to focus on premium offerings. And sponsor pro racing teams. And athletes like Mark Cavendish. Who broke the record for the most Tour de France stage wins ever. Aboard one of these bikes. Now, a brand that seems to fly under the radar. Considering how big they are. Merida is a Taiwanese brand that make everything. Including Specialized's. In fact, they own 49% of Specialized. They are the second biggest bike brand in the world. And you might have ridden one without knowing. Because they make bikes for lots of other people. Mavic. French wheels. Most famous for being the neutral service car in the Tour de France. Yellow. Also invented the first ever electric groupset with zap. And the first ever wireless groupset with mextronic. That's mad. It didn't work very well. Apparently, it kept going wrong because of radio interference. But, you know, they were the first to do it. So, props to Mavic. Fizik. High-end saddles. And shoes. And more from Italy. They do some other bits like bar tape. They make saddles like the Arione. Which is basically a plank of wood. There's definitely some other ones. And I'm sure there's lots of people that get on with them great. But also, maybe there's a reason their sponsored riders end up doing this. Look is a French company. Who invented the clipless pedal in 1984. And contributed to making carbon frames mainstream. Clipless pedal is a weird name. Because they are... Clipped. But the name differentiates from the pedals with toe clips. I know. Confusing. Anyway. Another brand that pretty much only make expensive bikes. But they do look quite nice. And they've done some weird stuff with head tubes in the past. Maybe ahead of its time. Speaking of time. Time. Used to make bikes and pedals. But now the companies have split. With SRAM acquiring the pedals. Time bikes are built in Slovakia and South Carolina now. And known for their high quality manufacturing. And this mad video of carbon being weaved together on a loom. The quality is undoubtedly great. But they do seem to struggle keeping up with the times. How many times am I gonna say times? You see some people moaning that the models are a little bit outdated. With not enough tire clearance. And then they change one of their models. Which was a gravel bike. And now call it an all-road bike. Because there just wasn't enough tire clearance. They're struggling to stay with the times. But if you know what you want from a bike. And it's one of them that's in their range. You're not gonna go wrong. Head wheels. There's some there. Can you see them? Maybe? They're a family-owned business from the States. And they're huge in triathlon. And all about the aero gains. They made this big donut wheel. As like a protest at Ironman Kona. Because disc wheels are banned. So they just made it so so deep. It looks ridiculous. Selle Italia. More Italian saddles. Founded in 1897. Makers of my favorite saddle in the world. The Boost SLR S3. Not sponsored. And probably not in stock. Because I have bought them all. Selle San Marco. More Italian saddles. And this one is actually owned by the same people as Selle Italia. They have a different range. I don't know why they're not just one company. It just is what it is. Orbea is Spain's oldest bike manufacturer. All the usual offerings from gravel bikes to e-bikes. And absolutely huge in Europe. There seems to be a decent amount of customization on their website as well. Which is great to see. It's annoying when you find the perfect bike. And then you go on the website. And then just like one crank length. And the bars are the wrong size. And then you order it and get it home. And then you have to pay for someone else to change the parts. Or do it yourself and source the parts. End up losing money. And then you just hate cycling. So more customization. Good. We want to see more of this from brands that sell direct. Ridley. Belgian race bikes made for one thing. Go fast. But maybe impractical for normal people. What the hell is this bike? But they are at the cutting edge of bike design. With very modern geometry. Envy mega premium wheels. Frames and components. With a decent proportion of it being made in the USA. They are bling. We may have historically have called them the Rolex of cycling. Congratulations if you can afford them. Karima. French wheels. Most famous for being ridden by Team Astana for years and years and years. Although that is now over. They're made entirely in France. Right down to the carbon layout. They got some very cool spoke patterns and unusual designs as well. Check them out. Triban. Affordable bikes from Decathlon. The French company. These have represented the best value road and gravel bikes possible over the last few years. We've done lots of videos about them. I believe they're being discontinued now though. And are being rebranded as Van Rysel or Riverside. New brands from Decathlon. With Van Rysel covering the high-end stuff. And Riverside with the commutery and gravelly stuff. As of now things still look very good value. We hope this will continue to be the case. And we hope the Triban price points are going to be replaced with something. Because at the moment the website just has nothing. Zipp. Back in the day they made aero wheels with these little dimples on. Like a golf ball to go faster through the air. Now they've been bought by SRAM. And they do a range of wheels. It's all high-end performance stuff. Some of them are over 3,000 pounds. That's a lot of money for wheels. They also do stems, bars and seat posts. It's all pretty good but not cheap. Microshift. A Taiwanese brand who focus on budget-friendly group sets. You'll often see Microshift specked on entry-level bikes. And frankly our experience of it has been great. They now do loads of off-road group sets as well. With massive gear range. And their marketing is quite centered around keeping mechanical shifting alive. Fair play Microshift. Also they have a group set called Sword. Good name. DT Swiss is a wheel brand known for really good hubs. So good in fact loads of other brands lace their rims onto DT Swiss hubs and sell them. And despite having a reputation for being reliable and trusted. They just had a massive recall. So do check. Your wheels if you bought them in the last couple of years. Canyon. In 2022 they shook up the industry big time. When they renamed themselves from Rad Sport Arnold. Canyon's definitely a catchier name. Good move. They're a German brand that only sell direct-to-consumer. So they cut out the middleman. No bike shops. Which means prices are lower. And for a long time they've been extremely good value. Hence their success. No bike shop though means you're dealing with Canyon for support. Or paying someone else separately to help if things go wrong. They do have some kind of deal set up with some bike shops. But you still gotta pay if you want your bike assembled by them. They are constantly experimenting with unusual design. Like double-decker handlebars. Flexi seat posts. Detachable drops. And make very good bikes at the lower end of the price spectrum as well. They do have a reputation for annoying proprietary parts though. I mean they made bottle cages that only fit Canyon bottles in. Focus. A German brand founded by cyclocross champ Mike Kluge in 1992. They make performance bikes. Not really any entry-level stuff again. And they're owned by Pon Holdings. Who also own Cannondale, Cervelo, Santa Cruz, Schwinn and many more. Lapierre. A French brand. These for a long time were ridden by FDJ. One of the pro teams that's been around for ages. All the usual drop bar stuff and a lot of mountain bike options. They've got a history of adopting new suspension systems pretty early on as well. Again there is no entry-level prices. But looking at the specs on the website of the bikes they do sell. They are surprisingly competitive. And depending on where you live. You might stand out because you don't see them everywhere. 3T. These guys started in 1961 with components. Bars, stems, seat posts. Which you'll see today. Eventually evolved into making full bikes. With the help of Gerard Vrooman from Cervelo. He became a co-owner in 2015. And they were the first major bike brand to do one buy only. And were being ridden by a team called Aqua Blue. In the pro ranks. And the riders had a lot of mixed feedback about the bikes. Let's just say that. Probably 3T bikes to be honest. I think they make good handlebars but terrible bikes. We've been on one chainring all year haven't we? So the bikes have now been refined. And I'm sure they have lots of very happy customers. FSA stands for Full Speed Ahead. And you'll see them all over the place on off-the-peg bikes. Because often the cranks are cheaper to spec than Shimano or SRAM. Having said that they do have premium offerings as well. With like an electric fancy carbon groups here. And they make some excellent cranksets, handlebars and other parts. Argon 18. Canadian brand out of Montreal. And another brand that do not make a cheap bike. It's performance stuff here with some interesting design choices. Like the headsets that have this head tube extension thing. It's more fit customization which is a good thing. Cool to see. Winspace is a Chinese company. Making some very competitively priced bikes. We're seeing this more and more now. Chinese factories who've historically made bikes for other people. Setting up their own brands and selling direct. The result tends to be lower cost. But it's taken a while to gain trust with the western market. Winspace is well regarded in both build quality and their customer service. And you're seeing more and more of them in the performance space. Cube is another bike brand with specs at bonkers good prices. They have a huge range with pros riding their high-end aeroy stuff. Right down to gravel and city bikes that are very affordable. If you can get one. We struggle even getting them in for review. I think we've done one ever. They just don't have stock. Maybe because people buy them. Rotor. Fancy cranks. High-end power meters. Spanish. Weird hydraulic group sets as well. Perhaps most famous for their oval shaped Q-rings. Which they claim to be better pedaling efficiency and things like that. They've just been bought by... Wheeltop. A Chinese group set manufacturer who've been making components for other companies in their factories for many, many years. They've now established their own brand. And clearly they want some high-end offerings. So have bought Rotor. Next we have Scott. Based out of Switzerland. High-end stuff again. They've really cut down their entry-level road offerings. But do have a huge range of mountain bikes. And massive high-profile athletes winning on their bikes like Nino Schurter. They're at the cutting edge when it comes to performance. And also in the e-bike category. Where they make bikes that still ride good. Even when you run out of battery. I mean, that just looks like a normal gravel bike. Belt. I used to see these around all the time. But not so much anymore. And maybe because it's changed hands so many times. Particularly in the last few years. I actually used to have one of these. Look at that. They're another performance brand. You might see them in other places on YouTube. They're definitely being quite modern with their marketing. And it's great to see them live and kicking again. Campagnolo. Another groupset supplier that invented the quick release skewer. Which we're seeing less and less of. Kind of sad. You won't see them anywhere near as much as Shimano and SRAM these days. Which is a shame. They have a reputation for making beautiful components. That you'll often see people put on their Italian frames. They do seem to be struggling a little bit. To keep up with the latest trends and technologies. But their latest groupsets have been well received. Despite being premium offerings only. BMC. High-end Swiss bikes. With prices on the higher end of the spectrum. They had Tour de France wins. And their name stands for... Bicycle Manufacturing Company. Oh and I think BMC should get a shout out here. For making an endurance bike that actually looks fast. Right. That is big bike brands explained. Who did I miss? I'm gonna have missed someone. Hopefully that gives you an idea of who does what. And where some of these brands came from. Thank you for watching. See you guys soon.