as per NickW.... Options

[addict]

Nick.W
Ha! Comparing bike manufacturers to car manufacturers sounds like fun so here goes.

Specialized - Ford
Trek - Vauxhall
Lapierre - Audi
Bionicon - Landrover
Cannondale - Volkswagen
Orange - Caterham
Halfords - British Leyland
Charge - Westfield 7

discuss.....

i agree with orange/ caterham.

[lucien]

Specialized - Ferrari

Kona - Porsche

(Guess which bikes I ride!!!)

[Alpine_Skier_UK]

Specialized - Ferrari

Wrong.

Specialized are the Fords of our time.

I mean we all know the nickname for the Ford Sierra dont we, and the reason they got it!!!

[Orange Al]

Surely Caterham equals lightweight and cheap thrills and is also based in Surrey. How the the hell can Orange be compared to to something thats light, cheap and something thats based in the South (Addict you being a northern should wash your mouth out)
I know there both simple in terms of engineering but thats about it, I would much prefer the Orange to be compared to the Aston Martin although no longer British owned.

Surely the Cars country of orgin should match the bikes, so to me Lapierre and Audi is a no no more like Alpina and surely Giant would have to be Honda or Toyota (Though thats thrown the last idea out the window) I'm just thinking the value for money link.

After a little thought I would go for On One as Caterham.

[NickW]

I have to say that I did not really place too much emphasis on country of origin although when I looked at Orange I instantly thought British made, well built, British (or English) and Iconic. When you look at an Orange 5, Blood, Alpine or 223 even from a distance you just know that's an Orange. You could say that the shape of the Caterham is instantly recognisable although I suppose Westfield 7 could have worked too.

As for Lapierre, the picture of a Zesty or Spicy just gives off this image of quality, svelte curves, expensive with hidden strength that suggested a German build. BMW or Merc just didn't feel right. I mean what French car manufacturer has any of that?

As for On One. Well yes they too work well for Caterham too. Actually there are quite a few British car companies out there (mainly sports cars variety). I just can't think of any off the top of my head to offer as alternative choices.

Who would be a Morgan? Maybe a Whyte E120 if you had to select bike specific or maybe a Pashley. Actually it would be Pashley for their heritage and maturity.

[Dolbe]

Well Mongoose must = Ford Mustang. The working mans muscle car.

[addict]

Surely Caterham equals lightweight and cheap thrills and is also based in Surrey. How the the hell can Orange be compared to to something thats light, cheap and something thats based in the South (Addict you being a northern should wash your mouth out)
I know there both simple in terms of engineering but thats about it, I would much prefer the Orange to be compared to the Aston Martin although no longer British owned.

i was gunna go with John Deere trac'rs but went against it.

Well Mongoose must = Ford Mustang. The working mans muscle car.

hell yeah.

[U31]

hell yeah.

Thirded!

Cannondale = Citroen. Bizzarre wacky for no good reason and innovation just because they can

[addict]

Thirded!

Cannondale = Citroen. Bizzarre wacky for no good reason and innovation just because they can

erm yeah i'm kinda inclined to agree with that for some reason. cannondale make very good bikes as well as the infamous 'quick everyone! look!' lefty fork which i still think should be burnt at the stake...

and I was gunna say firstly that they deserve a much better car brand than citroen, but sebastien loeb? WRC champ? in a citroen...

I dunno, this could go on for ever....

[SammyC]

Lefty is meant to be a pretty good fork actually, but probably has the same reliability and part availability as Citroen..... so yes you're probably right. Citroen XM anyone?

[addict]

Lefty is meant to be a pretty good fork actually, but probably has the same reliability and part availability as Citroen..... so yes you're probably right. Citroen XM anyone?

I've heard mixed reviews, isnt it supposed to have internals by fox? thats cant be bad. but i remember reading a quite in-depth review that said it just didnt feel as stable as a fork with two legs.

and it looks wrong. just wrong

[DrBike]

I know there both simple in terms of engineering but thats about it, I would much prefer the Orange to be compared to the Aston Martin although no longer British owned.

i was gunna go with John Deere trac'rs but went against it.
hell yeah.

If you want to go "British" then it should really be a David Brown tractor (although they're long gone now) ... which is a coincidence since David Brown used to own Aston Martin (hence the DB part of the Aston Martin models).

I just checked them out on Wikipedia and it seems that Aston Martin are again at least part UK owned, plus there's even a tenuous link to mountain biking since the 'Aston' part of the name comes from Aston Hill where there's now a MTB centre.

Aston Martin Lagonda Limited is a British manufacturer of luxury sports cars, based in Gaydon, Warwickshire. The company name is derived from the name of one of the company's founders, Lionel Martin, and from the Aston Hill speed hillclimb near Aston Clinton in Buckinghamshire[2]

From 1994 until 2007 Aston Martin was part of the Ford Motor Company, becoming part of the company's Premier Automotive Group in 2000. On 12 March 2007, it was purchased for £479 million (US$848 million) by a joint venture company, co-owned by Investment Dar and Adeem Investment of Kuwait and English businessman John Sinders.[3] Ford retained a US$77 million stake in Aston Martin, valuing the company at US$925 million.[4]

I would have gone with Lapierre - Citroen, but I guess that any French motor manufacturer would do. As for Lucien likening mountain bike brands with sports car brands (Ferrari/Porsche) I think they have a better match to road bikes (other than perhaps that eyesore the Porsche Cayenne). Hmmm, did Ferrari ever make a 4x4? ... I seem to recall that Lamborghini had a go at it once, but then again Lambo started out by making tractors.

I seem to be rambling again ...

[bodger_the_biker]

Lapierre - Bugatti maybe?
Commencal - i dont think there are any andorran car makers so im stumped on this one
Orange - TVR
Nicolai - Mercedes black series
KTM - eeehh KTM?
Intense = Corvette

[Orange Al]

Lapierre - Bugatti maybe?
Commencal - i dont think there are any andorran car makers so im stumped on this one
Orange - TVR
Nicolai - Mercedes black series
KTM - eeehh KTM?
Intense = Corvette

I was thinking TVR for Orange as they a a lot further north of the gap, but Orange are pretty renowned for reliabilty and frames last can take a hell of a lot. You fill in the blanks for TVR.

Lapierre could never be Bugatti unless Lapierre are sillyily overpriced and are only any good in a straight line. Sorry not a Bug fan I would go for Biocon as Bugatti (Look what we can do but nobodies bought one).

Cube = BMW

Kona = Cheverolet (Think resonabily priced car)

And finally the Dacia Sandero = Any £50 full suspension bike you can think of.

[jes]

Lapierre - Bugatti maybe?
Commencal - i dont think there are any andorran car makers so im stumped on this one
Orange - TVR
Nicolai - Mercedes black series
KTM - eeehh KTM?
Intense = Corvette

I'me going -

Intense = Dodge .............

Charger - General Lee jumping stylee,

Can I get a yeehaa

[Dolbe]

I'me going -

Intense = Dodge .............

Charger - General Lee jumping stylee,

Can I get a yeehaa

yeehaa !!

[NickW]

And finally the Dacia Sandero = Any £50 full suspension bike you can think of.

Thanks Orange Al!

My keyboard is now swimming in tea.

[bodger_the_biker]

I was thinking TVR for Orange as they a a lot further north of the gap, but Orange are pretty renowned for reliabilty and frames last can take a hell of a lot. You fill in the blanks for TVR.

Lapierre could never be Bugatti unless Lapierre are sillyily overpriced and are only any good in a straight line. Sorry not a Bug fan I would go for Biocon as Bugatti (Look what we can do but nobodies bought one).

True but i couldnt think of any other british sports car manufacturer that far north, pretty much the same goes for bugatti i cant really think of another french sports car brand as calling them a citeroen or renault just doesnt seem right to me

[jes]

yeehaa !!

Dolbe - cheers man

[Orange Al]

True but i couldnt think of any other british sports car manufacturer that far north, pretty much the same goes for bugatti i cant really think of another french sports car brand as calling them a citeroen or renault just doesnt seem right to me

Just looked at Wiki as I always thought Bugatti where Italian before VW bought them

Founder Ettore Bugatti was born in Milan, Italy, and the automobile company that bears his name was founded in 1909 in the town of Molsheim located in the Alsace, part of the German Empire at the time, and after 1919, a region of France. The company was known both for the level of detail of its engineering in its automobiles, and for the artistic way in which the designs were executed, given the artistic nature of Ettore's family (his father, Carlo Bugatti (1856–1940), was an important Art Nouveau furniture and jewelry designer). The company also enjoyed great success in early Grand Prix motor racing, winning the first ever Monaco Grand Prix. The company's success culminated with driver Jean-Pierre Wimille winning the 24 hours of Le Mans twice (in 1937 with Robert Benoist and 1939 with Pierre Veyron).

So I suppose they could be called french very loosely as for not Renault not being up to the mantel of Lapierre can I just remind people that they are one of the most sucessful GP engine manfactures of all time. Also there pedigree for hot hatches is hard to beat and there build quaility is certainly above the other two.