Ren Cycles

[Bstone]

Anybody have any experience of Ren Cycles? They are doing butted Ti with an Enve 2.0 for $2400. Pictures of pictured frame called the Appia looks good.

http://www.rencycles.com/bikes/appia

Looks good on the interwaves, but if something seems too good to be true....

[dave thompson]

Probably manufactured overseas. The Ren ad says 'designed, engineered and tested in Portland.' No mention of being built there.

[Peter B]

Their copy reads like these are outsourced (offshore) manufacture with some Portland marketing. Might be a terrific bike but for equivalent money you could have one made-to-measure from Mike DeSalvo down in Ashland.

[JAllen]

Love the Hopworks beer displayed with the "Waypoint".

:beer:

[that guy]

Designed/owned/same thing as Ti Cycles, but made overseas.

[Bstone]

His prices for custom steel and Ti are really low. Any personal endorsements out there?Their copy reads like these are outsourced (offshore) manufacture with some Portland marketing. Might be a terrific bike but for equivalent money you could have one made-to-measure from Mike DeSalvo down in Ashland.

[cmg]

the FALCO Eleonora is another at a better price but that one comes from china i believe. Not that it would matter, no american rebadging and mark up. add $400 for custom geometry, still pretty cheap... http://www.falcobike.com/index.php/falcobike/view_product?key=eleonora been thinking of getting one for a while.

[Peter B]

His prices for custom steel and Ti are really low. Any personal endorsements out there?

I've got a sweet steel fixed gear he built for me. Sold the ti DS MTB to another forumite. Use the search function here and peruse galleries of past NAHBS. He welded up all the Speedvagens until the last few runs. Mike is a really nice guy who builds a terrific bike.

[Avincent52]

I don't know anything about Rens, but I will say for that money--$2,500-- I'd go in one of two directions.

a) If you're a bike flipper, I'd suggest buying a used, but not abused Moots on the classifieds here. You can ride it for a while, and then sell it for roughly what you paid for it, especially since a Ti frame isn't going to show wear and tear in the same way as a painted steel bike.

b) If you're a buy-and-hold kind of guy, I'd look at a DeSalvo. At the minimum, you'll get to talk to Mike who's building your bike from beginning to end.
If you want specific fender/tire clearances, or have strong feelings about a sloping top tube, that's all pretty easy. If you need a custom geometry, it's a $175 upcharge. If you know what you want, you're likely to get it. But at least for the moment, a new DeSalvo is not going to hold its value the way a used Moots will.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

[boyer_moore]

I own two Ti Cycles bikes and one REN, a Waypoint. They're the best things in my stable -- from a comfort/stability, quality, and design standpoint. When they put out a disc road bike I'll own a second REN bike. And I'm comparing them against Moots, Lynsky, etc. -- all of which I've owned.

I guess everybody has their own reason for buying a particular bike. I liked the Ti Cycles Local Hero and Bonestealer (the two frames I own) because they rode better than the other Ti bikes I shopped in those categories. I've owned both for 3 years now and never had any issues.

Same thing goes for my Waypoint, which I've commuted on for just over a year now. Each of the bikes -- fully built -- were half the price of a new Moots frame, and they all look great. I ride the hell out of them. And I know if anything ever goes wrong with any of them I can drop the REN guys an email and they will bend over backwards to make it right.

Totally recommend REN bikes.

[Bstone]

Looks interesting but it has a PF bottom bracket. Its like buying something from Specialized. I just makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. the FALCO Eleonora is another at a better price but that one comes from china i believe. Not that it would matter, no american rebadging and mark up. add $400 for custom geometry, still pretty cheap... http://www.falcobike.com/index.php/falcobike/view_product?key=eleonora been thinking of getting one for a while.

[invertedhog]

The Ren bikes are fantastic!
I have found the Ti Cycles/REN folks to be straightforward about their product. As was explained to me in an email from them:

"All of the REN product is designed and tested by us here in Portland.
REN is a production brand developed to fit a large demographic -- cyclists who value our products for their performance and function and do not consider racial or nationalist criteria as appropriate for evaluating a piece of hardware.
All of the REN product has seen extensive long-term testing with our PDXTI Elite race team and have performed flawlessly.
All of the REN product is built by hand with the same materials and methods as our Ti Cycles products.
For all functional intents and purposes the REN product is the same as what we would build in our Portland shop, but in stock production sizing without the lengthy lead times and at a lower price point."

I guess they don't specifically mention where the factory is because no one cares where the Trek, Specialized, Bianchi, Enve, Shimano, Sram, FSA etc factories are located.

FWIW I also have a Moots which I love dearly.
In terms of performance and ride, the Moots and the Ren are indestinguishable.
The Moots frame is 5oz lighter, but cost $2500 more.
Probably would not pay that much again just to say a white guy made my frame.

[54ny77]

That right there is some interesting psychology in marketing.

They're saying, "Hey, not only do we embrace farming it out to a factory in China at a dirt cheap manufacturing cost vs. having it made onshore, which of course gets us a better margin, you should be ashamed for wanting a domestic handmade bicycle frame."

"REN is a production brand developed to fit a large demographic -- cyclists who value our products for their performance and function and do not consider racial or nationalist criteria as appropriate for evaluating a piece of hardware."

The Ren bikes are fantastic!
I have found the Ti Cycles/REN folks to be straightforward about their product. As was explained to me in an email from them:

"All of the REN product is designed and tested by us here in Portland.
REN is a production brand developed to fit a large demographic -- cyclists who value our products for their performance and function and do not consider racial or nationalist criteria as appropriate for evaluating a piece of hardware.
All of the REN product has seen extensive long-term testing with our PDXTI Elite race team and have performed flawlessly.
All of the REN product is built by hand with the same materials and methods as our Ti Cycles products.
For all functional intents and purposes the REN product is the same as what we would build in our Portland shop, but in stock production sizing without the lengthy lead times and at a lower price point."

I guess they don't specifically mention where the factory is because no one cares where the Trek, Specialized, Bianchi, Enve, Shimano, Sram, FSA etc factories are located.

FWIW I also have a Moots which I love dearly.
In terms of performance and ride, the Moots and the Ren are indestinguishable.
The Moots frame is 5oz lighter, but cost $2500 more.
Probably would not pay that much again just to say a white guy made my frame.

[jtakeda]

For the most part I only buy USA made stuff because I'm so proud of America.

This thread should get interesting

[54ny77]

Maybe Dudley Moore's ghost will take over marketing for bike companies: "Buy our bikes because we have them made cheap in China and make more money. If you don't buy them, you're a racist xenophobe with misplaced nationalist pride." :bike:

[sokyroadie]

Look at Carver bikes, USA company with a great bike shop to back it and Chinese made for less $$. Davis is great to work with.

Jeff

[Kirk007]

That right there is some interesting psychology in marketing.

They're saying, "Hey, not only do we embrace farming it out to a factory in China at a dirt cheap manufacturing cost vs. having it made onshore, which of course gets us a better margin, you should be ashamed for wanting a domestic handmade bicycle frame."

"REN is a production brand developed to fit a large demographic -- cyclists who value our products for their performance and function and do not consider racial or nationalist criteria as appropriate for evaluating a piece of hardware."

Well, REN is a business started by Davy Levy who has been building ti and steel hand made frames in the Pac NW for over 20 years as Ti Cycles. He started REN as a less expensive pricepoint alternative to his custom frames. He had been producing both a road and mountain bike frame under the Ti Cycles brand with off shore production (not sure whether China or Taiwan) for many years so I suspect he's taken some criticism for this particularly now being located in Portland. I've dealt with Dave quite a lot over the years and find him to be a good guy, innovative (builds some interesting utilitarian bikes, build specialty parts for Acura NSX , has a real eye for fabrication), and builds a great custom frame. He was building frames for Hampsten for awhile. I talked to him personally about why he started REN at the Seattle bike show last year and I'd have to say that I don't think your characterization of his message is what he is trying to say.

[nmrt]

Keeping my nationalistic pride (or lack thereof) in check, I am wondering why is a REN Ti frame more expensive that other China/Taiwan source Ti frame such as Carver and Habanero?

http://carverbikes.com/frames/ti-all-road/
http://www.habcycles.com/road.html

Look at Carver bikes, USA company with a great bike shop to back it and Chinese made for less $$. Davis is great to work with.

Jeff

[nmrt]

Heck here is a USA made (Lynskey) Ti frame for $1400!
http://carverbikes.com/frames/ti-gravel-grinder/

[54ny77]

All this talk of nationalism and bikes, there should have been trigger warnings on these microaggressions. I think I need a safe space.