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Best looking 24" street trial bike?


nicolasp1405

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JAF don't really have the same overheads, nor does it seem the quality of the bikes is on a par so it's not really comparable. JAF bikes won't go through the same testing and design as an Inspired will. JAF don't have staff to buy, factories and shipment to pay and all the other things that incur costs of being a bonafide company. I haven't seen a JAF in the flesh but i'd be exceptionally surprised if it's anywhere near the quality of an Inspired so if it comes in only a little cheaper I know where i'd spend my money.

Ah, so maybe I should be asking the question, "why is Jaf so expensive..."? :wink:

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i think its mainly that inspired is probably producing 1000+frames a year,just for example(dont know really),and in comparison jaf were producing 50+ a year,marino 200+ a year.

that makes people think why its so much more expensive,because mass production should keep the single items price low.

but!!! inspired has more marketing costs,more shipping costs,at least 3 middlemen before the customer gets his parts etc.

being a fan of good old "local"(preferred,but not available here)craftmanship its quite good to see that a custom frame can be way lower priced than a mass produced one,giving me the hope custom framebuilders wont come to an extinct...

edit:as for ross´s question:in peru living costs are way lower than over here or in the uk,marino can give his frames away for this price because what he earns is enough to live over there,and he isnt a greedy guy at all

in the uk its impossible to go lower as jaf do,i think

edit 2:another point on my first sentences is that alu is cheese and needs more prototyping to get it even to work in trials lol

Edited by FamilyBiker
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And I think Familybiker has a point, whether its now or after they're released, copycat companies like Onza, Ozonys etc, are probably still shamelessly going to copy what’s in trend.

The whole reason for attempting to delay that by not releasing photos of the frame early is fairly clear though? If other companies have to wait until the frame is released to copy it, that at least gives Inspired some time to sell some frames before the other copycat frames hit the market. If the other companies can copy it before the Inspired frame is released, Inspired totally lose out.

Regarding the wishbone setup, it's a stronger, better solution than I've seen on any custom frame. I personally prefer the look of that compared to the super-bent stays with little thin plate gusset joining them that I've seen on frames like Marinos. I guess it could be because I've been more involved in the BMX world where that style of wishbone is really common too. There are plenty of high end frames using that kind of design.

I actually think its cool for Onza to copy the geo because they usually make something much cheaper which is great as there are plenty of people who can't spend 450 on a new frame. But copying the frame and going for a similar price point without all the work and testing that inspired put in sucks.

Bearing in mind Inspired offer different levels of aluminium frame (e.g. the Element compared to the Fourplay), I guess they might look into doing that in future too.

I'm glad someone mentioned the price. Once the Inspired's come out, what's stopping someone waiting a week for a Jaf and getting something exactly the same for at least ~£100 less.

What makes Inspired's so much more expensive when Jaf the lad can throw one together in his shed?

There's nothing stopping people copying the frames once they're out, but like I said before it's not really the custom frame market that I think Inspired would be most concerned about.

I know full well you know exactly why there's a price difference, but I'll humour you anyway. The Inspired frames are going to be more expensive because the materials used are better, the quality of the frame will be better, the details are nicer (e.g. all the points I mentioned before about specific aspects of the frame), etc. - this isn't a dig at JAF at all, it's a simple fact that a dedicated, high end frame building company are going to be likely to produce a 'better' frame than someone who's just doing their own thing.

Similarly, JAF frames are more expensive than Marinos because the relative costs of living in the UK are going to be different to Peru and Josh's setup is entirely different to Marino's. Equally, Ben Rowlands got his JAF frame done in a week or so, with full communication with Josh the whole time. There's another rider I know (I won't name him) who waited months and months for his Marino to turn up whilst not being able to get in touch with him at all, and when it turned up it had an un-requested disc mount on there, the custom work asked for on the 4-bolt mounts hadn't been done and a few other bits that weren't right. That same person has now been waiting so long for Marino to get back in touch with him about getting things sorted out he's now looking at alternative options. If I was going for a custom frame I'd choose JAF every single time.

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Jaf bikes for the win. I've seen one up close, and ridden one, and also the same with Marino. The workmanship on the Jaf is very good, but the Marino I've seen looked cheap and nasty, and the paint job was shite. One other thing to mention is I've never heard a bad word said against Jaf, whereas there appears to be complaints all over the shop about Marino

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ahm, strange forum, totally avalanching offtopic discussions seems to be totally fine?

It's part of the topic as it's on about making the best looking 24" ;) everything turns into a Marino v jaf v inspired it seems anyway.

Inspired a little less I must admit.

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I like how a thread about bikes that look nice can become a heated debate about how a completely custom, made-to-order by "a guy in his shed", one off frame can't compare to the quality of a mass-produced frame that goes through many prototypes and beyond-extensive testing by a highly established company.

Edit: Beaten to it :P

Edited by aener
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Well I've had an Ashton edd tongue, an inspired fourplay and I'm soon to be getting an onza zoot. The edd tongue rode the nicest out of them all so far, can't comment on the zoot yet

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There's another rider I know (I won't name him) who waited months and months for his Marino to turn up whilst not being able to get in touch with him at all, and when it turned up it had an un-requested disc mount on there, the custom work asked for on the 4-bolt mounts hadn't been done and a few other bits that weren't right. That same person has now been waiting so long for Marino to get back in touch with him about getting things sorted out he's now looking at alternative options.

I see what you did there

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