istigatrice wrote:I have to say I fall on the sceptical side. No I've never ridden one of these bikes, but, I tried to get one to review for the weightweenies blog I didn't even get a reply email from them.
Why does this make me sceptical? well if you talk to guys like Binny from Falco Bike, Jonathan from Swiftcarbon about reviewing they're bikes they're very keen to get you a review bike. They literally try to sort everything out ASAP and get a bike under your legs ASAP. It's a real pity that I'm not allowed to publish these reviews as the higher ups decided they wanted euro brands on the blog (which is fair enough considering the audience), but the bikes made by these guys are fabulous (I decided to buy the Ultravox).
Now, I'm not saying Ritte don't make good bikes, but it says something to me about the confidence they have in their bikes. Their contact avenues are quite secretive, and they try to beat their own drum on forums like these. The other manufactures had completely different attitudes, open private contact options, with fast replies and openness to private reviews. When they get slammed on a forum (usually unfairly), they don't interfere (unless there's technical enquiries, or confusion). They rarely try and shill their brand on threads (at most they clear up confusion, but never say how good their brand is). Their confidence in their product is such that they're not worried about guys like Grill coming in and taking a dig.
I'm sure they're great bikes, just my experience trying to get a review bike (especially since it's a brand that I can publish) leaves a sour taste.
slightly off topic, but if you look at their stack and reach charts, the XS has a longer reach than the S... Now you could argue one is a long and low fit, but they're clearly trying to sell to a different height range (looking at the rest of their measurements) Now this is another small detail, but if you're a boutique cycling brand I'd expect you to notice details like that.
I digress, I'm sure Rittecycles will come up with a reply as to why my emails were unanswered, and tell us why Ritte is such a cool brand etc etc.
So where are these reviews of the falco and swift bikes?? Your making demands but there isn't much to back it up on the blog is there.. I would be very hesitant to hand over a $10k bike to some blog that hasn't yet reviewed any bikes at all....