Anyone have any experience with the Axino or any of their other bikes?

Something about that one gets my attention.

My sponsor shop sells them as a value line. Nice bikes, good value. Asian open source molds, like many brands, but finished well at a good price. IMHO, not a dream bike, but race successfully at many levels and won't hold you back in any way.

Where's your sponsor shop? Lambertsville? I saw a couple in last years Bucks Bridges Ride?

Any idea what an Axino retails for? Used to drive by there everyday. But it's been a few months.

I've never seen one on the road or at races out here, but they were super common in the Atlanta area. Lot of shops carried them and I believe the company is local to that area.

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2013 Wilier Cento1 SR || 2009 Ridley Crossbow || 2011 Yeti AS-R 5 Carbon

Yes, I ride for Pure Energy in Lambertville. Unabashed plug - great shop. From rideblue.com retail prices for Axino are $4600-7800 for full bikes. IMHO, you could get something much nicer for the same $$ including many of the brands (Ridley, Look, Lynskey, Parlee) at the same shop. A generic 995 gram carbon frame on the Axino doesn't merit these price points IMHO.

Yes, I ride for Pure Energy in Lambertville. Unabashed plug - great shop. From rideblue.com retail prices for Axino are $4600-7800 for full bikes. IMHO, you could get something much nicer for the same $$ including many of the brands (Ridley, Look, Lynskey, Parlee) at the same shop. A generic 995 gram carbon frame on the Axino doesn't merit these price points IMHO.

Thanks. Maybe have to make it down that way one more time and check out the shop. I worked in Horsham so it would have been great. Now that I'm back in NYC more inclined to stick with the LBS but they just carry Specialized and Trek. With the review in bicycling last year Blue looked like a bargain but maybe not.

Yep, I was a little surprised by the MSRP - it blew my perception of them as a value brand, but I'm not sure what the bikes actually sell for. Anyway, it looks like a nice bike but a little gener ic. For something of the same ilk but a better value, look at the Van Dessel Rivet. Theyre in north Jersey close to the city. If you're limited to NYC, there are many smaller independent shops that sell stuff beyond the mass market brands. While Trek, Specialized et al make some nice bikes, there's a whole smorgasbord out there not to be missed.g
Happy hunting.

When did blue switch it's high end models from lugged carbon to monocoque (or whatever molding/injecting/etc process they're using)?

PS don't buy your bikes based on reviews in Bicycling. Every bike gets the same review: "perfect for ( insert target market for bike ) yet surprisingly (insert opposite of target market for bike). Vertically stiff yet horizontally compliant. This company is ( blurb about heritage ignoring the fact that 98% of carbon bikes are mass produced in Asia in one of three factories) or ( blurb about exciting new company for smaller domestic brand who just bought their first ad space.) etc." I still subscribe but you have to take these reviews with a grain of salt. Not specific to them - you rarely read an unfavorable review of any bike in any magazine. Partly economics and business, partly because modern bikes are all pretty good, partly the positive culture of the sport. Velo ( formerly VeloNews) has started doing bike reviews. While they suffer from many of the same flaws as others, at least they include some objective data re frame performance. Look on sites like this and a couple of others with actual rider reviews and talk to people around the local cycling scene.

The XO Communications NRC team all rides them. They're local and I know a few of them, who wouldn't bullshit about their bikes and all of them seem to like them. Nothing special, but just as good as the Cannondales that they were on before.

Like 2-3 years ago. I have a RC6 and love it. But I got the frame on a Pro-deal. Great buy.

The MSRP now does seem a bit high. But they are great frames.

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DIRT BOY

Hey guys. I'm the creative manager at Blue. Just to reply to some of the comments and questions...

We don't use open source molds. We do all of our own CAD design, production oversight and graphic work from Blue headquarters. Yes, we do manufacture in Asia, and in fact within the very same factory as much of the "high end" Euro brands.

We've used hi-mod carbon from our beginnings in 2004 and went to monocoque designs starting in 2009. We didn't discontinue the lugged RC series of frames until the 2010 model year when the Axino replaced the final RC8 model. Now we utilize some form of monocoque construction on all of our carbon frames.

In regards to price, it's easy to compare us to another brand's offering based on price alone. However, then you should look at the part spec. Not every time, but in most cases we're heads-on or better. Ultimately, though, despite what we set as MSRP, final out-the-door price is dictated by the dealer.

It would be BS for me, even as a representative of Blue to say "I believe we make the best bikes- blah, blah, blah..." because we all know there just isn't such thing one singular "BEST" bike brand out there. What is true is that the exact same, perfectly identical bike can be ridden by many people, many times over, and you're going to get a wide array of opinions. However, I'll simply and sincerely say this... We make a great product with highly competitive performance, quality, value and price compared to everything else the market has to offer. Just ride one of our bikes/frames and decide for yourself. I hope you like what we offer, but we (Blue) know our bikes aren't for everybody.

Nice to hear from someone from the company. Pulled the trigger on a brand at the LBS. Hopefully you can improve the distribution network. It looks like a great bike.

I have a Blue Axino, Norcross, & Norcross EX. I started w/cross bikes & this spring got the road bike. I have 0 issues w/the bikes & the local rep. is awesome to deal with.