New Pashley bikes

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Ian H

Ancient randonneur
I'd want to try lifting one before I bought it. They've always been best value by weight.
 

hobo

O' wise one in a unwise world
Location
Mow Cop
I think they have done a great job on these bikes ; upto date 853 steel frames British made and at a good weight with decent finishing kit and at a good price. The electric version looks good as well with its hidden battery.
 
Good evening,

Before seeing it I almost wet myself with excitment, a steel framed ebike!

Sadly I went on to see the picture and Oh dear £4k for mechanical 105, an ugly frame with what looks like a late addition to hold the iWoc controller and plastic forks stuck into a bulging head tube.

We do have a Pashley dealer nearby so I might give them a bell and see if they have one in as it may look good in the flesh.

When someone talks about the top tube/seat tube/seat stays lug as a key signature of the frame I start to glaze over and there is an interview here with the current head honcho, from when he was part of the conversion of Ribble into what they are now. https://www.theretailbulletin.com/interviews/interview-andy-smallwood-ceo-ribble-cycles-21-12-2022/

....... and it's all become clear, it's not about a bike for people who will ride it, instead its all about selling it to people who may never ride it. :laugh: Gotta love the 725/631/525 sticker, lets get as many buzz words in as possible.

Is it just the lighting or has the seat tube been slightly crushed by the upper water bottle mount?
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It's easy to talk about being a premium brand, but it is much harder to make a premium bike because the main stream ones are already so good. It is also very easy to make one much worse because you are making so few and do so little testing that you slip up on one small detail and ruin the whole thing.

Bye

Ian
 
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grldtnr

Über Member
I'd like to believe in what Pashley are trying to do , but I fear that what and how they traded before this new CEO took over,it's previous model line up, is going to hold them back, .
Mostly the pricing structure, and the previous models, I rather liked their Guv' nor Pathracer and some extent Princess models, but they were overpriced for what they were,.
Whatever some say Price is the main driver , and whilst a premium steel framed Gravel bike is a good idea ,others are doing it at a better price and level.
It just isn't enough to say it's British built, the product has got to really excellent, and we all know the bicycle market is overrun with failed products and manufacturers.
 

rualexander

Legendary Member
Stupid sizing too. An extra small has a 48cm seat tube and 53cm top tube which fits 5ft 6ish upwards, excluding most of the smaller than average demographic. Only appealing to giants rather than the general public.

Seems to be the norm with most brands.
They don't make frame sizes small enough to suit 25% of the adult population for some bizarre reason.
 

StuAff

Silencing his legs regularly
Location
Portsmouth
I can see them being fairly successful, and I wish them the best for the new bike. They're certainly on point with the marketing- they've flooded all the uk bike sites today. It's a tough industry, and you've got to give it everything.

On the face of it, I'm not convinced about all the 3D printed elements- particularly that seat cluster which looks like a very solid structure just at the point where the seat tube needs flexion in order to clamp the seat post. They do give the thing a certain appealing sheen, however, and I guess we used to get excited about investment cast lugs, which are arguably similar.

I'd also liked to have seen steel forks for a better fit to the style of bike. But if the frame is genuinely fabricated in the UK (is it? The blurb in the article seems evasive on this front..?) then that strikes me as a competitive price for the frame itself. My money for this kind of bike would probably go towards a Mason (or even a Rivendell if they weren't US based), but they are both built in the far east.

Do any British custom builders make bikes at anything close to this price point any more? I don't mean the boutique lot, more the creators of functional frames which all the local club riders would buy- Bob Jackson, Dave Yates etc?

Edit- also the down tube on the electric one looks BIIIG. It would have to be coke-can thin to not weigh a ton, surely?!
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Mason frames are all built in Italy. Doubt the Pashleys are, but I wouldn't care as long as they were built right.
 

Gunk

Guru
Location
Oxford
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Mason frames are all built in Italy. Doubt the Pashleys are, but I wouldn't care as long as they were built right.

Most of these boutique bike companies are now IMO marketing over engineering and are merely assembling bought in imported frames and components. They‘re not bike builders or manufacturers as was the case 40 years ago. however there are still small firms out there like Oxford Bike Works who still make their frames in house and can genuinely provide a truly bespoke bike.
 

lostinthought

Active Member
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Mason frames are all built in Italy. Doubt the Pashleys are, but I wouldn't care as long as they were built right.

Thanks- my error. I don't care either- there's certainly no reason to think that local craftsmanship is any better than anywhere else- but local labour is usually more expensive, hence the offshoring. If Pashley do fabricate these in the uk, I'm surprised they didn't make more of a thing about it.
 
Did try and lift a Pashley a while back, one of the Dutch style ladis bikes, and it sure had some heft. Never thought of them as doing road bikes.

Think it was Bob Hope who said something like 'you can always tell the quality of something by its weight, the exceptions being bikes and wives'
 
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