New Pashley bikes
- Thread starter ianrauk
- Start date
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All uphill
Still rolling along
- Location
- Somerset
The Pashley website says 11kg for their basic model - no rack or 'guards.
Ming the Merciless
There is no mercy
- Location
- Inside my skull
No rack, guards, cranks, or wheels 🫨
IanSmithCSE
Guru
- Location
- Worcester, Worcestershire
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.
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?
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
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.
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?
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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Ming the Merciless
There is no mercy
- Location
- Inside my skull
Looks similar to the Fairlight models
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.
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
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
?
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
Well-Known Member
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.
FrankCrank
Old layabout
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'
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'
IanSmithCSE
Guru
- Location
- Worcester, Worcestershire
Good morning
It seems pretty clear that the frame building does take place in Stratford Upon Avon.
https://www.pashley.co.uk/pages/our-factory
https://road.cc/content/review/169217-pashley-pathfinder-tour
, nice bit of nostalgia; a £1,700 bike being regarded as expensive.
Personally I don't get steel frames and CF forks although I know that some do like this combination, nor do I get an expensive steel tubeset like 853 and ending up with a 2.3kg frame, that is a full 501 frame territory!
Shipping a new bike with a 27.2mm seat post and shim so that it fits into the frame, Tiagra hubs (nothing wrong with them per-se, just at this price level) and despite have bottle carrier mounts on the forks there is only one mount on the rear and this looks like some racks may have problems fitting onto it with hitting the rear dropout......
Although price is key generally, if Pashley are looking to ship say only 4 or 5 a week and given that they have a retail network then this does sound reasonable. My guide on higher priced steel is the number of frame builders left, (Bob Jackson gone, Mercian closed but reopened) not many, and the difficulty Raleigh had selling their 25th and 40th anniversary replicas.
Bye
Ian
It seems pretty clear that the frame building does take place in Stratford Upon Avon.
https://www.pashley.co.uk/pages/our-factory
They tried a few years ago and it wasn't generally well received,
https://road.cc/content/review/169217-pashley-pathfinder-tour
, nice bit of nostalgia; a £1,700 bike being regarded as expensive.
Personally I don't get steel frames and CF forks although I know that some do like this combination, nor do I get an expensive steel tubeset like 853 and ending up with a 2.3kg frame, that is a full 501 frame territory!
Shipping a new bike with a 27.2mm seat post and shim so that it fits into the frame, Tiagra hubs (nothing wrong with them per-se, just at this price level) and despite have bottle carrier mounts on the forks there is only one mount on the rear and this looks like some racks may have problems fitting onto it with hitting the rear dropout......
Although price is key generally, if Pashley are looking to ship say only 4 or 5 a week and given that they have a retail network then this does sound reasonable. My guide on higher priced steel is the number of frame builders left, (Bob Jackson gone, Mercian closed but reopened) not many, and the difficulty Raleigh had selling their 25th and 40th anniversary replicas.
Bye
Ian
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Emanresu
I asked AI to show the 'real' me.
If you remove the 'bike' bit and look at what the CEO says in terms of manufacturing skills / local sourcing, they have an opportunity to go further. The value in rapid prototyping is being able to launch new models every year or every 6 months as long as there is a demand for 'new'. So applying rapid prototyping to a heritage brand seems odd.
The second point made is the closeness to their suppliers which again allows for rapid model launch but the parts (Brooks/Reynolds) are again in the heritage bracket. Hope they have a sales plan to make use of the manufacturing advantages they have developed.
PS: About that sales plan. Just checked their stockists and find that there was a Pashley Premier stockist close by where I might view the bikes. But on further checking that LBS has closed and moved to London. The availability of independent LBS is going to be a problem.
The second point made is the closeness to their suppliers which again allows for rapid model launch but the parts (Brooks/Reynolds) are again in the heritage bracket. Hope they have a sales plan to make use of the manufacturing advantages they have developed.
PS: About that sales plan. Just checked their stockists and find that there was a Pashley Premier stockist close by where I might view the bikes. But on further checking that LBS has closed and moved to London. The availability of independent LBS is going to be a problem.
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