Trek - I had good experience back in the childhood or teenage days,and it has lasted strongly over the years. Currently I own road & hybrid bikes, both Trek. The very first bike experience and impression is vital.
My first serious road bike for doing centuries and group rides was over 40 years ago. It was a Specialized at around $1000 as I recall. There wasn't much to research like computers or internet so I relied on the LBS. Local bike shops. Made some mods and was a Specialized purist. Then I became a Giant fan when I switched to mountain biking in the 90s. Back to the road and fixed up my old specialized. After the TDF became popular everyone wanted the Trek. Then the big boys wanted $9-15k for a bike. I wanted to stick to US made, or at least A US company and discovered Litespeed and now Argon. I know most frames are Taiwan but they do oversee the process a little more carefully than real off branded internet bikes under $3000.
So, loyalty? None really for the brand. I try and buy the best I can afford-not too old-and I don't need the newest components. Good enough to do my own maintenance and still able to ride my 125 miles a week.
I only have my Argon 18 now. Disc and electronics. Bought it one year old $4000 very 😊.
I have a strong loyalty towards GT bikes.
I know you don't really see them winning any contests anymore, but it's a brand I'm very sentimental about.
I also like Specialized a lot, and like the style they put down in their products; although I don't own any Specialized bikes.
I don't have loyalty to a brand. I look for value for money. If I buy another bike, it may be a brand I have never had before. I may or may not ever buy another bike. The bikes I have now, may last a long time. But then if I come across something decent, cheap, I may pick it up. I just cycle for exercise and fun. I am not involved in competitive cycling.
So far it's been Merida (first real MTB and value-for-money deals back in 2014 and 2015) but I'm planning on trying out something new.
Merida Scultura 5000 (2015)
Merida Big Nine 400 (2019)
What is in a name? Design. Period. Sometimes not even that. Talking about frames specifically. A few exceptions out there, such as Merida and Giant, come to mind, but Trek, Specialized, GT, Cannondale, etc. don't manufacture anything, it is all made for them by a contract company. Components that hang on the frame are sourced from just a few suppliers, thus there is nothing brand specific about them in relation to the brand name on the frame.
To get hung up on a brand name is not a terrible thing, however it may prevent one from experiencing a better product from a different supplier.
As for me, I only ride custom designed and built frames because I can get exactly what I want without compromise.
Location: Parañaque, Philippines
I'm currently riding a Wilier Montegrappa which was on a basic groupset for a very long time, at first I really hated riding it since I was already used to upper end mountain bikes but since the pandemic and gaining alot of weight, I thought i should shift to road cycling and triathlon training to shed some weight, during the first year of training, I hated every second of riding this bike but as I lost more pounds and started conquering and hitting PRs here and there, I started to love the bike more and more, today I have finally upgraded to a 105 hydraulic groupset since i hit my goals this year, further down the road, i'm considering getting a top end spec Wilier because of how this weightloss journey and goal based riding started
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