Is Reid a decent brand?
06-16-22, 08:07 PM
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djentleman
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Is Reid a decent brand?
Looking to buy a road/gravel hybrid type bike, nothing fancy, and the LBS has Reid bikes in stock with great deals. I have never heard of Reid before, but seems like a solid company. Has anyone used this brand before? Reid bike
06-17-22, 05:15 AM
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In general, very few bike brands actually manufacture their own bikes and Reid bikes, like many others, are probably made under contract by Giant, Merida, or one of the other Taiwanese frame manufacturers. The point is, pretty much any bike with a recognizable name brand like this will be a "good bike" in terms of physical build quality (ie: the frame won't fail on you). The bolt-on components are things that can really make or break a bike experience, but they're upgradeable over time, so you can factor that in to your purchase decision as well. Also look at the warranty policies, relationship you might have with the bike shop, etc.
Their Original Gravel Bike (the bike to which you liked on their Austrailian site) looks interesting. I like the steel frame, but it's hard to know how heavy it would be; they don't indicate the type of steel alloy used, so you can't really presume how nice it would be to ride. It has a 25.4mm seatpost, suggesting rather thick walls on the steel tubing (in other words, not particularly high grade). The rest of the bike has pretty basic components. The biggest strike against it, at least in my opinion, is the lack of a freehub and cassette on the back wheel. Instead, they've got a basic 14-28 freewheel on it. All other stuff (like derailers and STI levers) are Tourney level; again...pretty basic stuff. You can upgrade a lot of that as you go, though the rear wheel would have to be replaced to put a cassette on it. If you did that, you'd open up 8/9/10/11 speed options. Not that they're necessarily "better" than 7-speed, but you'd definitely get more gearing range out of a cassette.
Their Granite bikes look like higher grade options. The Granite 2.0 is a big step up to Claris/Sora components, with a carbon fork and freehub and cassette on the rear wheel. Even the Granite 1.0 is a step up from the Original model, with at least a cassette rear hub.
Their Original Gravel Bike (the bike to which you liked on their Austrailian site) looks interesting. I like the steel frame, but it's hard to know how heavy it would be; they don't indicate the type of steel alloy used, so you can't really presume how nice it would be to ride. It has a 25.4mm seatpost, suggesting rather thick walls on the steel tubing (in other words, not particularly high grade). The rest of the bike has pretty basic components. The biggest strike against it, at least in my opinion, is the lack of a freehub and cassette on the back wheel. Instead, they've got a basic 14-28 freewheel on it. All other stuff (like derailers and STI levers) are Tourney level; again...pretty basic stuff. You can upgrade a lot of that as you go, though the rear wheel would have to be replaced to put a cassette on it. If you did that, you'd open up 8/9/10/11 speed options. Not that they're necessarily "better" than 7-speed, but you'd definitely get more gearing range out of a cassette.
Their Granite bikes look like higher grade options. The Granite 2.0 is a big step up to Claris/Sora components, with a carbon fork and freehub and cassette on the rear wheel. Even the Granite 1.0 is a step up from the Original model, with at least a cassette rear hub.
06-17-22, 12:03 PM
#3
djentleman
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In general, very few bike brands actually manufacture their own bikes and Reid bikes, like many others, are probably made under contract by Giant, Merida, or one of the other Taiwanese frame manufacturers. The point is, pretty much any bike with a recognizable name brand like this will be a "good bike" in terms of physical build quality (ie: the frame won't fail on you). The bolt-on components are things that can really make or break a bike experience, but they're upgradeable over time, so you can factor that in to your purchase decision as well. Also look at the warranty policies, relationship you might have with the bike shop, etc.
Their Original Gravel Bike (the bike to which you liked on their Austrailian site) looks interesting. I like the steel frame, but it's hard to know how heavy it would be; they don't indicate the type of steel alloy used, so you can't really presume how nice it would be to ride. It has a 25.4mm seatpost, suggesting rather thick walls on the steel tubing (in other words, not particularly high grade). The rest of the bike has pretty basic components. The biggest strike against it, at least in my opinion, is the lack of a freehub and cassette on the back wheel. Instead, they've got a basic 14-28 freewheel on it. All other stuff (like derailers and STI levers) are Tourney level; again...pretty basic stuff. You can upgrade a lot of that as you go, though the rear wheel would have to be replaced to put a cassette on it. If you did that, you'd open up 8/9/10/11 speed options. Not that they're necessarily "better" than 7-speed, but you'd definitely get more gearing range out of a cassette.
Their Granite bikes look like higher grade options. The Granite 2.0 is a big step up to Claris/Sora components, with a carbon fork and freehub and cassette on the rear wheel. Even the Granite 1.0 is a step up from the Original model, with at least a cassette rear hub.
Their Original Gravel Bike (the bike to which you liked on their Austrailian site) looks interesting. I like the steel frame, but it's hard to know how heavy it would be; they don't indicate the type of steel alloy used, so you can't really presume how nice it would be to ride. It has a 25.4mm seatpost, suggesting rather thick walls on the steel tubing (in other words, not particularly high grade). The rest of the bike has pretty basic components. The biggest strike against it, at least in my opinion, is the lack of a freehub and cassette on the back wheel. Instead, they've got a basic 14-28 freewheel on it. All other stuff (like derailers and STI levers) are Tourney level; again...pretty basic stuff. You can upgrade a lot of that as you go, though the rear wheel would have to be replaced to put a cassette on it. If you did that, you'd open up 8/9/10/11 speed options. Not that they're necessarily "better" than 7-speed, but you'd definitely get more gearing range out of a cassette.
Their Granite bikes look like higher grade options. The Granite 2.0 is a big step up to Claris/Sora components, with a carbon fork and freehub and cassette on the rear wheel. Even the Granite 1.0 is a step up from the Original model, with at least a cassette rear hub.
06-21-22, 05:09 AM
#4
Junior Member
I had a Reid a while back. A 29er which seemed to be in vogue at the time. Rode it (and enjoyed it) everyday for 2 years before it fell apart (issues with the bottom bracket and the the spokes were clapped out in both wheels). Definitely a step-up from any bike you might get at K-Mart, but arguably a step down from an entry level Giant.
I did have issues with customer service and the so-called 'lifetime warranty' of the frame. I understand its debateable if a bottom bracket constitutes part of the frame, but ultimately after much arguing, they did replace the frame (they gave me a size S instead of a XL), but that point I was tired of arguing with them, took it, then sold it for about half of what I originally paid for the bike. I then went out and bought a Giant Roam, which lasted me about twice as long as the Reid, although cone to think of it, it was about twice as expensive.
Don't get me wrong, Reid aren't a bad brand per se - I even recommended them to one of my housemates at the time -but the issues I had with their customer service has kind of put me off them and I don't feel the need to ever go back there. Looking back, it was clear that both my wheels were clapped out, but they kept charging me for individual spokes that kept breaking - and my housemate - who ended up buying a mountain bike from them - had issues with his gears - they said it was 'fine' - as all gears changed perfectly when it was put on a stand in the workshop, but when actually riding it, the gears seemed to 'jump'. Again, it took them a bit of convincing that something was actually wrong.
Anyway, just my two cents and experience with Reid. I think you'll find YMMV depending on the experience of the mechanics at the store.
I did have issues with customer service and the so-called 'lifetime warranty' of the frame. I understand its debateable if a bottom bracket constitutes part of the frame, but ultimately after much arguing, they did replace the frame (they gave me a size S instead of a XL), but that point I was tired of arguing with them, took it, then sold it for about half of what I originally paid for the bike. I then went out and bought a Giant Roam, which lasted me about twice as long as the Reid, although cone to think of it, it was about twice as expensive.
Don't get me wrong, Reid aren't a bad brand per se - I even recommended them to one of my housemates at the time -but the issues I had with their customer service has kind of put me off them and I don't feel the need to ever go back there. Looking back, it was clear that both my wheels were clapped out, but they kept charging me for individual spokes that kept breaking - and my housemate - who ended up buying a mountain bike from them - had issues with his gears - they said it was 'fine' - as all gears changed perfectly when it was put on a stand in the workshop, but when actually riding it, the gears seemed to 'jump'. Again, it took them a bit of convincing that something was actually wrong.
Anyway, just my two cents and experience with Reid. I think you'll find YMMV depending on the experience of the mechanics at the store.
07-05-22, 05:59 AM
#5
Junior Member
I did find this favourable review of the Reid Granite on Bike Radar which almost makes me want to consider Reid once again.
They seem to position themselves as 'a good bike for the price' type category.
https://www.bikeradar.com/reviews/bi...ranite-review/
They seem to position themselves as 'a good bike for the price' type category.
https://www.bikeradar.com/reviews/bi...ranite-review/
