Hampsten Cycles: what's the point?

bikewriter · Oct 1, 2004

They don't hide the fact that many, many other manufacturers make their bikes. And while I know rebadged bikes has been going on forever, Hampstem has it in the open, and basically says "we put our stickers on it."

That said, is there something I'm missing? I like Andy, and am not bashing his business practice, but is there a premium to have his name on a frame?

Curious, that's all.

asgelle · Oct 1, 2004

bikewriter said:
They don't hide the fact that many, many other manufacturers make their bikes. And while I know rebadged bikes has been going on forever, Hampstem has it in the open, and basically says "we put our stickers on it."

That said, is there something I'm missing? I like Andy, and am not bashing his business practice, but is there a premium to have his name on a frame?

Curious, that's all.

Great description of how the Taiwan bike business works at:
http://www.slowtwitch.com/mainheadings/features/bikebiz.html

Regarding Hampsten bikes, even if others build them, the frames are still designed by Hapmsten (corp. not Andy)

e-RICHIE · Oct 1, 2004

branding has been going on in this industry since time immemorial.
schwinn and raleigh wrote the book in the late 60s and 70s. they
continued through the 70s and were joined by trek, and specialized,
and nishiki, and diamondback, and nearly every maker.

in this era, nearly all the italian builders source something or other
from asia, rather than from the next region - as was the case in the 80s...

nearly all these guys put their names on bicycles made for them.
heck, giant bicycle began life as a subcontractor and finally made
the leap to brand their own name!!

all of the hampsten frames are designed in-house and fabricated
by the expert in the chosen material field. in the end, it is better
for the client who placed the order.

e-RICHIE

B2 · Oct 1, 2004

No premium for Hampsten name as near as I can tell

bikewriter said:
I like Andy, and am not bashing his business practice, but is there a premium to have his name on a frame?

Hampsten charges $2,300 for the Titanio frame and Moots charges $2,325 for the VaMoots (I believe that's the comparison we're supposed to make anyway).

The geometries appear to be quite different though, supporting the idea that Moots is manufacturing per Hampsten's specifications/design.

Bryan

terry b · Oct 1, 2004

People who buy them rave about the personalized service - someone to listen to them, to offer advice, to provide a good, custom purchasing experience.

Of course, you could end up with the same bike if you go directly to Strong or Parlee, whomever might be building them at a given moment. But that might assume you know what you want and can ask the right questions and can hold your own in a discussion with a builder. If you want to buy the frame and then build the bike yourself, Hampsten is a waste of time. If the personal aspect of designing and specifying a custom bike from the frame to the barrel adjusters is critical to your purchase, Hampsten could fill in that blank.

Personally, I wouldn't bother - I've done 3 custom bike all by my lonesome and I've been very satisfied with the results. If I ever get around to a Parlee it's going to come from Parlee. The handholding service Hampsten provides doesn't attract me. For others, it's fun and important.

Utah CragHopper · Oct 1, 2004

what premium?

bikewriter said:
That said, is there something I'm missing? I like Andy, and am not bashing his business practice, but is there a premium to have his name on a frame?

A stock Titanio costs slightly less than a Moots Vamoots. They are the same frame and back in the day Hampsten helped Kent Erickson design the Vamoots geometry.

Hampsten's main business is custom frames. They help with the geometry and then they have the frame built by the best builder in the biz for the material.

In case you haven't figured this out, when you get into big $ frames the uniqueness is what makes a frame worth more than a $1500 Trek. It's all status. That's why only a moron would pay retail prices for a Litespeed.

unchained · Oct 7, 2004

Giro'88

bikewriter said:
They don't hide the fact that many, many other manufacturers make their bikes. And while I know rebadged bikes has been going on forever, Hampstem has it in the open, and basically says "we put our stickers on it."

That said, is there something I'm missing? I like Andy, and am not bashing his business practice, but is there a premium to have his name on a frame?

Curious, that's all.

The Hampsten Giro '88 is a very unique product. It even has e-Richie lugs. It goes beyond being just a bicycle frame.

I would pay a premium for that frame, but the price seems reasonable compared to say Mondonico, Torelli, DeRosa, or Colnago to name just a few.

rufus · Oct 10, 2004

even way back in the day, the large well known italian builders like colnago, bianchi, bottechia etc. would build as many frames as they or their factory could produce, and if that wasn't enough to meet demand, would contract work out to the numerous small builders in the region, and then slap their name on it.

Hampsten Cycles: what's the point?

bikewriter

asgelle

e-RICHIE

B2

terry b

Utah CragHopper

unchained

rufus

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