New Silverback Frames

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

If there was a "throw-up" emoticon I would use that now.

 

I told you...

[BlinkFan]

I told you...

 

You always think you've seen the worst, or heard it all... but the world(people) keep on surprising me.

[chris_w_65]

try "felching" for a true gross-out...

 

I am still recovering from smegma, I will see how I feel tomorrow

 

In case you guys have forgotten, my two gems are "blue waffle" and "special fried rice". If you don't know what these are then please don't google them

[scotty]

I was in the market last year and looked at a number of bikes, ended up buying the Silverback Spectra , good value for money and fitted with componets other brands have on more expensive bikes. If you do decide shop around for prices, i found Finish Line in Kempton Park offered the best.

[Santa C]

If you like the frame or like the look of it....Buy it!!

 

Nothing wrong with Silverback, not my cup of tea, but everyone has differnet views.

 

Who cares what others think, if you like then get it

 

And for the shop owners that you spoke to, they just want you to buy there top end bikes so they can make more money off you.

[patches]

although I have never owned a silverback, I have heard good things.

 

The Spectra is very well priced for a 3x10 speed bike with XT rear derailleur (around 10k)

The ventura too is a very well specked bike for its price (around 8k)

I was actually looking at at Segma earlier today. Looks great and is only 15k with a good fork and wheelset.

 

I saw danger dassie testing a Segma at the bike park and he was very impressed. I'm sure there'll be a write up on it in Tread soon enough.

 

So yeah... I think those 3 LBSs weren't huge on Silverback cos firstly I dunno if any of them stock silverback (I may be wrong, but I can't remember seeing any in any of those shops), and secondly cos they will try sell you a top end bike if you haven't stated your budget limitations.

[Grondpad]

I have a silverback (alloy sierra). I had the 2009 frame and due to my fault I cracked the frame. I took it to the shop with little hope as I know what most bike brands do in a case like mine (I extended the seat-post to far out). I explained to them what I did and they got on the phone with the silverback agent and explained to him what I said. Guess what? Two days later I had a 2010 frame! Unbelievable! That is service. I really like my silverback and would recommend the brand to anyone.

[messenger]

Dont listen to all the k3k people can get their mouths before even their own goblets refuse to sell anymore bull and they start tripping over their spit glands.

 

Seriously, I recently saw a mates new Silverback Moda 29er - this bike will shut all the critics up and then convert them. Period. Really awesome and great bang for your buck.

 

But lets face it; good marketing, huge sponsorships and brand names will continue to take money from anyone with their nose in the air.

[Scooterza]

Nothing wrong with Silverback, after all they are designed in Deutschland, except you are looking for the wrong bike. Checkout the Smegma, a 29er hard tail. You can't go wrong, there is so much infighting going on here about them it's like COPE. 26er Hard tails are so 2009... Flame suit on...

 

I am sorry but calling your bike a smegma is just wrong.

Quoting Wikipedia, "Smegma (Greek smēgma, "soap"^[1]) is a combination of exfoliated (shed) epithelial cells, transudated skin oils, and moisture. It occurs in both female and male mammalian genitalia."

 

Nice!

[CAAD4]

I am sorry but calling your bike a smegma is just wrong.

Quoting Wikipedia, "Smegma (Greek smēgma, "soap"^[1]) is a combination of exfoliated (shed) epithelial cells, transudated skin oils, and moisture. It occurs in both female and male mammalian genitalia."

 

Nice!

You are right, I made a mistake and corrected it. No one wants a bike named "Kaasvoel"

[Moolz]

I definitely agree with Chris_W_65!

 

I did a lot of research before buying my bike...

Silverback came up tops in value for money, component for component!

 

Check out the Spectra - and compare it to other bikes in its price range...

Theres an LBS here selling them for sub 10k...

 

 

ROFL @ Smegma!

Thats insane!

Edited April 6, 2011 by Moolz

[Dubber88]

Started off with a Phoenix. That thing is bomb proof

The Spectra and Segma are both also relatively light bikes for the price.

 

Think the 29'er is coming in at around 12kg's or something?

Great drivetrain, good combination versus induvidual price ratio. If I had to buy a new bike now, it will definitely be a Segma

[Squier]

Just picked up my Silverback Moda 29er Full Sus this week. Nothing compared... I wasn't set on getting a 29er but was looking for a full sus bike. For the same price of the Merida, Scott, etc. full sussers with the same components I could get the Silverback Full Sus 29er. It just makes sense!

[rouxtjie]

Silverback should take it as a compliment that these shops with their boutique brands(you would think they would sell themselves) regard them as a threat. Silverback offer great value for money, and this scares them me thinks. Surely if you have an ibis mojo on the floor or a blur xc in carbon you don't have to snipe silverback, hell you don't have to say anything. Remember okes that start off with a "budget" bike will upgrade eventually(as soon as the bug properly bit) and those thoroughbred steeds on your floor will not have been forgotten. Instead of trying to milk the oke for all his worth point him to a shop that would cater for his budget if you can't, try and sell him accessories that he will no doubt need. People are smarter than you think and will pick up very quickly if the help/advice is sincere or if he is being milked.

 

Hopefully this a case of a rookie salesman trying hard to make a sale because I have generally heard good things about those shops...especially mike's incl. their servicing of bikes.

 

Linton, buy the bike you want to ride, and if it happens to be a silverback so be it.

[scotty]

dunkeld cycles, mikes bikes and northcliff cycles.

I've heard negative talk about silverback all over the place though, also in varying degrees.

I have not been to Dunkeld or Northcliff, I have been to Mikes bikes a few times and found them ok but have heard from a few people that they tend to be bike brand snobs.

[linton]

I typed my magnum opus last night, and something went wrong with my connection and it disappeared, I’ve been reluctant to re-type all of that again... but here goes.

 

Mikes Bikes offered stellar service, the guy didn't seem to try to sell us anything until he had gotten an idea of what the bike might be used for, he didn't push any specific brand and if I recall mentioned some brands that he didn't carry in his store. He was the most negative about silverback, basically saying that the bikes are rubbish on every level, quality of frame material, construction and geometry. He seemed to say that if you rode this bike baby fairies would lose their wings.

 

When we walked in to dunkeld cycles, I joked with my friend about how expensive the place (stock) looked and that they would probably just point to the door after learning of our budget... I was not far wrong. The guy essentially inferred that they didn't sell bikes for the common peasantry. After I pointed out a sub 10k Merida on the floor he worked very hard to not sell it to us, saying that if we went to linden cycles or cajees we could probably get the bike for almost R1000 less than he sold it for. I’ve never seen someone work so hard to lose a sale, without actually refusing to sell the product to us. He was less negative about the silverbacks, saying that you could buy the bike for the component set, sell the frame and swap the parts onto a better frame.

 

Northcliff cycles pushed quite hard for a brand I’ve not heard of and forget the name of now. Ok componentry, and quite good deals on swapping out components, with rebates on tyres for tubeless conversions... not bad at all. Excepting that I’ve found them to be 15 - 20% more expensive on components compared to somewhere like linden. they were the most positive of the negative responses for silverback... basically the feeling talking to the salesman was that if silverback was the last bike on earth, and you have to repopulate post apocalypse earth by using the bike offroad... we should consider doing so.

 

Then we went to linden cycles, and I’ve used them for all my component and bike purchases ever (1 bike and lots of components and servicing) they are the most helpful bunch I’ve met, with mikes bikes competing really strongly. All other shops seem less excited and focussed on helping someone get the right bike. They were absolutely positive about silverback, the guy we chatted to said that silverback did suffer from substandard frames in the past, which used to be the reason for the deals you could get, components unmatched in that price bracket by any other brand. But he said that for the past year or 3 they've worked hard on getting that sorted out... the biggest step is to get frames designed in germany. He claimed that it worked. they eventually sold my friend a merida tfs 800 hard tail for R8900.

 

So none of the shops seemed to really try to push any specific brand, they put bias on the brands they sold for sure, but apart from dunkeld who wanted us out before the stench of our poverty infected the stock they seemed interested in selling what would suit my friend the best. Mikes Bikes even went so far as to deride the name brand fundies that refuse to look at bikes on their merit and not by their brand popularity (he included componentry in that as well) which is why his powerful aversion to silverback raised the alarm bells in my head. made me consider that the rumours might be true.

 

But from what I can see here, the consensus is in line with linden cycles opinion, that silverback offers comparable quality frames to any other brand out there, price for price (sometimes even hitting above it's weight class?)