Would you buy a Malvern Star?

fletchog

Likes Dirt
I am looking at getting a new roadie as the entry level bike I have time is up.

I ask "Would you buy a Malvern Star?" as there seems to be a stigma attached to the brand, albeit iconic in Australia's cycling history.

I am looking at Ultegra equiped bikes and the Oppy 6 appears to be great value, complete Ultegra groupset mavic krisium(sp) wheels quality tyres etc.

Great value when compared with bikes in a similar price range from Merida, Cannondale, Orbea and Trek are a few of the others Ive looked at, all these have house brand or lower quality bits here and there.

I have no allegence to any brand and do not need to be euro cool, i want to ride the best bike I can afford, you just dont see many Oppy's out on the road and i was wondering if it was beacause Malvern Star is not considered cool enough.
 

supermajo1

Likes Dirt
Ms

hey mate
i dont know about their road bikes but their djs do i fine job
i have got one and never had any problems
 

fletchog

Likes Dirt
Interesting reading in some ways, didnt actually say much about much at all other than MS is not perceived as a quality bike. I didnt even bother to do a search before i typed this thread.

Anyway, still considering Merida scultura and the Orbea Vento and MS oppy 6, The Merida actually appears to have the higher spec for not too many extra $'s, higher spec'd than the Orbea for a little less $'s
 

Slowman

Likes Dirt
I am looking at getting a new roadie as the entry level bike I have time is up.

I ask "Would you buy a Malvern Star?" as there seems to be a stigma attached to the brand, albeit iconic in Australia's cycling history.

I am looking at Ultegra equiped bikes and the Oppy 6 appears to be great value, complete Ultegra groupset mavic krisium(sp) wheels quality tyres etc.

Great value when compared with bikes in a similar price range from Merida, Cannondale, Orbea and Trek are a few of the others Ive looked at, all these have house brand or lower quality bits here and there.

I have no allegence to any brand and do not need to be euro cool, i want to ride the best bike I can afford, you just dont see many Oppy's out on the road and i was wondering if it was beacause Malvern Star is not considered cool enough.
A mate of mine bought the DuraAce equipped Le Mauco (?) end of 2008 and for $4K it was extremely good value the Lyon with Ultegra at $2500 was pretty good too. I have only read the review of the top level one in Ride with the Zipp wheels, which are a bit of overkill unless you are planning to race at A grade or above. Anyway the older ones are very similar in shape and design to the Specialized Tarmacs, I just bought a 2009 Tarmac Pro SL and another friend bought the 2009 Tarmac Comp(?) with 10spd 105 and the frames are quite similar.

I'd have no qualms about riding one...it's how good your legs are that really make the difference in the end. They are a nice comfortable but stiff carbon frame with good wheels and groupset (amazing how a the Cervelo R3 has alerted carbon frame builders to the fact that you can design a frame that is laterally stiff but vertically compliant and delivers a very smooth ride).

Even though I just bought a brand name bike, I did ride an Azzurri equipped with dura ace equipped before this bike (it is now the backup and wet weather bike) so Azzurri/Oppy/EMC, they're all relatively new on the market, provide some good value.
 

frensham

Likes Dirt
Malvern Star carbon frames are made by Ridley, enough said. Ridley are certainly excellent bikes! The frames look almost identical.
 

frensham

Likes Dirt
I have no allegence to any brand and do not need to be euro cool, i want to ride the best bike I can afford, you just dont see many Oppy's out on the road and i was wondering if it was beacause Malvern Star is not considered cool enough.
Can't remember the last time I saw a Pinarello, Orbea, Ridley, Colnago, Le Mond etc etc. All I ever see are Giant, Trek, Specialized and the occasional Felt and Cannondale.

Nothing wrong with the Malvern Star. These bikes are priced lower because they want to get them into the market. Hard to beat the value. As long as you get good service you're onto a winner. The warranty on the carbon frame is also hard to beat.
 

C Dunlop

Likes Dirt
They probably aren't super cool.

They seem good value.

From all reports it is a great bike.

Hypothetically, I might buy one. I quite like the meridas though.

You get a bit more bike for a bit less brand and a lot less $. It just depends what you want.
 

frensham

Likes Dirt
By Ridley the company, or by the factory that produces Ridley?
Not totally sure but a close look shows many similar tubes/shapes etc. Even the dropouts are identical...... The derailleur dropout is completely interchangeable between a Ridley frame and the Oppy carbon.
 

Ham

Likes Bikes and Dirt
I am looking at getting a new roadie as the entry level bike I have time is up.

I ask "Would you buy a Malvern Star?" as there seems to be a stigma attached to the brand, albeit iconic in Australia's cycling history.

I am looking at Ultegra equiped bikes and the Oppy 6 appears to be great value, complete Ultegra groupset mavic krisium(sp) wheels quality tyres etc.

Great value when compared with bikes in a similar price range from Merida, Cannondale, Orbea and Trek are a few of the others Ive looked at, all these have house brand or lower quality bits here and there.

I have no allegence to any brand and do not need to be euro cool, i want to ride the best bike I can afford, you just dont see many Oppy's out on the road and i was wondering if it was beacause Malvern Star is not considered cool enough.
To most of the cafe scene roadies they would probably turn there noses up at you and shun you as a pariah if you rode that bike, but there tossers anyway.

If the bike offers you a) A good fit and ride
b) Good components
c) Great value

Then buy it i cant see anything wrong with them good spec and decent weight for the price, it all depends on how well it fits and how well it rides.
 

superfamtasich

Likes Bikes
Oppys are awesome bikes such good value for money and the quality of the frames is bloody brilliant. Saying that though my next roadie will be an Azzuri because I met the owner of Azzui at my local bike shop and he is a effing mad kent. Plus I really like there 2010 carbon bikes
 

Firemanmikey

Likes Dirt
Azzuri

I just purchased an AZZURI Imperia, full Ultegra SL groupset with Mavic Aksium wheels, Alu frame with carbon rear end and forks. Price $2k.. Works just fine for me.. Pretty sure you can't get an Ultegra spec bike for this price. Have a shop around on Bike exchange, some great deals happening.
 

macboy

Likes Dirt
My mate rides an Oppy, he loves it. Value and reliability are the most important to me.
Good frame, good group set, good price, why not?
 

chrisp2087

Likes Dirt
Can't remember the last time I saw a Pinarello, Orbea, Ridley, Colnago, Le Mond etc etc. All I ever see are Giant, Trek, Specialized and the occasional Felt and Cannondale.
I'm a bit the other way, every bike I see is Orbea, Colnago, Pinarello and Cannondale, but then again I live on the North Shore in Sydney & get frowned upon for my unshaven legs and Cell roadie.

I think I'll be in the market for something Ultegra equiped next year, I like the Apollo and Malvern Star for value, some others I'd consider as well.
 

Slowman

Likes Dirt
By Ridley the company, or by the factory that produces Ridley?
It would be the factory.

The only carbon factories outside of Asia are in the US (Kestrel and Trek) and Time's in France. I have an idea Koga-Miyata might be produced in Japan - not sure.

There are a handful of factories in Taiwan, Axman, Gigantex, ADK, Topkey, Merida and Martec where just about every brand comes from.

There is also this article but it looks incomplete to me as Topkey make Specialized frames too and they have not included Ridley either. The difficulty is due to the names changing a bit, as well as sometimes the brands change suppliers too from time to time. I travel to Taiwan quite a lot and the spelling in English of a street can change the along its length - just because there are different Romanisation methods for spelling Mandarin words. This seems to carry over to English names too. Often you have to learn to read Mandarin to get the real name of a thing.

Knowing this I sometimes wonder why people pay so much for a brand name when in some cases they frame used is not a proprietary design but an open mould design that you I can order (sorry you can't just order one). In fact that is exactly what a lot of these new players in the market are doing today. They simply go to factory X pick out the frames they want and then spec the parts and in 2-3 months a container arrives. It is cheaper not because quality is lacking but these factories in Taiwan have huge buying power and buy Shimano direct from Japan in bulk. So that's why you see some of these bikes at prices that would barely pay for the groupset and wheels if you were to buy them retail here in Oz.

There are some brands though that do have proprietary designs and so you do get some slightly better handling. Again though it has to match the skill level of the rider. That said the handling reviews of the Oppy Pro come up pretty good see the review in the latest issue of Ride. I laughed when I saw the price of $20K of the Passoni carbon/titanium bike. Who in their right mind would pay this amount of money?
 

C Dunlop

Likes Dirt
There are other carbon manufacturers. I don't even have an interest in the stuff but there are atleast the following:
edge composites: (USA) forks, rims, stems, seatposts, bars and tubing.
Reynolds/McClean (USA): Forks, rims, tubing, framesets
Fibrelight (UK) chainrings:eek:, custom stuff.

Colnago used to get its stuff from a factory next door, who are now defunct but who made stuff for some car company called Ferrari.

All of which is to say, there are lots of places to get carbon, some is cheap, some is expensive, some if crap, some is good. None of it matters. Malvern star seem like they are having a genuine tilt. If you have confidence in their aftersales service and you like the bike, and it is a good deal, get it. That is part of what buying new gets you.

At $2500 for the Ultegra SL bike, i'd be all over it, again, you have to realise that it isn't the coolest bike out there:cool:. That said, if you were after coffee shop, euro-stylin' coolness, I don't reckon you would you would be looking at a Malvern star in the first place. Nor would you be looking at a $2500 bike. I would steer clear of DA 7900 for no other reason than a new front chainring is $500+:eek:
 

a.davis12

Likes Bikes and Dirt
There are other carbon manufacturers. I don't even have an interest in the stuff but there are atleast the following:
edge composites: (USA) forks, rims, stems, seatposts, bars and tubing.
Reynolds/McClean (USA): Forks, rims, tubing, framesets
Fibrelight (UK) chainrings:eek:, custom stuff.

Colnago used to get its stuff from a factory next door, who are now defunct but who made stuff for some car company called Ferrari.

All of which is to say, there are lots of places to get carbon, some is cheap, some is expensive, some if crap, some is good. None of it matters. Malvern star seem like they are having a genuine tilt.
Italian made colnagos (eps, c50) still get there carbon from well...italy. using that same carbon that goes into 'that' car company;)

"none of it matters" - you had written a well thought out and generally agreeable post until you said that. in fact the preceeding sentance was perfect.
yes it matters. shit carbon is exactly that, shit. Ive said before what i think about the MS, and ill say it again. yes it is good value, but no it isnt a great bike.
 

Tomas

my mum says im cool
Yet another thread degenerates into opinion swapping about asian manufacture from people who's only source of information is from that allanti article.
 

C Dunlop

Likes Dirt
Ok good call.

What I am saying though is that in terms of a $2.5k bike, the malvern stars seem competently put together. It isn't the lightest or most amazing, but at $2.5k it is a good deal, isn't going to mysteriously delaminate on you and has the back up of what seems like a good dealer network and company.

Sure, this isn't the best bike ever, but it is good value and if you want amazingness in a carbon frame then you are going to have to spend in the region of $4k+ just for the frame, IMO.
 
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