A rad survey on my new buisness venture,

[mi16kie]

 Watch out name wise.I think you will find that Dawes bikes hold the rights to the name ZED as they made some POS mtb's a few years back with that as their branding.

[darkersomeday]

i dont want to sound negative as i really like the idea mate,

just dont go plowing any serious money into something without having a serious look at you market,

curtis survive by the skin of there teeth and theyre experienced carftsmen with a reputation that goes back a long, long way,

dont be thinking you can just find a "decent" welder and some tubes and let loose!
have you any idea how much a good adjustable jig will cost, you'll need a decent bender too,
thats before you get to the engineering equipment!  linisher, reamer,etc,etc,

then theres the liability insurance to cover, plus the business set-up costs,

all that to supply a market thats already swarming with micro companies and a niche that is well covered by kappa and supercross,

sorry if i sound negative but you'd be taking a massive risk investing time and money in something like that without some serious planning

dont get me wrong it's relatively straightforward to do, but not in the way youre thinking dude,

if you want any further advice dont hesitate to pm me,

best of luck with the project if you do go ahead with it

joe

[Trev]

thanks guys for all the great words, yep im still not sure about the name, but zed bikes was my first thought, the first bike will have a 1,18th head tube on it, and i might do a OS version, with 1inch  the bars ady i might do 28 inchs so they can be cut down, my mates a awsome welder, and has made some amazing things, so betweem him and me im sure thses bikes will be strong, ill show some ideas soon, ive got loads on paper,    i cant wait to get strated  ill keep everyone posted, oh and ill defo ask del about the decals , plus ive got someone who can do pads ,

just make sure they're not too heavy.... remember in real life our arms aren't as big as they are in CIN CITY.... 

[Bob_Acid]

If you can make a cruiser as good as the azusa one i'd buy it

[QUADROPHENIA]

zed, speak to fuzzynod, he has a mate who can do one offs but your looking at £350 for f&f, so he maybe a good man to get some pointers from

[zed4130]

zed, speak to fuzzynod, he has a mate who can do one offs but your looking at £350 for f&f, so he maybe a good man to get some pointers from

  cheers mate ill have a chat with him, joe im only doing this as a hobby really, if i make money thats great , if not , no probs, my mate has 40 years welding experiance, and does amazing work , ive got a passion for 26 cruisers, and single speed mtbs, so if i only make a few, thats fine, even if i only end up with one, thats cool, i know the market, as ive been riding bikes since the age of 7, trust me, i dont even have a driving licence, i love bikes, and to have my own frame is a dream ,  if we make a few great, he has all the gear, so no massive pay out, plus were he works he has lots of t45, and 4130 tubing we can use, we should have the prototype 26 cruiser done in 2 weeks time, so ill keep you all posted, all is good, 

[radbmxer1]

  its nice to have a dream but ZED please take note of darks post, also be very wary of the stick jonny odd angle chopper gets  however good luck with what you decide to do  but please dont  repop.

[zed4130]

my aim is at the single speed mtb market aswell, ive been mtb'ing since 88, and no the market well, ,ill be building 26 cruisers, plus single speed mtb's. nothing to odd about them, just a few extras,    plus we will build stuff to order, as i said i know i might not make fortunes, but if you dont try things in life you will never know,  ive taken this time off work to be with the kids, and try this out, so no lose, other than i might end up with my own bike, ive wanted this for years, so if we make loads, cool , if not thats ok,   

[MartyC]

its nice to have a dream but ZED please take note of darks post, also be very wary of the stick jonny odd angle chopper gets  however good luck with what you decide to do  but please dont  repop.

Intersting first post, from "overseas" mate?  Where does it say he'll do "repops" (nice American word btw)?  Or does 1" o/s version only mean a "repop" to you?

Good luck with it Zed, make what you want when you want and live the dream  .

[zed4130]

its nice to have a dream but ZED please take note of darks post, also be very wary of the stick jonny odd angle chopper gets  however good luck with what you decide to do  but please dont  repop.

Intersting first post, from "overseas" mate?  Where does it say he'll do "repops" (nice American word btw)?  Or does 1" o/s version only mean a "repop" to you?

Good luck with it Zed, make what you want when you want and live the dream  .

   cheers mate, ive been talking with ian the welder today, and all good , the first 20icher should be made by the cin ride, its going to be cool, im not given anything away, but this bike will show how good ian is at making frames,    and people will get a chance to see it, 

[generallee]

Aed - all power to you , its a great idea and very brave... good luck dude!
But as for the name - Pleease dont call it Zed bikes as also being into mountain bikes myslef, there was a Dawes [uk bike company] spin off company that madeawful awful tbs's and they were called... you guessed it - Zed.
They were of the ear of overbuilt but cheap heavy foul mtbs's... so for me if I saw a bike with Zed on it I would have horrible flashbacks!
However, I dont wanna dis your login name, afetr all, im just named afetr an ornge car!
steve

[Dingobmxer]

UK version of Kappa but with quality engineering and paint! Why not, might not make you loads of money but if its something you enjoy then go for it.

Dialled bikes took the plunge, ok not with retro style frames but he seems to be doing ok. 

Nothing wrong with Kappa's quality and paint 

Now Supercross are a different matter


Good luck ZED, I might fancy a 26" looptail frame

  DINGO

[zed4130]

cheers lads, the 26 will have a looptail dingo  ive decided to call it O.F bike .co  (old fart sbikes)   

[connemara]

O.F. Bikes sounds like a good name, Zed.

Can't wait to see the first frame. Are you making forks too?

Any pics Yet???

[zed4130]

O.F. Bikes sounds like a good name, Zed.

Can't wait to see the first frame. Are you making forks too?

Any pics Yet???

yep forks aswell,  no pics yet, ill post it when all done, and poss take it on the cin ride