Of course you might think otherwise...

[in4]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/active/recreational-cycling/10364933/How-Bianchi-became-the-worlds-most-iconic-bike-brand.html

 

[Andre Jute]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/active/recreational-cycling/10364933/How-Bianchi-became-the-worlds-most-iconic-bike-brand.html
 

You bet I do. "Iconic"? That writer is so poorly educated, he doesn't know what the word means.

I could make a good case for Raleigh as the world's most iconic bicycle brand. But I don't see why I should. Every Raleigh my family has ever owned has been cheaply made rubbish trading on a revered name.

[Aushiker]

Thinking about iconic bike brands, Bianchi wouldn't come to mind in my world.

Edit: fixed my spelling

Andrew

[Andre Jute]

Thinking about iconic bike brands, Bianchi would come to mind in my world.

As the bike to represent all bikes?

[il padrone]

As an iconic brand (ie. universally represented in society) then it would have to be one of:

- Giant
- Hero Cycles (India)
- Flying Pigeon, or
- Raleigh

or maybe:
- Trek
- Cannondale, or
- Schwinn

[NZPeterG]

Hi All,
Well 

Talking about iconic bike brands, Bianchi would be one of a great Bicycle makers in the world in the 1950's to the 1990's, But Sadly No More (at this time  ).

Like Raleigh up until the 1990's

But the best at this time to represent all bikes! (aside from Thorn) would be Specialized Bikes because there goal is to make the best fitting Bikes.

Close 2nd's would be:

Trek

and

Specialized have the largest R and D in the Cycle World to try and make there Bikes better..

In the end its all down to you LBS and the support you get from them (or Not)

Pete

[Andre Jute]

In the end its all down to you LBS and the support you get from them (or Not)

The trouble with common sense is it is no longer common

Pete's sense here seems common enough to me to be a universal truth.

Of course, when I switched to sophisticated bikes, my LBS turned out to be from the blacksmith age, finding the thick sheaf of manuals and the torque wrenches I supplied incomprehensible and consequently doing more harm than good, and I had to learn to do all my mechanicking myself.

Still, a universal truth if you live in The Netherlands or Germany or Bridgewater or Pete's neck of New Zealand.

[moodymac]

In my thinking the word icon is the picture that develops in the mind when a generic word is mentioned.  I.e. bike.  When I hear the word bike what comes to mind is what Americans called the English racer in my day.  Therefore, I would have to say the classic commuter Raleigh to be iconic.  I don't believe that any one thing can be truly iconic, due to the outside influences of age and environment comes to play.  In other words, everything is up to opinion and nothing can be right or wrong.

Tom 

[peter jenkins]

No manufacturer has been making bicycles longer than Bianchi.

That probably gives them a bit of a start in the "icon" stakes.

I think the other factor that contributes to their street cred is their prominence in what many regard as the "Golden Era", when the likes of Coppi and Bartoli, Anquetil and others were such revered figures.

I would regard Peugeot and Colnago as iconic as well and no doubt everyone out there has their own idea of what constitutes an icon.

I know the world has moved on since then, but I don't see Trek or Spesh as iconic brands, albeit they make excellent bikes.

(I have a Trek and a Bianchi)

Cheers,

pj

[Andre Jute]

Like Peter, I too have a Trek. I don't think Trek even tries to be iconic. The designer of mine (full auto "Smover", including electronic adaptive suspension) would certainly reject "iconic" (with its overtones being old-fashioned, conservative, hidebound) in favor of "cutting edge".

[geocycle]

Of current bikes I'd say Brompton and perhaps Pashley might approach iconic status, as would the Raleigh Chopper.  They need to symbolise something other than their utility.  I think these three could be viewed as cultural reference points.  This is a UK-centred view of course.

[triaesthete]

 Lots of cultural and semiotic undercurrents to this I'd say.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semiotics

Perhaps UK road symbol 1057 is iconic: see   http://vaughanjordan.wordpress.com/2012/02/08/one-of-my-favourite-books-1057-by-phil-carter/

Ian

[brummie]

Bianchi Celeste is arguably the most Iconic bicycle colour !

[John Saxby]

Not sure I con stand much more of this... Didn't Mick have a fling with a Bianchi? -- how much more iconic can one get than that?

[Andre Jute]

This is Mick Jagger of the rock'n'roll group whose name now escapes me, the one who was knighted by Her Majesty for making a lot of noise? He tried to mate with an Italian style of architecture (Bianca Banca)? Surely that's a bit metaphysical even for knighted icon of British pop.

Have I missed a turning? I told you that solar panel is too small to recharge the GPS.