Any opinions about Fort or Salsa bikes?

ddeand said:

As I learn more about today's bike brands, a few come up that I haven't heard of. Two of the more recent ones are Fort frames from the Czech Republic and Salsa from USA.

Any experiences/opinions/reservations about these brands?

Thanks,
Dean

I've never ridden Salsa, so I can't comment. However, I have a Fort track bike and a good friend has a Fort Zona road bike which I have also ridden. They seem to be pretty well assembled - although we've both only had our respective bikes less than a year, so I don't know about long term durability. However, we both ordered directly from Fort and they were a real pleasure to deal with. The bikes themselves are simple, nothing flashy as far as paint goes (I suppose that's where they save money), the rides on both bikes were excellent considering the price (good value). Also, Fort has a pretty good warranty: 4 years for most of their aluminium frames, and 5 to 10 years (depending on model) for their other frames. All in all, I've been quite happy with mine. You can get more info yourself at: www.fortframes.com

I live in Czech republic and most of hobby racers here have Fort frame. Durablity and price (here) is good in my opinion and the only disadvantage is simple paint. I have Fort 7005 from 1999 as secondary bike and I have no problem with it. Fort frames are made from Columbus tubes.

If You are satisfied with price and paint, You will get a durable frame.