UMF Video Project 2011

 Haha ya and the P and the F are nowhere near each other. Thanks for the catch.

 Yeah this is where everyone looks at their keyboard to see if its an acceptable mistake

 Not the french keyboards... Ok, ok I'm out !

 He's clearly just been thinking about the new COD coming out. daydreaming about the ump... aha

 haha i was just thinking that ^^

 yer its like the generic frame from Taiwan that everyone is using atm. its bad for the industry people just using the same product.

 LOL how on earth is it bad for the "industry"?

Many companies utilize "cloned" or "generic" frames. Ever notice back in the Azonic Eliminator days that KHS was using a slightly altered version of it (and KHS's version was the same as 5 or so other companies).

Generic frames allows new companies who don't have the resources to design/fab a bike, to have access to generally, a decent frame. Plus, many companies out there don't have a DH specific bike, so in order to fulfill that type of riding, they just pick up a run of generic frames. Nothing wrong with it. If anything, it helps more companies get started, and exist. After all, how many bike companies actually make their own frames anymore? Probably less than 10 or so known companies (hand built by them, not built in a mass production wharehouse in Taiwan that almost every other company uses as well.

 Dude the whole car industry works this way , 80 percent of the industry shares platforms and components , it's the way forwards.

 The problem is i dont see why they cant UMF are huge There part of the merida family well United Merida Free ride . I wish they made there own frames they do with some of there really high end cross country frames they do though.

 UMF is huge? They aren't huge at all. In fact, they are probably one of the more "unknown" companies of the industry.

Remember, many companies are just sub companies, or have other lines of bikes. There is no need to make their own, especially if a decent downhill bike is available. Anything KHS uses is generally decent. If you followed KHS in the early and mid years of DH racing you would know this. Glad to see they finally got out of their Horst Link ordeal though (not that it was bad, but a change was good being they were riding generic bikes).

Also, you mentioned high end cross country, didn't it hit you that maybe they just wanted to fill in a few other bike types without going through the R&D, MFG-ing, and everything else? Also, just because some company can make a good XC bike, doesn't mean they can make a DH bike work a squat. R&D takes experienced designers in DH, something they most likely don't have.

 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merida_Bikes This is the main company UMF is there freeride section they own 19% of specialised And where founded in 1972 and in taiwan they are the 15th largest company in the country. So you can say there not huge but well yeah they are. Maybe not a well known name but they have a large influence

 UMF is a small company. For many years they only shared distribution and marketing channels with Merida. Merida has very strong positions in XC and road racing, these are their primary markets and they simply don't care about BMX and DH.

Germans from UMF did a lot of work on improving hardtails, because it is easier to develop them. So all their hardtails are original. Freddy full-sus is also generic AFAIK. But they never had enough resources to build a decent DH rig on their own.

But I see that times change, Merdia is now interested in exploring new markets. They now develop a good AM/Enduro frame based on new Freddy together with UMF. UMF currently works as a testing ground for 160mm travel AM bike. I hope that this cooperative work will also result in original DH bike some time in the future.

 Any idea about the cost of the UMF DUNCAN 2012?

 Considering most people in the US don't give a hoots about who's running stuff in Taiwan, they aren't known by most. US knows Pacific Bicycles and a few other "mega" bike companies.

Like said, maybe other countries know Merida, but here in the US, it's Pacific Bicycle dominated (they own GT, Schwinn, and probably a dozen other companies now. Not 19% of this and that, they own 100% of each of these companies).

But, not bashing on Merida. If they are doing well, I say heck yea. In the end this is about using generic frames. Being Merida can be considered big in terms of investments, sure, they can afford to R&D a DH bike, but remember, when pacific started buying everyone, they dropped almost ALL the companies they bought DH departments, leaving basically GT with the DH line. IMO if Merida owns 19% of Specialized, that is why other companies they truly own won't be producing DH bikes. It doesn't make sense to fund multiple companies when you already have a good stake in a major player in DH, but to keep making profit with other companies, having a generically made (they probably own the company that makes the generic bikes also, being they are in Taiwan and have massive capital), so why not just make generic bikes and sell them to many companies, including their own sub-companies. It's purely about marketing and making investments, and small companies expand, while also keeping their true interest, which is their 30$ million steak in specialized working well.