Author Topic: Are St. Martin and Ares parts durable?  (Read 6663 times)

Offline wolfpuppet

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Are St. Martin and Ares parts durable?
« on: October 26, 2016, 10:14:05 AM »

Sup, guys. I’m building a new bike after six years away from the sport.

How durable are current St. Martin and Ares parts? My opinion of them six years ago was that they were sexy and light, but fragile. I’d prefer a Strowler with Odyssey/Flatware components, but St. Martin and Ares are easier for me to get.

I’m considering the Nation frame, Royal stem, Chatelet cranks, Étoile freecoaster hub, and any of the current Ares handlebars.

I won’t do any street riding, save for bunnyhops off curbs and, er, falling hard.   

Offline bmxelement90

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Re: Are St. Martin and Ares parts durable?
« Reply #1 on: October 27, 2016, 03:20:57 AM »
You should be fine now. If it works for Alex jumelin it'll work for you :)

Offline out~riding

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Re: Are St. Martin and Ares parts durable?
« Reply #2 on: October 27, 2016, 07:32:05 AM »
A few years ago you would see St.martin parts breaking left and right but they changed things up and they are much more reliable nowadays.

Ares is good also, I don't see anyone complaining about there parts.

Offline Revig

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Re: Are St. Martin and Ares parts durable?
« Reply #3 on: October 27, 2016, 01:10:47 PM »
concerning Ares, unfortunatelly it's not always good

Last year, a friend of mine broke his S-Kill frame in less than 2 or 3 months, doing only flatland (at Master level).
And the reply he got through the shop coming from York Uno was something like: "it's not possible to break that frame because Uchie never broke it". And no replacement frame , no discount on a new frame, nothing.
So York Uno is called "F*ck Uno" now  lol
Actually that was quite the same story than way back: http://www.global-flat.com/smf/index.php?topic=32757.0

And from what I read sometimes on a french fb group about flatland, many riders experimented blow-ups of Ares A-Class soft compound tires


About St Martin, the new range is just on shops from few weeks, so nobody really knows what it worths. But that seems good!

Offline out~riding

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Re: Are St. Martin and Ares parts durable?
« Reply #4 on: October 27, 2016, 05:43:58 PM »

About St Martin, the new range is just on shops from few weeks, so nobody really knows what it worths. But that seems good!


The new range is exactly the same as previous years, they just changed the names of the parts...

Offline DaddyCool

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Re: Are St. Martin and Ares parts durable?
« Reply #5 on: October 27, 2016, 08:29:07 PM »
Hi,
are you sure? The dropout to seat-/chainstay connection looks different from the older frames for example. In addition I think the chainstays have a connection behind the bottom bracket. So I would say there are some small changes for the frames.
The stem for example seems to be 100 % like the old one.
I only bought a sprocket from St. Martin years ago which is still fully ok. This at least was a very good part (I had problems with several other sprockets). But as you can see I am not the best person to talk about St. Martin products.

Offline Revig

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Re: Are St. Martin and Ares parts durable?
« Reply #6 on: October 27, 2016, 08:48:09 PM »
yes I might have precised: I am talking about the St Martin frames, they are different than before as said Daddy Cool. Pegs also, sprocket and fork too (see the dropout also). But that seems good!
Maybe the 2 pieces bar is the same than before.
Concerning the freecoaster and stem, they are the same than before, yes.

Offline Revig

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Re: Are St. Martin and Ares parts durable?
« Reply #7 on: October 27, 2016, 09:05:36 PM »
You should be fine now. If it works for Alex jumelin it'll work for you :)

As many pro riders, Alex Jumelin changes his frame several times during the year (he's already at his second Opera frame!)  So you can't use that fact to estimate the durability of the parts on a "regular" rider's bike.

At the opposite: when I see Joris Bretagnolles who used his KHE A'damm frame during very long time, doing almost only back wheel tricks (so much harder on the frame than front wheel tricks), I would say that proves a very good durability for that frame.

Offline wolfpuppet

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Re: Are St. Martin and Ares parts durable?
« Reply #8 on: October 28, 2016, 07:05:58 PM »
Thanks for the input! Keep 'em coming. From what I've read, St. Martin looks like a pretty safe bet nowadays.

You should be fine now. If it works for Alex jumelin it'll work for you :)


If only I could ride as dialed and smooth as him. ;)

A few years ago you would see St.martin parts breaking left and right but they changed things up and they are much more reliable nowadays.

Ares is good also, I don't see anyone complaining about there parts.


Sure looks like it. I was surprised when I saw that the Nation frame was over 4lbs! Wasn't expecting that from St. Martin.

concerning Ares, unfortunatelly it's not always good

Last year, a friend of mine broke his S-Kill frame in less than 2 or 3 months, doing only flatland (at Master level).
And the reply he got through the shop coming from York Uno was something like: "it's not possible to break that frame because Uchie never broke it". And no replacement frame , no discount on a new frame, nothing.
So York Uno is called "F*ck Uno" now  lol
Actually that was quite the same story than way back: http://www.global-flat.com/smf/index.php?topic=32757.0

And from what I read sometimes on a french fb group about flatland, many riders experimented blow-ups of Ares A-Class soft compound tires


About St Martin, the new range is just on shops from few weeks, so nobody really knows what it worths. But that seems good!



Ah, the infamous "competition-only" excuse. I come from the same country as that thread's OP, and local riders couldn't stop talking about how crappy that was of Ares.

Sorry to hear about your friend's experience- York is one of my favorite riders. Apparently, he's not a very good customer service person, lol. 
 

Offline pitdog504

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Re: Are St. Martin and Ares parts durable?
« Reply #9 on: November 09, 2016, 06:50:39 PM »
From experience the Jumlin seat/post combo was the worst I have ever rode. (who would put their name on this sh*t???) The seat points up in your nuts and the post SNAPPED in half.  I also taco's one of their peregrine copy gears.  I would stay away.  I am using one of their chrome stems now but it will die soon i am sure.  Not impressed!

Offline wolfpuppet

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Re: Are St. Martin and Ares parts durable?
« Reply #10 on: November 10, 2016, 02:35:14 PM »
From experience the Jumlin seat/post combo was the worst I have ever rode. (who would put their name on this sh*t???) The seat points up in your nuts and the post SNAPPED in half.  I also taco's one of their peregrine copy gears.  I would stay away.  I am using one of their chrome stems now but it will die soon i am sure.  Not impressed!

Is that the Iroon stem? The X26/Royal would be the easiest for me to get, although it looks pretty skimpy.

Offline pitdog504

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Re: Are St. Martin and Ares parts durable?
« Reply #11 on: November 10, 2016, 09:10:30 PM »
^^ Yes the Iroon.  My main complaint is that it slips from time to time.  Never had that problem with my last 3 stems.  I think it may be because it is chrome plated.  Maybe a black one without the plating may work better?

Offline Revig

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Re: Are St. Martin and Ares parts durable?
« Reply #12 on: November 10, 2016, 10:24:55 PM »
chrome plated?  really?  like the hutch bitd?

Offline JAY1WM

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Re: Are St. Martin and Ares parts durable?
« Reply #13 on: November 11, 2016, 12:25:20 AM »
The products by St Martin are the best they have ever been right now. They have been through all the fads over the years and have learnt that strong parts make people happy.