Too many younger folks don't have a familiarity or an understanding of the quality of the original Canadian Syncros parts. Original Syncros parts were very well made and thought out. At a time when aftermarket parts had begun to earn a bad rep for durability (or lack thereof, i.e. Kooka) Syncros came into the fray and offered great parts and an understated look that said all business. Syncros was never the same after they were purchased in the late 90s by one of the evil empires of the cycling world, and they later folded, only to be reorganized into the bastard junk vendor that currently hocks complete crap. Were it not for the molesting of the Syncros name by the crap components being labeled by the brand today, we retrobikers would be paying an arm and a leg to get our hands on some of the best mountain components ever made. THAT is why folks in the know go ape for the original Syncros parts. For many, there is no other.
Syncros was then what Thomson is today. You meet a guy on the trail today with a Thomson stem or post and you know that he's solved that component question on his build for good, and he's got no reason to defend his purchase up and above just saying, "Hey, it's a Thomson." Back in the early 90s, "Hey, it's Syncros" meant the same thing. Owning either Syncros (or Thomson today) means no justification needed here, thanks...you can keep your red KORE crap post or your flexy Ringle Moby with it's myriad of recalls, or your purple Hershey 'naked' hubs or your Nuke Proof garbage. Syncros was all you needed. Hammer and Cycle.
Very few companies to me represent the image of dependable aftermarket components better than Syncros. Race Face, Cook Bros, Syncros, WTB, IRD...none of them dicked around with CNC derailleurs or little floppy brake levers made out of dry spaghetti noodles. They were the real deal.
Then there are some comments regarding Answer ATAC and Control Tech USA stuff, but to me those brands were quality for sure, but not the kind of romanticized quality that Syncros and the others listed above were.
In other totally unrelated news. I picked up a pair of Mavis 217 Sunset rims from the old fleabay today. The pic left is ganked from the auction, (I'm guessing the seller won't mind, as he's sitting pretty happy!) I have one NOS left, and a pair built up on Kristen's mountain bike, so another set will be fun to build for something. Maybe the blue EWR. OR, since earlier today I pulled out an eyelet on the Rhyno Lite on the front of the white EWR, maybe I'll put some Sunsets back on that sucker. That's where the set currently on Kristen's bike started out back in the day. Built that wheeleset in 1996, and it's still going strong.
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