Brands you'd give a miss, or go to

I think most of us probably haven't had the opportunity to try every option for each so we'll always be working on a small sample size where if we have a bad experience with one product we'll swerve the brand in future.  For me, I echo the good comments about Decathlon and DHB clothing, and I have a set of Shimano M540 pedals which are eight years old, have been heavily used on and off road, never seen a drop of oil and still work perfectly.

Some other good news... I've mentioned before here, but Vittoria Rubino tyres are outstanding value: roll fast, grippy and seem to last forever even on the turbo trainer (no joking, I've got two new pairs in a box waiting for the current set to wear out, and another pair in the loft that are too good to throw away).  I also swear by either Vittoria or Continental inner tubes, and Endura Strike gloves are so good I still wear them ahead of two other pairs I bought trying to replace them.

On the contrary, I've never had a Schwalbe tyre I've got on with.  Lugano road tyres - no grip in the damp, wear out (go square) quickly, puncture prone despite the alleged protection. Rapid Rob - puncture prone and they feel like when you accelerate, there's a half-second of flex before the sidewall drags the rest around.  And Schwalbe, Decathlon or cheap no-name inner tubes are a really false economy.

The Good

Decathlon- bibshorts are brilliant, they just seem to last forever and have accompanied me on 100km rides without problems. Their carbon saddles were well worth the £30 they cost too.

The Gabba- bought my first one when they came out and replaced this year. The old one finally got killed off in my accident. The back panel was brown instead of black through sun damage.

SH plus- first helmet saved my head and customer service when sourcing a replacement was excellent.

Campagnolo- I still have 20 year old parts that are still going on one of the bikes, Campagnolo has never let me down. Having to buy the not too cheap tool for crank removal on the newer Campagnolo shod bike isn't anything to smile about, but I guess that's the way things are moving. The Shimano kit I also have works perfectly, it just has no soul.

Sidi- their shoes fit.

The Bad.

Kuota UK- I'd have another Kuota, just not from the UK importers. I had a simple maintenance enquiry which they simply told me to go to a bikeshop to remedy. I worked out what to do myself and they could have responded with the solution. Very unhelpful people.

Merida- They came to the village I was living in for a product launch for the press in the local forest. They had the staff to put up direction signage for the visitors, but no one to remove them when they had finished. It might be petty, but remember your brand can be damaged in many ways.

Orbea- In spite of having one Orbea and lusting after an Orca for years, I shan't be buying another. A friend of mine was offered a job with them this year, the pandemic arrived and her contract mysteriously disappeared, leaving her high and dry. Bad marketing Orbea.

Specalized- for the way they treated Cafe Roubaix.

SRAM- You'd think that what was a top of the range X.0 mtb groupset would not use fragile plastic springs that break on an annual basis, but they do. And at 100 Euros a time, it could have been expensive.

Shimano Tiagra- You pays your money, you takes the risk.

FSA- Cranks and chainwheels. Made of cheese.

Hope:

Great: Everything except the Head Doctor. Being a heavy rider I particularly like their seat clamps, and I'm a sucker for Hope Orange as it always goes well with blue or yellow frames, which I prefer.

Avoid: Head Doctor - chuck it in the bin and stick a proper SFN in instead, just not worth the hassle 

So, what works: 

Mech Campagnolo groupsets; threaded bottom brackets; Harry Rowland's wheels; Thomson carbon bars; Assos clothing - especially the winter stuff - say what you like, you get what you pay for; Rapha repair service - but you'll need it; Rapha shadow hat with a transparent peak (genius); Castelli net summer hat; Rapha neon pink overshoes; Yellow lenses for brightening up winter days; Exposure lights; Assos rain booties - and their Sturmnuss trousers; Quadlocks; Strava; Skratch products; Torq products; fig rolls; my Silca pump - it's the last one I'll ever need and I know it; and their hot wax; vintage Italian bikes; Ti Litespeeds...My Factor O2 with Ceramicspeed everything......My Park Tools box and Feedback bike stand....and Tier 4 which is going to be great for cycling! 

Disappointing:

Poor quality allen bolts (you know, the rounded off ones on seatpost clamps); the stitching on Castelli clothes; GripGrab gloves (the liners come loose - one for the bin); Rapha lobster waterproof gloves (not waterproof); my patience with Garmin products has run out;  I've had my moments with tubeless tyres; any type of black oil and tier 4 because our economy is already in poor shape.

Another vote for Galibier, high quality kit at a very reasonable price. I'm a particular fan of their Mistral Foul Weather Jacket for winter riding.

dhb have some fantastic kit, nothing fancy but it does the job, again at a very good price.

Endura - Personally I've found all of their products to be high quality kit that works.

Castelli. It just works. Not cheap, but good value (Sam Vines Boots Theory). Maybe it's just my riding style and body shape, but I just get on with Castelli kit. Other views are equally valid.

Garmin.... always battery life
Cervelo....bottom bracket...and...and...and...
Trek.... Latest ones with internal cable routing, bad routing & rattles
Bryton... everything works all of the time
Galibier.... Quality kit, decent price....
Campagnolo.... Just works and works... Wears out after 20 yrs
Continental.... been poor quality recently
Italian bikes....great build quality
Moon....superb lights
There are more........ I'm in the trade so all above are from real life experience not hear say....

Lusso. Great quality kit that just works. After some crash damage I asked them to send a small patch for me to sew in (badly). They asked me to send in the jacket and repaired it free of charge.

Five Ten flat pedal shoes.

Another vote for shimano. It's so good you never have to even think about it.

I'm a big fan of tailfin for making the best touring/commuting pannier rack I have ever used plus their customer service is personal and really thorough. 

rapha because after a year of searching I found their pro team shoes fit my weird asymmetrical feet really well unlike fizik, bont, sidi, giro etc etc. Plus when my bib shorts lost some threading they just gave me the credit for a new pair. 

Some positives:

1. Fairlight. Genuinely personal service from Dom and the team to the point it almost feels like you're buying a bespoke bike. They also have incredible attention to detail.

2. Garmin. Controversial I know but I've had zero issues in 3 years with my Edge 130. Same can't be said for Wahoo, and their customer support was pretty slow.

3. Shimano. It all just works. And, in the MTB world at least, it's dirt cheap for the quality you're getting.