Jamis Bikes Complete Brand Overview

Jamis bikes is a huge distributor of bikes across the world. Jamis is an international brand, that sells its bikes in more than 50 different markets worldwide. Jamis provides a huge range of bikes, from basic children’s bikes, all the way up to pro riders bikes. For Jamis however, they really possess one unique characteristic amongst their competition. Jamis is still owned by the Jamis family, even after over 40 years of being a huge bike distributor.

Are Jamis Bikes Good

History of Jamis

Jamis was created in 1979, as George Joannou wanted to set up his own bike brand, having been a distributor since moving to the USA in 1938.

Joannou set up Jamis Bicycles, but sadly passed away only a couple of years later. Thankfully, from a young age, George involved his daughter Carine in the business. She was able to take over control at the company at only 20 years old.

The brand started off with the Earth cruiser, launched in 1979. They continued on with comfort bikes. The brands first major success was the Dakar, a custom built race bike that is still sold today. Of course revisions have been made to the bike since.

In 1988, Jamis released their first road bikes, releasing the Eclipse and Quest. Jamis has seen significant recognition for its bikes, with the Dakota winning mountain bike of the year in 1998.

The brands leading bike, the Dakar won mountain bike of the year in 2003 and 2004. Jamis has a great track record of constantly producing high quality bikes that get the recognition they deserve.

Jamis introduced carbon fibre to their bikes in 2005. Today, Jamis is based in Florida, and contuse t come out with award winning bikes year after year.

Are Jamis bikes any good?

The first thing that really jumps out at you when looking at Jamis bikes is the recognition the brand gets in the market. Year after year, Jamis comes out with award winning bikes.

Overall, the company has 18 different awards for its bikes, ranging from bike of the year to best value mountain bikes. Jamis continues to win awards, even more recently.

In 2018, the Renegade Elite win Bicycling Magazines award for best road bike. Jamis also has some excellent reviews from some of the cycling’s harshest critics. Matt Phillips from Bicycling called the Jamis Ventura Comp “ the best damn $1079 bike you can buy”.

To look at the quality of the Jamis bikes, you need to look at the specifications and design of the bikes.

Firstly, like all other bike producers, Jamis have been integrating carbon fibre into their bikes for over a decade now, first using carbon fibre in the Xenith series back in 2005. Since then, carbon fibres lightweight but strong proponents means it is used extensively throughout the production of all Jamis bikes, helping to make the bikes durable and lightweight.

The main selling point in terms of the bike to riders, is how comfortable it is. Jamis does not produce the top of the range bikes that pros may look for. Their target audience is much more cycling enthusiasts, so their bikes comfortable rides and predictable handling makes it an excellent bike for seasoned riders.

I think looking at their excellent performances in awards and stellar reviews, there is no doubt that Jamis produced excellent bikes. They are fast and smooth and consumer reviews all say that they are worth their price tags.

Most Popular Jamis Bikes

Hudson E2

The Hudson E2 is one of Jamis newest bikes, having only been released in the last couple of months. The Hudson E2 is based off of the Hudson 2, which was a comfort bike released in 2011. The major difference with the E2 is that the E2 has a battery attached.

The slogan for the Hudson range is “ We make riding easy”. The idea behind the Hudson range was to make the most comfortable, and easy to ride bike that the market has seen.

The new E2 is supposed to take this to a new level. The E2 comes with a Hyena A250 motor and A320 battery. The laid back frame design means the ride heigh is low, allowing easy starts and stops. The range of 20-50 miles is good for a bike of this size.

Much like some of the company’s  competition, it used full Shimano 7-speed drivetrain.  The bike is heavy, with the battery meaning the bike weighs a total of 47.5lbs.

One of the big advantages to the consumer with this bike is its price. The bike costs $1999.95, which is very cheap considering competitors prices. The bike has outstanding comfort, and is rightfully praised for being a bike worth its price.

Dragon Sport

Jamis is also able to produce top of the line mountain bikes. The Dragon series is their mountain biking range, with the Dragon sport being the companies best seller in this range.

The Dragon Sport comes with a strong and reliable alloy frame that Jamis even guarantees a lifetime warranty on.

Jamis is that confident in the quality of their frame that if it breaks, the lifetime guarantee has you covered. The Dragon Sport also has Shimano brake discs and drivetrain, two components of the highest quality.

Much like many other in the Jamis ranges, the Dragon Sport is incredibly comfortable to ride, and with excellent suspension is able to handle the hard bumps that comes with mountain trails.

The comfort is perfect for new riders, or even more experienced downhill riders. This is as well as a very competitive price tag, with the Dragon Sport being priced at only $1300.

Considering the lifetime warranty on the frame and the excellent ride, it is no surprise the Dragon Sport is a top selling. Jamis show with the dragon range that they can transfer their excellent comfort to a mountain biking range.

Sequel

The Jamis Sequel is another interesting model to look at, It is a 12.7kg general urban bike, designed for urban use but with the ability for adventure built into the bike.

The bike comes with hydraulic brakes, to give the Sequel  consistent braking and gives the riders a lot of confidence.

Part of the major versatility that comes with the bike is in the road plus tires. The tires provide the smooth riding that is custom to Jamis bikes, which also being able to handle the bumps and dirt that a trail might contain.

The sequel contains a lot of the versatility that Jamis renegade series has. Jamis have designed it this way, they describe the bike as having “ the ability to tackle city streets or make an escape on gravel trails”.

The bike is also good when compared to similar bikes, with 99spokes saying that the Sequel is easier to ride up hills than similar bikes. The sequel is also pretty reasonably priced, with the S3 priced at $1099 and the S2 priced at $1299. Both are excellent, versatile bikes that perform well when compared to similar bikes. Its versatility makes it very appealing to customers.

Dakar

When you talk about Jamis, you have to mention the Dakar. The Dakar is the bike that really built Jamis into relevancy, as they have been developing the bike since 1985. Back in 1985, the Dakar was a custom built, ready to race mountain bike that turned a lot of heads when it was released.

It showed Jamis’ brand characteristics, no gimmicks, no gadgets, no nonsense, just high quality performance through expert craftmanship. The Dakar has developed a lot since then, getting a lot lighter since 1985.

Today, the most recent Dakar is the A2. The A2 is a sleek but tough mountain bike, designed to handle rough terrain. It contains pretty stiff suspension, and some reports say that the suspension could be a bit more sensitive to handle all of the bumps a trail comes up with.

The price tag has also increased to $1100 for the bike, and a lot of reviews seem to think it may be slightly overpriced. Even if the new Dakar’s are not what the old ones were, the Dakar is still an incredibly important bike to the Jamis brand, and is one of the blocks that really built Jamis into what is it today.

Jamis Bikes Price Ranges

Jamis don’t make the highest of quality bikes, they produce bikes for new and more experienced riders as opposed to targeting their brand towards pro riders. They still come with high quality performance and an excellent ride.

The brand having such an accomplished history means that new customers will look at the bikes and their attractive prices. Their bikes range from around $400-$2000. These are good prices for comfortable, well made bikes.

Jamis’s website.

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