made in china
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MattiThundrrr
Rattus All Terrainus
What brand does that splatter fest wear? Pacific makes so many bikes I want... TO AVOID!!!!
- Caloi
- Cannondale
- Charge Bikes
- DYNO
- GT Bicycles
- GURU Cycling
- InSTEP
- Iron Horse Bicycles
- Kid Trax
- Mongoose
- Murray
- Pacific
- Playsafe
- Powerlite
- Roadmaster
- Schwinn
- SUG
MattiThundrrr
Rattus All Terrainus
Jeezus, they've really bought and ruined some of the great names, haven't they?
Not to get too geo economical, but this hits on a salient point.
It's not really China's fault, it's ours
China just makes what people will buy, and people don't want good welds, they want cheap bikes. A symptom of this is all those formally great brands got into a position where they could be bought out, because people weren't buying enough of their more expensive, better quality, bikes.
Bear with me on this next one, Chinese manufacturing is the best in the world. WAIT don't get the pitchforks, by best I mean the manufacturing industry in China has the ability to make almost any product at any quality level in massive quantities, and they can retool faster than anyone to meet market demands. And the market demands $100 hybrids and $80 beach cruisers.
This is the back edge of of a capitalist marketplace. It gives us what we ask for not what we should have.
I call them "shiny bikes". The easily fooled go for shiny stuff, hence the name.
I came up with that while riding the riverfront trail in Boise, ID around 2000 and noticed that all of the cheapo bikes with squeaky chains were very shiny.
Not to get too geo economical, but this hits on a salient point.
It's not really China's fault, it's ours
China just makes what people will buy, and people don't want good welds, they want cheap bikes. A symptom of this is all those formally great brands got into a position where they could be bought out, because people weren't buying enough of their more expensive, better quality, bikes.
Bear with me on this next one, Chinese manufacturing is the best in the world. WAIT don't get the pitchforks, by best I mean the manufacturing industry in China has the ability to make almost any product at any quality level in massive quantities, and they can retool faster than anyone to meet market demands. And the market demands $100 hybrids and $80 beach cruisers.
This is the back edge of of a capitalist marketplace. It gives us what we ask for not what we should have.
Nailed it.
My day job is a project manager for one of the largest heavy truck suppliers globally. Like $3b annual sales big. And part of my job is sourcing and running specs on products. We own and operate two plants in China as well as source quite a bit from there. However, given the current socioeconomic climate surrounding China post virus we are pulling back a bit. You may see a small global shift (<2-3%) as companies distance but it won't be noticable on the large scale. China is good at what they do and they know it. People that want cheap are also the loudest critics when it doesn't live up to their high champagne cost standards
I'm more of a Mexico expert really
I agree with most of this...except, it is China's fault because it isn't a real capitalist marketplace...or, more accurately, it is only a one sided capitalist marketplace. China targets and destroys competing industries because it can operate at a loss for as long as it takes. This became crystal clear with me concerning one particular car part...brake rotors. Back in the day, backyard mechanics scoured wrecking yards when they needed replacement rotors because new ones were spendy. When doing brake jobs for people, I would often price them new rotors just so I could look like a super hero when I picked up some cheap yard rotors and had them turned at a fraction of the cost. I had gotten out of this practice, as I wasn't working on other peoples' rigs as much. I was doing a brake job on my Sister-in-law's Taurus in the earliest of '00s, and while I was in NAPA, for giggles, I asked how much for a pair of rotors. The answer...$12. I was shocked...perplexed. I bought them, and noticed the 'china' sticker on the box...I couldn't stop thinking about these rotors, however. How can these two heavy chunks of steel be machined in china...stuck on a boat...floated across the ocean...trucked and/or railed to distribution centers across the US...and then shipped to individual stores and sold for a profit at a $12 price point? The answer is they couldn't...at just the price of scrap steel with no machining operations...it just wasn't possible. A few years later, and those $12 rotors are became ~$60/set at NAPA. Why...because there were no replacement rotors made in the US anymore, and china could set whatever price that maximized profit for them, but low enough to discourage any US company from getting back into the market.Not to get too geo economical, but this hits on a salient point.
It's not really China's fault, it's ours
China just makes what people will buy, and people don't want good welds, they want cheap bikes. A symptom of this is all those formally great brands got into a position where they could be bought out, because people weren't buying enough of their more expensive, better quality, bikes.
Bear with me on this next one, Chinese manufacturing is the best in the world. WAIT don't get the pitchforks, by best I mean the manufacturing industry in China has the ability to make almost any product at any quality level in massive quantities, and they can retool faster than anyone to meet market demands. And the market demands $100 hybrids and $80 beach cruisers.
This is the back edge of of a capitalist marketplace. It gives us what we ask for not what we should have.
The same thing happened to bicycles. US companies could have played it smarter, but the fight was always rigged.
I can always tell a Giant factory-made steel frame. Undeniable quality.
This one was great (1999 Team Marin) and the place I kept breaking it was the rear dropout on the drive side. Breezer dropouts are the only type I have not broken.
Not to get too geo economical, but this hits on a salient point.
It's not really China's fault, it's ours
China just makes what people will buy, and people don't want good welds, they want cheap bikes. A symptom of this is all those formally great brands got into a position where they could be bought out, because people weren't buying enough of their more expensive, better quality, bikes.
Bear with me on this next one, Chinese manufacturing is the best in the world. WAIT don't get the pitchforks, by best I mean the manufacturing industry in China has the ability to make almost any product at any quality level in massive quantities, and they can retool faster than anyone to meet market demands. And the market demands $100 hybrids and $80 beach cruisers.
This is the back edge of of a capitalist marketplace. It gives us what we ask for not what we should have.
Couldn’t agree more!
Remember the old saying, “you get what you pay for”?
Don’t blame poor quality on cheap buyers.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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I wrote out a reply, got this far...
Then decided tl;dr
Summing up, humans are weird. Go ride a bike.
Buy bikes
Ride bikes
Drink beer (eat burritos)
Enough politics
Ride bikes
Drink beer (eat burritos)
Enough politics
Your right Capt. enough bubble popping .Buy bikes
Ride bikes
Drink beer (eat burritos)
Enough politics
Pass the Hot sauce please .
We have this local place called Underground Burritos that sells a 6 pack in a handy to go box. I rode over there last night and snagged a box for the family. Leisurely 11 miles and burritos as a reward! Heat and eat
The wife has been riding an '04 Pacific Cachet women's "MTB" I bought new for $49.99. All the lowest end "T D One" original components. Did grease it up a couple times in 16 years. The only component failure was pedals
, and it has been ridden...alot. Not a pretty bike, but it is the absolute best $50 I have ever spent. The disclaimer is I do do the maint, and she does not try to kill it. I don't have a problem with the Chinese bikes, most bikes are made there.
