made in china

[sandman]

This my $ 50 Giant Goldcoast that was built the same time they started building Schwinn bikes .

 

[MattiThundrrr]

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.

The same thing happened to bicycles. US companies could have played it smarter, but the fight was always rigged.

Don't forget about wages! Pesky North Americans and their need to "live"

 

[93EXCivic]

To be fair, the Chinese can do high quality stuff and American manufacturers can do absolute .....

I have dealt with terrible parts suppliers in China, US and South Africa and great one in China and the US. But by far the shittest was an injection molding place in the US. And the best was a prototyping place in China.

QC is QC and while there are obviously tons of Chinese places that don't get it there are some that do.

Now IP protections is a different matter...

 

[Verrt]

Now IP protections is a different matter...

Reverse engineering and industrial espionage are just another way of doing business, right?

 

[sandman]

Quality control in China = “just about right”
Don't worry , it only has to last until the warranty runs out .
Silly Americans

 

[Verrt]

Don't worry , it only has to last until the warranty runs out .
Silly Americans

Overheard in an American company's product sourcing meeting

 

[93EXCivic]

Made in America is zero guarantee of quality. Look at American cars in the 80s, 90s and early 00s...

Don't get me wrong I try to buy American when possible but I am going to buy products based on quality regardless of where they are made.

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[sandman]

Look at American cars and Bicycles before the 80s .
It's a culture thing . I grew up outside Detroit in the 70s .
So I want things to go back then . When muscle cars and bikes were on everybody's wish list and foreign cars were for the exotic .
I heard some nightmare stories about imports parked at US factory's back then .

 

[Verrt]

Look at American cars and Bicycles before the 80s .

Like the Chevy Corvair!

I'm kidding, America has had real winners and real lemons throughout its automotive history. Like all car producing countries.

Even now, Tesla is an American automotive company and makes the most advanced car in the world. They make their cars in Fremont and Shanghai.

 

[93EXCivic]

Look at American cars and Bicycles before the 80s .
It's a culture thing . I grew up outside Detroit in the 70s .
So I want things to go back then . When muscle cars and bikes were on everybody's wish list and foreign cars were for the exotic .
I heard some nightmare stories about imports parked at US factory's back then .

I grew up in the 90s so my main memories of American cars were the Caviler, Taurus, SN95 Mustangs or even worse the New Edge Mustang, Grand Prix and all those other couple pieces of trash that Detroit was selling then. I think the main magazine that formed my automotive tastes was Sport Compact Car. And by the time I was driving we had things like the PT Cruiser...

I mean at this point it feels like more of the "imports" are producing in the US then the domestics. I mean there is Toyota/Mazda plant going in the town where I live, there is a Nissan plant not too far away, a Hyundai, a Mercedes and a VW plant within a couple hours of here. In the meantime, a lot of the domestic companies have moved production to Mexico or Canada.

There are some amazing bike companies in the USA. My current bike I am building I am trying to use as many USA made parts as possible. So I going to use WolfTooth chainring bolts and headset, USAMade Components chain rings, White Industries Hubs, King Cage bottle cages, Paul Component Cantis and a few other odds and ends. Maybe Velocity rims and Phil Wood bottom bracket if I can swing the price. The rest of the parts are used.



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[Verrt]

I'd love to justify a Phil Wood BB

 

[Dr. Tankenstein]

Look at American cars and Bicycles before the 80s .
It's a culture thing . I grew up outside Detroit in the 70s .
So I want things to go back then . When muscle cars and bikes were on everybody's wish list and foreign cars were for the exotic .
I heard some nightmare stories about imports parked at US factory's back then .

My uncle had to pit a set of Cadillac Cimarron badges on his Toyota Cressida to stop it from being egged at the pipe fitting factory where he worked


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[MattiThundrrr]

Hey, don't knock the Cressida, that thing could do 0-60 with n like 10.6!

And @93EXCivic YES to SportCompactCar Mag, I read every issue cover to cover bitd. Inspired me to do a B18 Civic hatchback

 

[Karate Chicken Industries]

I'd love to justify a Phil Wood BB

When I want something to be right with the old adage of "buy nice, or buy twice" while keeping it US Made (or even euro as in the case of Blue Dream), it's not done until In have enough money to do it right. Interesting side note to that is I've recent;ly been selling some vintage MTB parts to make ends meet and some of the componentry is going for ridiculous amounts of money and people who know what they want are not hesitant about buying them. Save the money, get the Phil.

 

[Verrt]

Save the money, get the Phil.

When it comes to BBs though, a Shimano UN55 will last longer than cockroaches. Hard to justify 150 plus cups are extra.

Hubs and headsets on the other hand...

 

[Karate Chicken Industries]

I've crushed UN-72, UN-55, and just about any other UN Shimano on my mountain bikes over the years.

Chris King Headsets - Set it and forget it, almost forever. I had to clean and re-lube bearings once on one of the many I've run.

DT Hubs - Replace star ratchets once in a while, usually a 15 minute task.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

They ain't so tough

 

[Imaginos]

Roaches are tropical. They've move north with the increase in human population because our heated buildings allow them to survive the winter. So they will not outlast humans, at least in colder latitudes. So yeah, they aint so tough.

 

[Dr. Tankenstein]

Hey, don't knock the Cressida, that thing could do 0-60 with n like 10.6!

And @93EXCivic YES to SportCompactCar Mag, I read every issue cover to cover bitd. Inspired me to do a B18 Civic hatchback

His Cressida was REALLY nice, basically a ore runner to the Lexus line


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[MattiThundrrr]

I have fond memories of cruising in a Cressida with the rad Ms Cherri Peel at the wheel, Billy Idol blasting on the cassette deck.