Mountain Biking - Who REALLY makes REI/Novara frames?

Old thread was pretty much non conclusive.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?48887-Who-makes-Novara-Bicycles-for-REI

REI is in bed with the Sierra Club, who has an anti-mountain bike agenda.

Shop there only if you want to pay for the privilege of losing trail access.

I wasn't aware of this.

???

So do you suppose dollars take precedence over trail concerns in terms of the sale of mtbs?

There are a bunch of frame manufacturing plants in Asia, mostly in China and Taiwan. Most of the mainstream bike companies have their frames made at these plants, and the bikes are assembled there as well. A single brand will usually have their various models built at different places, largely depending on how much the model costs. Generally speaking, at this point in time, less expensive bikes are made in China, more expensive bikes (say $1000-$1500 and up roughly) are built in Taiwan. Again, generally speaking. And to be clear, these various plants in Asia are making bikes for different companies, and which companies they're building bikes for might even change from year to year. Bottom line, Novara bikes might be made at two or three different plants in a given year, depending on model, and the next year they might be made at two or three completely different plants from the year before. Or not.:D

Thanks for the helpful post. :) Do you think Merida is one of those plants that will do it for them?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merida_Bikes

Thanks for the helpful post. :) Do you think Merida is one of those plants that will do it for them?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merida_Bikes

I don't know. I looked at an industry magazine recently, and the magazine had polled U.S. bike companies, asking where their bikes were manufactured. Of the ones that responded (and there were quite a few), it was clear that each brand has their bikes built at different places, and that each plant makes bikes for different brands. That's the best I can do, sorry.

Keep in mind, as the bike companies like to point out, the bikes are usually designed in-house. They're basically just contracting out the manufacturing, not the design. A brand like Novara (distributed exclusively by a more general sporting equipment company) might be set up differently than others, maybe another bike company does design the bikes, I don't know. But I think it's a safe bet they're like other brands (as described above) in terms of where they're actually manufactured.

P.S. Merida was one of the manufacturers on the list, and they do make bikes for a variety of brands. I just don't remember which ones. And again, it's safe to assume that this list did not include all the brands they manufacture bikes for.

Again, thanks for the info.

I guess I'm just wondering in terms of quality, since this thread (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?615466-Would-like-a-second-opinion).

Most likely it is Giant or Kinesis, who make K2's frames. REI, being a Seattle-based company, has had strong ties with K2 in the past (another Puget Sound-based company); so it would make sense to me that they would choose someone with a track-record known to them when they went shopping for someone to do their 'house-brand' for them.

Not having owned a Novara, I cannot personally vouch for quality; but there is one thing I know: REI stands behind any product they sell with customer service second to none. All you have to do is go to one of their scratch-and-dent sales and see some of the well-worn, beat-up stuff they've accepted back from customers to realize how liberal their return policy is.

Agree about customer service, Doug. I love REI for that reason alone.

Thanks for the info about the K2 relationship. Good to know.

Correction: NOT Giant - - Ideal and Kinesis make K2. Sorry.

Side note: REI started out in downtown Seattle as a little outfit called simply "The Co-Op" - - because that's what it was: a gear co-op started by a handful of people in the Seattle Mountaineers. I bought a pair of snowshoes for my mom back in the early '70s when they had only the one store in Seattle.