jetboy 

I was noticing that my new acquisition was pretty eclectic in its choice of components: and ended up representing many countries: (5 to be exact). this is a late 70s/early eighties sold as a framset and set up at whatever dealer/shop sold it. I believe everything is as it was sold. (I am second owner)

1. frame/forks - England
2. brakes/pedals/seatpost - Japan
3. derailers/quill/bars - Italy
4. saddle/crankset - USA (though the crankset was actually made in italy for avocet)
5. Wheelset - France


It seems that many people shoot to keep their CV bike pure- outfitting it all with a single group or trying to keep it to one country. figured i'd see if anyone has gone the other extreme and made a true "multi-national"?

72Paramount

I have an 84 Mongoose(USA) with a Brooks saddle(England) a Campagnolo BMX crank (Italy), Dia-Compe brakes(Japan) Oakley grips (USA), Phil hubs(USA), Araya rims (Japan) and who knows what else....

3speedslow

Remember the Mattra" price point ".

CliffordK

Don't forget tires, tubes, and spokes.

I think the Continental tires are often German. I think I've also had French or Italian tires in the past. But, so much is now Asian. Tubes????

Are DT spokes made in Switzerland?

rhm

Of my bikes that are in more or less 'original' condition, the Allegro, made in Switzerland, stands out for an interesting blend of European components. It came with English frame tubing, chain, seat post clamp; French lugs, handlebar, stem, headset, bottom bracket, crank, pedals; Italian hubs and rear derailleur; Swiss brakes (including levers etc). Original parts lost along the way included Swiss rims, English saddle, Italian shifters and front derailleur. Not sure about the rest. I've added English fenders, Italian seat post, Mexican leather on an English saddle frame....

Of the ones I've cobbled together,

Fothergill is mostly English but has French rims and pedals, American handlebar, and doubtless many small parts made in China, Japan, or elsewhere in the far east.

Lambert has an English frame and fenders, French crank, Italian brakes, Spanish seat post, and everything else from the far east.

Holdsworth has an English frame with French lugs, German fenders, Italian seat post, handlebar, stem, brake levers; aside from some small parts made in Spain, everything else from the far east.

It would be totally easy to build a bike that has parts from England, France, Italy, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, USA, Japan, China, Malaysia, and Taiwan. Adding the Netherlands and Czechoslovakia should not be difficult. A bit more of a challenge, but not impossible, would be to find suitable parts from India, Argentina, Mexico, and doubtless some other European countries... what am I missing? Anything from Israel?

KonAaron Snake 

I've got a few global builds.

Bilenky Tandem:

USA: frame, Bottom brackets, soon the stems, one seat post, rear hub
Italy: headset, front bar, ergos, rear derailleur, bottle cages
Japan: front derailleur, rear pedals, cranks, brakes, front hub
china: front pedals, rear post
england: saddles
German:rear light, tires
French: rims
spain: bells
canada: wine bottle holder
Spokes: swiss
tubes: taiwan

RobbieTunes

Italy for the passion, bottom bracket and tubing.
France for the imagination, crankset and pedals.
United States for the design and fabrication, seat post, stem, bars.
Japan for the shifters, FD/RD.
Canada for the chain rings.
Korea for the seatpost binder.
Taiwan for the chainring bolts, calipers, and headset spacers.
Germany for the tires.
China for the chain.
Ukraine for the saddle.
No clue who makes the wrap.
.

That's one bike. Doesn't count the kit, shoes, helmet.

Everything comes from somewhere, something comes from everywhere.

crank_addict

Rudi- Do you recall these rims?

Cassave

My most eclectic;

American: lugs, dropouts, fork crown, paint, hubs, brake levers, brake pads, tires, bottle cage, rack
Japanese: Crankset, bottom bracket, handlebar, shifters
English: Frame tubes, saddle, saddlebag
Swiss: spokes, bartape
French: Rims, headset, chainrings
German: Freewheel, chain, tubes, fenders
Italian: Brakes, derailers, seatpost, stem, skewers
Chinese: (American branded) tires and pedals

John E

1960 Capo Sieger (OEM):

Austrian (Viennese) design, brazing, branding, & assembly)
English frame tubes (full forks & stays, butted triangle, 531)
Italian lugs, driveline, stem/bars (Agrati, Ambrosio, Magistroni, Campag., Caimi)
French saddle (Ideale) and chainrings (Simplex)
Swiss brakes (Weinmann Vainqueur 999)

cyclotoine

My favorite daily rider is like many of those listed here, where there have been as many as 10 countries but not more like 7 or 8... lets see.

Canada: Seatpost (syncros Ti)
USA: Chris King headset, Phil wood BB, j-tek shiftmate, mathauser pads
Switzerland: Mairag frame set, DT swiss rim
France: TA specialties crankset (now sram rival)
England: Had a brooks, but swapped for san marco, not sure I have any english parts anymore... but I want to put a C17 on.
Italy: San Marco Rolls Saddle, Vittoria tires, campagnolo chorus 10s DT and 1970s record long reach calipers, Cinelli cork tape
Germany: Did have continentals, but switched out for Vittoria
Japan: Dia-Compe GC stem and Nitto Bars, shimano pedals, Dura-Ace chain and cassette
Taiwan: VO fenders? Velomax wheels?
China: Cables, housing?

VO saddle bag? Cannondale bar bag?

holden west

I thought the '86 Ironman had a nice mix of international parts, overall design from the US, Japanese frame and most components with an Italian saddle, French rims and Swiss spokes. It's also nice to see there is still some diversity at the high end, for instance, new bikes with Rotor cranks from Spain.

gaucho777 

My Speedwell features an international build.

England: Frame/fork, seat post
France: saddle, bottle cage, spokes/nipples, bar-end plugs
Spain: headset
Italy: bars, stem, hubs, rims, clips/straps, brake calipers, chain, freewheel, tires
U.S.A.: pedals, handlebar tape
Japan: crankset, BB, shifters, derailleurs, brake levers

davester

I think everything on my Miyata is japanese except for the koolstop brake pads, which are likely either from Oregon or China, and the bar tape and brake cables which are probably from China.

jetboy 

beautiful

calamarichris

Frame, fork: Carlsbad, CA, USA
Brakes & levers: Japan
Tires: Handmade in Germany
Crankset & Headset: Italy
Saddle: England
Seatpost: USA
Hubs: Italy
Rims: France
Pedals: France
Derailleurs & shifters: Japan
Bars & Stem: Italy

SquidPuppet

I count seven on this one



Frame/fork: Chicago USA
Headset: Japan
Bars: Texas USA
Grips: China
Tape: Pennsylvania USA
Stem: England
Saddle: England
Seat post: Home made (Idaho)
Seat post Clamp: China
Crank set: USA/China?
Pedals: Japan
Bottom Bracket: Japan
Chain: Taiwan
Rims: China
Hubs: Japan
Spokes/nipples: Belgium
Tires: Germany
Tubes: China?

mtnbke

Very few Contis are German made. I remember when I realized my secret stash of German gumwall TopTouring 2000 27" tires were so dry rotted I wasn't going to be able to safely use them. I was crushed. I should have just been riding on them over the years, and not "saving them." The non-German non-gumwall modern tires like TopContact just don't look the same or ride the same. Continental is such a huge tire conglomerate, I asked a rep once why the move away from the "good" German stuff. He told me a lot of the German stuff involved a lot of "hands on" manufacturing per the labor union control in Germany, and a lot of what he called "overseas" stuff was produced in a more automated fashion. He also said that the bicycle part of Continental has to sink/swim on their own. They don't get carried by the automotive side.

lord_athlon

My Raleigh has:
Italian Hubs
French Rims
Swiss Spokes
German Brakes
Japanese Cranks, Derailleurs, Handlebars and stem
Italian Seatpost
Japanese tires and Seat Binder bolt.
USA bar tape and twine
China chain

CliffordK

I think my Gators and Gator Hardshells still say "Handmade in Germany". Maybe also GP 4S.

There is a market as long as they can convince the public that the are better off buying a $40 or $50 German tire rather than a $20 Chinese tire. And, unfortunately for the individual purchaser, if a tire lasts a year or two, it is hard to really know whether one tire is truly better than another.

I had a friend that worked in a GE Lightbulb factory in St. Louis, I think. The sad thing was the factory had lasted until a couple of years ago, but then management decided that rather than retooling the facility to go from tungsten filament to CF and LED (which is now being mandated by the government), that they would just close down.

icepick_trotsky 

Anyone got a Zeus to post? How many of their components were not made in Spain? Things like chain, tires, et cetera.

crank_addict

Interesting thought but think of all the frames built with various sourced makers of tubing, lugs and braze-ons. You could have a US made frame with Italian lugs, English tubing.

Then theres component makers such as French name Simplex but parts made in Italy, or old Swiss name Weinmann who had factories in split Germany to the USA but now China, etc..

jetboy 

as bikes become less C&V the lines begin to blur as the world becomes more integrated (at least trade wise). I just thought: I have seen many builds where someone tried to make it "All french" or "all swiss" but not yet have I seen a person try to make it "every country that makes any sort of bike component".

really showcase the international nature of cycling in one bike.

its actually sort of amazing when you think of all the people in all the countries that worked together (if loosely!) to create the bike you ride around on every day.