Originally Posted by
noglider
Yeah, many of us were dispassionate about Japanese bikes in the 80's. Not a lot of change was going on, and there were far more names than makers. It was clear that they were making more names to increase market share. But in retrospect, maybe they were not original, but they were damned good bikes.
As far as I know, Taiwan is where the best mass produced bikes and bike parts come from now. They used to make crap, but it's darned good. Some of the Chinese stuff is good, and some is not. So yes, we might look back at this stuff nostalgically. I suspect we will. I don't know where stuff will be made in the future. Chinese labor rates are on the way up. Laos? The Philippines? Maybe some African country.
+1 Taiwan made steel frames i.e. Soma, Surly, Salsa & others are generally made in smaller production runs than that of the mass produced Chinese stuff. Taiwan today is similar to the Japan of the 70' & 80's. From what I have exp. they have a good build quality and an excellent ride quality. They lack lugs and have slightly sloped downtubes, but perform very nicely. They are usually made from high quality steels. 4130 gets a bad rap, but when drawn into tubes it can be crap or very high end. I own a Soma Doublecross DC and a Vassago Bandersnatch 29er. Since I started riding these two bikes about a year ago, my C & V collection has just sat still. Modern Taiwan frames gets a bad rap in this forum, but they are cheaper than custom and still high quality steel. The geometry is slightly more comfortable than the older bikes IMO. These smaller frame companies will have some collector interest 20 years from now. Their steel, so we know thay will be around.