^^ And this thing about slave wages, dangerous conditions, horrendous waste dumping, and spotty quality control is why I got my frame and fork made in America...BUT, unfortunately most of the components are made in China mostly with a few parts in Taiwan, and Singapore, and this is true of all brands except Campy. So unless I wanted to use Paul's components for some stuff, he doesn't do derailleurs, we are all out of luck.

It is what it is, though I try my best not to buy stuff made in China but I realize too that it's impossible not to. Even American made cars import a huge number of parts from China to go into their cars, so buying American doesn't really mean a whole lot anymore, besides most if not all foreign car companies have assembly plants here in America thus employing Americans. But if I can find a product that I want made in any other country other than China I get that instead, but money is money. On my new bike I spent a bit more then I wanted to so I had to stop with Shimano 105 instead of getting Campy Athena that would have cost me another $800 to get made in Italy components. The last new bike I got I did get Campy Athena but I got a fantastic deal that was actually cheaper than what 105 would have cost, but that was in 2007 and Mercian for some reason is able to sell Campy products a lot cheaper than you can buy in America for, and combine that savings with getting a previous year closeout Athena and I had no choice!

I do think after riding the two now for about 4 months that Athena is a bit nicer than 105 even with the rear derailleur upgraded to Ultegra on the new bike...but that is just my impressions.