Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 9,797
Likes: 1,761
From: Northern California
Bikes: Cheltenham-Pedersen racer, Boulder F/S Paris-Roubaix, Varsity racer, '52 Christophe, '62 Continental, '92 Merckx, '75 Limongi, '76 Presto, '72 Gitane SC, '71 Schwinn SS, etc.
Why fret over where a particular bicycle was made? The bike companies aren't much to blame for moving production overseas when market competition dictates that profitability, year-to-year, must be maintained. How else would a bike company pay suppliers for the next year's components?
Some import market forces are due to the arrival of technological abilities and capital to larger, less-developed societies, but markets also shift due to hidden forces of currency manipulation and other geo-political pressures which can be difficult to see, much less understand. Where huge trade deficits persist and debt is seen to accrue, I look more to the domestic market (including the broader used-products market) for my own purchases.
It's nice though to buy a used Schwinn from the days before various market and union pressures forced a more-economized production line that reflected poorly in the finish and build quality of the bikes. To the extent that at least some of the newer models (both imported and domestic) continued to show high quality, that is very fortunate for us vintage bike enthusiasts!
Last edited by dddd; 11-18-14 at 02:49 PM.