At least one post in this thread lumped together carbon components made in the Free Republic of China on Taiwan with the crap made in the communist occupied mainland of China. These are two different countries, with two different economic systems and two different governments.

Some of the best, most advanced, and most tested carbon cycling components are made in Taiwan (the free Republic of China). The semi-independent spin-off company founded by Giant bikes makes carbon components for some of the leading names in cycling. The cycling industry in Taiwan has spent the past two decades building some of the most advanced facilities in the world for modern bike construction.

Further, in Taiwan, the workers are living in a free country. They can move freely from one job to another. They can join a union. They are protected by minimum wage laws, and laws to regulate worker safety. Their plants are open to inspection by government inspectors, union inspectors, and by the customers that are buying the products. The net result: the best products of the Taiwanese cycling industry are among the best in the world.

In contrast, in the communist occupied portion of China, something as simple as having a third baby requires a permit purchased from a communist party official. Failure to purchase the permit can have drastic, sometimes fatal results. Someone trying to organize a labor union or someone who calls for free elections is subject to imprisonment or execution. Organizing a Christian church without communist permission can earn you a fast trip to a concentration camp. Last year, communist China carried out more executions than every other nation on earth combined.

There are NO meaningful laws to protect worker safety, or to ensure that products are tested for safety before being shipped to customers. Products made in China are sold to distributors, who sell them to import/export companies, who sell them to cycling vendors. Tracing a defective fork back to the actual communist-run factory that made it could turn out to be an exercise in futility.


The fact that communist made carbon forks are now retailing in the USA for under $50 is a clue to the rigorous "testing" such forks receive. A rule of thumb in the sale of manufactured products is that the cost of producing the product is usually less than 25% of the retail price. That means that a carbon fork retailing for $50 was purchased by the distributer for around $30, and he bought it from an importer that paid around $25. The materials, construction, and "testing" come in at $10 or $15.

Trust your life to $15 worth of carbon tubing made by a slave labor workforce? Well, it's your life.