Originally Posted by alanbikehouston

Motobecane is currently sold by a company that buys the cheapest stuff they can find. Trek has a large factory in Wisconsin that makes its high end bikes. Fuji owns its own factories in Japan and Taiwan.

Both Trek and Fuji have purchased lower priced frames from suppliers in Taiwan. Those frames are designed or approved by Trek and Fuji engineers, meet Trek and Fuji quality standards, and are sold with the Trek and Fuji factory warranties.

Bottom-feeders in the bike industry will buy "clone" bikes. These are bikes that look EXACTLY like a model from a real bike company, although they may be of far lower quality. But, the bottom-feeders don't employ engineers, don't have a quality testing laboratory, and don't supply their customers with a meaningful warranty. Looking LIKE a real bike does not make a clone into a real bike.

One guy here in Houston bought a Motobecane. When the seatpost broke after two weeks, he asked for a replacement. He was told "that bike comes with an odd size of seatpost that we can't locate".

Buyer beware.