Originally Posted by
yohannrjm
I think the issue here is the 'Made in Italy' sticker. If I have something that says it was made somewhere (wherever that may be) I expect it to be made there. So if I have a 'Made in Italy' sticker on my frame, then I would expect the frame to be brazed/welded in Italy....not brazed/welded in Taiwan and then painted in Italy.
I don't mind Italian companies having bikes made in Taiwan or wherever, as long as it's stated clearly what the country of manufacture is. If the bike is designed by a company and meets that company's standards then it works for me regardless of where it was made.
Rivendell bikes are not made by Grant, but he designs the frames and controls the quality somehow, so they're still Rivendell bikes....again, regardless of where they come from.
+100
This has been a growing problem in Italy as the reputation of the "Made in Italy" label has been undercut by a major scandal involving Italian olive oil and expensive handbags made in China. The EU rules in this case are too vague and allow for loopholes:
"Goods whose production involved more than one country shall be deemed to originate in the country where they underwent their last, substantial, economically justified processing."
I posted about this in an earlier thread regarding Campagnolo (which had a bad batch of dropouts made in Asia in the early 80's). I believe that people concerned with the value of Italian goods are taking steps to rectify this situation, perhaps by introducing a "seal of approval" of goods as truly made in Italy, similar to what is done with wine (i.e. the famous Chianti "gallo negro.) This would go above and beyond EU labeling requirements and policy. Some self-policing definitely seems in order if Italy is not to let the "Italian mystique" slip away. Much of it may indeed be mere mystique, as pointed out previously, but that "mystique" does translate into lira, and there is a real issue of integrity involved.