Tpcorr

FWIW...my Masi came with an FSA crank and the bolt kept backing out on rides. This even after the LBS "fixed" it a couple times. On one of the forums here some mentioned that it was not uncommon for FSA cranks to do this. OTOH my gu's Fuji came with one that did not have this problem. But, it's left me reluctant to consider FSA cranks. Just wondering if anyone else has experienced or heard of this.


I've thought about changing out the crank to the Ultegra 6800, but have decided to wait until I have a problem, or just feel like throwing money at the bike.

Tom

fietsbob

Yea Being a sum of it's parts, FSA stuff is often chosen to drop the cost of the whole bike a bit ..

even though the names were Originally Italian , Masi And Bianchi went to Asia
to get the bikes made cheaper .

Bianchi USA did it decades ago Masi first shifted the premium steel frames
to a California subsidiary by selling the name ,

Now they are on Taiwan built by a big conglomerate too .

roadandmountain

All true but bianchi still features the cool paint job.

Asian manufacturing is hardly a stigma; if it is, it's certainly not based on the quality of work. It's kind of snidely implied, given the tone and context that there is something 'tainted' about a taiwanese made bike. But then you look at the welds from taiwanese made bikes such as my gary fisher or on a motobecane ti made by ora, and the quality is top notch. Oh, but it couldn't be because it was made in taiwan!

It's a very pervasive, assumed, implicit unspoken racism. Compare the welds on an ora/motobecane vs a lynskey. The or bikes' welds are just as clean. Now take a look at those detroit a bikes and welds from some custom builders which I would rather not mention here. The custom US builders have streaky paint jobs and uneven, gobby welds. The fisher has uniform, close welds throughout.

I have a gary fisher 2004 that was built in taiwan and the quality of welds looks top notch to me. There's a new line of bikes called detroit a-bikes made in...detroit and the weld quality looks like a first time project from a jr. high school metal shop class. Before they successfully responded to japanese competition, campagnolo brakes and derailleurs back in the 80's were basically impossible to keep in adjustment.

It's interesting that Asian manufacturing has been synonymous with "cheap" products when the far more expensive italian and us equivalents were actually of inferior quality.

I remember an acquaintance delivering a rant once about how the "japanese" don't deliver exciting paint jobs (bridgestone). This idiot didn't realize that the bikes were designed in the US.

fietsbob

now Bridgestone doesn't even bother with the US market , for selling their bikes ..

After all the units sold under contract, to western markets by other brands ,
the manufacturing tooling in Taiwan is top notch .

want something in 7005-T6 aluminum which necessitates a solution heat treatment after welding ?

thats where you go to have it done.. anymore .. and the quick turnarounds and low cost R&D is there.


unless you are running a cost no object, taxpayer funded weapons making company.

or coughing up for something like Moots, in Titanium. seen some really nice bead skillfully
laid down on Titanium bike welding ..

roadandmountain

This. But like I said, the quality of the human craftsmanship is clearly evident on taiwanese made bikes as well.

Too bad about bridgestone. They were kind of ambushed by bicycling magazine by being labeled as 'retro-grouches' and things just kind of went south from there. They made an exceptionally strong case for their bicycles (repairable, inexpensive, great geometry). But trek's bikes, with their high fallootin' carbon and alu, and neon paint jobs, well....

fietsbob

guess Grant shrugged at the Rodale crew and went into the Rivendale , even higher priced niche
and turned the retro thing up to 11.

Trek and many other brands want to see their gear on the world stage

so they funded Lance and his TdF podium poses ,
and now that Sven Nys has a closet full of rainbow jerseys
got him to switch over from Colnago's bikes to theirs.

roadandmountain

Very interesting. Thank you!

It was a bit mystifying seeing bridgestone usa just vanish into the mist....glad to see g.p. following his vision.