Trek made by Giant? Aren't Trek USA made bikes? If so, am I better off with Giant?
Likes For kahn:
09-25-21, 03:18 PM
#27
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2015
Posts: 14,595
Bikes: 2015 Workswell 066, 2017 Workswell 093, 2014 Dawes Sheila, 1983 Cannondale 500, 1984 Raleigh Olympian, 2007 Cannondale Rize 4, 2017 Fuji Sportif 1 LE
Mentioned: 143 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 7169 Post(s)
Liked 2,627 Times
in
1,432 Posts
"The People" did not get to vote. If you have to pay to vote, it is not a fair election, which is why poll taxes are illegal.
09-25-21, 03:55 PM
#28
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Oahu, HI
Posts: 1,374
Bikes: 89 Paramount OS 84 Fuji Touring Series III New! 2013 Focus Izalco Ergoride
Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 279 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 63 Times
in
47 Posts
Isn't the question whether Taiwan frames are better than China? Or Giant better than Merida?
scott s.
.
scott s.
.
09-25-21, 05:01 PM
#29
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 36,704
Mentioned: 206 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 16971 Post(s)
Liked 12,512 Times
in
5,927 Posts
09-25-21, 05:02 PM
#30
working on my sandal tan
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: CID
Posts: 22,340
Bikes: 1991 Bianchi Eros, 1964 Armstrong, 1988 Diamondback Ascent, 1988 Bianchi Premio, 1987 Bianchi Sport SX, 1980s Raleigh mixte (hers), All-City Space Horse (hers)
Mentioned: 97 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3744 Post(s)
Liked 2,301 Times
in
1,444 Posts
__________________
RUSA #7498
Originally Posted by chandltp
There's no such thing as too far.. just lack of time
Originally Posted by noglider
People in this forum are not typical.
Last edited by ThermionicScott; 09-25-21 at 05:44 PM.
09-25-21, 05:18 PM
#31
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2019
Posts: 520
Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 229 Post(s)
Liked 327 Times
in
179 Posts
The most advanced semiconductor manufacturing facilities are in Taiwan and run by a Taiwanese company. All the top PC motherboard companies are Taiwanese and they've expanded out to all sorts of peripherals. I see no reason why they can't make a frame for a bicycle.
09-25-21, 05:35 PM
#32
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Eastern VA
Posts: 1,562
Bikes: 2021 Domane SL6, Black Beta (Nashbar frame), 2004 Trek 1000C being made an all arounder.
Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 228 Post(s)
Liked 343 Times
in
214 Posts
My Madone 5.0 frame was made in USA. Rear drive side dropout broke. Sent back under warranty. Trek found a crack in the top tube up near the head. So it could not be fixed. Replaced under warranty. I chose toward a Domane over and Elmonda rim brake frame. Both made in Taiwan. No other choice. Sad. I have all the Madone parts and Aeoles 5 rim brake wheels. May get a US steel frame for a second bike. Or some EBay frame.
Last edited by biker128pedal; 09-25-21 at 05:42 PM.
09-25-21, 05:52 PM
#33
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Mississauga/Toronto, Ontario canada
Posts: 8,279
Bikes: I have 3 singlespeed/fixed gear bikes
Mentioned: 24 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3778 Post(s)
Liked 2,136 Times
in
1,101 Posts
Don't forget that the majority of Shimano and Sram components are made in China, Malaysia and Taiwan....and your $ 400 Rapha bibs are also made in some Chinese sweat shop.
09-25-21, 05:58 PM
#34
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: The banks of the River Charles
Posts: 1,960
Bikes: 2022 Salsa Beargrease, 2020 Seven Evergreen, 2019 Honey Allroads Ti, 2018 Seven Redsky XX, 2017 Trek Boon 7, 2014 Trek 520
Mentioned: 18 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 668 Post(s)
Liked 820 Times
in
449 Posts
Yes
yes
and yes.
They might be contract manufactured by Giant but they are uniquely responsible for their design elements like IsoZone,
yes
and yes.
They might be contract manufactured by Giant but they are uniquely responsible for their design elements like IsoZone,
09-25-21, 06:05 PM
#35
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Southwestern Ontario
Posts: 4,862
Mentioned: 22 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1395 Post(s)
Liked 913 Times
in
469 Posts
My Madone 5.0 frame was made in USA. Rear drive side dropout broke. Sent back under warranty. Trek found a crack in the top tube up near the head. So it could not be fixed. Replaced under warranty. I chose toward a Domane over and Elmonda rim brake frame. Both made in Taiwan. No other choice. Sad. I have all the Madone parts and Aeoles 5 rim brake wheels. May get a US steel frame for a second bike. Or some EBay frame.
09-25-21, 06:38 PM
#36
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2015
Posts: 14,595
Bikes: 2015 Workswell 066, 2017 Workswell 093, 2014 Dawes Sheila, 1983 Cannondale 500, 1984 Raleigh Olympian, 2007 Cannondale Rize 4, 2017 Fuji Sportif 1 LE
Mentioned: 143 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 7169 Post(s)
Liked 2,627 Times
in
1,432 Posts
Ninety-five percent of everything electronic---pretty much anything with a printed circuit board or any component on the board--is made in the special industrial region of Shenzhen, China. A lot of the parts and frames made by Taiwan or Japanese companies are made in China also. There are a lot of skilled workers in China, and a lot of manufacturing jobs don't take huge skill---it's not like these parts are hand-machined. Turn on the CNC machine, enter the program, press "Run."
Yeah, there is a lot of complete crap is made in China, and a lot of bad fakes and knock-offs .... and also a lot of good fakes, and a lot of reverse-engineered stuff rebranded under Chinese trademarks, and a lot of stuff we think comes from Taiwan. Taiwan is really densely populated, and property prices are astronomical .... and factory space and labor across the Taiwan Strait is very affordable..
"Buy USA" is about helping local economies, not higher quality. Mass production is mass production, unskilled or semi-skilled labor is the same everywhere .....
Yeah, there is a lot of complete crap is made in China, and a lot of bad fakes and knock-offs .... and also a lot of good fakes, and a lot of reverse-engineered stuff rebranded under Chinese trademarks, and a lot of stuff we think comes from Taiwan. Taiwan is really densely populated, and property prices are astronomical .... and factory space and labor across the Taiwan Strait is very affordable..
"Buy USA" is about helping local economies, not higher quality. Mass production is mass production, unskilled or semi-skilled labor is the same everywhere .....
Likes For Maelochs:
09-25-21, 09:02 PM
#37
Tractorlegs
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: El Paso, TX
Posts: 3,185
Bikes: Schwinn Meridian Single-Speed Tricycle
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 119 Post(s)
Liked 60 Times
in
42 Posts
No, don't give your money to offshore builders.
Buy USA made frames.
There are scores of USA frame builders.
Components are Asian made mostly, but Campagnolo still makes most of their products in Italy . . . . . . (images clipped for brevity) . . . . .
Bikes come from many places, one just has to take off their Trek, Specialized, Giant blinders. The World of bikes can be your oyster.
Buy USA made frames.
There are scores of USA frame builders.
Components are Asian made mostly, but Campagnolo still makes most of their products in Italy . . . . . . (images clipped for brevity) . . . . .
Bikes come from many places, one just has to take off their Trek, Specialized, Giant blinders. The World of bikes can be your oyster.
__________________
********************************
Trikeman
Trikeman
Likes For Mark Stone:
09-26-21, 07:03 AM
#38
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2021
Posts: 5,366
Mentioned: 7 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2728 Post(s)
Liked 2,969 Times
in
1,859 Posts
Carbon frame manufacture is very labour intensive and requires a very specific skill set. That skill set has been largely developed in Taiwan over the past few decades. So I don't have a problem buying frames made there. Giant in particular have all the tech and labour skills required to do it very well.
09-26-21, 07:23 AM
#40
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Lebanon (Liberty Hill), CT
Posts: 8,299
Bikes: CAAD 12, MASI Gran Criterium S, Colnago World Cup CX & Guru steel
Mentioned: 6 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1656 Post(s)
Liked 1,162 Times
in
677 Posts
My GURU Sidero was built in Montreal, eh?
Likes For bruce19:
09-26-21, 07:46 AM
#41
Expired Member
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: TN
Posts: 10,884
Mentioned: 34 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3377 Post(s)
Liked 4,693 Times
in
2,379 Posts
09-26-21, 09:41 AM
#43
Senior Member
Thread Starter
09-26-21, 12:28 PM
#44
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2021
Posts: 5,366
Mentioned: 7 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2728 Post(s)
Liked 2,969 Times
in
1,859 Posts
09-26-21, 01:21 PM
#45
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2015
Posts: 14,595
Bikes: 2015 Workswell 066, 2017 Workswell 093, 2014 Dawes Sheila, 1983 Cannondale 500, 1984 Raleigh Olympian, 2007 Cannondale Rize 4, 2017 Fuji Sportif 1 LE
Mentioned: 143 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 7169 Post(s)
Liked 2,627 Times
in
1,432 Posts
Unless you buy a BigBox Bike, you are getting decent quality with just about any bike manufacturer.
The science of bike design and production is a mature industry, and with the levels of automation which are now commonplace, building a bike at least as good as was the general standard thirty or fifty years ago is a lot easier. Welding robots are more reliable than humans, CNC machining doesn't turn out bad parts on Hangover Monday, and QC is more important because with electronic communication, if a manufacturer screws over a customer, everyone will know before long.
Unless it were made entirely in North Korea, I wouldn't worry.
Springfield Armories, a venerable and well-respected gun manufacturer, released its XD line several years back---guns manufactured in Serbia or Croatia or somewhere. The guns are great, and sell well, and they are made well --- because people from any country are still modern human beings with the same size brains, the same number of fingers, all that. It's not like The American Worker is magically more skilled, more attentive, more able ..... and the Chinese worker is not an idiot. Some US workers are idiots, and some workers form anywhere ... and some are good, some careful, some ignorant, some talented. And a company can set up a modern factory in Any country, hire workers with the required skill and intellect, and turn out good products anywhere.
Ask Shimano, most of whose production is done in communist China and Malaysia.
Get a bike if you want a bike. Stick with better-known brands ... or do online research. A lot of posters here have bikes from nearly unknown brands---limited run, or custom .... really high quality. Just avoid big-box-store bikes, and you will be fine.
The science of bike design and production is a mature industry, and with the levels of automation which are now commonplace, building a bike at least as good as was the general standard thirty or fifty years ago is a lot easier. Welding robots are more reliable than humans, CNC machining doesn't turn out bad parts on Hangover Monday, and QC is more important because with electronic communication, if a manufacturer screws over a customer, everyone will know before long.
Unless it were made entirely in North Korea, I wouldn't worry.
Springfield Armories, a venerable and well-respected gun manufacturer, released its XD line several years back---guns manufactured in Serbia or Croatia or somewhere. The guns are great, and sell well, and they are made well --- because people from any country are still modern human beings with the same size brains, the same number of fingers, all that. It's not like The American Worker is magically more skilled, more attentive, more able ..... and the Chinese worker is not an idiot. Some US workers are idiots, and some workers form anywhere ... and some are good, some careful, some ignorant, some talented. And a company can set up a modern factory in Any country, hire workers with the required skill and intellect, and turn out good products anywhere.
Ask Shimano, most of whose production is done in communist China and Malaysia.
Get a bike if you want a bike. Stick with better-known brands ... or do online research. A lot of posters here have bikes from nearly unknown brands---limited run, or custom .... really high quality. Just avoid big-box-store bikes, and you will be fine.
Likes For Maelochs:
09-26-21, 04:02 PM
#46
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: SW Fl.
Posts: 5,502
Bikes: Day6 Semi Recumbent "FIREBALL", 1981 Custom Touring Paramount, 1983 Road Paramount, 2013 Giant Propel Advanced SL3, 2018 Specialized Red Roubaix Expert mech., 2002 Magna 7sp hybrid, 1976 Bassett Racing 45sp Cruiser
Mentioned: 17 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1025 Post(s)
Liked 697 Times
in
449 Posts
Carbon frame manufacture is very labour intensive and requires a very specific skill set. That skill set has been largely developed in Taiwan over the past few decades. So I don't have a problem buying frames made there. Giant in particular have all the tech and labour skills required to do it very well.
09-26-21, 06:23 PM
#47
Expired Member
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: TN
Posts: 10,884
Mentioned: 34 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3377 Post(s)
Liked 4,693 Times
in
2,379 Posts
So this is all resolved and he got the Giant. Trek Antelope 830 (USA made) better than a Giant ATX980? 
Likes For shelbyfv:
09-27-21, 02:14 AM
#48
Senior Member
Thread Starter
So this is all resolved and he got the Giant. Trek Antelope 830 (USA made) better than a Giant ATX980?
Likes For 777funk:
09-27-21, 03:35 AM
#49
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2021
Posts: 5,366
Mentioned: 7 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2728 Post(s)
Liked 2,969 Times
in
1,859 Posts
09-27-21, 06:00 AM
#50
Senior Member
You can go on Youtube and see "Trek Factory Tour" videos, of their facility in Wisconsin. I'm not sure if that fancy new place was built before or after they moved production to Asia, but it appears to be just a prototyping lab and design studio now.
Perhaps not unrelated: I almost bought a very old Trek bike I saw in a resale shop a couple years ago. Probably from the late-70s I think? It was made in Japan.
Perhaps not unrelated: I almost bought a very old Trek bike I saw in a resale shop a couple years ago. Probably from the late-70s I think? It was made in Japan.
