Trek made by Giant? Aren't Trek USA made bikes? If so, am I better off with Giant?
09-30-21, 12:05 AM
#76
Senior Member
Both my bikes' frames were made in the United States. One in Pennsylvania and one in Tennessee. Dunno how many other components were, probably not many. But I'll take what I can get.
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09-30-21, 04:18 AM
#77
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In my opinion, Taiwan made bikes have always been of superb quality, even in the 80's. Taiwan took over where Japan left off. Nowadays, Taiwan made bikes are the highest end of popular, mass produced bikes.. I would't say they came a long way, I say they started out on the high. The quality of the late 80's to present frames are of the highest standards. They are better than the Japanese bikes of the 70's and 80's. Just because a bike is made in a predominantly Caucasian country (US, UK, Italy, France) doesn't mean it is a superior product. Also the QC in China all depends on the specifications of the demand of the company contracting a manufacturer, Very high end products are made in China. Just because something is made in China doesn't mean it is garbage either. To think so is racist.
09-30-21, 10:11 AM
#78
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I used to have a made in Taiwan 1979 Fuji Grand Tourer. Nothing about the construction quality of that bike's frame was inferior. Clean lugs and nice paint.
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09-30-21, 01:09 PM
#79
Full Member
This is old, but gives some idea as to TREK`s manufacturing.............
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https://www.cnbc.com/2014/08/01/in-w...%20last%20year
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https://www.cnbc.com/2014/08/01/in-w...%20last%20year
10-01-21, 08:20 AM
#81
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10-01-21, 01:00 PM
#84
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10-01-21, 01:54 PM
#85
Senior Member
My Giant Sedona is made in China. I would match it's build quality, engineering, fit and finish with any bike 2x the price made anywhere in the world. The dam thing was almost perfect right out of the box. The paint is Beautiful.
There are some valid reasons for buying a bike made in the USA or in ones own country, But Quality is not one of them.
There are some valid reasons for buying a bike made in the USA or in ones own country, But Quality is not one of them.
Last edited by xroadcharlie; 10-01-21 at 01:57 PM.
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10-01-21, 03:40 PM
#86
Member
Can Taiwan make a good bike.....LOL.
The most advanced titanium frame fabricator in the world, who uses custom butted and swaged Ti and manages to get tubes into all kinds of crazy shapes and tapers and geo and then welds them perfectly, is located in Taiwan. They are called ORA, and if you have a Ti frame that isn't a Litespeed, Lynskey, Moots, Seven, or a small handful of others, then you are riding an ORA made frame.
ORA
The most advanced titanium frame fabricator in the world, who uses custom butted and swaged Ti and manages to get tubes into all kinds of crazy shapes and tapers and geo and then welds them perfectly, is located in Taiwan. They are called ORA, and if you have a Ti frame that isn't a Litespeed, Lynskey, Moots, Seven, or a small handful of others, then you are riding an ORA made frame.
ORA
Last edited by BadgerOne; 10-01-21 at 03:55 PM.
10-02-21, 05:50 AM
#88
Senior Member
Caley Fretz wrote a great editorial about this nine years ago when he was still at VeloNews: https://www.velonews.com/gear/the-to...yth-of-origin/
Asia has the most efficient and best supply chains and manufacturing capacity for making bikes in the world. Making carbon bikes is particular sensitive to economies of scale given the relatively large capital investment in molds, autoclaves, laser cutters, automated tape layup machines etc required for modern carbon frames. Big manufacturers like Giant and Merida can take in spools of raw carbon fiber in one end of their factories and spit out extremely high quality bikes that use the latest technology at the other end. Giant is able to use extremely advanced and efficient automated production techniques on the latest TCR that very few other manufacturers can match. The result is fantastic riding frames (read any review of the latest TCR) that are some of the best quality in the world even though they are reasonably affordable.
It's really hard to make quality bikes anywhere else at a reasonable cost, but automation is slowly changing that if a company can make the investment. On a recent "Nerd Alert" podcast, Gerald Vroomen talked about the difficulties of moving even a small part of 3T's manufacturing to Italy (https://cyclingtips.com/2021/09/nerd...-carbon-fiber/). 3T had to completely revamp production techniques and materials. Small producers can make batches of bikes in the US, the UK or Italy but you're going to pay a lot for it unless the manufacturer is able to automate. I wonder if it's worth it..
The other issue I have is that "Made in ..." designations are really tenuous these days, bordering on fraudulent. For example: Colnago has proudly and publicly designated their top of the line C64 as "Made in Italy", but that bike's tubes are made in Asia, all they're doing in Italy is gluing them together and painting them. The same was true of the prior C60 and the the C59 before that etc. Similarly, for years Pinarello danced around where their bikes were actually made while they draped their Asia-produced, mega-buck Dogma in Italian flags. Again, I personally think Asian produced carbon frames can be the best in the world. I just object to trying to confuse customers.
Asia has the most efficient and best supply chains and manufacturing capacity for making bikes in the world. Making carbon bikes is particular sensitive to economies of scale given the relatively large capital investment in molds, autoclaves, laser cutters, automated tape layup machines etc required for modern carbon frames. Big manufacturers like Giant and Merida can take in spools of raw carbon fiber in one end of their factories and spit out extremely high quality bikes that use the latest technology at the other end. Giant is able to use extremely advanced and efficient automated production techniques on the latest TCR that very few other manufacturers can match. The result is fantastic riding frames (read any review of the latest TCR) that are some of the best quality in the world even though they are reasonably affordable.
It's really hard to make quality bikes anywhere else at a reasonable cost, but automation is slowly changing that if a company can make the investment. On a recent "Nerd Alert" podcast, Gerald Vroomen talked about the difficulties of moving even a small part of 3T's manufacturing to Italy (https://cyclingtips.com/2021/09/nerd...-carbon-fiber/). 3T had to completely revamp production techniques and materials. Small producers can make batches of bikes in the US, the UK or Italy but you're going to pay a lot for it unless the manufacturer is able to automate. I wonder if it's worth it..
The other issue I have is that "Made in ..." designations are really tenuous these days, bordering on fraudulent. For example: Colnago has proudly and publicly designated their top of the line C64 as "Made in Italy", but that bike's tubes are made in Asia, all they're doing in Italy is gluing them together and painting them. The same was true of the prior C60 and the the C59 before that etc. Similarly, for years Pinarello danced around where their bikes were actually made while they draped their Asia-produced, mega-buck Dogma in Italian flags. Again, I personally think Asian produced carbon frames can be the best in the world. I just object to trying to confuse customers.
10-02-21, 02:37 PM
#89
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Mods .... can we change the name of this thread to "What?! Giant bikes aren't made by giants and Treks aren't made on long journeys? I am outraged!"
10-03-21, 07:17 AM
#90
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Out sourcing is nothing new. I bought an early seventies Raleigh that had an altered headbadge with Nottingham crossed out . On the seat tube was a sticker that said Made in Holland. I still have that frame because I thought it was interesting , the only one I’d seen.
10-03-21, 07:27 AM
#91
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IIRC, the Holland-built Raleighs were made by Gazelle.
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10-14-21, 07:29 PM
#92
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10-14-21, 11:37 PM
#93
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I thought Treks were made by Paramount but the most recent one was Prime Video
10-15-21, 05:33 AM
#94
Junior Member
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10-18-21, 06:47 AM
#95
Senior Member
Chinese QC can be poor. Stuff made for the Chinese domestic market can be awful, but the same company making products for the western markets can be really good, the QC is better because western buyers demand more. I had a friend who ran a small factory in Kunshan. He said it wasn't hard to compete with Chinese products, because he didn't cut corners, unlike his competitors.
I bought a really good set of carbon rims from China, I couldn't get them from anywhere else, the quality is top notch, but they weren't cheap. If you are willing to pay what you would in Europe or North America you can find excellent quality. If you buy cheap crap from Aliexpress, then you get what you pay for.
I buy lots of stuff off of Taobao (the domestic version of AliExpress) for my bike, much of it from local brands, and it's almost always good. The key is making sure to buy from a reputable seller and buying products which have a high sales volume and decent reviews.
