Little Darwin

Since many small shops in Oregon were listed... Rich Adams Fabrication, Wilkes-Barre Pennnsylvania

https://bicycleframes.com

StephenH

That's really just a question of whether they're a custom framemaker or not. Places like Worksman are small manufacturers, yet are not custom frame shops, either. You're either making frames in bulk, using jigs and all to make them as identical as possible, or building them one at a time.

noglider 

If you have political reasons, then OK, but currently, Taiwan appears to make high quality bicycles and bike parts. Years ago, this was far from true, but things change. I believe my Surly Cross Check is made there, and I'm very happy with it.

alhedges

Bike Friday, made in Oregon www.bikefriday.com.

Bekologist

Worksman USA if it hasn't been mentioned already. and Gunnar. which is either an arm of waterford or is connected to them in production facility.

in Portland, Chris King is now making bikes again, Sasha White's bikes make everyone drool, and in Washington state there's Rodriguez, Davidson, Hampsten (?) and Curtlo pouring out framesets and bikes.

have you guys heard of the 'speedvagen' collaboration? i don't know how well its gone off but was a great concept and may be percolating among the prolific framebuilders of the NW in some other version.

RideTommasini

Not sure where you got your info - but we have never outsourced our production. ALL Tommasini frames have been made in our factory, in Grosseto Italy.

jdon

True North in Guelph, Ontario.
https://www.truenorthcycles.com/

RideTommasini

yep - 3ttt stuff is made there too. Even I was surprised to see that. Just ordered some new bars and stem for my road bike, figured I should keep it all Italian and did not want to spend too much - only to find out that on the bars it says made in Taiwan. I still put them on my Tommasini because I think they are fine for what I need.

But I would wonder about overall quality of the materials for bike frames - not sure what grade of materials they actually use in mass produced production lines over there, but it can't be top grade - otherwise the price points would be much higher... I guess it just pays to do some research before you buy.

Eprobungs

Hi, RideTommasini.

FWIW the info in question has been on Litespeed's website for years.

2006:
https://www.litespeed.com/2006/history.aspx

2009:
https://www.litespeed.com/current/history.aspx

If it's incorrect, you better contact them.

RideTommasini

Actually one of our builders, Marco worked with Litespeed many years ago to learn how to work with Titanium - but our frames are all manufactured in Italy, in our factory and there is a special room set up just to work with Ti. You are free to go and take a look when you are in Italy anytime.

kissTheApex

In all fairness, the brand referred to on those pages are Tommassini. Now, whether that brand exists or not I have no idea.

DallasSoxFan

Seriously, when will people learn the difference between outsourcing and offshoring???

wunderkind

So just wondering what is the point to this thread? Is it a Buy America thing? A perceived impression that Asian made products are inferior to North Americas?
You do know that the keyboard and monitor that you are using are likely made in the Far East right?

RideTommasini

Our brand name is often misspelled. We do have a history with Litespeed, we purchased tubing from them in the 90s and our welder Marco learned how to work with titanium from them - in exchange, we helped them with their frame making process - it was a good relationship and they are a very good company.

In addition - Thanks for actually posting the info from their website, our factory has sent them an email asking them to resolve the error.

kissTheApex

You pretty much hit the nail on the head... The OP does not want his frame to touch Taiwan/China/Asia at all

BarracksSi

If all the operating costs are cheaper, from the janitor's wages to the plant manager's salary and everyone in between, also including the costs of everything they touch, then they don't have to charge as much for the finished frame.

DallasSoxFan

I remember when i was a kid in the 80's that people would say, "Buy american cars, they are much more reliable than those japanese tin cans"

Quality has far less to do with the location of manufacture than it does with the specified tolerances and the level of QA/QC sampling.

GreenGrasshoppr

Florida
www.catrike.com

Boudicca

I'm pretty sure my Merlin (aka Litespeed) has a "made in USA" sticker. I assume that means "made in USA" but I could be wrong.

I was going to say Bike Friday, but someone else beat me to it.

I believe high-end Cervelos are made in Canada, and low-end ones made in Asia, but I wouldn't like to be quoted on that one. Marinonis are made in Canada too. Don't know about Rocky Mountain and Davinci, but I suspect the frames are made in Asia.

wunderkind

psst... it's the sticker that's Made in USA.

Boudicca

Aha.

I understand now.

BengeBoy 

Every week there has to be a thread that wins the "pointless thread of the week award."

It's a very high bar, this thread doesn't quite hit it....but it was an OK attempt.

BarracksSi

+1

I remember when Ford (or was it GM?) had their "Come to Jesus" moment in public and their workers told of forcing pieces to fit just to get the car-in-progress through the line without throwing away as much stuff. In the meantime, companies like Honda would toss an entire unibody because water wouldn't drain correctly from its insides.

It's also been said that what made the difference between Japanese and American cars was, basically, just one decimal place. Here, they were using measuring tools that went to the hundredth of an inch; over there, they went to the thousandth. When you're talking about parts that have to fit together as perfectly as possible for as long as possible, that little bit will make a difference.

Plus, and although this sounds shallow, GM probably had the WORST paint compounds EVER in the 80's. So many of their cars would look like absolute trash in just a few years. Finding one today with its clearcoat even halfway intact is incredibly rare.

noglider 

And things change. In the early 70's, we laughed when we saw electronics with a "made in Japan" sticker. Soon after that, it carried an aura of respect. But we laughed at stuff made in Taiwan or Korea.

Nowadays, with imports from China being very common, we're aware of the junk that comes from China, but they manufacture things of all levels of quality. Apple computers, which are reliable and durable, are made in China.

Korean stuff is excellent these days. Hyundai cars used to suck. No longer.

It seems that the best mass-produced bikes and bike parts come from Taiwan nowadays.

iforgotmename

www.PrideCyclesUSA.com