BYO Ex-Lax?

ShiBri,

Thanks so much for having us through the factory yesterday! It was good to see, and really impressed upon me that, regardless of what the meaning of "made in Detroit" is or should be, the fact is that Shinola is putting down roots in the city and bringing value to the city and the region.

Talking with Alex in bikes and Olivier in watches, it was clear to understand the progressive thinking and desire to bring as much of the production work to Detroit as financially viable. Shinola wants to be a large scale company and do big things; of necessity, it's priorities are different than the small-scale, or boutique, business.

That being said, it seems like the new website has backed off the 'made in Detroit' thing with the bikes and is going with the 'made in America' slogan, which I think is great. More accurate to my thinking, and more transparent, which are good things that reflect more truly the company ethos.

I'm scheming now on how to get the cash together to pick up a Runwell, and am excited to watch Shinola develop. Thanks for coming to Detroit!

By the way, I like Shinola's watch design.

I dunno where the expensive comes from but both the bikes and the watch look nice!

I know it's an old thread, but anybody still paying attention? I'm getting my wife a bike for her birthday, and a made in America cruiser type would be just right. Does anyone have a Shinola? A Detroit Bikes 3 speed looks more my speed, but maybe you can convince me otherwise. Any experience with a Detroit Bikes, for that matter?

$2500?? I'd much rather buy a nice full suspension bike and have money left over.... I don't know who in their right mind would spend that kind of money on this bike.

Why would I want anything made with the brand name of Shinola on it? Why I would want people to think I own something with the meaning of schit is beyond me!

That's the problem I have with them. I'm not sure how young you'd have to be not to associate S**t with Shinola but it's the first thing that comes to mind. What an awful name.

What is wrong with you people! The expression was "Can't tell sh*t from Shinola." Think about it. There are only five words there you need to grasp. Here's a clue: the quality of Shinola was so well-known, the name was synonymous with "the best."

I've made my feelings about Shinola clear upthread, but I can say that, today, three years on, they have softened a bit as Shinola have eased off the "made in Detroit" slogan and are now pumping "made in America," which is far more accurate. Still, it's the crass company ethos I dislike, and I am not a fan, even though their products are nice in many regards.

Detroit Bikes are the real deal. They're not as "shiny" as Shinola, but I think their authenticity and value makes up for it.

Other than Coney Dogs in Flint and Kielbasa from Hamtramck, I don't know what else the workers at the Shinola plant would like for lunch.

To start, the price of a Waterford frame.

What significant value does a Waterford frame add to any of the bikes offered by this company?
Other than psychic brand name snob appeal how much bicycling value does a Waterford frame provide the rider of a Shinola badged bicycle?

Wouldn't a no-name frame at a fraction of the Waterford price provide the equivalent riding value?

I don't think Waterford's are particularly expensive.

1) There are people who like the Waterford name and bestow unto it mystical attributions along the same lines as Rivendell bikes. In that sense, it offers marketing value, but also customer assurance that the frames are being built by a legit, historical maker of bike frames, not some new startup company with little to no experience.

2) Not much. Certainly not compared to other competently built frames.

3) Riding value? Certainly any pac-rim, contract manufactured frame would provide similar riding value at a fraction of the price. Made-in-the-USA-ness? Not so much. I don't know of other US companies who would batch manufacture Shinola frames at prices competitive to Waterford. Do you? Maybe Zen Fabrication?

It sounds as if the marketing people at Shinola believe a Plain Jane bike can be sold at an inflated price with the application of the appropriate stickers of "Made in USA" or "Waterford" glued/etched somewhere on the frame (or on their website).

I do not know of other US companies who would batch manufacture Shinola frames at prices competitive to Waterford.

Dude, coneys are from Detroit, and the originals, American and Lafayette, are a short bike ride from Shinola. All the Polish have left Hamtramck, but Rock City is a cool spot out there. In any case, those two guys bolting the Shinola bikes together at the so-called "plant" have a ton of cool places to eat right downtown, from simple stuff like Supino's pizza, La Feria's tapas, and soups at Johnny Noodle King, to the more creative cuisine of places like Selden Standard, Wright & Co., Gold Cash Gold, and Chartreuse. A few more turns of the pedals and they're eating better Lebanese food in Dearborn than probably anywhere in the world.

This place is not well known but quite interesting. The link is in my thread OP.
https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...nyone-see.html

I visited the Shinola store in December to look at some watches. Yes - they are more expensive than a Casio watch. But they are competitive with watches in that "class". And they are really nice. They have lots of nice stuff actually. And the store was PACKED. People everywhere. I'm sure you could say Coach is over priced handbags - but they are popular and they sell. Maybe to a select group, but they sell. They aren't going after the people who buy everything from Walmart.

On to the bikes.

I though they looked pretty basic from the pictures. But seeing them in person is different. They are BEAUTIFUL. Very well made. Little details hidden all over the place. The sales guy said they saddle is made by the same people who make brooks saddles (which is why it looks almost exactly like a brooks.) The one I looked at had handmade wooden fenders that were works of art. The welds were perfect. Everything looked good together. Would I ride it on a century ride, or to shop for groceries, or on a brevet, or to class? No. But it really was a beautiful machine.

Here in Detroit, people are pretty happy with Shinola. And our food kicks butt, as chaadster pointed out.

I am not spending 750.00 for a quartz watch. If you price your watches like this, then the bikes are definitely over priced.

Its nice seeing business being brought back into the Detroit area but they need it but if I'm going to pay that much then just buy a Waterford frame. I guess that's why I favor Detroit Bikes more because they do pretty much everything there...build their own wheels, actually building their own frames from raw Chromoly. Mind you it's straight gauge but hey they're building it from scratch. They start out their TIG welders pretty decent and for being in a pretty rough part of Detroit they've been holding it down. Mind you there's no flashing "Detroit Bikes" sign or any indication that they're doing anything bike related from the outside of the building but in that neighborhood you don't want it for fear of being broken into.

I got a tour of the facility this past summer so for kicking out the number of bikes they do it's a pretty laid back facility. If I lived closer but three hour round trip commutes are not worth it. Plus seeing people actually riding them around town and quite a few around the Eastern Market they have a really good fanbase. I've been to quite a few shops in the state and they have quite a few dealers carrying them and not just collecting dust. They're extremely reasonable in price for an American made...Detroit made bike.

Now if Shinola actually brings framebuilding to Detroit and makes the price more Michigan friendly then they'll get my attention but for now it's just a watch making company in my eyes. Anyone can get a frame made by someone else and then assemble it and call it their own.

This doesn't bother me one bit. Most bike companies do it. Companies like Bike Friday, Worksman, or Detroit Bikes are the exception, not the norm.

Their journals are comparable to Moleskine, and manufactured in the USA, Ann Arbor MI, by a company with which I also do print work. So I scored a schwag sample of the Shinola notebook. Very nice product. Does not bother me one bit that it is not made in Detroit, and in fact they hype up the manufacturer, Edwards Brothers Malloy, and do not hide the fact that manufacturing is in Ann Arbor.

The marketing people at Shinola are not alone in this thought... and if there's a market for it, why not tap it?

I'm all for providing people products at a price that the seller and consumer agree is correct. If Shinola can sell their products at that price, good for them.

I am a fan of the relatively plain bike style bikes, offered by Shinola, and probably would pay a slight premium for USA (or Union) made products, but don't fancy myself a sucker willing to pay an exorbitant price for the warm fuzzy feeling.

Intrigued by this, I went and checked out Kobold watches. They sell a line of watches clearly marked "Made in Nepal." Then I checked out a couple other models which caught my eye:
- The Langley, one of their more "affordable" watches at $1750. Quartz movement, made in... Switzerland.
- The Spirit of America, not cheap $3000+, a manual-wind watch, with "Swiss-made ETA caliber 6497" movement.
- In fact most of their watches appear to have the following attribution, or something similar: "Built in USA using domestic and imported components."

Kind of like Shinola...

Now maybe Kobold did things differently three years ago when this was posted, but if so, it appears that they have changed their manufacturing model more toward the Shinola end of things, since...

I liked the idea, thought pretty much the same thing as you, and had the same reaction -- er, no thanks... I think you could get something like 10 of the BikesDirect equivalent for the same money...