Fizik; made in China
Bought some Fizik R5B shoes from an online, reputable US retailer a few days ago. They came in today and the shoes now say they are made in China. I believe the 2015 model was still made in Italy.
So anyway, how many steps above the Fizik hierarchy does one need to up to in order to get "handmade in Italy" shoes? Is it just the $400 R1B now? |
wow I got some r3B's and there where made in italy, but they are a couple of years old.
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Was there a noticable decrease in quality?
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Just bought some R5s from Performance. Made in China. Finish quality is better than I have seen on many shoes, bike or otherwise.
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Originally Posted by K.Katso
(Post 19024257)
Was there a noticable decrease in quality?
I guess what bothers me is that despite the change in country of manufacture, you're still paying the same price as if they were made in Italy. |
Originally Posted by Haruhiism
(Post 19024589)
I guess what bothers me is that despite the change in country of manufacture, you're still paying the same price as if they were made in Italy. |
Originally Posted by look566 rider
(Post 19024381)
Just bought some R5s from Performance. Made in China. Finish quality is better than I have seen on many shoes, bike or otherwise.
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Originally Posted by Haruhiism
(Post 19024589)
I guess what bothers me is that despite the change in country of manufacture, you're still paying the same price as if they were made in Italy.
Just speculating, of course, but I've BTDT so there's some basis for it. |
Originally Posted by Haruhiism
(Post 19024589)
I actually haven't taken them for a ride yet until tomorrow morning. I have a pair of 2015 R5B shoes in my possession and they differ a bit, but it seems to be aesthetically for the most part. I did notice that the Boa knob in the Chinese pair releases with ease in comparison. Whether that's good or bad while riding I'll have to see tomorrow--could also just be this particular pair.
I guess what bothers me is that despite the change in country of manufacture, you're still paying the same price as if they were made in Italy. Probably, while it was made in Italy, it was also made by foreign workers there. :) Factory line job is a boring, tedious job. Usually goes down to quality of materials used and quality control. You can make a very good product in China if you want to. It would make you less profit, but you can make it. Just like you can make a crappy one in Italy. As far as pricing goes - capitalism is about buying cheap, selling expensive. Every company does it's best to earn as much as possible. Also, it is good if a product doesn't last too long. Companies do their best to ensure that. Italian worker gets about 1500 euros minimal wage + taxes and social benefits, while each Chinese worker gets at least a 1000 euros less with similar reduction in other fees as well. They both can work equally well, or bad, depending on other factors like organization and quality control. |
Originally Posted by Haruhiism
(Post 19024589)
despite the change in country of manufacture, you're still paying the same price as if they were made in Italy.
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Originally Posted by Haruhiism
(Post 19024596)
You think so? On mine, what is supposed to be the embossed part that says fizik at the front of the shoe seems like a sticker on the Chinese pair.
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Originally Posted by Slaninar
(Post 19024944)
Chinese workers work just as well as Italian.
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Originally Posted by robertorolfo
(Post 20606542)
While this is a ridiculous generalization, and it really shouldn't be treated as a serious statement, we are talking about footwear here. FFS...
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I love these quasi-prejudiced statements that people make about stuff that's made in China.
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Originally Posted by cthenn
(Post 20606573)
I love these quasi-prejudiced statements that people make about stuff that's made in China.
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Originally Posted by cthenn
(Post 20606573)
I love these quasi-prejudiced statements that people make about stuff that's made in China.
yeah- all that turns into speculation and hesitation. When you then see a lot of products(related and unrelated) for very low prices and similarly low quality coming out of the same place, it only adds fuel to the skepticism. and there is a very natural point at which consumers have to decide to blindly trust marketing material or be skeptical without evidence, due to the lack of transparency and meaningful information on the product. those who are skeptical can sometimes paint with too broad a brush. and that can sometimes seem like its prejudiced against the people in general who make the products. Often tines its just skepticism over the products and quality. |
A friend runs a leather accessory factory locally. He went to China for supplies along with other foreign countries. From his experience (if he's lied to me, I'm lying to you):
As far as prejudice go, I'm not a great fan of Italian engineering. :) Heaven: British police, German engineers, Italian shefs. Hell: German police, Italian engineers, British shefs. :) |
Somebody has to pay for all that spurious punctuation.
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Originally Posted by Haruhiism
(Post 19024589)
I actually haven't taken them for a ride yet until tomorrow morning. I have a pair of 2015 R5B shoes in my possession and they differ a bit, but it seems to be aesthetically for the most part. I did notice that the Boa knob in the Chinese pair releases with ease in comparison. Whether that's good or bad while riding I'll have to see tomorrow--could also just be this particular pair.
I guess what bothers me is that despite the change in country of manufacture, you're still paying the same price as if they were made in Italy. |
Here's an interesting article about Montebelluna, a town outside Venice where Sidi, Diadora, Northwave and many other Italian specialty athletic shoe companies are headquartered. They still make the custom and very high-end shoes and boots there.
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Originally Posted by nomadmax
(Post 20607415)
ALL of that ^^^^^^^. I get it, it's a "world economy" and the origin of things are no longer tied to the country they originated in. All I'm asking is to pass the savings down to me when you have 50% less invested in making the product instead of charging me the same "rich heritage" price.
Or perhaps they would have had to increase costs if they kept production in Italy so they are effectively passing the savings to the customer by producing in China(or elsewhere). |
Originally Posted by kingston
(Post 20607448)
Here's an interesting article about Montebelluna, a town outside Venice where Sidi, Diadora, Northwave and many other Italian specialty athletic shoe companies are headquartered.
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Originally Posted by nomadmax
(Post 20607415)
ALL of that ^^^^^^^. I get it, it's a "world economy" and the origin of things are no longer tied to the country they originated in. All I'm asking is to pass the savings down to me when you have 50% less invested in making the product instead of charging me the same "rich heritage" price.
If they can cut costs and increase profit margins they will. It is that simple. |
It's funny, I'd expect the quality to go up with the move from Italy to China. Sure, the Italians are amazing designers, but when was quality ever tightly associated with Italian manufacturing? Fiat? Ferrari?
In a perfect world, everyone would stick to what they're good at. My dream car example: - Spec'ed by the Americans (think horsepower, heated seats... ) - Exterior design by the Italians - Interior design by the English (do the piping, not the wiring!) - Engineering by the Germans - Bid it out to the Koreans and Japanese to build it |
IIRC, when the famous Doc Martins moved over to China.....suddenly some of the stitching quality actually, gasp, improved! Still issues in a few shoe models and from certain locations, but overall, the Chinese ones had fewer quality issues.
It's all about the oversight from the parent company. |
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