fujiacerider

Okay, in the world of sports cars, most of us here in the US are deeply jealous of Europe and Japan becuase they have such an awesome variety of very cool sports cars. We don't.
Is it the same way with bikes? Are there brands that are pretty big over there (eg. Alfa Romeo, Renault, Citroen, pretty much all of the Japanese sports cars, etc.) that we've probably never even heard of? If so, why is this? Do bikes, like cars, have to meet some safety standard to get across our borders?

Cole

steve_wmn

Bikes have to meet some safety rules imposed by the Consumer Product Safety Council (CPSC), but I don't think they're anything like the standards that cars have. Cars have crash testing requirements and mandatory air-bags, seatbelts, etc. They also have emission standards and so on. Bikes have mandatory (easily removable) reflectors and a rule that the rear brake goes on the right lever. Not at all the same price for admission into the US market.

I'm no expert but looking over the bikes in the TDF I don't think we're missing much. There are brands that don't have great US market penetration (Decathlon, Opera) but they are available if you look hard enough. Also, they're not anything truly special, as far as I can tell. Just different manufacturers of similar products.

Smoothie104

Is this another "racist thread"?

Guest

I've seen different bikes when I go abroad, but I don't think there's much we're missing. The high end bikes we see on television are accessible to us here, so I don't think we suffer because we can't get our hands on some of the other bikes made only overseas.

Koffee

don d.

Actually, they have lots of stuff we don't. This mailorder company is fun to browse and see the cool stuff:

www.xxcycle.com

This forum is fun to lurk on to see what people are using:

www.cyclingplus.co.uk

I buy lots of stuff from this company:

www.sjscycles.com

drive-thru

I was looking at the Met helmet website and there was a notice saying that they don't export to the US because "judicial costs and attorney's fees are very burdensome in North America." So I guess you don't get Met helmets. As far as bike frames, as has been posted above, some manufacturers (like Decathlon) may be hard to find, but there are probably not many manufacturers who won't/don't sell to the US.

Guest

I talked to some Europeans when I was abroad, and trying to send stuff to the USA can be a headache with the new laws and rules and regulations passed just this past January. It's too much of a hassle to bother with anyway.

Koffee

The_Convert

The reason it is like that with cars is due to emmisons and crash test stuff. I imagine thats why it is easier to get bikes.

JBar

I was riding across from the Clinton Library in Little Rock a few weeks ago with my wife. We were waved down by a group of gents who, as we discovered, were from Paris. They asked us questions about the city's street cars, then they enthusiastically point at our bikes and said " You ride Cannondale, they're the very best...", nodding knowingly to one another. Exotic is defined by where you're from, I guess. The guy that spoke to us said he was on the Camps d'Elysee to see the Tour finish and they all seemed bike-knowledgeable.

zacster

Maybe its changed since the 80s, but I have an Italian bike, Zilioli, that was never imported here. Now whether Zilioli actually built his bikes, or were made by someone else such as Bianchi, I never found out. But when I went to his hometown of Cuneo, that's all you saw there, down to the kids bikes.

This bike I have was his "show special", all Campy SR pantograph, clement crit seta tires, Modolo Kronos levers, a frame pump that I've never seen anywhere else, chrome lugs, a paint color I've never seen either.... It is beautiful. I still ride it, I took it 70 miles the last time I rode 2 weeks ago, and I rode it all summer, switching between it and my equally old Davidson. This was when Italian bikes were the tops.

I remember on that same trip that the French, Dutch and the other Europeans did not ride fancy bikes, only the Italians. I also borrowed a Zilioli when I was there and rode into the Alps to Limone. The best ride I've ever taken. And the locals all treated me like I was royalty, but they must've thought I was a local too since I rode one of their bikes. Its a shame I didn't speak Italian.

But all that being said, I still want a new CF bike, with all the latest components.

Patt_BikeSports

I ride a Colnago which is an italian made company, and it comes with all italian parts, Campagnolo, and I have rode Trek also becuase the shop I work at carries a lot of Trek, and Trek is all Shimano, and trust me, I have rode a lot of bikes, and nothing even comes close to comparing with Campagnolo for components and the geometry and the paint, and even the strength of Colnago frames is incredible, so I personally think we are missing out huge by not knowing about many European companies!

Hitchy

......the laws in Australia are pretty dumb too. Ours require that helmets, for instance, pass a set of design rules, which cost a fortune for the manufacturers to pass...because of the size of the market here (only 20 million of us), getting the helmets to pass these tests costs more than the reasonable margins they can expect to make. But....& this is the stupid part......it's not illegal to import the helmets, nor sell them....just to actually use them!.......thus we have a whole population riding around in helmets, (Giro is one that is affected), that are technically illegal....although they may well have passed every test known to man in every other country in the world!.....stoopid!

hitchy

OneTinSloth

i think european (and american) pro racers get stuff that we don't get here, but only for a short time. they get the new technology before "the rest of us" for testing. but as far as brands, i think everyone can get just about anything we want. where there's a will, there's a way.

jemoryl

There is a big difference between bringing a bike over vs. a car. Because of our crash test, safety and polluition standards many import car marques have pulled out of the US - after all, if you can't register and insure a car it is pretty useless. At one time the US standards in these areas may have been higher but I don't think this is true anymore; the standards are just different and it costs a lot of money to certify. Some say the different regulations now act solely as a form of protectionism....

Bikes, on the other hand, can be ridden if you can get one here. When many small producers can sell everything they make in domestic or European markets, I suppose they don't bother finding an importer. And we here in the US are famously litigious. But if you really want something, check out some European online retailers - many will be glad to ship you what your want.

Guest

You'd think that, Jemoryl, but what's up with the emissions testing? For instance, the Smart car has been released in Europe for years, and it is clearly a cleaner burning car than most cars here in the States, but it's not coming here until 2006. And unfortunately, due to the American obsession with SUV's, the Smart car will not even release the small Smart cars, only the Smart car SUV's.

Koffee

enduro

The original Smart car doesn't even come close to US crash testing requirements. That's the primary reason why it can't be imported.

If an importer is willing to spend the money to carry out their own crash tests on a particular vehicle, and upgrade the emissions control system if necessary, then they can legally import and register foreign vehicles in the US. There's a company called Motorex (I think) that imports Skylines to the US that has gone through this process of crash testing several cars, etc. It's an expensive process though so it's definitely not mainstream.

Guest

Well originally, it WAS going to be imported. But then they looked at the market, and they concluded that the car was too small for people to want to buy it, so they decided to limit their sales to Canada and only import the SUV Smart Car, since they said the market in America was mostly obsessed with SUV's. I read this in the Chicago Sun Times, but I can't remember which month, sorry. Sometime between July and September.

Koffee

gpelpel

I don't think the crash test requirements in the US are tougher than those in Europe. European cars had side impact protection before US cars. Safety requirements are not the reason some brands don't make it to the US market. The main reason is the cost of building a resale and service network. Most european cars are designed for their own market (narrow streets, narrow and twisty roads, restricted spaces for parking and driving) and are ill suited for the US markets. So the cost of building a dealer network on such a large (geographically) market is prohibitive for most european companies. The exceptions are high-end brands that sell at a premium and have little competition from us companies (bmw, mercedes, porsche, ferrari...), or companies that produce in the US (Toyota...), or Mexico (VW). It also requires most of these companies to completely change their culture: In France, for instance, you buy a car before seing it, you place an order for a specific color and trim and wait around 2 to 3 months before delievery. Nobody would accept that in the US, if the car is not ready for you to drive within an hour the deal will go to another dealer.
It takes a lot less to export bikes to the US and the market supports margins large enough to make it attractive. The problem is that the US produces great and world recognized high-end bikes as well (Trek, Specialized, Litespeed). On top of that it's difficult to convince most US buyers that European bikes are better when the last 6 Tour de France, supposed to be the greatest and toughest bike race in the world, have been won on a US bike. That means that only top end European bike makers can even dream of reaching the US market and only for a part of a very tiny and highly knowledgeable (some would say snobbish) consumer base. Most need to provide large enough productions (Bianchi, Look), history (Colnago, Bianchi, mostly Italian builders), or recent racing victories or connections (Merckx, Time).
As a Frenchman I like my Time bike. It's fantastic but I am sure a Trek or Litespeed would be fantastic as well.

gear head

honestly, we have that same kind of road design, or lack of design, in the Northeast amd New England. I used to drive a Geo Metro (long story on how I got this car) and actually had a tough time parking it in some neighborhoods, believe or not - it was covered in door dings and dents, and I also broke the drivers side mirror. I remember driving in Boston, and having cars come literaly 3" from the side, while in traffic. Out west, things are totally different.

The_Convert

bumpers in the US have to be able to survive a 3mph hit without being damaged. This is a very prohibitive cost, especially to a company like lotus. I only know that becasue when i was in the market for an EVO or STi, that was one thing holding up the evo

gear head

dude, listen, the reason why these cars cant be imported is because of reliculas trade regulations. If the gov't had it there way, there would be no imports. do you really think the govt cares if your bumper can survive a 3 mph crash? seriously!!!! Right now, the US is facing trade sanctions, becuase of its trade policy. https://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6589448/

Stiff trade sanctions against U.S. approved
Apples, textiles, mobile homes among affected items

in a pure capitalist free market economy, Americans would be able to import any car on the planet

The_Convert

Oh sorry, i didn't know you were a trade expert. Do you think the crash standard may have something to do with the rediculous amount of litigation in the US?
The problem with that theory is that only certain cars and car companies have problems importing. For instance, many companies, Mercedes, Toyota etc import all cars except those specifically designed for europe only. Companies such as Lotus, who cant afford the conversions, cant. Who is Lotus' big US competitor that they are cutting into the market share of? Also, how do you explain the same type of hold ups for JDM cars being imported into the UK?

https://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/...VSS/index.html

squeegy200

That's like asking "Why isn't there eBay in Japan?"
The general public in the US doesn't buy Calois, Decathalons, Operas, or Viners. Just in the same manner that Europeans don't buy Ritcheys, Salsas, or Elllsworths.

The markets are different. What sells here doesn't always sell there. Simple as that.
Alfa Romeo, Peugot, and Citroen can build cars that would pass emissions or crash tests. British and TUV standards are sometimes more strict that American DOT standards. But sales just don't justify the expense of importing. That's why they abandon the US market.

The two markets are very different. If there was a demand for anything across the pond, rest assured someone would be importing it.

If Lance Armstrong rode a Viner in the Alps, you would see thousands of US Postal jerseys atop Viner Bicycles all over main street USA.

fujiacerider

Wow! Thanks everyone for the replies. Good info, good to know.

Cole


Darn tootin'! Those Frenchies sure are smart!

alanbikehouston

My favorite cycling magazine is "Cycling Plus", from the UK. They do reviews of many UK bike brands, as well as bikes from France, Belgium, and Germany. Their bikes are equipped with the same Campy and Shimano parts that are common in the U.S. But, "internal" hubs, such as the Shimano 8 speed hub, and the Rohloff 14 speed hub are much more popular in the UK than the USA.

The other thing I noticed was a wider range of frame styles. In the UK, they seem to have the peculiar notion that racing style frames are best used by riders who will be entering races. So, substantial attention is given to frames designed for heavy touring, fast touring, and commuting. Frames for those types of uses are often built with the highest grades of steel or aluminum tubing, and have high grade components. Those market segments are a smaller percentage of the market in the USA, and seem to be treated as a "lesser" category than racing bikes by many USA bike brands.

Although the UK has fewer cyclists than the USA, the articles and ads in CP suggest that a UK cyclist has a better chance of walking into a bike shop and finding a bike tailored to each person's precise riding needs. In America, riders who commute to work or tour the countryside (not race through - tour through) are a tiny minority of riders. CP's articles treat commuting and touring as "typical" mainstream cycling activities and treats racing as a fascinating, but not dominate, part of the cycling world.