courtesi

Per reply from Trek representative:

Hi Stephen,

Yes unfortunately this bike is currently in production overseas; it is no longer a domestically built bike.

Best,

James Wiegand| TREK Bicycle Corporation| Technical Support|

diesel_dad

This is already mentioned in another thread. I would speculate that the Surly LHT, which is also made in Taiwan, has forced the issue by lowering the price point in the touring bike segment. I have not compared 2008 pricing for the LHT Complete but I would bet it was lower than a 2008 Trek 520.

Braldar

Are there any good touring bikes still made in the US?

Bacciagalupe

For what it's worth, I doubt Surly sells enough to single-handedly pressure Trek's pricing; they have good distribution, but they're a small player with a limited store presence. There are several touring or touring-capable bikes out there at good price points, including Novara Randonee, Jamis Aurora, Bianchi Volpe, Kona Jake etc.

More likely is that they had to move production out of the US in order to avoid further increases in price.

Not that it matters, though. I'm sure the bikes are still well made, and protectionism does more harm than good....

CCrew

Cannondale. Check though, with new owners that may already have changed.

-R

Editz

Go here and scroll down to the Bike Builders list on the right. There are all kinds of domestic manufacturers left, but you're going to pay for it.

Dahon.Steve

LOL! I'm sure those unemployed frame makers at Trek would think quite differently since they now join the millions of unemployed workers. Lets see, China has billions of our dollars and we owe billions to them? This kind of non-protectionism is the reason we have to borrow trillions to jump start our non-economy!

rodar y rodar

I dunno- there sure seem to be an awful lot of "Check out my new LHT" threads both here and on other forums. Just taking an unstuddied guess, I`d say there are more LHTs going out the door than any of the other models you mentioned, with the 520s comming in after Auroras and maybe Randonees also. Then again, those other models do add up, so that takes away from the singlehandedness.

vik 

Of course there are some great touring bikes made in the US. Starting at under $1000....

ricohman

The Rocky Mountain Sherpa 30 is still hand made in Canada out of Reynolds 853.
It is a very good touring platform. But you need to swap out the road crankset.

Bacciagalupe

Uh huh.... I take it you're forgetting that if the 520 costs too much more than the competition, they won't sell, and those individuals will be unemployed anyway, along with whoever Trek has to fire to cover revenue losses.

And why should I care more about a worker in Wisconsin as opposed to Taiwan? What if it turns out I have more in common with the framebuilder from Taiwan? Should a Chinese-American root for a Chinese worker or an American one? Especially given the interconnectedness of the global economy, it is unrealistic to assume the US could be an economically fortified island and that all would be good if we never bought anything manufactured outside the US.

I might add, it isn't China's fault that the American public drove itself into debt, and its banks leveraged themselves to dangerous levels. If anything, lower cost goods have allowed Americans to sustain a high standard of living for many years now.

While there can be advantages to local production, ultimately free trade will produce more efficient results, employ plenty of people anyway, and free up more of my cash to spend on more touring bike swag.

BengeBoy 

Whoever runs Trek's customer service operation should cringe if they read this email.

I don't know why they let someone say that "unfortunately" this is made overseas, as if some "unseen hand" made the decision.

Trek took production overseas, undoubtedly, because it's cheaper. They should just tell customers that in order to hold down costs, or "deliver greater value to our customers," that they shifted production overseas.

It's so mealy mouthed to actually *do it,* and then say it's *unfortunate* that they did it.

norwood

Obviously, you've never lost your job to foreign outsourcing.

Bacciagalupe

How does a personal experience void economic and political theories about free trade?

And again, if my employer has to charge more than a competitor for the same quality of service, and revenues drop, aren't I likely to lose that job anyway?

Are you also unaware that the US is still a big exporter? That US exports nearly doubled between 2002 and 2007? That US exports to China are 5x greater in 07 than in 02? That many foreigners come to the US specifically to shop, because it's cheaper to buy some things here than in other countries? Should foreigners refuse to buy American-made goods, in favor of goods made in their own country for the benefits of their own economies? Or should the US hold some unique place of privilege, as the only nation allowed to export more than it imports?

By the way. How, exactly, do you propose to freeze a specific set of economic circumstances in favor of US manufacturing? The available methods -- government price fixing, tariffs, and subsidies -- have numerous issues and repercussions. They can generate artificial scarcity and abuses (e.g. rent control), ill will and retaliatory policies from other nations (tariffs and subsidies), high costs to the taxpayer (subsidies), and can violate free trade agreements.

"American manufacturing good, foreign manufacturing bad" is no longer a realistic option, nor is it nuanced enough to explain what is really happening in the contemporary economy.

mconlonx

*sniff, sniff* Is that a move to P&R I smell, looming...?

Most in the US live in the upper 10th percentile of household GDP, compared with the rest of the world. Truly free trade would certainly diminish the high standard of living we're used to--even if we only average out with the rest of the world, we'll be far behind where we are right now. Free trade does employ plenty of people, and it's not like they don't deserve access to the same standards of living that we do, but how many creature comforts, how much of the "American Way of Life" are you willing to give up to settle into a global median? While others would very much be raised up out of poverty, we, at the top of the heap, have nowhere to go but down.

Having said that, I think that we're pretty much gluttons on a whole and could afford to ratchet the consumerism uber alles down a notch or two, but I bet that's a very minority view among the general US population.

willibrord

The OP wants an American bike. Buying a Canadian bike is the same as buying a Taiwanese bike.

robow

Not quite the same thing, eh ?

rodar y rodar

Canadian products are American made. A lot of people don`t like it, but I refuse to acknowledge that the US is the kid on the "American" block.

The OP didn`t say anything about the bike he wants- just passed the email along. A later poster asked about US made bikes.

rodar y rodar

I`m in your minority boat, mcolonx. Although I agree with you, I`m just as gluttonous as the next guy and will keep buying inexpensive Chinese stuff much of the time as long as I have the option. Hopefully, I`ll lose that option one of these days, but I don`t really see that happening.

MotoMan

Yes, it is human nature to buy what is the best buy, be it quality, cost, or both. However, as globilization is rigged now, it favors the corporate interests and their paid for toady KMA governments... The wealth gap between the rich and everyone else has gone nuts since Reagonics has ruled, the rich get richer and everyone else gets poorer. Our parents usually had the old man working and the Mom at home. Most people can not do that nowadays, since both parents need to work just to breath, much less eat and pay for housing, etc (college for the kids....dream on). Trade deals with this form of globilization is free trade, not fair trade. My made in China bicycle from Nashbar was so cheap because the Chinese have straight pipes in the rivers, lead paint in the toys, and air that makes LA smog a day of sunshine. Do we blame the USA workers when there is not a level playing field? The Chinese workers cannot form unions, and do not have the same rights we do despite the best anti-union efforts from W and gang. Would Trek be competitive with overseas globilization if it was fair trade? Probably... But how can one be competitive with corporate sweatshops, lack of environmental standards, and corporate greed... I would bet that there would be more affordable USA made touring bikes if the oversea corporate fiefdoms were forced to have the same standards we have. As I get older, the more radical I get.... Maybe that is why I ride my bike to keep my mind off how screwed up everything is....
From the Socialist Republic of Vermont.... (Except for the Governor) Come ride in Vermont, for the ride is good , and the Comrades are friendly who will gladly take your tourist money.

ricohman

Hmm. Better not tell that to the guys at Rocky.
I buy North American when I want. I don't distiguish between the US and Canada since the products and people are mostly the same.
However, the next time I read some "made in the USA" label I will turn to my kids and say "Blah, same as made in Tiawan!"........

longbeachgary

Problem with you statement is that we don't know what the OP said in his email to Trek. He may have said that I'm looking for an American made 520 and they responded the way they did.

willibrord

ricohman

You're not thinking like an American.

I was assuming that anybody that was that concerned about "buy American' as to write to Trek, wouldn't be satisfied by buying a Canadian made bicycle.

Then again it was an assumption.

Canadians tend not to view the world the same way so it isn't quite right to turn the statement around the way you did.

I tend not worry where my bikes are made I have one Canadian one American three Japanese and one Taiwanese.

FlowerBlossom

I saw what you did there.

BengeBoy 

It doesn't matter. The customer service message from Trek is terrible. They should not say there is anything "unfortunate" about their bikes in their reply to the OP, no matter how the original inquiry was worded. The point is that their response can be pulled out of the context of the conversation (as it was here), and they come across as not standing up for their own product.

Without commenting on whether they should or shouldn't make their bikes in the US any more, I'm just saying that they should have the guts to say something more positive about their bike and the value they provide.