Cheap bikes and their real cost

passout

I think that we are selling Tawain short here. They do a good deal of research. They also employ European designers. Personally I see made in Tawain as a mark of quality and don't see a 'made in Italy' badge as meaning anything other than higher costs and a prettier finish.

aracer

passout wrote:

Personally I see made in Tawain as a mark of quality and don't see a 'made in Italy' badge as meaning anything other than higher costs and a prettier finish.

Glad to know I'm not the only one.

pliptrot

If you've ever suffered the pollution Taipei, it may affact your thinking. There are notes above about Chinese corruption: how much different is Taiwan? (The Taiwanese frame I inspected which prompted me to start this thread was very well made, apparently, but the owner told me it was his second: when he first went to pick up the bike he found a crack in the frame (poor welding I am told). I do not imagine that would happen with a European marque.

top_bhoy

pliptrot wrote:

....when he first went to pick up the bike he found a crack in the frame (poor welding I am told). I do not imagine that would happen with a European marque.

I would have thought that by now, many of the European marques are also being built in the same places as the non-European ones - particularly the budget and mid-market frames. Unless they have their own factories and production build, It will be same personnel and systems producing the different frames. Its very hard thing to avoid nowadays.