infinito

gazeds
gazeds Posts: 182
edited February 2011 in Workshop
just had a damaged bianchi infinito frame replaced with a new one, on the the damaged one it had a sticker handmade in italy, on the replacemant frame there is no handmade in italy sticker, but just a small sticker beneath the bb saying made in taiwan :?:

Comments

  • Okay. And?
  • 2alexcoo
    2alexcoo Posts: 251
    Country of origin labels on bikes can be misleading.

    For example many frames are made in the far east and then shipped to Italy for assembly into complete bikes. Because labour costs etc are much higher in Italy, the 'value added' at the assembly stage is high, and if it's over about 60% of the total the manufacturer is allowed to say the bike is 'made in Italy'.

    If you buy a frame only though pretty much 100% of the value is from Taiwan as no value is added to the frame after it leaves the factory.

    I've heard this is the case with Bianchi and is also true of others, eg Focus are assembled in Germany but the frames are made in China.
    Alex
  • fred22
    fred22 Posts: 509
    a much more interesting post than the previous one. Good answer.
  • gazeds
    gazeds Posts: 182
    2alexcoo wrote:
    Country of origin labels on bikes can be misleading.

    For example many frames are made in the far east and then shipped to Italy for assembly into complete bikes. Because labour costs etc are much higher in Italy, the 'value added' at the assembly stage is high, and if it's over about 60% of the total the manufacturer is allowed to say the bike is 'made in Italy'.

    thank you for the very informative answer, much better than the pleb before you
  • neeb
    neeb Posts: 4,473
    I must admit I object in principle to calling a bike "made in Italy" or "made in Germany" if it has only been assembled there. Some new EU red tape is required here I think.

    I've assembled both of my two bikes from frames on 2 or 3 occasions, but I didn't "make" them. "Make" to me means more than just throwing some already-manufactured parts together, it implies creating and shaping from basic raw materials. Don't care what the legal definition is, it's not right.

    I'm no economist but surely Europe is in trouble if the "value" of many things manufactured or assembled here now lies in intangible perceptions of superior quality which in fact no longer exist. Sooner or later this gloss is going to wear off and people will no longer be interested in paying extra just for a romantic, anachronistic image.
  • Here's the deets with the sticker.

    It's by no means meant to be misleading. Bianchi has their frames made in Tawain. Their Campy equipped bikes are assembled in their factory in Italy, thus the Italy sticker.

    When they have frame sets made and those are intended to be used as frame/fork only sales OR built up as Campy equipped bikes in Italy, they're shipped to Italy with the Made in Italy sticker already on the head tube. Some of the allotment of frames goes to dealers for frame only sales and the Italy sticker is still on the frame. Just the nature of the beast.

    Bike with Shimano build kits will have the Made in Taiwan sticker under the BB then.
  • All monocoques are made in Taiwan...

    In the past it was about cutting costs, but these days nobody else can achieve the same quality, no matter the price tag.

    As for the Made in Italy tag, that means 10% of the manufacturing has been made in Italy, it could be the assembly or some other minor operation, like sticking the "Made in Italy" sticker itself
    left the forum March 2023