Hi Lawrence,
I think Miele and Gardin suffer a lack of mojo because both companies when in and out of business so many times. Many local bike shops felt abandoned, and both companies seemed to always be selling product out the 'back door' as it were. Shops I worked at in the early-mid eighties constantly had customers bringing in bikes in boxes, asking to have them assembled for them. We always wondered where they were getting them from.
Both brands were seriously price agressive. Component specs drove their sales on retail shop floors. The bikes always had the best value for parts package of any bikes in the shop. No customers ever asked what the frames were made of, and most of the time, we didn't know.
Both companies (to my understanding) took serious amounts of government money to help keep the manufacturing going, but didn't make it financially. Both companies totally ignored the mtn bike, which must have made financial survival virtually impossible by the late '80s early 90's.
Overall quality of both brands is hard to nail down. Miele imported many frames from various sources, painted and stickered them in Toronto. I owned a Miele mtn frame in about '87 that was supposed to be fillet brazed, and when I had it stripped to be repainted, I found it was car bondo over tig welding!!!
In summary, Yes there are some nice individual examples, especially from Gardin, but overall, there was so much chaos going on, that it's tough to make a reputation for consistent quality and image of a brand in that environment.
Grant McLean
toronto.ca