> Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2003 20:40:11 -0800
> From: Mark Bulgier <mark@bulgier.net>
> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
> Subject: RE: [CR]MAVIC / OMAS / SR cranks
>
> Greg Parker wrote (in part):
>
> > As a nerd Engineer, I can tell you that scenario makes a TON
> > of sense - I once worked for a Japanese Manufacturer that
> > often bought their forgings from Forging Specialists, and
> > machined them here in the US into the final product
>
To which Mark added:
> Except it's the machining that makes those cranks identical! If three
> different companies were machining the forgings, it would be a pretty
> unbelievable coincidence for them to all turn out the same.
>
> I see two possibilities: The Mavic catalog has a photo of the cranks being
> machined at SR, or Mavic machined the cranks for SR and OMAS. (Not that
> those are the only possibilities, just two we haven't aired yet)
>
> Mark Bulgier
> Seattle, Wa
> USA
>
Mark:
Sort of.....
Your scenarios depend on a lot of assumptions. What makes you think that CNC milling tapes weren't passed around from Machinist to Machinist? They may all have even used the same Anodizer. Are you familiar with the phrase "build to Print?"
It is very possible that SR initially provided a complete finished product to both OMAS and Mavic, which would have been extremely easy to do (just an insert change in the forging dies for the different logos), and then each Company decided to bring the machining "in-house" at some point (or not...) after consumer demand was established via the SR-supplied part. Happens all day long in the Manufacturing world, which I've spent the better part of the last twenty years directly involved in.
Cheers,
Greg "uber-nerd" Parker Ann Arbor, MI USA Right next to the Motor City, "Detroit"