Re: [CR]Amazing British engineering! - what happened to the UK bike industry ?

(Example: Framebuilders:Brian Baylis)

From: "Steve Neago" <questor@cinci.rr.com>
To: <brucerobbins@supanet.com>
References: <1067270911.brucerobbins@supanet.com>
Subject: Re: [CR]Amazing British engineering! - what happened to the UK bike industry ?
Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2003 11:32:43 -0500
cc: classicrendezvous <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>

> It's pretty tragic to think that, having once been capable of producing bike
> components of such outstanding quality and longevity, the UK now has no large
> scale bike industry. What went wrong?

Could it be outdated manufacturing technology (higher cost to manufacture each bike), poor marketing to a world economy, and failure to capitalize on the shift from road bikes to BMX & Mountain bikes that may be in more demand?

The bottom line is that bike manufacturing shifted from the UK and USA to Asia & the Far East based on lower production costs. This was advance notice for the US & UK economies where many other US & UK manufacturing jobs have now "migrated" or been "outsourced" to lower cost countries. Sometimes the best technology (whether USA or UK) does not result in the lowest price where cost now tends to drive consumer purchase decisions.

This is why I view major cycling manufacturers no longer have a significant presence in the UK and the USA for mass-production and quality bikes. There are unique craftsmen in the UK and USA, but they seem to be getting fewer and fewer and most of their road frames are now considered custom.

Regards, Steve Neago
Cincinnati, OH


----- Original Message -----
From: brucerobbins@supanet.com
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Sent: Monday, October 27, 2003 11:08 AM
Subject: [CR]Amazing British engineering!



>
> In the little free time I have, usually half-an-hour in the evenings, I've
> been restoring a 1935 George Elrick bike. He was a Yorkshireman who moved to
> Stirling in Scotland in 1935 where he opened a bike shop and built frames in a
> wooden shed attached to the back. This bike is the fifth he made at his
> Stirling premises. For those interested in Scottish bikes, Bob Reid has
> promised to put some pictures of the Elrick on his Flying Scot website as soon
> as I can take them.
>
> Anyway, I took the bottom bracket assembly apart the other night to find that,
> after cleaning, the Chater Lea axle and cups were virtually unmarked. The axle
> bearing surfaces looked like new. The old lad I bought it from, who purchased
> it from Mr Elrick, says he can'r remember changing the ball bearings let alone
> the axle so everything seems to be original. The Chater Lea headclip is also
> in near NOS condition as is the lamp bracket by the same maker.
>
> What amazed me was that this isn't a bike that has had light use in the
> Californian sunshine. It was raced hard up until the last Sunday before WWII
> broke out and then used as transport throughout the war when the owner was
> serving in the RAF. It saw a lot more use, in all weathers, after the war as
> well.
>
> My exposure to Chater Lea components had previously been pretty limited but,
> having examined their engineering qualities up close, I'd have to nominate
> this company as the King of component manufacturers.
>
> It's pretty tragic to think that, having once been capable of producing bike
> components of such outstanding quality and longevity, the UK now has no large
> scale bike industry. What went wrong?
>
> Bruce
> Dundee

> Scotland

>

>

>

> --