DREK may have improved the VALUE of the various brands they've absorbed, but I think you'd find lots of arguments that they've improved the quality.
I never saw a Trek-built Bontrager (the Privateer) that was anywhere near as nice as the ones coming out of the garage in Santa Cruz ... and now the brand doesn't even exist as a bike brand ... just parts.
On Fri, 5 Mar 2004 10:29:01 -0800, Tom Martin wrote
> If nationalist tendancies are so important in the 'correctness' of,
> say, bicycle production, then we should be celebrating Trek, and their
> production? They are made in the USA (mostly- at least the upper end
> of their line(s)). And..... Trek vastly improved the quality and
> value of the bike companies that they absorbed. Fisher, LeMond, Icon,
> Bontrager,etc, from wherever it is sourced. You can debate the
> asthetic value of the 'new' and modern bikes and parts, but all
> these lines didn't die. They actually flourished. A couple of
> examples: personally, I'd rather have a pre trek bontrager anything
> and not a new spiffy made in taiwan bontrager frame or handlebar.
> LeMond is a different story in my mind- Trek made a huge and
> positive difference to that line. I do understand the values we are
> discussing; they are values with a capital V though. Bikes are not
> just bikes to CR and iBOB'ers and the like. That passion is what
> drives us to put these things in our life, and we will do what it
> takes to that end, like scrounging the world- literally- for a small
> NOS campag O-ring for a restoration project. Companies such as Trek and
> Schwinn survive off of that; but any corporate entity will just suck
> the life out of the things we love. Arbitrary political borders do
> not affect the quality of goods. Even in a Japanese or Taiwanese or
> Hungarian factory there is a skill set that is vauable anywhere in
> the world, no matter the volume.
>
> tom martin
> Oakland CA
> 'The root of corporation is of course corpse'
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Richard M Sachs" <richardsachs@juno.com>
> To: <kohl57@starpower.net>
> Cc: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
> Sent: Thursday, March 04, 2004 8:38 PM
> Subject: Re: [CR]Re: How the mighty are fallen
>
> > i'm with you in spirit, but in my mind subcontracting is
> > subcontracting. i don't think geographic borders help
> > or hurt the quality. the bicycle industry, like most others,
> > is market driven. in the raleigh example it wouldn't be
> > incorrect to assume that the decision to move manufacturing
> > from nottingham to "wherever" was made by englishmen.
> > e-RICHIE
> > chester, ct
> >
> >
> >
> > On Thu, 4 Mar 2004 23:22:03 -0500 "P.C. Kohler" <kohl57@starpower.net>
> > writes:
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: Richard M Sachs
> > To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
> > Cc: kohl57@starpower.net
> > Sent: Thursday, March 04, 2004 10:45 PM
> > Subject: Re: [CR]Re: How the mighty are fallen
> >
> >
> > snipped from below:
> > "When Raleigh stopped making machines in Nottingham, it died..."
> >
> >
> > why?
> > e-RICHIE
> > chester,ct
> > WHY?
> >
> > Because there was a time when English bikes were made in England by
> > Englishmen who actually rode the bikes they used. Whole generations were
> > raised on these machines. They reflected the national cycling traditions
> > just as the now vanished French and Italian national makes. Today, they
> > are made by cheap Third World labour. No one is going to tell that
> > doesn't reflect in their quality. At least no one belonging to a site
> > dedicated to classic bicycles!!
> >
> > Peter Kohler
> > Washington DC USA
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > kohl57@starpower.net writes:
> >
> > > those who succeeded at it in various eras should be allowed the
> > > opportunity of profiting from the market they helped create. to a
> > > builder, i never met any italian who believed it was a virtue to stand
> > > at a bench when the option to "grow the business" was possible.
> > > e-RICHIE
> >
> > Sure, why not. It's great to see proud old names used to profit people
> > and
> > employ folks. No worries. Then again, it's mainly our, shall we say,
> > disappointment, at what is being produced under those famous names that
> > inspires us to cherish and collect that which, we think, MADE the name
> > famous and thus profitable in the first place. I trust this isn't called
> > Classic Rendezvous for nothing
> >
> > I'll say it right here that what Raleigh makes now is, in my personal
> > opinion, utter crap. Maybe it's a combination of being made anywhere as
> > long
> > as it's cheap or maybe because I intensely dislike modern bikes. But if I
> > were a heron, I'd take considerable offense at being stuck on this
> > rubbish.
> >
> > So Raleigh (and indeed Masi) can and will do as they wish and good on
> > them.
> > But I am sure not going buy 'em or be inclined to like 'em or even accept
> > 'em because it "keeps the name alive". When Raleigh stopped making
> > machines
> > in Nottingham, it died. Full stop. End of story.
> >
> > Oh, I don't know a thing about Masi's.. sorry. But that thing on eBay
> > looked
> > a lot like a Vietnamese-made Raleigh. The only issue is which once proud
> > marque is more insulted by the comparison.
> >
> > Peter Kohler
> > Washington DC USA
> >
> >
>
> _______________________________________________
--
Steven L. Sheffield
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