David Snyder wrote:
> Depending on the law in the time and place that this frame was sold,
> perhaps some final glueing, finishing or perhaps even the assembly of
> fork to frame might qualify as "made in *"?
> I recall that at least some "Made in USA" Technium frames were put
> together quickly from foreign-sourced subassemblies here in the US of A,
> so perhaps your neighbor's Vitus, being bonded as it was, also somehow
> lent itself to such multinational fabrication.
This was also true of the low-end steel Treks during the time I worked there (1980-1986). Unpainted frames and forks were shipped from Japan to Waterloo, where they were painted and assembled. Many of the mid-range bikes also used pre-built forks and rear triangles, which were mated with Waterloo-made main triangles before painting and assembly. Some parts took a rather circuitous route: 531 fork blades, steer tubes, seat stays and chain stays were shipped from England to Japan where they were brazed into sub-assemblies and then shipped to Waterloo for final assembly.
--
-John Thompson (john@os2.dhs.org)
Appleton WI USA