"Grumman-581" wrote:
"Mark Hickey" wrote in message
.. .
It helps that I own a company that builds
titanium bikes - less impact on W&B.
I checked out your website and saw that your frames are made in China... I
was over at the bike shop a couple of weeks ago looking for a new bike for
my daughter and noticed that *all* the bikes were either made in China or
Taiwan... Doesn't *anyone* make a bike in the USA anymore?
Not too many make frames in the USA any longer - there are some
"artisan shops" that turn out relatively expensive frames, often with
aesthetic touches that can't be found on most "production frames"...
but the cost of labor, and probably equally important - the cost of
meeting environmental restrictions when welding and painting - have
driven most production overseas.
I happened to get into the business with the Chinese because I lived
in China for a couple years, and was introduced to a group of
aerospace fabricators who had been spun off the Long March rocket
booster program. I was very much impressed with the welders' art
(which is obvious on a single-pass TIG weld), and have been bringing
in the frames and selling them worldwide for over 10 years.
The built bikes are assembled in the US though (although there are
almost no viable US-sourced components).
Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com