The United Nations on two wheels

Last night Kimberlee read my blog post and commented about me having a US-made saddle on my bike.  It got me thinking about where everything on the bike was made.  The tendency today (maybe always?) is for people to buy whatever is the cheapest item available that still performs somewhat satisfactorily (at least for the foreseeable future).  I personally don't mind spending a little more on a product if (a) I suspect it will outlast a cheaper product, and (b) the company that makes the product is local, environmentally-responsible, and/or seems to be more interested in making good products instead of just making money.  Admittedly it's nearly impossible to know about every product and/or company in order to make this judgement.

The current trend with bicycle components and frames is to out-source production of the products to other companies that specialize in mass producing said product.  It's most obvious in the bicycle frame arena where there are several large companies that make frames for most of the larger companies.  For instance Giant (who make their own brand of bikes) also manufacturers frames for Trek, as well as many other companies.  There's cost savings to be had by larger economies of scale.  For instance, assuming Trek manufactured their own bikes (which they used to), they may find that they're not selling as many bikes as they'd planned at the beginning of the year.  Because fewer bikes were needed, and frames builders had already been hired, Trek may need to reduce their workforce which means layoffs (which aren't good).  But because Trek sub-contracts out the frame building, they can ask for fewer frames and Giant who builds the frames can then slot in production of another company's frames into the available time slot.  As long as some company is selling bikes Giant can keep workers at work.  It's not a bad system for larger companies as it prevents employees from having to move from factory to factory as work volume changes.  However, it also means that companies that "build" bikes, really don't build bikes any more - they now send blueprints to companies that build bikes - kind of a big change.

Many smaller companies on the other hand don't sub-contract their production, they do the work in-house.  Often this means that their prices are higher as they have to absorb any downtime into their cost structure.  But it also means that they guy who build/machined my last frame/component is likely the same guy doing it this time too.  For example, all frames that say "Nobilette" on the down tube where built by Mark Nobilette.  It's kind of cool I think, and I'm willing to pay a bit more for that knowledge.

Which in a non-linear way brings me back to the United Nations on two wheels... Where were the parts on my bike made?

Made in the USA:  The frame and fork were made in Colorado by Mark Nobilette.  The Selle An-Atonomica saddle was made in Wisconsin.  The brakes are made in Chico, CA, by Paul Components.

Made in Italy: The Campagnolo shifters, headset, front and rear deraillers, chain, and hubs were made in Italy.  Campagnolo has done their best to keep manufacturing alive in Italy although they've recently opened a facility in eastern Europe.

Made in Australia:  The Velocity Synergy rims were made in Australia.  I've heard rumors that they're moving production to Florida (in the US) in the near future.

Made in Switzerland:  The DT Swiss spokes are still made in Switzerland.

Made in Japan:  The Nitto front rack is a made in Japan.  The seat post is an old SunTour XC post form the 1980s made in Japan (these are likely the easiest to adjust seat post ever made).  Also the tires, branded as Pacenti, were made by Panaracer in Japan.

Made in Taiwan:  I'm pretty sure that the Ritchey bar and stem are made in Taiwan.  The "Q Tubes" inner tubes are also from Taiwan.

Not really sure, but somewhere in Asia:  SRAM has multiple facilities around the world and I'm not sure which made my crank set.  The cable housing is made by Jagwire which has facilities in both Taiwan and China - not sure which place actually made my housing.

Unknown: The bar tape, cables, headset spacers, and water bottle cages are unknown.  In some cases I'm not even sure what brand is on the bike.