I'm not talking about companies like Manitou or Shimano who manufacture 400,000 units of the same thing and then experience failure rates documented by just a few pictures on the net. Clearly 10 pictures of broken Race Face cranks are a drop in the bucket compared to the total production. I'm also not suggesting that we shelve all our parts in fear of snapping off our teeth or sticking half a crank arm into the back of our leg. I'm just pointing out that in the 4 years I went to Interbike, between 1993 and 1997, the number of cottage industry component manufacturers in attendance was staggering. The number that didn't make it back more than two consecutive years was even more so. Some of these companies are out of business for a reason. That's a good thing from a safety perspective, but It doesn't make my Fast Feather post uglier or less funky.
Some of our favorite retro brands were side project companies, protected by LLC, of larger machine and tooling shops that machined everything from carburetors to coffee filters, who made their bike parts on the side under a pet project LLC. Most of these companies used plain jane billet stock perfect for a coffee filter but not so good for a threadless stem shaped like the Golden Gate bridge, or another high load bike part such as crankarms, parts that see deflection in more than one direction cycle after cycle after cycle. Not all I-beam shaped cranks are Race Face, and not all machined posts are Thomson. Some look very similar, but are no better suited to functioning as a component on a bicycle than a wedge of cheese.
I'm also not trying to paint an image of these guys as crooks. A good many of these firms tried to make bike parts in the same fashion they made everything else, with precision and workmanship and pride. What was the learning curve in the early nineties was material, CAD and CNC properties as related specifically to bicycles. I worked for a company that made hubs and cable hangers and some CNC bits that replaced the plastic junk on the Judy fork. We took it seriously, and made our stuff a little heavier than it needed to be "just to be safe." Still, the business model of the company required that a component of the fatigue analysis process was handled by the customer, and covered under "warranty" when we were wrong. We weren't alone.
I guess the thing I wanted to point out was just an awareness factor. Some of the prettiest bike stuff ever made on a lathe or mill is just that...pretty. It also, in many instances, is total junk. I'm not a vintage hater, I'm not trying to scare people off of their Critical Racing stems or convince them that dismemberment is just around the corner. I know that some people have 15 y/o Kookas and they're doing just fine. I also know that some people have never had their Fiat break down either, but I'm not driving one.
I think I'm bordering on harping from the soap box here so I'll shut up now.
If anyone wants to PM me a more specific product question I'll give my two cents if I've got it to spare, or, more likely, I'll say "I have no knowlege of that company's components other than what I read in MBA while sitting in the water closet."
