Should it matter?

[negr6]

I've had a couple of S Works frames - still got one. Both were of an era where they were built in the USA, and while it may have been that I just swallowed the hype, it wasn't a huge leap of faith to believe that there was a reasonable link between my frames and the guys who welded up Ned Overend's and Bart Brentjens' frames.

Now, S Works frames probably come out the same hoooge factory somewhere in Taiwan (?) as all the other Specialized bikes, and as such, for me they've lost a lot of their desirability.

I've got a couple of USA made bikes, and a couple of taiwan made bikes. I like to think that the guys who welded up my Merlin and my S Works were cyclists and craftsmen, and the guys (robots?) that welded up my taiwanese Allez and P series frames might as well have been making dishwashers or garden furniture - just another consumer product. Goodness only knows who made my Brompton - a cerebral, Barnes Wallace type perhaps.

Am I the only one to think like this? Should the country of origin matter?

 

[Augustus]

I've got a couple of USA made bikes, and a couple of taiwan made bikes. I like to think that the guys who welded up my Merlin and my S Works were cyclists and craftsmen, and the guys (robots?)

I dunno, I've seen a pic of one of the folk that made my merlin and he didn't look like he did a lot of cycling.

He also managed to slightly over ream the seat tube. Something I suppose a robot wouldn't have done. :roll:

That said, I do know what you mean. As for modern S Works branding, I think some of the allure was that there was a lot less of it in the old days. a Frame, a handlebar, a Chainset, not every specialized product having a 'finest' range option.

Rose tinted specs. Keep 'em on.

 

[digitalkreation]

I've got the same thing going on with my beloved Barracuda.

From 1992 through mid 1994, these frames were welded by some great shops in the USA. Lots of provenance there.

1994 through 1995, the frames were made in Taiwan, perhaps by robots.

Thing is, other than the romanticism which drives us to products hand made by Americans (or Canadians in my case), I don't really feel that I'm deterred by something made by an automatic process. You'd get less defects I would think, removing the human element..

Anyhow, I have Barracudas that were hand-built (by Yeti) and I have some that rolled off the assembly line in Taiwan. I love them both.

 

[Augustus]

Handbuilt by robots...

 

[brocklanders023]

I think I'm more of a sucker for the designer to be a biker (e.g Pace, Orange). Saying that, one of the reasons I want a Boston Fat is that the whole company seemed to buy into what they were doing.
I'd always prefer hand built to machine built but am happy with either as long as the bike itself means something to me.

I think I know what I mean but am confusing myself now. :? :roll:

 

[andrewl]

Am I the only one to think like this? Should the country of origin matter?

In my experience quality control is far better with Asian made frames than those coming out of the US of A.

I've seen some very high end US frames with appalling mistakes being sent to customers, including head and seat tubes over reamed, bottom brackets with the threads the wrong way around and rear ends out of centre with the front tri.