Made in USA?

[DISCO]

It would not surprise me, there was a great article discussing Africa as the last place in the world for cheap labor and a "receptive" political and business climate. The same article held the opinion that Asia was the last stop, since the infrastructure on the dark continent is simply too broken to support economic growth. Being a capitalist I understand that a wider margin is essential to growth, even if it has to come at the expense of humanity and to a lesser extent quality. But as long as the both the workforce and the end consumer continue acting voluntarily, I'll feel no shame.

[Rossage]

Well said Disco! Are you a capitalist philosopher? Marx is doing flip-flops in his grave!

[DISCO]

I would define philosophy as the inability to make up ones mind, Me? I'm just a bike rider .

[RacinJason]

What is the S/N of you frame I want to find out the batch. How long ago to you buy the frame. Shoot me a pm.
It sounds like you had a bash guard bolt in your drop out. The shoulder on the bash guard bolts are longer. We don't carry them for that reason.
In the last 3 months we have change out our QC staff.
Many times people buy a frame and have the 135 drop outs changed to 150 or the other away around. Either way it can happen at the shop.
Some times we are asked to ship the frame without the rear drops outs on it.

I can't believe you didn't contact me.
Let me know when you get that bike built.

Have fun with you build.

Originally Posted by Pato

Me personally, I don't really care where my products are made so long as they are made correctly and up to expected standards. I care more about the companies' policies on how they treat their workers and environmental consciousness.

I won't go as far as to research all this before I buy, but if I hear about irresponsible companies I will look into it. If the rumors are true then I will not purchase from them until they have changed, no matter how much I like their product. On the other hand, I am willing to pay more to purchase from companies who do try to make a positive difference like Chris King.



I'm going to disagree and say I was left a little wanting in this department.

I just got to building up my Intense frame and IMO quality was a not that great. Rattling was heard from the get go. It started as soon as I pulled the frame out of the box. I figured no big deal, maybe one of the bolts are loose.

Took out the trusty torque wrench and started going at it with all the pivot bolts. Got to the rear and found one of the bolts attaching the right rear dropout to the triangle was spinning loosely in the hole. I tried to tighten it, but it was as tight as it would go and it was still rattling in the hole. Took it out and found that it was laready bottoming out in the nut without clamping the dropout to the frame securely. No biggie. After a few minutes with the dremel I was able to get the bolt to securely fasten the dropout to the frame. At this point, I'm not sure if it's the nut (think chainring nut and you'll get the picture) was out of spec and too long or that the frame is out of spec and too thin. I'm hoping for the former.

With all the bolts torqued I was ready to build. Wait, what is that new noise? That's right! Metal shavings inside the frame. After an hour of shaking it around I was able to get most of it out to the point that I was barely perceptible.

Sorry Jason, rant over. I just figured that something this expensive (and "hand built in the USA") would have not made it past QA in this condition.

[Pato]

This frame was ordered new specifically with the 150mm rear end. Don't want to derail this thread so I've replied to your PM. Thanks for your follow up.

Oh, and the bike's been built up as of last night.

Originally Posted by RacinJason

What is the S/N of you frame I want to find out the batch. How long ago to you buy the frame. Shoot me a pm.
It sounds like you had a bash guard bolt in your drop out. The shoulder on the bash guard bolts are longer. We don't carry them for that reason.
In the last 3 months we have change out our QC staff.
Many times people buy a frame and have the 135 drop outs changed to 150 or the other away around. Either way it can happen at the shop.
Some times we are asked to ship the frame without the rear drops outs on it.

I can't believe you didn't contact me.
Let me know when you get that bike built.

Have fun with you build.

[dudevf1]

There is a large variance in quality within a product range--the price should compensate for this variation. So whether you get a custom USA frame or one from overseas you should be able to find one of very high quality from both sources and you can also find junk from both. It pays to do your homework on the company and their warranty policy and service.

Some companies focus on quality of each build and others do it through compensation via lower price and very quick no-hassle warranty replacements.

[AKmoney]

I admit the only thing I don't like about my new Ibis Mojo is that the frame is made in China. But at least they're a smaller, US-based company and some other components on my bike *are* US-sourced (Fox fork, Chris King components). I try not to think about how my wheels are French