"Every minute a sucker is born?" PT Barnum; are we bikers suckers?

Wheels of Happiness

Rizal Philippines
February 23, 2018

PT Barnum, a master showman and marketer was attributed to have said "Every minute a sucker is born"  But many said he did not actually say it. Showmen, marketers rely on this wit to attract people to their show and wares.  And every one of us seem to be gullible.

History Reference to PT Barnaum

In case of bikers, we are taken for a ride.

After reading the articles exposing that Felt, Merida, Colnago, Scott, Ridley Bianchi, Orbea, Fuji are actually made in Taiwan, China and Asia, I felt cheated by Europeans and Americans suppliers who represented their products to be made in their home country.  95% pala ng bikes made by Giant and Hokada in Taiwan factories. Dapat Taiwan or Giant price

                                          Nice but picture label says it is made in Taiwan

                                                     Made in UK?


The idea of being made from beginning to end in a particular country or  place was a thing of the past in modern  supply chain manufacturing processes.   This strategy has to be made to be competitive and stay alive in the competition.  High labor costs tax structures have forced many manufacturers to subcontract, offshore, outsource their production.   American Classic buried its head in the sand paid no attention to this trend and shuttered

Learning that high brand bikes and bike frames are really made in Taiwan made me realize that many have been suckered and taken a ride by bike firms I felt outraged and cheated.  .  I feel that they over priced their bikes, exorbitantly high if indeed they are made in Taiwan. May be just 3x their production cost $200 x 3 =  $600.00 would be fair.   Which is how much Lazada charges now for carbon fiber frames.  All they do is  ship the frames to their home country, paint put stickers manuals, put in boxes and ship back to Asia and add how much $1,000+ to the cost.

Lazada catalog - carbon frames

                                                                       26 K lang!  Full carbon frame

                                                                   16 K lang


How about you?

Hindi lang ride eh, natsubibo tayong lahat.  Nagdebate pa tayo ng katakot takot kung fake o hindi made in Taiwan.  Iyon pala halos lahat ng bike natin.  PEKE 95% made in Taiwan.  Lahat Giant made!

The bikestand - WHO MADE MY BIKES

Where was my bicycle made (same content, different post)

Building bikes in Asia

The OEM and bikes and Lazada bikes prices are just the right prices to pay.

The European and American bike suppliers owe us an explanation for the suckering/misrepresentations...

Enlightenment on global manufacturing: outsourcing offshoring

Wheels of Happiness

Rizal Philippines
February 14, 2018

                                                           Kenda bike tire factory in Taiwan

As this post reads some of comments as to whether made in Taiwan bikes/parts are fake or not, certain lack of understanding emerges from some quarters.  (Nakakahiya especially Taiwan hosts many of highly paid Filipino OFWs) Taiwan manufacturing is growing leaps and bounds due to their manufacturing prowess, quality build and customer satisfaction.  For carbon and other bike manufacturing the country has become a center with state of art facilities for CNC and carbon fiber manufacturing.   European and North American manufacturers have recognized this that they unashamedly have the frames made in Taiwan and China.  Now some Taiwan manufacturers have outsourced established their plants in Mainland China where labor is cheaper

In investments this flows from where returns are highest, or costs are lower.  Thus Western countries outsources its manufacturing elsewhere:  Asia and China where labor and other costs are lower. Thus we have BPO where labor costs are lower by a factor of 5 up to 10.  Some name brands even in UK and Italy have Asian suppliers.  Please take note that biggest supplier of quality carbon fiber, Toray is Mitsubishi, based in Asia.  So it is cheaper really to outsource in Asia:  from raw material and manufacturing

This is not a new phenomenon.  GM and Boeing outsource some of their parts to Korea, Japan.  Some aerospace firms airplane company I am surprised have suppliers from Laguna.  And that means we should not belittle products and parts outsourced from Taiwan. Apple and Samson are squabbling over intellectual property rights, because Apple outsourced from Samsung

I had a friend who bought an Alum Ridley Fenix frame.  It was alleged that the frame was pre ordered by an outlet in Eastwood from Cebu.  It had a sticker that says made in China (not Taiwan) Same as any other quality frame I saw.  It weighed in at 1.6 kg

OEM

 Some companies in US and Europe, and online shopping companies are marketing companies just like supermarkets that get many products elsewhere.  Nike for instance does not a have shoe plant;  there are subcontractors that just put their label on their shoes . The same goes true for Dell:  its computers being ordered online are assembled elsewhere in the world:  Winstron does the manufacturing and FEDEX did the delivery at Subic.  Dell computers are sturdy and reliable.  Do you doubt its quality though it was made in the Phil.

Those who manufacture for a brander in US or Europe are called OEM: Orginal Equipment Manufacturer.  They assemble genuine products following the branders specs and material requirements.  The brander simply puts their decals and brochure in boxes that came from Taiwan or  China.

China and Taiwan compete in global market. They cant afford to fail in this market by coming out with low quality or shoddy products.

Giant and SRAM factories are based in Taiwan;  so fake ang products nila just because my label ng Taiwan. Colonial mentality has not left many of the heads of our kababayan!

So are Taiwan made CF fake?  This post would like to repeat that Taiwan has superior technology in CNC (machining of bike parts) and carbon fiber.

Taiwan a center for bike bike parts manufacturing many focus on high end market.

"God  created the world in 6 days,  and afterwards, everything else was made in China"

                                                    SRAM Truvative factory in Taiwan

From bike rumor: Visit to SRAM factory located in rural Taiwan

                                                     Mga fake ba Truvativ at SRAM products?