I’d like a Taiwanese bicycle, please
I found this post yesterday, proclaiming a popular sentiment that European bicycle companies have more character and/or quality than “the mainstream guys”. The fact that two companies strongly associated with Taiwanese manufacture were singled out (and not say Trek*) is notable. What kills me is that the message board poster spews on lovingly for the Colnago CX-1…because I’ve been to the Giant factory in Taichung, Taiwan, and that vaunted CX-1 comes down the SAME production line as the Giant TCR. That’s right, Taiwan makes that Colnago. It doesn’t take a quantum leap of the imagination to figure out that Colnago went to Taiwan because the production costs are so very attractive, yet why would anyone assume that the product that Giant makes for other brands would be better than what they sell as their own? Wouldn’t Giant use all the lessons learned from building thousands of carbon bikes for their own advantage, with engineering and production assets so closely coupled?
After going to the Giant factory last fall, I decided that my next carbon bike would be a Giant. Sure, I could buy a Specialized because after all, Specialized is one of the best Merida (the other biggest name in Taiwanese bicycle manufacture) that you can buy. But I don’t want “Designed in California”, as Specialized has stickered their bikes for years. No, I want designed/built/painted in Taiwan by Taiwanese, and then I want to go down to Seattle’s international district and eat lunch at Henry’s Taiwan. I recommend the fried fish & rice plate.
