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World’s top bicycle maker is moving U.S. orders to Taiwan factory

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Re: World’s top bicycle maker is moving U.S. orders to Taiwan factory

#171

Post by analog31 »

flyGuyOnTheSly wrote: post #127
bigiain wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Take a bit of care with those... When I was a kid I was using my granddad's orbital sander - with a beautiful alloy body, when one of the brushes _finally_ wore right through, and the spring and pigtail popped out of the brush holder and put the live 240V AC conductor into the casing... (Not at all helped by the fact I was using the extension cord from the double insulated electric lawnmower, which had earth pins on…

A valid warning, indeed! I will admit that my drill has had the grounding pin cut out of it's once-3-pronged plug. Apparently it was common for contractors to cut it out as many of the houses they were working in didn't have grounding sockets. I've only used it a couple of times, after checking it over mechanically inside, so I'm not too worried about it. The beautiful thing about old power tools however is that repl…

With the grounding pin absent, even a small amount of leakage can result in the enclosure of the tool being anywhere between mains and ground potential. I'm neither an electrician nor an engineer, but I suspect that the newer "double insulated" standard is a worthwhile improvement.

Re: World’s top bicycle maker is moving U.S. orders to Taiwan factory

#172

Post by Tiktaalik »

mymythisisthis wrote: post #23

Bicycles are something that you need to be careful buying. Don't buy a BSO - a Bicycle Shaped Object. Just because it looks like a bike, doesn't mean you can comfortably ride it. An entry level bike is about $1200. You can comfortably ride it for hours, or up hills, carry a heavy load, it won't easily break, and it'll have a smooth ride. I feel bad for people that go out and buy a BSO; BSOs ruin cycling. We need to h…

nah. Buy a used old 1980s era Japanese bike from craigslist for ~$300. It'll be fine and good.

Re: World’s top bicycle maker is moving U.S. orders to Taiwan factory

#173

Post by cannonedhamster »

sonnyblarney wrote: post #132
josho wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Sadly, it's all about price. It’s about price because consumers can’t measure by anything else. Eg. I can’t tell which of two products is manufactured to higher standards, nor which one isn’t infested with formaldehyde. Until consumers are able to determine those other factors then yes sadly it is all about price (and marketing).

"It’s about price because consumers can’t measure by anything else." They can, but it's obviously the biggest signal. But let's not confuse the plight of the middle/upper middle class who can afford to start to invest in aspiration, and make other qualitative judgments about things like supply chain. China+Wallmart have made entire categories of goods and services available to regular working people, at prices they c…

There seems to be a major difference in you trying to make a good, quality product which have yet to have benefited from economy of scale and cheap knock offs that are often dangerous, misleading, or just plain cut corners. For a large number of people and products this isn't actually a problem, like you say. Harbor freight had an excellent business model in just this but they are very up front about it. You're not buying the best wishlist quality, you're buying the best quality they can find at a specific and accessible price. That's adding efficiency to the supply chain, which is most of what Walmart does. Don't sell yourself short that your first product iteration isn't there yet. You'll find ways to improve and lower the cost of the product in safe and efficient ways over time.

Re: World’s top bicycle maker is moving U.S. orders to Taiwan factory

#174

Post by semi-extrinsic »

james_s_tayler wrote: post #108
nraynaud wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

CE mark is a self reported thing. TüV and UL are more reliable, but they are still a minimum standard of safety, not a sign of quality.

I know "blockchain all the certification marks!" we can call it "ChainOfCustodyChain" $$$$$$$$$

Just be careful so you don't get sued for trademark infringement by 2 Chainz.

Re: World’s top bicycle maker is moving U.S. orders to Taiwan factory

#175

Post by semi-extrinsic »

rangibaby wrote: post #168
ppod wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good point. This is where public online reviews come in. It's a bit tricky with amazon, because for some products different sellers source slightly different versions of the product (or just knock-offs), but in theory open online review is a revolution for the customer-quality information gap.

Why reviews are horrible, even (especially?) on Youtube: SO HYPED ABOUT THIS PRODUCT. CAN'T WAIT UNTIL IT'S RELEASED (5 stars) (brand) hits it out of the park again! Thanks for the review model, paid trip to Hawaii, and sweet t-shirt, (brand). This makes all (other brands) obsolete! Hail Sony! (5 stars) This new model makes the old one look like trash. A new era has arrived (5 stars) (One year earlier on the previous…

This is part of the reason why AvE's BOLTR series is so popular. Buy a tool for money donated on patreon, take it apart, tell us how it works and how it will break, test it a bit. Explicitly tell us "this is no fucking good at all" or "this is pretty skookum".

It seems like there is a viable business model underlying this, that shoulf translate to other product categories. The hard part is building an audience that trusts you.

Re: World’s top bicycle maker is moving U.S. orders to Taiwan factory

#176

Post by cannonedhamster »

flyGuyOnTheSly wrote: post #141
bigiain wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also - keep in mind a lot of places you find these things they're _really_ cheap, so it's often perfectly fine to buy one that is _probably_ good, then pull it apart when you get home to check it's interior and construction. If you only dropped $5 at a thrift store, it doesn't hurt too much when you find its actually shitty plastic with a lump of rusty steel inside - and you just trow it out...

That is a great point. Plenty of items that I have purchased and been unhappy with personally have found their way back to thrift stores. I try to donate primarily to the more local actual charities that do a lot of good in my community like the salvation army, but I have no problem donating to for profit thrift stores either as I am in them often and I can see the great things that they're doing for a very large num…

Salvation army isn't a non-profit in the strict traditional sense of the word, they are a church that happens to do a lot of worthwhile charity, The church part of their mission has led to some controversy regarding how they treat members of the LGBT community. While each individual office is different there's been a consistent thread of this running through the organization in line with their belief system. If that's not a concern to you then disregard, if it is you may want to consider how your donations and purchases are being spent.

As for finding thrift store items in general, you can find some great things in need of minor tlc, especially hand tools. I tend to use my battery powered told for most things these days that are have tools so plugged tools aren't my forte but I still have a drill I bought ages ago that's lasted me numerous projects and years without failing. It's kind of remarkable how well built some tools are.

Re: World’s top bicycle maker is moving U.S. orders to Taiwan factory

#177

Post by analog31 »

Tiktaalik wrote: post #172
mymythisisthis wrote: post #23

Bicycles are something that you need to be careful buying. Don't buy a BSO - a Bicycle Shaped Object. Just because it looks like a bike, doesn't mean you can comfortably ride it. An entry level bike is about $1200. You can comfortably ride it for hours, or up hills, carry a heavy load, it won't easily break, and it'll have a smooth ride. I feel bad for people that go out and buy a BSO; BSOs ruin cycling. We need to h…

nah. Buy a used old 1980s era Japanese bike from craigslist for ~$300. It'll be fine and good.

In addition, being self sufficient for maintenance can turn practically any bike into a good working bike. I ride old bikes, but have tuned them to perfection.

Re: World’s top bicycle maker is moving U.S. orders to Taiwan factory

#178

Post by hkmurakami »

nextos wrote: post #8

I don't immediately discard an item because it's made in China, as I know of some high quality items made there. Most Apple products, some Xiaomi products or Meermin/Feit shoes. However, I tend to be very skeptical about its quality. Moving manufacturing to China is most often done to reduce cost. The only industry where it's not done due to cost, but supply chain issues, is electronics. And with cost reduction comes…

Giant contract manufacturers bike frames for many brands that are considered “high end”, including Bianchi and Trek. So it’s not like they’re known for low quality.

Re: World’s top bicycle maker is moving U.S. orders to Taiwan factory

#179

Post by kqr »

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #103
monk_e_boy wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know about manufacturing. But for food products people get prosecuted all the time by trading standards. My friend who works for them has a lot of interesting stories to tell. One story, she visited a local pub and asked for a dairy free ploughman's, the waiter asked if she would like butter on her bread. My friend waited for it to be added, then she put the whole meal, plate and all into a plastic bag and to…

>the waiter asked if she would like butter on her bread. My friend waited for it to be added // I've heard stories like this before. It sounds a bit stupid on the part of Trading Standards (TS). Waiter: "Do you want butter" Customer/TS agent: "Yes, please" Then the TS agent prosecutes you for putting butter on their food. Well why did they ask for butter. I mean, I realise that people are sometimes absolute idiots bu…

It takes very little for the waiter to inject, "The satay contains peanuts as an essential ingredient, do you still want to order it?"

Re: World’s top bicycle maker is moving U.S. orders to Taiwan factory

#180

Post by inferiorhuman »

novok wrote: post #137
reaperducer wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

it was interesting to me how much better fresh produce was in Italy It helps that the food doesn't have to travel far from where it's grown. Sadly, the majority of the planet isn't as fortunate.

Same thing applies to a lot of produce in california, still tends to taste worse.

A lot of that will depend on where you are and where you're shopping. For example: even in the Bay Area it can be hard to find garlic grown outside of China despite Watsonville and Fresno growing a ton of garlic. American-grown ginger as well can be extremely difficult to find as well. Same with avocados and limes. The Southern Californian climate is well suited to both avocados and limes, but most I've found out here are sourced from Mexico or South America (except for the 'specialty' avocados).
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