Cannondale Bicycle Company closing US Manufacturing - Moving overseas.
Link to Article
So many good paying jobs - Blue Collar Worker and White Collar Employee have - are moving to Mexico or overseas!
Major US Bicycle Maker Outsourcing to Asia
- Thread starter SrDriver
- Start date
- Status
sick. adding cannondale to list of bikes that I won't buy.
That sucks for all those workers, especially now that the job market is so tough.
What industry isn't moving some of their manufacturing operations overseas ?
who's even going to be left to buy their [censored] pretty soon.
We've turned into a country who makes nothing.
Is it possible in a few months we will see Cannondale bicycles sold at our local Walmart Supercenter ? 
And some of those laidoff Cannondale employees now working at Walmart ? 
And some of those laidoff Cannondale employees now working at Walmart ? 
Dorel.
I wish you could have heard the pitch from my local Cannondale retailer when Dorel acquired Cannondale. He was attempting to sell the idea that the Dorel acquisition strengthened Cannondale. It was all I could do to keep from laughing in his face.
I fear for America's future as a manufacturing base. I don't expect things to improve for our country, at least not in my lifetime.
Shame,
I just picked up a new Cannondale Rize a few weeks ago.. It still says "Made in USA" and will be until 2011 or something.
At least Cannondale is keeping the design team apparently here, only the manufacturing of the frame will be done overseas.
That's too bad but I saw it coming with Doral's purchase. Pacific (now Doral) did something similar a few years ago with its GT/Schwinn/Haro purchase.
it sux all around. a few yrs ago when cdale went bankrupt, they got rid of the controlling family, it was bought by an investment firm, then dorel bought it. if they hadn't, it would have been done already.
it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that it is really expensive to build things here. that's why cdale was in bedford to begin with; the old corp HQ was in CT, bedford had cheap labor. I guess not cheap enough.
taiwan is the world leader in bicycle production, have been for some time. very easy to get a line built there. what surprises me, however, is that they would be in taiwan instead of the ROC, since the mainland is coming on strong w/ higher end bikes (they dominate the lower end market).
yrs ago, the line sold to the consumer is that outsourcing would lower prices, yeah, right. cdale makes high end, high priced stuff. the retail prices will stay high; the $4mil 'saved' just means higher profits. no money saved to the consumer at all.
Originally Posted By: Schmoe
Well, I'm in the market for a bike, they are off the list. I think Marin bikes are still made in California.
That's too bad about cannondale, I can't say I ever liked their bikes but atleast the frames were made in N.A.
Are there any mid level component manufacturers left in N.A.? I see SRAM now owns rockshox, truvativ, and avid so probably none of their stuff is made here either...
I'm not really breaking any parts anymore(getting old and slow) so I guess what I have will last a while.
Ian
GTs used to be assembled in Santa Maria, Calif from foreign components by an assembly contractor. Many companies used to (still do?) contract assembly. Their "Pro" frames were handbuilt in the USA, I don't know about now.
Mountain cycle was all US and made locally (to me), They moved out of Calif. a few years ago, then got bought out by a Taiwanese company. Truvativ was also a local company, SRAM bought them and I don't think their parts are still made here.
I've been to the NAHBS and it is a great show. Some bikes are ridiculously expensive but some are quite reasonable when you factor in their value when comparing premium to premium.
If you are into weird stuff this is a friend's company. The only full suspension trike made in the US http://berserkercycledesign.com/berserker-tricycle/pictures/
Aren't Gary Fisher bikes made in the US?
Originally Posted By: oilboy123
Aren't Gary Fisher bikes made in the US?
Originally Posted By: SLCraig
Originally Posted By: oilboy123
Aren't Gary Fisher bikes made in the US?
It's possible to get a bike still made in the USA, but it will cost you a left nut. My Ellsworth MTB frame, Fox front fork and rear shock, and Thomson seatpost were all made in the USA. Everything else on it was made in either Taiwan or Japan.
FWIW, Ellsworth gets all of their Carbon Fiber components from Asia. I guess it's just too danged expensive to do that here in the USA, for whatever reason(s).
There are still a few European bike manuf. if china really turns your stomach.
the market is now turning towards carbon fiber, and taiwan and china do it better (and cheaper) than anyone else. carbon layup is just too labor intensive to do here. trek for the longest time did do carbon here (their OCLV stuff) but it was very expensive to do so; they were locked into the same geometry for a long time because of the cost involved in making new molds and lug designs. the asians can do it SO much faster and more efficiently. even the Italian stalwarts (de rosa, pinarello, masi, etc) are all basically carbon now, and I wouldn't be surpried if they aren't all really made in italy.
- Status
