10 Responses to “Patriotic Bicycles”

1. 1 The Moose  on Jul 4th, 2007 at 2:25 pm

   If singlespeed, then the cog can be US made as Endless bikes machine theirs in NC.

2. 2 Ross Nicholson  on Jul 5th, 2007 at 5:50 am

   Nu Vinci’s bicycle hub is made in the USA, but Congress would rather subsidize Hummers than HPV transportation.

3. 3 Guitar Ted  on Jul 5th, 2007 at 6:54 am

   I ran a drivetrain that was as much American made as I could afford back in the 90’s. (Strike one: Too expensive compared to the competition) I also found that it was rather difficult to get a front mech, cassette, and impossible to find a U.S.A. made chain. (Strike two: Parts that were advertised as being available often were unobtanium) Then I found out that my Precision Billet derailluer really wasn’t up to the task of mountainbiking since I totally grenaded two of them literally just riding along. Yes……JRA for real! When I say “grenaded”, I am not kidding either. The only recognizeable parts left after each failure were the jockey wheels! (Strike three: The parts were woefully weak and designed poorly for off road adventures.)

   So, I don’t foresee anything from the U.S.A. in the way of drive train parts, tires, or really much of anything beyond frames and forks being readily available at reasonable prices. We just are not tooled up for, nor supplied with cheap enough labor for the production of bicycle parts here in this country.

4. 4 Brad  on Jul 5th, 2007 at 11:23 am

   Are ANY of SRAM’s derailleurs made here? What if we go singlespeed…

   How about tires? And a chain?

5. 5 Patrick Finn  on Jul 7th, 2007 at 2:08 am

   Just because you can’t make a %100 American bike doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try. My singlespeed/fixed gear mountain bike:treebeard, was built by Joseph Ahearne right in my hometown of Portland OR, as is the Chris King headset. The brakes, break levers and hubs are Paul, made in San Jose. The stem and seatpost are Thomson, the cranks and freewheel are White Bros., sure the rims are French and the saddle and handlebars are British, but I feel like I did what I could to buy American and the bike is awesome. Sure it was expensive, but you got to put your money where your mouth is. If you support crappy stuff being made by slave labor to profit big business so you can save a few bucks, then so be it, but don’t kid yourself, you don’t want to do that, so save up and buy the good stuff, the american stuff: phil wood, american classic, you know………………
   patrick finn

6. 6 Guitar Ted  on Jul 7th, 2007 at 10:00 am

   Patrick Finn: While I agree with much of your post and sentiments towards support of American companies, I must take exception to a few of your closing statements.

   It’s highly likely that these “crappy” items you refer to are made by well off factory workers in Taiwan or China in clean, up to date facilities. And as for these cycling products, most are of very high quality and make. It is simply unfair and ignorant to make statements that imply foriegn workers are “slaves” and that their products are in any way inferior.

7. 7 Patrick Finn  on Jul 7th, 2007 at 9:15 pm

   I was just being inflammatory to make a point. You’re probably right that most bicycle part workers are better off than the seamstresses we hear so often about.

   But there is another point: the global economy is fueled by petroleum and big business money, so you could argue that by buying stuff from overseas that is manufactured as part of this system, you are supporting the whole system.
   By doing this we weaken the systems we have here, and people have to struggle like crazy to keep their U.S. businesses going, which we can pretty much be certain is paying their emloyees more than the Pacific Rim businesses do. I know this is a “guilt by association ” argument, but there it is. Of course we are excluding Japan from this.

   I think Tektro makes some pretty decent brake levers, and they’re usually about half of what the Paul levers are, but I think in this situation you get what you pay for.

   Anyway, thanks for keeping it real Guitar Ted!
   -Patrick Finn

8. 8 SlowerThenSnot  on Jul 9th, 2007 at 1:43 am

   If you going single you can do Phil wood(spokes,hubs,bb, Chris king(headsets,hubs, cogs), white inds(hubs,bb,cranks,freewheels)….,

   Tires, chain, rims, seat? those are the parts I don’t know of anybody in the US of A making

9. 9 Forgivenick  on Jul 17th, 2007 at 6:17 pm

   American Classic (amclassic.com) for rims/wheels in USA.

10. 10 The Bear  on Oct 11th, 2008 at 2:36 am

    The Nuvinci is very creditable and for tires try Legacy airless. As far as chains, try the new Gates belt drive. Other sites—Wound-up carbon forks–LP composite bars, seatposts and bar ends–Pauls brakes and levers—White industries hubs,cranks and bb’s—Profile Racing pedals and BMX parts—Many, many frame builders. There is a wheel builder in Texas whose name escapes me but they make carbon fiber and spoked wheels with all American made parts—Nitro Pro for a suspension seat post—Pump Seat for a very comfortable saddle—some frog peddles are US built—Phil Wood of course—Thomson stems—AC components if you can get a hold of them—I think ATI for grips (don’t quote me on that one)–Race Face is Canadian. There are others and I’m sorry if I left them out. I’m trying to make a total US bike and it just might be possible!

    Wish me luck

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