MTBrider
November 21-2005, 01:39 PM
A view long since held by some in the bike industry, one of the most innovative players has now gone on the record saying Taiwan made bikes are better than their US conterparts, and he's done it on a public MTB forum.
Needless to say it's caused more than a little upset in the US boutique bike market!
Paul Turner, the man who founded RockShox, popularising suspension for MTBs, has joined the forum of MTBreview.com to answer anonymous critics who wrote that Taiwan-built Maverick bikes were now inferior to boutique brands made in the USA. "The US is a great place to invent and develop things, but it is not a good place to get a bike made," wrote Turner.
"We went to Taiwan to improve our quality and to keep our focus on design and development," said Turner.
"We tried to make our stuff here [in the US] (and would prefer to), but we were just beating our head against the wall.
"We are the only bike company that designs and makes the frame, fork and rear shock - not even Trek and especially not the other boutique brands mentioned do this. If we had gone to the next step to keep manufacturing in the US, which is do it ourselves, then all our energy would be spent on who didn't show up for work that day or what machine is down.
"The US is a great place to invent and develop things, but it is not a good place to get a bike made. Sad, but true.
"Taiwan bike manufacturing is world class, there are very well equipped factories that do just that, make bikes start to finish. There are no factories like that here because there is better work to be had in aerospace, auto and military jobs. Trying to make bikes in the US is also a total piecemeal approach – one company to make the parts, another to weld, another to heat-treat and so on. To do it here your expertise needs to be logistics, not damping rates or frame geometry."
Turner was also smarting over comments that Maverick must be creaming it in because it was getting its bikes made in Asia:
"As far as prices go, just where the hell do you think the money comes from to do all the development, numerous hard toolings, and qualify everything to safety and reliability standards? If we made huge quantities, then these costs could be amortized over many units.
"What we are trying to do at Maverick is give you all the real benefits of a small innovative company - fresh designs, very personal service, and extensive attention to detail, but with the sophistication of a larger player - expensive tooling and technologies that can create much more sophisticated parts than simple CNC work."
A subsequent trade poster to the forum said Turner had "cajones" - ie balls – to take on the critics.
"I have been in the industry for 24 years or so, and it is refreshing for someone of your stature to call it as you see it," said 'Rideit'.
The only people on the forum thread to use their own names were Turner and Dennis Valdez, of Maverick's customer service and sales department.
http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=144208
Maverick website (http://www.maverickamerican.com)
Article from www.bikebiz.co.uk
Needless to say it's caused more than a little upset in the US boutique bike market!
Paul Turner, the man who founded RockShox, popularising suspension for MTBs, has joined the forum of MTBreview.com to answer anonymous critics who wrote that Taiwan-built Maverick bikes were now inferior to boutique brands made in the USA. "The US is a great place to invent and develop things, but it is not a good place to get a bike made," wrote Turner.
"We went to Taiwan to improve our quality and to keep our focus on design and development," said Turner.
"We tried to make our stuff here [in the US] (and would prefer to), but we were just beating our head against the wall.
"We are the only bike company that designs and makes the frame, fork and rear shock - not even Trek and especially not the other boutique brands mentioned do this. If we had gone to the next step to keep manufacturing in the US, which is do it ourselves, then all our energy would be spent on who didn't show up for work that day or what machine is down.
"The US is a great place to invent and develop things, but it is not a good place to get a bike made. Sad, but true.
"Taiwan bike manufacturing is world class, there are very well equipped factories that do just that, make bikes start to finish. There are no factories like that here because there is better work to be had in aerospace, auto and military jobs. Trying to make bikes in the US is also a total piecemeal approach – one company to make the parts, another to weld, another to heat-treat and so on. To do it here your expertise needs to be logistics, not damping rates or frame geometry."
Turner was also smarting over comments that Maverick must be creaming it in because it was getting its bikes made in Asia:
"As far as prices go, just where the hell do you think the money comes from to do all the development, numerous hard toolings, and qualify everything to safety and reliability standards? If we made huge quantities, then these costs could be amortized over many units.
"What we are trying to do at Maverick is give you all the real benefits of a small innovative company - fresh designs, very personal service, and extensive attention to detail, but with the sophistication of a larger player - expensive tooling and technologies that can create much more sophisticated parts than simple CNC work."
A subsequent trade poster to the forum said Turner had "cajones" - ie balls – to take on the critics.
"I have been in the industry for 24 years or so, and it is refreshing for someone of your stature to call it as you see it," said 'Rideit'.
The only people on the forum thread to use their own names were Turner and Dennis Valdez, of Maverick's customer service and sales department.
http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=144208
Maverick website (http://www.maverickamerican.com)
Article from www.bikebiz.co.uk