Comments on: $300 on eBay: Your $4000 Frame

By: Mr. Bill

Mr. Bill — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 05:22:53 +0000

I happen to agree with most of the post, not because I had a Kredo built while I lived in Germany 2006 -2008 and love it, but the facts are obvious. Dated is really a factor when you’re talking high end, the technology is pushed forward every year. I do question the post from Frankielof, concerning China, there’s a big difference from products produced in Taiwan vs. Mainland (PRC) China. I’ve spent a great deal of my life off and on in Asia first in Japan in the military 1978-80 to my current civilian position in South Korea. Taiwan has a long standing track record of production of all levels of bicycles and parts for a multitude of manufactures from all over the globe. Much like HTC in the phone industry, key companies in Taiwan have produced the high end frames and products for European and US based bike brands for decades. With the PRC track record I’m sure some are making the leap to the cheaper option, but that same track record represents a red flag to many!

By: Mark W

Mark W — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:55:51 +0000

LMAO, that Kredo pic is from like 5-6 years ago? Same with the Khan review, so no big shock that the info is dated…

If you’re going to write about cycling product, it might help to understand the industry a little better.

Once the molds for a company are no longer used, the manufacturer, after an agreed delay, can choose to do a Knock off…

That’s the case here and likely the reason they used different carbon. Very frequently they also have to use different layup and material when they take over the mold…

If you wanted to be a little more recent example, you might have noted the Vellum Edge and the Pinarello F413 were virtually the same bike when sold at the same time a year or so ago…

More recent example is the VeloVie 300 and the VanDessel with just the seat tube looking different. But then those frames are also using different fiber so calling them the same would be wrong too.

By: Frankielof

Frankielof — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:17:21 +0000

Where to start on this one? Having spent a fair amount of time in factories in mainland China to date I have been a little reluctant to make the jump to a frame manufactured there. The reasons for this are not what you may think. I generally find the Chinese people to be extremely hardworking. I have been amazed at the dedication and effort on the factory floor.

The issue is with management. The culture in China is so class oriented, and owners of companies are so high in that class that money is the only driving factor in decision making. The thought is always about productivity and profit. Now I am high enough in the organization of a multi-billion dollar company and P&L is important to me, but there is a limit. Owners of companies in China do not take the lives of their workforce or the consumer into account when making a decision. They are insulated from this by the hierarchy of their companies and will end up forcing some middle manager to “fall on the sword”. Look at the toy industry using lead paint as a perfect example. That is an extreme example, but I have seen day to day decision to run unsafe tooling, out of spec parts, the use of files and rework to overcompensate for poor quality.

ISO 9002 certification means nothing in reality. I have seen documentation forged and altered to show the required compliance more than would be considered reasonable, and since the auditing has become a P&L for the companies that do it how unbiased can the audits really be anymore? Most companies can hide away the dirt for the 2 – 4 days of an audit and make everything look good.

The final scary thing about the frame on E-bay. I have done my fair share of shopping in the markets of China. I love the bardering and getting a “good deal”, but buying a knock off purse for my wife or a shirt that made it’s way out the back door of a factory is one thing. I will never rely on a blackmarket shirt going around a corner in a crit at 30 mph. Who know’s how safe that unmarked Kuota really is? Did it pass final inspection? What it a reject that someone snuck out the door? Not something that I would want to find out at the wrong moment.

By: rainbow

rainbow — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 00:30:07 +0000

No thanks, I may be a total tech fashionista and that’s butt Versace!

By: anon

anon — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 15:21:09 +0000

“you’d be hard pressed to find a bike trying harder to draw attention away the shortcomings of its rider’s pe…personality”

The first to pop in my mind was the final brand mentioned…