In article <
[email protected]>,
Ken <
[email protected]> wrote:
> "jmk" <
[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:
>
> > Its JMO, but I would avoid the Performance jacket in favor of the Pearl Izumi. In my experience
> > its been hit or miss with Performance gear in terms of quality. With Pearl, at least you know
> > who actually made the jacket.
>
> Do you really know who made a Pearl Izumi jacket? If the label says "made in Macao", who really
> made it?
Some guy from Macao. But understand that this is the case with most cycling apparel, most bicycles
and parts, and indeed, most of the stuff in your house.
Major companies like Norco and minor ones like Habanero are essentially domestic design outfits
linked to production contracts with Taiwanese, Chinese, and other factories around the world.
Indeed, the vast majority of sub-$1000 bicycles sold on this continent would be Taiwanese or Chinese
made. Not that this is a bad thing: they couldn't be made for those prices on this continent.
There are exceptions. I happen to have a Hind jersey and Trek leggings that were made in the US, a
pair of Canadian-made shorts, a gen-u-ine Eye-talian Pinarello, and a Kona that was almost certainly
made in the USA. Makers like Trek, Cannondale, and Rocky Mountain make a big deal of their domestic
bike manufacture, because it's a nice selling point. Makers like Norco make a big deal of their
ability to undercut makers like Rocky Mountain by several hundred dollars on similar-spec products.
The manufacturer takes on the burden of making sure that the product is up to snuff no matter where
it is made. Norcos have a good reputation regardless of their land of origin, and few people say bad
things about Pearl Izumi jackets, either. For that matter, I have a perfectly serviceable Japanese
Bianchi from the 80s, when making a bike in Japan was the equivalent of making it in Taiwan today: a
way of exploiting a cheap, skilled bike-making labour force.
North America still does many things better than anywhere else in the world. Intel, Motorola, and
IBM still build most of their chips in the US. Despite globalization, a lot of auto production
facilities got built in the USA (making everything from Hondas to BMWs) in the last few decades, and
while software coding is migrating to India, the US still reigns supreme.
Think velocity, buy globally,
--
Ryan Cousineau,
[email protected] http://www.sfu.ca/~rcousine President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club
