Man O War and the summit



T

Tim

Guest
What's with my summit and the manOwar on my cranks and hub?
I know of about six other summits that dont have this on the
crank set.

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Tim - Coker user

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Hub

Man O War is a trade mark too or so it says.

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Tim - Coker user

I got me a new summit for $191!
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That's interesting, I haven't seen that before. Could it
have something to do with who you bought it from?

Daniel

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daino149 - How's it going, Texas?

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Nathan had a pair of Man O War pedals.

'Man O War pedal in Nathan's gallery'
(http://tinyurl.com/2y3t) That link was taken from 'this
thread' (http://tinyurl.com/388zo)

I haven't been able to find anything about Man O War bicycle
products on the web. It seems to be a brand that makes
copies of existing bicycle parts. Nathan's Man O War pedals
are a copy of the Wellgo B-37 pedals. The Man O War
cranks/hub are a copy of the Summit cranks/hub which were a
copy of the KH cranks/hub.

My guess is that Man O War is a factory brand for some
unethical factory in Taiwan or China. They make a batch of
parts for a customer like Wellgo or KH, then make a few
extra parts for themselves that they sell under the Man O
War label. That's just a guess on my part. If they were
truly a legit company/brand they'd have marketing and you'd
be able to be able to find their catalog of products by
doing a Google search or other web search. As it is, I
cannot find a web page for them and I can barely find any
info about Man O War parts on the web.

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john_childs wrote:
> *My guess is that Man O War is a factory brand for some
> unethical factory in Taiwan or China.*
I wonder if it's actually unethical, or if it's actually
legal there? Like the KH knockoffs. I remember when Kris
first found out about it, and wrote on the newsgroup that
he'd found these counterfeit versions of his unicycles. But
was it a one-time thing, or are they still making them?

It may be that it's legal to do more copy-type stuff in
Taiwan or other manufacturing countries than it might be in
the West. One should have a very specific contract with any
company you hire to make parts for you I guess.

The appearance of those Man O War parts on the Summit
indicates that unicycling is still in a place where
components will get changed out at random, and the resellers
over here probably won't know about the changes until the
next shipment arrives. This is fine if the change is to
something equivalent. But what if they change to something
inferior? Whey should the buyer pay the same price for a
reduction in product quality? These are things you have to
think about if you're a unicycle seller...

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It happens exactly like john_childs said:
> They make a batch of parts for a customer like Wellgo or
> KH, then make a few extra parts for themselves that they
> sell under the Man O War label.

And those things are illegal also in China or Taiwan. The
problem is that there is so many companies up there who are
doing this, that the authorities have controling problems.
It affect a wide range of products, from the Swiss watch to
the unicycle items. It is all stealing patent rights and
intellectual properties.

Vincent

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john_childs wrote:
> *The Man O War cranks/hub are a copy of the Summit
> cranks/hub which were a copy of the KH cranks/hub. My
> guess is that Man O War is a factory brand for some
> unethical factory in Taiwan or China. They make a batch of
> parts for a customer like Wellgo or KH, then make a few
> extra parts for themselves that they sell under the Man O
> War label. That's just a guess on my part. *

I thought that the Summit cranks/hub were identical (i.e.
not a copy) to the KH cranks/hub. It was just the frame
that was different (rejected by KH, but they built a
bunch anyway).

I believe that your guess above is truth. Those are the same
KH cranks, from the same factory that makes them for KH,
with a different brand thrown on them. Intellectual Property
is not a concept that's deeply ingrained in some of those
places. To John Foss's comment, he's right in that it may
actually be legal in some places, although I'm not sure
legality equals ethical. Working in the software industry,
the unauthorized knock-offs are almost instant, and the
offending country's government is often the largest customer
(if not the manufacturer) for the copied goods. Big
corporations can try to work with those governments to
educate on why unauthorized copying isn't good. A small
concern like KH doesn't have a lot of leverage there.

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tomblackwood - Registered Nurtz

Tailgate at your own risk.....

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