If a frame was

[Emma]

made in for example Taiwan would it be less credible than one made in Italy for instance?

[erudite pete]

No, it would probably be better.

[www_therising_co_nr]

although it sounds cheap and nasty if it is from taiwan
its just cheap labour, thats all
my bike is made in taiwan and although it not the best bike in the world it is certainly one of the best value for money £300 bikes.

andy

[Matt Clinton]

Cant say I've ever ridden an italian frame, taiwan does the job just fine for me.
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[Dan Souf]

Fine by me,
they have all the skill.
- without the pretentiousness.

[Pacey]

One of my frames is a nice piece of plastic all they way from the US, the other is a badly made Italian bodge job, one stirs the soul the other wins races.

[Billy Boy]

You get crap from Italy just as you get crap from Taiwan, and you get quality from Italy just as you get quality from Taiwan.
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[Megman]

[Tony Bell]

What about frames which are claimed to be made in one country yet are imported from another?

[KJ]

Italian frames not really Italian Surely not
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[digger]

[Dan Souf]

[Steve D-T]

[Tony Bell]

I'm only going on what I read in an advert in a well known cycling magazine the other week.

[PNuT]

thats getting very dull now

[snakeeater]

Mine's a TCR Composite and made in Taiwan. Cheap for the quality and a very good performer for my level of riding, i.e. BC races.

No problems whatsoever, unlike the Pinarello Prince I had which came with all sorts of problems and then snapped after 3 years of tame use!

Having said that, I've not had the TCR for that long yet.

[Mossy]

Lancashire was the centre of the Industrial revolution, and that pedegree is carried through to the quality and prestige attached to the Lancashire made frames from Ribble cycles.

(and if their frames are not made in lancashire, then the steak puddings from the chippy round the corner certainly are, after six of those it makes little difference who made your bike frame)
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rghit pclae.

[Emyr42]

Where was my (Scottish Commonwealths2002 team) Corrado 853 track frame made then?

[Mossy]

[planetx]

Funny how people perceive Taiwan to be a source of cheap labour , this is just not the case .

Taiwan is an advanced economy , becoming very much a consumer economy much closer to Japan , its not true that Taiwan is a cheap labour source , a quality Taiwanese frame welder earns aroound 2000 usd per month , and is in great demand . Probably earning more than his Italian counterpart and is in short supply to produce high quality product .

There are certainly some companies that are chasing the cheap labour , and their frames are being made to a budget in China , Vietnam etc . The main trend is for the bigger , volume Taiwanese companies to move production to China and set up joint ventures with the chinese government . I could name the companies who have switched production to china but its not rocket science to work out .

But actual experienced Taiwanese welders are every much the equivalent in both performance and pay as their Italian counterpart .