Paul Price (the "Paul" of Paul Component Engineering) and I have known each other for a very long time. I remember how he called me up after I wrote an article about centerpulls for the Riv. Reader, way back in the last century (before Bicycle Quarterly), and asked about them. I sent him a set of old Mafac Racers, and he liked them so much that he made his own Racers.
We talked back then about forging the arms, and he told me that in the U.S., there simply isn't anybody making small aluminum forgings like that. So you basically have a choice of CNC-machining in the U.S. or having them forged where the technology exists. These days, even TA cranks are forged in Taiwan. Forging requires a higher initial investment, but the part is stronger and thus can be made lighter, and there isn't as much waste. (With CNC-machining, you make a lot of chips as you chisel the part out of a block of aluminum. With forging, you squish a piece of aluminum that is roughly the right size into a die that gives the part the shape you want.) To me, "made in the U.S." isn't that important, as long as it's made under good working conditions. My friends live all over the world, and it doesn't make sense to prefer my American friends over my Japanese, French or German friends. We look at each supplier to make sure they are working in ways that I can support, both with concern to labor and to the environment. Beyond that, I do prefer short supply paths, for environmental and logistical reasons. If possible, we'll make components close to Seattle, like our laser-cut rack tabs, our frame alignment gauges, and some other projects that are still in development. We buy American-made brake shoes, and our tire wipers are made by a retired guy in the U.S. who is grateful for the extra income. Our leather washers for fender mounting come from California... Jan Heine Compass Bicycles Ltd. Seattle WA USA www.compasscycle.com Follow our blog at http://janheine.wordpress.com/ On Thursday, December 4, 2014 9:55:54 AM UTC-8, cyclot...@gmail.com wrote: > > I'm not a huge flag-waver, but Pauls are made in Chico, CA. > I know Taiwanese folks have families and kids and hobbies and mortgages, > but I guess I'd rather give my money to Mr. Price and support their local > economy. > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
