A bike company may come along and ask for a frame and negociate a price too low to make it right, and the manufacturer obliges and gives them the garbage they asked for with the idea that the people who buy this off brand won't know the difference- at least not until it's too late.īut further, the distributor that sells Windsor has had a ton of other problems besides the frames themselves, ranging from easily chipped paint to things assembled improperly to false advertising and the worst customer service in the industry. Why?Īs a prominent man in the industry who has traveled to and visited all these factories said, just because the manufacturer has shown that they can make a good bike doesn't mean every bike they make is good. They may have a high-end carbon frame being made on one line, and next to it, under the same roof, they're making garbage. That's not what's happening!Įach of the three major frame manufacturers in Taiwan is able to make whatever the customer company asks for. Your assumption is that they make a bunch of standard products, all with the same materials and quality controls, and then a bike company comes along and says, "We want 10,000 of that model there," so they slap their name on it and a bike goes out the door that's identical to one going out with another name and a higher price on it. Instead he researches, learns and and compares bicycles based on the fit, the components, the service and warranty offered and last but not least, the price (and the discount!) The wise consumer can get the best value by not paying much attention to the decal on the downtub. So it goes with bicycles, as painful as that may be to some people. Re-branding, that is putting various makers names on the same product, is common in the consumer market (think of DVD players, TVs, shoes and so on). The "Tourist" gets you a Fuji touring bike frame, and for all practical purposes - the same running gear setup, too.Īt this point, we should not fail to mention the Fuji sells for nearly $1100, while the Tourist goes for $599. So while you are buying a Windsor "Tourist," you are also (in essence) buying a Fuji Touring bike. In all but a very few cases, it hardly applies nowadays.Īccording to the searching Ive done, the Windsor "Tourist" frames are the very same ones sold by Fuji on their tourers. So lets dispense with the whole bicycle "name game" here and now. Once there, they paint and decal them and mark them 'Made in Italy' - and sell them for Italian import prices. In fact, several 'Italian' brands buy frames in Taiwan and then ship them, unpainted, to Italy. They ship the frames to the individual factories where they get painted, and the assembly begins. Asian frame builders like Kinesis, A-Pro, and Astro build frames for brands like Fuji, Trek, Motobecane, Specialized, Felt, Bianchi, LiteSpeed and dozens of others. In the case of the frame, several frame shops in Taiwan build road frames for many high end brands. Then the 'factory' just applies decals, assembles, and boxes the bike. They buy everything on the bike from subcontractors who make the assorted parts. What is also highly interesting is that these same 'factories', in most cases, only do assembly. Big names in the bike biz, all made in Asia. Another common 'factory' is Merida they build for the likes of Specialized, Jamis, Mercier, Felt, Bianchi, and many others. For example, IDEAL builds for Fuji, Trek, Motobecane, Windsor, Terry, and many others. Most Road Bikes sold in the USA are made in Taiwan, these days, by 'factories' which you have probably never heard of. Which we should recall is the VERY same thing most bicycle companies are doing (Cannondale is an exception they're still being designed and made in PA, ASFAIK) Recently, the name was re-licensed, the new company selling Asian made and assembled bicycles. At least one reference indicates that many Cinellis are Windsors - with Cinelli decals.Īnd just like Raleigh, Motobecane and other bikes that reached their zenith in the 70's-80's, Windsors are making a comeback. It seems there was a long relationship between Windsor and Cinelli and Colnago, too. at least a few records were held by the Windsor teams. The Windsor name originated with an early English cycle maker that was renowned during the 60's-80's (and earlier). I know this is an old thread, but, hey - stuff happens.
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