Originally Posted by
cudak888
It is reasonable to assume that ..., and that the final production bicycle is a duplicate of that test shot.
While I agree 100% with everything else you wrote, this is a bad assumption. I deal with non-conformance (NC) on parts/finished goods all of the time. They most definitely occur most frequently with first lot to stock (FLTS). Considering the low volume of this bike, I think it is safe to assume the entire batch was FLST.
That said, nationality of any manufacturer has nothing to do with quality. Quality is the objective measurement critical attributes. Country of origin is not a critical quality attribute.
My stupid wild-a$$ guess, timing. Raleigh had a deadline to hit the "40th anniversary" mark. Product got rushed through QC. And don't forget, there is no doubt Raleigh had incoming QC. They could have rejected the lot from their manufacturer. They did not.