Originally Posted by
jlmonte
For the economists out there, when will “Made in the USA“ be profitable for bike manufacturing? I surmise currently, lack of supply is more than just Asia manufacturing halting. Pandemic or not, seems like there is an opportunity to manufacture in country? Reminds me of “I, Pencil”, by Leonard Read. This is where my mind goes, as I look for a 25.4mm / 22.1mm stem from China.
I'm guessing that I am the first actual economist to respond to this thread. And because I am an actual economist, I know that the answers to your questions are a little too complicated to be fully answered in a forum post.
However, I will note that, as
indyfabz explained, you can indeed get a bike (at least, a frame + many parts) manufactured in the US, if you are willing to pay enough - I'm guessing his bike cost north of $10k. By the same token, my most recently-purchased bike has several components that were built in the US by small, high-end manufacturers -- for example, the stem was made in Indiana, and cost more than some entire bikes that are sold at Wal-Mart. And my bike's frame was built in Wisconsin, at a small firm owned by a guy named Richard Schwinn, who set up shop there after losing control of his family's company in the early '90s...they went belly up because they couldn't profitably produce relatively affordable bikes in the US. He
can profitably produce relatively expensive bike frames on a very small scale, though I'd bet he's not getting rich.
I think there is an answer in the preceding paragraph.