New Schwinns built in Detroit
07-17-20, 01:24 PM
#26
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^^^^^^ "Spirit of Detroit" holding a hammer - rocks!
And the row of hanging frames behind him recalls the Mike Appel / Dick Nolan photo from the Trek brochures of 40 years ago.
And the row of hanging frames behind him recalls the Mike Appel / Dick Nolan photo from the Trek brochures of 40 years ago.
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07-17-20, 01:58 PM
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07-17-20, 02:02 PM
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07-17-20, 02:06 PM
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Marketing guys are not known for being good historians.
07-17-20, 04:10 PM
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Depends on one's definition of "a long time". When was the last US Paramount built? This century?
07-17-20, 04:21 PM
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07-17-20, 04:41 PM
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'Course, that's the other question - does a limited run of 25 constitute "manufacturing"? Maybe the person making that statement should have said "produced for the mass market" or some such.
07-17-20, 05:08 PM
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I was just illustrating the difference between a boutique build like the 25-off 2013 Paramount and the Schwinns being made in Detroit for the mass market. US manufacturing of Schwinns on the level -- and at the price point -- of the Detroit Schwinns has indeed not been done in a long time.
07-17-20, 05:45 PM
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Sounds like you are in the market for a Shinola watch. Buy American. /s
I recently sold a 70’s road bike frame to a man in his late 20’s / early 30’s who drove in from Cleveland. He said he loved how much Detroit was a bicycle town with all the manufacturers, bike paths/lanes. Especially intriguing to him was the Detroit Bicycle Company and some of the different things they were doing with polished metal , etched metal, etc.
Let’s celebrate the people going against the odds and building here including the plucky Detroit Bike Company!
07-17-20, 07:25 PM
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Oh man, now I'm nostalgic for a cold Stroh's. Or at least a Vernors.
07-18-20, 12:04 PM
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07-18-20, 12:20 PM
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And watch all the lights in Cook County dim every time they throw the switch on the electroforge machine......
+1; Imagine the audacity of employing Americans in the manufacturing sector, presumably at living wage, in a city that desperately needs every such job that can be created. It may be an economic drop in the bucket, esp. in these times, but who knows, one small nugget of economic/manufacturing success, followed by another, a few jobs at a time, might be the key to turning things around.
+1; Imagine the audacity of employing Americans in the manufacturing sector, presumably at living wage, in a city that desperately needs every such job that can be created. It may be an economic drop in the bucket, esp. in these times, but who knows, one small nugget of economic/manufacturing success, followed by another, a few jobs at a time, might be the key to turning things around.
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07-20-20, 12:28 PM
#40
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or maybe in the market for a Shinola bike! The Detroit Arrow at $995 has a F/F made by Waterford, wheels assembled in Detroit area, and final assembly at the famed Argonaut building in Detroit where Harley Earl worked his magic in vehicle design at GM.
I recently sold a 70’s road bike frame to a man in his late 20’s / early 30’s who drove in from Cleveland. He said he loved how much Detroit was a bicycle town with all the manufacturers, bike paths/lanes. Especially intriguing to him was the Detroit Bicycle Company and some of the different things they were doing with polished metal , etched metal, etc.
Let’s celebrate the people going against the odds and building here including the plucky Detroit Bike Company!
I recently sold a 70’s road bike frame to a man in his late 20’s / early 30’s who drove in from Cleveland. He said he loved how much Detroit was a bicycle town with all the manufacturers, bike paths/lanes. Especially intriguing to him was the Detroit Bicycle Company and some of the different things they were doing with polished metal , etched metal, etc.
Let’s celebrate the people going against the odds and building here including the plucky Detroit Bike Company!
07-20-20, 01:39 PM
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I'm sure this is a toe-in-the-water for Dorel. Is it economically feasible/viable to manufacture in the US in the current/future economic climate? If this run works out, maybe look at future projects. Maybe help Detroit expand their operations to build more runs. Taiwan's salaries are rising, so maybe, down the line, it stops being so attractive to have bike frames welded together in a low-wage economy that isn't so low-wage any more.
America has always had a romantic attachment to the manufacturing job, and companies love to play on that- what they don't like to do is pay for employees to actually make stuff here.
Last edited by sheddle; 07-20-20 at 01:48 PM.
07-20-20, 02:55 PM
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The problem is that I don't think it's a toe in the water. This isn't a return of big factories to the US, it's a small operation making boutique city bikes priced at luxury goods costs (eg Shinola). Which is fine, except that they're using the imagery and politics of the abandonment of manufacturing jobs as a selling point - look, Detroit is back, manufacturing jobs are back, the good times are back - when it's really not, and this is providing a handful of jobs at most.
America has always had a romantic attachment to the manufacturing job, and companies love to play on that- what they don't like to do is pay for employees to actually make stuff here.
America has always had a romantic attachment to the manufacturing job, and companies love to play on that- what they don't like to do is pay for employees to actually make stuff here.
07-22-20, 10:54 AM
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Interesting article.
$1000 for a Collegiate is right in line with everything else thats happened in 2020. Nothing surprises me at this point.
$1000 for a Collegiate is right in line with everything else thats happened in 2020. Nothing surprises me at this point.
09-16-20, 08:06 PM
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"Collegiate" and "Schwinn" are just recognizable names. If the quality of the Detroit made "Collegiate" matches the price tag, then I don't see a problem with calling it "Collegiate" or "Junior College Dropout", or whatever.
