An entirely North American bicycle?
 

Is it even possible to buy all the parts for a complete bicycle from 100% North American manufacturers? For the purpose of this project, designed here but made/assembled elsewhere doesn’t count. This was inspired by a newspaper article about the firm American Giant re-developing the capacity to produce woven flannel here.

This specific project started as a new all-round roadish bike with 700c wheels, drop bars, and two derailers, Sized for my 6’-7” height and size 16/51 feet. Gunnar is an obvious choice for a frame, and of course there are lots of other great choices meeting the criteria.

But after that, is it possible to complete the bike with all- North American parts?
No problem finding Hubs, Rims, Brakes, Cranks/chainrings, BB, headset, stem, seatpost, and bottle cage. All very expensive, but available.

But, what about
Tires?
Spokes?
Saddle?
Drop bars?
Bar tape?
Cassette?
Derailers front and rear?
Shifters and Levers? Or Brifters? (I know this is way out there, but have to ask)
Cables+Housing?
Pedals?

Thanks in advance for any sources!

Which Gunnar frame did you get? Neubaum's bar tape is MUSA.

Realistically? No.

Retro?

Pauls derailleur would be a start.

Where is IRD manufactured?

Are the old Cannondale CODA components made in the USA

To my knowledge, Paul Components does not currently build a derailleur.

In answer to the OP's question: it'd be tough to assemble a completely MUSA bike. But if you note that some small builders make their own seatposts, stems, and handlebars, and there are some MUSA rims and Chris King hubs and such, you can get close.

There are spokes, pedals and maybe saddles manufactured in the U.S. Just do a quick google search on what is made in USA.

The rest you have listed, there are USA owned companies, that do the research, design, testing in the U.S. but manufactured outside of the U.S. Companies like SRAM, PNW, Goodyear etc.... The rest of those parts are simply not competitively priced if they are manufactured here. Which I know some, including myself would be willing to pay a little bit more if they were manufactured here rather than the rising cost from the shipping and other fees.

Wheelsmith spokes. I'd browse the Phil Wood website to see if anything new has been added. Run fix gear. The excellent EuroAsian cogs are made in USA (despite the name!).

Wheelsmith is gone, I think. Velocity rims are still MUSA, I believe.

You are going to have to make your own derailleurs, chain, and tires.

No.
Instead, maybe focus on building the best bike for you that you can. That may include a lot of MUSA components, If they are the best(based on however you choose to define 'best' in any given situation).

Personally, I don't want to be effectively locked into some uber expensive headset just because it was wastefully machined from a large block of aluminum inside US borders. I also don't want to be limited to a very small selection of wheel components, cockpit components, etc.
This is especially true since in the end I will have to still buy the drivetrain which is made elsewhere. I get buying a goofy expensive hub or stem if that is what finishes off the MUSA project, but it in the end it won't be MUSA then why?

Every time we do this exercise we come up against drivetrain, shifters, and tires.

Then we start talking about why and the thread gets locked

Thanks to everybody who's replied on this Labor Day holiday. It's a peculiar topic, and I'm definitely not trying to get the thread locked. Any other tips would be welcome. Thanks again.

Google up the Bilenky bike that was made a couple months ths ago for Boris Johnson. It was heavy on the amUSA.
Might give you some ideas.

Thomson makes drops:

https://www.bikethomson.com/product-...ry/handlebars/

Anyone that makes a political post in this thread can expect to have a week off from the forum, compliments of the staff.
It's not political to mention that the Boris Johnson bike was about as MUSA as you can get nowadays, but someone could ruin it again.

American manufacturers often use contract manufactures in China and elsewhere. It's mostly a product branding but sometimes they specify features or provide designs.

Also, I think that there are bicycle parts made in Taiwan that are similar in features to the Japanese bicycle parts. Well, if there are Japanese manufacturing plants in Taiwan then smaller shops can probably make near copies.

The Rene Herse Nivex reproduction rear derailleur is made in the US, but doesn't seem to be available in quantity yet. Ditto for the Rene Herse lever front derailleur...

Is there an internally-geared rear hub that is made in the US? That would side-step the need for front or rear derailleurs. :thumb:

Are you sure about the RH derailleur? I though almost all of their stuff was imported.

I assumed they were hand-machined by one of the RH/BQ crew, but I'll double-check the site. I welcome correction. :)

P.S. I found this: "The derailleurs are in production right now, but there are many small parts, and some are taking longer than others, especially with the current situation in the bike industry." That does sound like a problem they wouldn't have if everything were made in-house...

Were some of the Stratics parts from Sampson (Colorado) made in-house?
Maybe just the early protos were CNC'd.
That would get derailleurs and pedals.

Components - Page 1 - Sampson Bicycles and Components (sampsonsports.com)

Used to be spokes produced in Grand Junction, CO - forget the company.

Not sure you can build a mid-end or high end bicycle, or any sophisticated piece of machinery or electronics for that matter, where the parts are all manufactured in the same country. Maybe Japan or Taiwan? Even though the bike is 'simple' it takes a complicated range of tools and expertise to build the components that go into it. And if you go one layer deeper (only the tools to make the components all from one country, so the spokes would be made in country A from a tool that draws the spokes also from country A for truly self-sufficient manufacturing) I think that's impossible. The United States never had much of a bike manufacturing culture except maybe for a brief time in 1890s.

I'd start looking for tires and inner tubes. Decades ago I read somewhere there wasn't anybody producing them domestically. I honestly don't know if that's still true or not.

Frankly, however, I think it's a moot point. The last time that I bought inner tubes for my recumbents, I had trouble finding ANYBODY who had the exact size and valve stem length that I wanted in stock.

Wheelsmith are made in Milwaukee.

Selle Anatomica are made in California.

Paul derailleurs are made in California, but only rear, AFAIK.

White industries urban platform, but they may not be in production anymore. I think they may have licensed their design to Mikashima in Japan.

Would it make a difference if you included Central and South America? Do any of those countries have a domestic bike industry?:foo:

Now I’m curious when the last US chain was made. Surely it was single speed chain, maybe a brand like Columbia?

You would think that there were MUSA single speed chains since they are almost standard industrial chains. When was the last Ashtabula crank made in Ashtabula?