(Here's a reprint of an article I posted on March 14, 2005. I throwing up some old stuff while I get reacquainted with bike touring.)
Schwinn, Murray, Huffy … the names of bicycle manufacturers that have closed factories in the US and moved overseas goes on and on.
Even Wisconsin-based Trek makes about 80% of its bicycles abroad, mainly in Asia. In all, only 1% of the bicycles sold in the US are made here.
But here's an interesting trend. Red Nova reports carries a story from Lancaster (PA) Online about a Pennsylvania bicycle shop owner who has begun building frames.
Thom Podlesny, who has operated the Cycle Circle for 21 years in Lancaster, took a frame-building class at the United Bicycle Institute in Ashland, Oregon. The school, in operation since 1981, teaches students all levels of bicycle repair and frame-building techniques. The classes last 2 days to two weeks and certificates are awarded on successful completion.
Podlesny learned how to connect steel tubing using chromoly brazing at the institute. Now he plans to build about 10 bicycle frames a year under the name Tom Pod Cycles.
There are many other small, homegrown bicycle makers across the US. Rivendell Bicycle Works in Walnut Creek, California, and Rodriguez Bicycles USA in Seattle (both of whom who showed in last months' Seattle bicycle expo) instantly jump to mind. As more small shop owners learn the frame-building skills, maybe they can answer the trend of foreign mass-produced bikes with high-quality custom-built bicycles made in the US.
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