# Is it true, '08 Bianchi frames are made in Taiwan ??



## giro (Dec 26, 2007)

There 's one gossip I heard that '08 Bianchi frame are made in Taiwan, even RC one. None of hand-made craft work on the legendary production anymore.

I don't mean Taiwan 's manufactoring is poor, but just want to make sure and curious the reason.

I mean the RC, Reparto Corse frame, not the BianchiUSA design.

The one who spread this massage around said that on the box and product document clearly printed "Made In Taiwan" on 2008 Bianchi products.

Anyone can confirm or bust this gossip??


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## Bianchi67 (Oct 16, 2005)

Bianchi has always made the RC carbon bikes in Taiwan. The only bikes they were making in Italy since ~2000 were the RC Ti and EV aluminum. I think neither are made now.


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## KM1.8T (Aug 11, 2007)

My 2004 Bianchi Carbon XL says "Made in Italy" on the frame.


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## Bianchi67 (Oct 16, 2005)

KM1.8T said:


> My 2004 Bianchi Carbon XL says "Made in Italy" on the frame.


So does mine. "Made in Italy" does not mean much anymore. Your frame, just like mine, came out of a mold in Taiwan and was shipped to Italy where the celeste "Bianchi" logos were painted on.

Same for all the Pinarellos, Kuotas, Wiliers, etc.


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## Rubber Lizard (May 10, 2007)

Most Bianchis have been made in Taiwan since the early 90's.


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## Samw (Jun 26, 2008)

- I have Visited Bianchi Italy - and have had the chance seeing Carbon frames being assembled and other bikes being made ..

Over 65% of the bike assembly and painting of a Bianchi is made in Italy, thus the made in Italy sticker - (confusing - no carbon frame is made in Italy)

However about 95% of all Carbon frame are made by Chinese (cheaper built frames) or Taiwanese companies (better built frames).

You might at one stage have ridden an unbeknown Giant frame.
Giant is the largest Bike manufacturer with plants all over Asia and Europe, they build for Trek, Specialized, Schwinn etc..


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## Rubber Lizard (May 10, 2007)

Samw said:


> - I have Visited Bianchi Italy - and have had the chance seeing Carbon frames being assembled and other bikes being made ..
> 
> Over 65% of the bike assembly and painting of a Bianchi is made in Italy, thus the made in Italy sticker - (confusing - no carbon frame is made in Italy)
> 
> ...


There are lots of rumors about where bikes are made and unfortunately most of them are incorrect. Don't jump to the conclusion that Giant builds everyones bikes becuase thats not true. There are lots of other companies in Taiwan that rival the size of Giant.


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## mavicwheels (Oct 3, 2007)

*Trek Bikes*



Samw said:


> - I have Visited Bianchi Italy - and have had the chance seeing Carbon frames being assembled and other bikes being made ..
> 
> Over 65% of the bike assembly and painting of a Bianchi is made in Italy, thus the made in Italy sticker - (confusing - no carbon frame is made in Italy)
> 
> ...



While most carbon frames are made overseas are from China or Taiwan. Trek is not! They are made right here in the good old USofA. You are most incorrect on that point. Look and Time also make their own carbon frames and do not get them from the far east as well. There is still some frames made domesticly that are carbon (Parlee), but not enough


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## Bry03cobra (Oct 31, 2006)

Here is a little on Bianchi................

Bianchi - As I was writing this, it occurred to me that Bianchi and Schwinn have remarkably similar histories. Both were turn-of-the-century family-owned companies, manufactured their own bicycles, were popular brands in their respective countries, fell upon hard times, were eventually sold, moved substantially all of their production to Asia, and have seen a resurgence in the past few years under new owners! 

In 1996, Bianchi was sold to a Swedish conglomerate (now known as Cycleurope1) whereas Schwinn went through several owners before winding up with Pacific in 2001.2

Under Cycleurope, which owns 11 bicycle brands,3 much of the bicycle production shifted from Italy to Asia, with the exception of some final bicycle assembly (i.e., Asian frames assembled into complete bicycles) and limited high-end production. 

Let me take a minute and address Reparto Corse bicycles, because their "Made in Italy" sticker is a source of confusion.

The historic Treviglio factory - a monstrosity of a thing which used to house much of Bianchi's manufacturing before it shifted to Asia - has a section dedicated to Reparto Corse. It used to be that Reparto Corse (RC) meant the race department where high-end bikes were made. Now it is used as sort of a branding logo to identify the upper-end bikes that get the RC design and marketing treatment.

Many of the RC bikes have a "Made in Italy" sticker, which usually means assembled in Italy using a frame made in Asia. For example, the carbon RC frames are made by Advanced International Multitech (a Taiwanese carbon manufacturer of bike parts, baseball bats, golf shafts, arrows, fishing poles, etc.) and the aluminum frames are made by Taiwan Hodaka.

There are some frames still welded at Treviglio. My understanding is that the aluminum frames with carbon rears are either welded there or, at least, bonded there. I also understand that the frames with foam injection have the injection process completed there, even if the frames come from Asia.

Although Taiwan Hodaka manufacturers many of Bianchi's U.S. models, Fairly and Giant have manufactured for Bianchi in the past. 

Here is the link where I got......Has info on many other frames as well

http://allanti.com/page.cfm?PageID=328

Hope this answers your questions........
Bryan


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## El Guapo (Dec 10, 2002)

*Was it Look or Time that "outsourced" to N.Africa?*



mavicwheels said:


> While most carbon frames are made overseas are from China or Taiwan. Trek is not! They are made right here in the good old USofA. You are most incorrect on that point. Look and Time also make their own carbon frames and do not get them from the far east as well. There is still some frames made domesticly that are carbon (Parlee), but not enough


I don't remember which French manufacturer did this, but it was a big deal maybe a year or two ago. Majority of their frame manufacturing was sent to a N.African country, not sure which.


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## kreger (Mar 10, 2004)

it was look, or at least i know look did. my 461 is made in algeria.


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## Rubber Lizard (May 10, 2007)

Looks are built in Tunisia, not Algeria.


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## mtbbmet (Apr 2, 2005)

Time is one of only two companies on the planet that not only build all their bikes in house from raw fibre, but also weave that fibre themselves from raw carbon. The other company is Giant.
Giant does make bikes for Trek, but not carbon bikes.
Giant actually is the biggest manufacturer in the world. Sure there are other large manufacturers in Asia, but this *"There are lots of other companies in Taiwan that rival the size of Giant."* is not true. There is nothing even close to Giants size.


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## California L33 (Jan 20, 2006)

As I understand it, EU law allows a bike to be stamped, "Made in _____" whatever country ads the 'most value.' So, if you can buy a frame and grouppo in China, have it shipped to Italy for less than the cost of painting and assembling it there, then you can stamp it, 'Made in Italy." It seems pretty deceptive to me, but that could be a source of the confusion. I don't mind Asian bikes. I've owned them since 1977, but I'd like to see more honesty about origins. This way, for instance, if you don't like China's treatment of Tibet, for instance, you can avoid sending money there- which is getting harder and harder as their great proletariat becomes the world's sweat shop.


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## geraldatwork (Jul 15, 2005)

Bry03cobra said:


> Here is a little on Bianchi................
> 
> Bianchi - As I was writing this, it occurred to me that Bianchi and Schwinn have remarkably similar histories. Both were turn-of-the-century family-owned companies, manufactured their own bicycles, were popular brands in their respective countries, fell upon hard times, were eventually sold, moved substantially all of their production to Asia, and have seen a resurgence in the past few years under new owners!
> 
> ...


I think your answer is right on from the small amount of research I have done. I have 928L with a made in Italy sticker. As you said the frame tubes were probably made in the far east. However as long as the value added (cost)is greater than the cost of the frames they can put a made in Italy sticker on it. So the assembly, painting done in Italy with higher labor cost exceeds the cost of the tubes made in the far east then they can add the made in Italy sticker.


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## brn2vlo (Sep 28, 2006)

mavicwheels said:


> While most carbon frames are made overseas are from China or Taiwan. Trek is not! They are made right here in the good old USofA. You are most incorrect on that point.


You are only partially correct yourself! Trek has both "domestic" and outsourced/overseas carbon in their lineup. The OCLV carbons are still made in the USA while the TCT are from overseas...


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## Ibashii (Oct 23, 2002)

mtbbmet said:


> Time is one of only two companies on the planet that not only build all their bikes in house from raw fibre, but also weave that fibre themselves from raw carbon. The other company is Giant.
> Giant does make bikes for Trek, but not carbon bikes.
> Giant actually is the biggest manufacturer in the world. Sure there are other large manufacturers in Asia, but this *"There are lots of other companies in Taiwan that rival the size of Giant."* is not true. There is nothing even close to Giants size.



What about La Pierre? I live in France and, while I don't know how to verify it, their press in French is very precise, indicating that all of their frames are fabricated at their manufacturing facility in Dijon.

Right next to a mustard factory, no doubt.

And about North Africa: while this is no place for a rehashing of French colonial history OR a discussion of the exploitation of cheap North African labor, for now let it be said that there is a BIG difference--economically, socially and at the level of quality control--between a French company outsourcing to Asia and doing the same to Tunisia, Algeria or Morocco. Most workers and managers in these countries speak French, which allows the engineers and technicians at the motherships to communicate better with their production facilities; travel between here and there is cheap, fast and commonplace; and, at the end of the day, anything that says "Made in France" on it has likely been handled at least in part by first- or second-generation North Africans, as there are somewhere around 4 million of them in the legal French workforce and many more working off the record. Put briefly, France ceases to function without N. African labor, be it here or abroad, and in my experience there is little or no change in quality when a French company relocates its manufacturing a couple hundred kilometres south.

Gee, I really hope no heads of French labor unions read that last sentence...they'll hunt me down by my ISP and kill me.


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