Re: [CR]Why the French component makers are gone

(Example: Racing:Roger de Vlaeminck)

From: "David Feldman" <feldmans1@earthlink.net>
To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>, "Jan Heine" <heine@mindspring.com>
References: <a05010415b992fc5aa25a@[165.121.27.89]>
Subject: Re: [CR]Why the French component makers are gone
Date: Wed, 28 Aug 2002 17:55:29 -0500


Jan's thought about French component companies selling half-finished pieces to be finished by bike builders is similar to the reasoning that used to go around about Italian frames being imported to the US needing facing, tapping, reaming, etc. Italian retailers were said to want involvement in the frame preparation process--the reason for the semifinished state of some frames such as Cinelli, Colnago, Moser in the 70's and 80's. Retailers got the labor business if they had frame prepping tools--and after the mail-order frame buyer tried unsucessfully to use their bench vise as a headset press and their plumbing tools to install bb cups in paint-and-flux filled threads. This helped make Merz, Davidson, and R&E frames even more appealing to
Northwesterners!
David Feldman
Vancouver, WA


----- Original Message -----
From: Jan Heine
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Sent: Wednesday, August 28, 2002 5:30 PM
Subject: [CR]Why the French component makers are gone



> From my admittedly not very knowledgeable perspective: Lack of
> user-friendliness, lack of good looks out of the box, lack of
> marketing did in the French bicycle industry.
>
> With Campy, you order a group, open the boxes and bolt a bunch of
> shiny parts onto your (racing) bike. People recognize the stuff:
> "Oooh - just like Merckx' bike," giving you the valuable status
> factor.
>
> With the French, you have to select and order a bunch of parts from a
> bunch of manufacturers (the short-lived Spidel effort
> nonwithstanding), and then often the work only starts!
>
> A Mafac brake often looks quite unfinished in the box. A
> "constructeur" would braze the pivots onto the frame, polish the
> arms, and get a great brake.
>
> Setting up a Cyclo derailleur is a nightmare - no customer would even
> want to pay even minimum wage for the amount of work. The Campy Gran
> Sport was easy: Bolt it on, pull the cable through the slot, tighten
> the bolt, done. Revolutionary! Which would a bike dealer prefer?
>
> It appears that the French component makers often saw themselves as
> suppliers of half-finished material for constructeurs, who would make
> them into a finished product. On a Singer randonneur bike, it appears
> that about 1/4 of the total cost is for assembly and modification of
> various parts!
>
> Campy's edge was the service-oriented approach - they made it easy
> for buyers/dealers to spec Campy. (Is it true that Stronglight
> headsets used to come without balls? I think so, but am not sure!)
>
> Of course, Shimano took it one step further (Total integration - you
> cannot substitute, whereas with Campy NR, you could), and almost did
> Campy in! I am glad they recovered to their current strength.
>
> Jan Heine, Seattle (who thinks doesn't believe that the best products
> prevail in the marketplace - Saab was bought by GM: Does that make
> GM's cars better than Saab's?)