Re: [CR]Now:Where did all the French Component Manufacturers Go Was:Loving old bikes despite their shortcomings

(Example: History:Ted Ernst)

From: Jerry & Liz Moos <jerrymoos@sbcglobal.net>
To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
References: <a0501040ab992cba12a16@[165.121.27.89]> <3D6D21D0.EB76AD6C@earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [CR]Now:Where did all the French Component Manufacturers Go Was:Loving old bikes despite their shortcomings
Date: Sat, 31 Aug 2002 09:51:57 -0500


I think the French failure was in marketing, not engineering. Somewhere, I've read the story that TA, who dominated the very early mountain bike market, ignored the requests of their U.S. mountain bike customers to increase the crank's front derailleur clearance, and the warning that if they did not, the Japanese would simply take that market away from them, which is exactly what happened. It seems the French always gave the customer what they were sure he needed, regardless of what he thought he wanted. There is perhaps some grain of truth in the stereotype of the French as haughty and distainful of the opinions and tastes of the rest of the world. The Japanese, on the other hand, although many view them as having a strong sense of their own cultural superiority, have, at least since World War II, understood very clearly that their economic prosperity depended on exports, most notably to the U.S. They also understand that to sell things to foreigners, one has to find out what they want and give it to them. I don't think Japanese engineering is really better in a technical sense than French engineering, just much better focused on delivering what the market demands. Renault has had as much success in Formula One as the Japanese, but they could never seem to figure out how to sell cars in the U.S.

Regards,

Jerry Moos, who loves the French despite or perhaps because of their
attitude
Houston, TX


----- Original Message -----
From: Chuck Schmidt
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Sent: Wednesday, August 28, 2002 2:17 PM
Subject: [CR]Now:Where did all the French Component Manufacturers Go
Was: Loving old bikes despite their shortcomings



> Jan Heine wrote:
> (cut)
> > In France, a lot of people came from an aerospace background into
> > cycling and had a much better understanding of materials. The
> > Stronglight 49D cranks were made almost unchanged between the
> > mid-1930s and the mid-1970s...(cut)
>
> New Subject: What caused the near total disappearance of the French
> Bicycle Component Industry? According to Jan, the French were way ahead
> of the Italians (and Japanese I guess) in the production of superior
> bicycle parts. So what happened?
>
> Incidently I own and ride lots of completely French bikes and have no
> illusions of the superiority of French Aerospace Engineers as bike parts
> designers (did someone from a "aerospace background" really design the
> Stronlight 49D crank in the mid-1930s?).
>

> Chuck Schmidt

> SoPas, SoCal

>

>

> .