[CR]Why do Miele and Gardin have such bad reps?

(Example: Framebuilders:Pino Morroni)

From: "Lawrence Kurtz" <kurtzla@mcmaster.ca>
To: bike <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
Subject: [CR]Why do Miele and Gardin have such bad reps?
Date: Tue, 17 Dec 2002 11:38:26 -0500

I know the talk is that these bikes have a bad rap, but what's the real deal?

Miele had a copy of shops under different names...the current version is York Bikes. I browsed there recently (for some of the used stuff), and notices there were a bunch of Columbus tubed time trial frames for sale (and some built up bikes). The brand name as survived certainly in the commuter bike category, but maybe that's just because so many Miele bikes were sold.

Or is the community just cheesed off because the bikes were marketed as some genuine "Italian" bikes, when they were really just made in Canada.

As for Gardin, maybe I'm biased, but I've owned a custom Citta for several years and it has never failed me. The paint was quite decent and the frame has never cracked even though its been put through a lot. Curt Harnett rode a Gardin track bike and it served him well, and he was a BIG rider who certainly had the potential to break a frame.

Maybe some can enlighten me.

Lawrence Kurtz
Toronto, Canada