Saturday, April 04, 2009

Cannondale Takes “The Good Fight” to Taiwan

The parent company of Cannondale Bicycle Corporation has announced that it will move all remaining cycle frame production to Taiwan and reduce employment at the Bedford, PA factory from 300 to 100 workers by the end of 2010. No more American-made Cannondale bikes.

Dorel Industries, headquartered in Montreal, entered the bicycle business in 2004 with its acquisition of Pacific Cycle. After acquiring Cannondale in February 2008, Dorel separated its bicycle business into two divisions, with Pacific Cycle focusing on mass market retailers (e.g., Kmart, WalMart, and ToysRUs) and Cannondale Sports Group focusing on the more up-scale cycling market (sales through independent bicycle shops). The company hoped to capitalize on Cannondale’s legacy of handcrafted bicycles and competitive cycling. Cannondale Sports Group, now renamed Cycling Sports Group, is composed of 4 cycling brands: Cannondale, Schwinn, GT, and Mongoose.

Dorel Industries is better known to many consumers as the parent company of baby product brands, including COSCO, Safety 1st, and Mother’s Choice. The company’s website proclaims this rather odd combination of interests, with a slogan “Dorel: A World Class Juvenile Products and Bicycle Company.” Welcome to the strange world of multinational conglomerate corporations.

I guess I had better speed up my plans to buy an American-made Cannondale bike!

Stephanie, Webmaster
StillMadeinUSA.com

18 comments:

Peggy in Colorado said...

Stephanie, how can you report such news without gtting terribly depressed? I read only a few posts, and I'm saddened by what you have written. Oh, how I wish Americans would wake up! I have been on a quest for American Made steak knives, and only after stumbling upon your website did I find anything I could feel good about purchasing. Thanks for your updates, and I would have voted for YOU for President!

Ira L said...

It is depressing to hear about companies taking their manufacturing offshore. I wish there was a way for companies to keep their jobs here and still stay competitive.

Matt said...

Hi, I found your made in America web site and then you blog. Both are great! Good work. Thank's, Matt.

Anonymous said...

Salut Stéphanie !

If you want an american made bike, buy a Treck. Few are made in usa !

Bon été !

J-F Houle
Québec city

Kandas | GratitudeGeek said...

Hi Stephanie,

Kudos to you on your wonderful mission! I think that more and more people are realizing the importance that Made in the USA logo has to our economy and our sense of pride and patriotism.

My husband and I own a studio in Texas where we have been handcrafting custom furniture for over 20 years. I have written a few blog posts that explain how imports affect the cost of furniture in the USA that you may enjoy at http://shakastudios.blogspot.com/search/label/Buy%20American

PS - Our custom furniture website offers an affiliate program: http://www.pegrack.com/affiliates.php

Anonymous said...

I am Canadian and I love to buy North American made goods. I bought a Cannondale Bad Boy Ultra last year and it was made in Bedford. Later on in the season I heard that CDale was going to move out to Taiwan and I was totally choked. But apparently they are only moving their lower-end productions to Asia and if you buy a high end CDale it will still be Made in the USA. Check it out on their website.

On another note, unfortunately I don't believe that Trek still makes their bikes in America. Making bikes under 1500 dollars is a very competitive market and most all (and CDale too apparently) have had to outsource their frames to Asia. They usually keep their USA Made products for the really high end bikes.

It's still looking that if you want to spend under 1500 for a bike you can still get a cannondale made in the USA. Their entry-level Bad Boy is still made in Bedford.

Anonymous said...

While out on a ride the other day, another cyclist saw me and my 2004 Team Saeco Cannondale. He through me some "kudos" and said I would be the owner of an extinct piece no longer to be Made In USA. I made it home, did an internet search and discovered the sad reality. Made In USA use to mean something. Now, it appears to be a dying a slow death. Well, I always wanted to start my own bicycle business. It would be very small but it would PROUDLY display MADE IN USA on every bicycle! Time to get to work.

Thank you for the article and motivation, Stephanie.

Couchchangeracing said...

I just bought one of the last made in the USA Canondale road bike frames. I also have frames from Gary Fisher and Burley before they gave up making bike frames here. I let them know my opinion on their manufacturing choices. I also let them know I would not buy any offshore crap from them. I saw some of the comments here. Make sure you let these companies know how you feel. If you don't say anything they think you don't care.

Anonymous said...

Yep, I heard about the CDale offshore and grabbed a Synapse before the offshore move. I have an old 3.0 which I love... You just cant match the quality of the welds anymore. My buddy rides a Specialized and the welds are awful. My 3.0 is a project for sure to get it back into riding shape, but it is still ten times the bike as most of the aluminum frames coming out of the market now days. Very sad indeed.

Renee said...

Hello Stephanie and all,
Would you please consider adding us to your made in america site?
We have been manufacturing glass tableware and art glass for on 30+ yrs now!
Thanks for looking if you do!
www.HathcoatStudios.com
www.BrittanyCollection.com
Renee Hathcoat

The Suburban Bushwacker said...

Hi
I just found your 'still made in the USA' site, excellent resource, thanks for taking the time to put it together.
Some people on the list will be seeing some of my money - look what you've done for the trade deficit!

Thanks again
SBW

Lorraine said...

Hi Stephanie,
Thanks so much for your site. I found your site recently, shortly after I found out that Pfaltzgraff no longer made it it's stoneware in the USA. Although it happened a few years ago, how sad that the oldest continuous pottery manufacturer in American had to close its doors! I've been back to your site several times now and just recently ordered a tea set from Emerson Creek Pottery and can't wait for it to arrive.

I also wanted to tell you about The Colonial Furniture Co. which still makes its products in the USA. I hope you can add them to your list.

Raquel Trevisi said...

Nice blog!

http://www.raqueltrevisi.com.br/blog/

Unknown said...

I love GIANT :)

jeaneBee said...

Hi Stephanie....I soooo agree with your stand up for America stance. I wrote a small article for my blog and have put a link to your site....please look at it and give permission for me to do so.

http://superseniorsrock.blogspot.com/2011/02/made-in-usa.html

Thanks so much for caring!

JeaneBee

Anonymous said...

Terrible indeed. I was unaware that they really moved ALL manufacturing to Taiwan. I know that in Taiwan different company's bikes are made in the same building, not just the brands listed here. I used to drive by the company (there was a good indian restaurant close), now they fire all the workers, and the investors make a killing. Take that with the huge price increase in mountain bikes for almost identical products (on hard tails at least, only the frame material has changed), and its just horrible. My first mountain bike was a GT. Now we might as well all buy GIANT, at least they are honest.

Anonymous said...

Another important point is:
MADE IN USA was such an insult in the 80s, that there had to be ads to get americans to buy the bad quality that made in usa gave us. Mountainbikes were the big, consumer visible item, of which the best and most respected world wide were made in usa. I remember being in Germany and Germans being like "hmmm why are you making a best of bread, when your other stuff is such crap". terrible to see this go.

Anonymous said...

I own a 1996 Atlanta Olympic edition Cannondale....great bike...they just ruined there reputation. I will never buy another cannondale. He sold the motorcyle line to Dinli (China) and now this....This is a perfect example of what is wrong with this country!!