I noticed that many of the new Campy bike parts are not stamped “made in Italy” like before. All of the vintage Campagnolo components feature “made in Italy” almost as prominently as the company logo. Anyway, I noticed that their clothing is now made in the former Yugoslavia, so chances are if they do open up production outside of Italy it would be somewhere in Eastern Europe. But maybe they will follow in the footsteps of Colnago and Cinelli and start outsourcing production to Taiwan or China. I don’t think they will be able to charge the fat prices if its not made in Italy. Shimano works nearly as well (some would argue better) and its high and mid-range lines are made in Japan, which is known for producing high quality precision products. Nothing against made in China, but if you make it in China you better price it really cheap to reflect cost savings to the company through no pollution laws, cheap labor, and lower taxes!! Tullio would roll over in his grave if they do…
I agree. People in China make absurdly low wages. Like about $65 a MONTH.
Comment by Carl_the_Truth — April 7, 2005 @ 9:56 pm
Bite your tongue you blasphemer! Better watch out for lightning from the gods. And how dare you say such things on a forum where little kids might see it. The nerve.
Comment by scott.braden — April 8, 2005 @ 6:25 am
most of their stuff is already outsourced. good luck finding any components still made completely in their country of origin. my advice, go with sram.
Comment by xander_elliott — April 11, 2005 @ 12:41 pm
Y’know…..If I were you I’d copy and send that exact email to Campy and see what their response is. And post it here! Outsourcing is sure the way everything has been going for the last couple decades.
If they choose to do that, I’d hope they use a country like Taiwan, Pakistan, or possibly India, rather than China. China is leaps and bounds ahead of where they were 7 or 8 years ago…..and worlds away from the 80’s and 90’s superjunk products. The capability and skill they have NOW to make quality parts is impressive. That’s not to say you’ll always see quality stuff from China, because a lot of importers just spec cheapie stuff. But little-known-fact, close to 95% of the world’s hydraulics are made in China, and not just the cheapie consumer items you find in Walmart and auto parts stores. They have the skills.
China is also the world’s leader in the manufacture of carbon fiber and carbon fiber products. (Sounds like King of the Hill, I know…)
Campy has hit on hard times during several periods in the last 15 years, but they always make it through. It’ll be interesting to see what effect Sram will have on them in the next couple years.
Comment by Ride!Urban — April 13, 2005 @ 7:48 pm
So far I’ve only heard for sure that they’re outsourcing the Fulcrum line (wheels and now cranksets) to Taiwan. The high price of Campy parts in the US has less to do with the cost of Italian labor than with the Dollar trading so poorly against the Euro and inefficient distribution. I don’t think they sell enough here to warrant moving their factory. Colnago only moved some production out of Italy because the Taiwanese factories are so far ahead with composite fabrication.
Comment by artmichalek — April 14, 2005 @ 3:30 am
There are several parts that are already made in Asia for Campy, and I expect that number to grow.
China and Taiwan have far outstripped the remainder of the world in manufacturing quality, and sourcing has little to do with wages. The cost of living is lower there, and paying too much would upset the economic balance of the country, making an extreme upper class and a poverty stricken lower class along with rampant inflation.
By the way, most of the midline Shimano stuff is Malaysian.
Comment by mirageguitarworks — April 17, 2005 @ 2:11 am
i cant disagree with any of the comments made thus far but lets not forget that China is in the bad way right now their’s lots of pressure from the US government to take a second look at chines imports. their parts aren’t as good as we all thought they were and theres certainly in the lead as far as posing there environment. i think you will see a pulling back of imports for china at least in the short term. and lets face it co like bontrager still make lots of their own parts you just cant do any better then having the pride that comes from knowing the shit you buy is mad in a country thats prides it self on there intense desirer to be bonso nutters over precision so i say go Italy! dont give in to the price war when i think about Italian bikes i get all weepy with joy!
Comment by damaclese2 — April 17, 2005 @ 11:32 pm