British build kit -...
 

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[Closed] British build kit - how much is possible?

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One of the bikes I'm considering is a Cotic Rocket.
I appreciate the fact that it's made locally and wondered how far I could push it.

I probably wont be able to afford it all, but what's out there?

Middleburn RS8 X-Type cranks
Works chainring
Hope brakes, hubs, axels, headset and BB
Renthal alloy bars/stem/grips (are the grips made in the uk?)

Rims?


 
Posted : 23/05/2014 7:42 am
 Sui
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been done before this.. Now that Hope are doing Rims I think you can go full British


 
Posted : 23/05/2014 7:44 am
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Hope do rims now too. Nobody making tyres here though, unless you go for onone as they're british dare say they're still made offshore though.


 
Posted : 23/05/2014 7:46 am
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Now that Hope are doing Rims I think you can go full British

I might just stick to US/Taiwan/Japan suspension and mech/shifter/cassette 🙂


 
Posted : 23/05/2014 7:47 am
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I'd put money on the Hope rims being made outside the UK.

Edit: [url= http://www.pinkbike.com/news/Hope-New-Rims-Stems-and-More-Core-Bike-2014.html ]Taiwanese.[/url]


 
Posted : 23/05/2014 8:25 am
 Sui
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I thought there was a British drivetrain option, might be for road, but still plausible (sturmey Archer) Suspension USE


 
Posted : 23/05/2014 8:28 am
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Not to sure sturmy are British


 
Posted : 23/05/2014 8:32 am
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Not to sure sturmy are British

They are if they were built pre 2000, as they are now made in Taiwan


 
Posted : 23/05/2014 8:39 am
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Year 2000 is later than I thought it would be.


 
Posted : 23/05/2014 8:42 am
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Seems a little silly, to me, to base your purchasing decision on something that had no effect whatsoever on the performance or quality of the thing you are buying.


 
Posted : 23/05/2014 8:45 am
 Sui
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was going to say Renolds then, but think they make chains in China


 
Posted : 23/05/2014 8:48 am
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You'll be lucky to get any Sturmey Archer hubs at the minute; they're not making any more until after the war:

[img] [/img]

(Joke borrowed from a fellow STWer on another thread)

Brookes also make their gear in the UK, so that's saddle and grips sorted.


 
Posted : 23/05/2014 8:49 am
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Renthal bars aren't made here though. Unless you are going to stick BMX bars on it 🙂

Seems a little silly, to me, to base your purchasing decision on something that had no effect whatsoever on the performance or quality of the thing you are buying.

Neither does colour or a host of other things that some people consider important. It's a hobby, so why not have a bit of fun with it?


 
Posted : 23/05/2014 8:55 am
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like most exercises like this, Its purely motivated by the "cos I can"


 
Posted : 23/05/2014 8:56 am
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It's like a UKIP mountainbike 🙂


 
Posted : 23/05/2014 9:01 am
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A UKIP one would surely have a Gilles Berthoud saddle to plant your arse upon, because you could and it would be very Farage to do so.


 
Posted : 23/05/2014 9:05 am
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My Raleigh Twenty even has a pump that was made in England. You can have it for one meeelion dollars.


 
Posted : 23/05/2014 9:16 am
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Seems a little silly, to me, to base your purchasing decision on something that had no effect whatsoever on the performance or quality of the thing you are buying.

Exactly. How utterly ridiculous to try to buy parts that haven't travelled across the globe, have improved your country's balance of trade, employed local people and generated more wealth and tax income for the country you live in.

Why would you want to do that when all it does is improve the economy in which you pay tax and use services which are paid for by that tax and where you work for businesses that usually rely on other businesses/people within your country to spend money so that you can make a living? I for one am certain that I'd rather make the rest of the world wealthy because it won't affect me at all up in my ivory tower... 😉


 
Posted : 23/05/2014 9:31 am
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🙂 chief

Re: Renthal bars - I thought the alloy ones were made in UK, just the carbon ones abroad. Can anyone confirm?


 
Posted : 23/05/2014 9:36 am
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Re: Renthal bars - I thought the alloy ones were made in UK, just the carbon ones abroad. Can anyone confirm?

I know they bought the design for that split Duo stem from ze Germans.


 
Posted : 23/05/2014 9:40 am
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I bet people in China love playing this game...


 
Posted : 23/05/2014 9:46 am
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Much of my work is for a Hong Kong av manufacturer.
It's selling like hot cakes in Hong Kong and China because they previously had to buy UK/European/US/Japanese 🙂
Yet over here, everybody moans that it's another "chinese knock-off" because it's not Linn/Naim/Rega/etc.
You can't win 'em all!


 
Posted : 23/05/2014 9:55 am
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Just got diverted looking at the Acros hydraulic shifting. German made, but as far as I can work out, it's £900 if you trash the rear mech!
(although every tiny spare part is available).


 
Posted : 23/05/2014 11:05 am
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Brooks-england is owned by an italian company, selle san marco, selle royal, one of them.


 
Posted : 23/05/2014 12:01 pm
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AlexSimon - Member

Re: Renthal bars - I thought the alloy ones were made in UK, just the carbon ones abroad. Can anyone confirm?

Yep, the alu bars are imported too- they do their own motorbike bars but can't do the shaping for mtb bars, the kit costs a fortune apparently.


 
Posted : 23/05/2014 12:03 pm
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Thanks for confirming Northwind.


 
Posted : 23/05/2014 12:18 pm
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So does All British equate to singlespeed?


 
Posted : 23/05/2014 8:10 pm
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But even if the product isn't manufactured in the UK, if you buy from a UK company it's still supporting the economy better than just a supplier of overseas goods isn't it?


 
Posted : 23/05/2014 9:34 pm
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USE bars, stem, seatpost and skewers, Royce bottom bracket.


 
Posted : 24/05/2014 6:11 am
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One of the bikes I'm considering is a Cotic Rocket.

by the time you've got the Rocket Hope will probably be making a full 12speed groupset....


 
Posted : 24/05/2014 6:36 am
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😆


 
Posted : 24/05/2014 6:45 am
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Middleburn cranks
Cotic - Taiwanese made surely
If you going to talk about British made it means more than designing and putting the stickers on here.


 
Posted : 24/05/2014 7:26 am
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How are we defining "made"? For example, if I make a frame here in a Glasgow from Columbus tubing, is that British?

Frame, forks, bar/stem combo - that can all be built by a decent UK framebuilder. The problem parts will be mechs, chains, tyres and rims.


 
Posted : 24/05/2014 7:33 am
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The rocket will be made in the UK

Where the buy British argument falls down is that both Giant and Specialized employ more people in the UK through their concept stores than many of the UK small brands


 
Posted : 24/05/2014 7:34 am
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If you vote for independence won't it be Scottish ben

Same applies though carpenter who supply raw material forr the 853 tubes is American ,the aluminium however is europeean manufactured aerospace certified as are all other bars and billets


 
Posted : 24/05/2014 7:53 am
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I also suspect that for someone like jungle importing high value items means they have a higher tax bill than small UK builders who are taking advantage of the 215% tax rebate available for anyone involved in research and development.

Added to that, we don't mine alu or iron here for use in bike parts, the raw materials are going to be transported all around the world even if the finished product isn't


 
Posted : 24/05/2014 7:54 am
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215percent tax rebate is only useful if you have a high value company you get the rebate knocked off your corp tax bill effectively meaning you spent the cash sold the product and hope its development phase does actually get glassed as development


 
Posted : 24/05/2014 7:59 am
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Ah I see... But I'm sure you get my point that it's not quite as black and white as it may seem


 
Posted : 24/05/2014 8:16 am
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bencooper - Member

How are we defining "made"? For example, if I make a frame here in a Glasgow from Columbus tubing, is that British?

Frame, forks, bar/stem combo - that can all be built by a decent UK framebuilder. The problem parts will be mechs, chains, tyres and rims.


I saw it as a sliding scale - from uk-made out of uk materials/tools/etc all the way to uk-designed. First you look for best-case then if that doesn't exist, move along the scale.

The argument about economy/etc isn't the only factor (for me anyway) - it's just about owning something that feels appropriate and I prefer to spec a bike and leave it like that than serial upgrading/swapping/etc. I've kept my current bike for 8 years with only a dropper post and tyres changing from original spec.

For example, another of the bikes I'm looking at is Canadian - I could easily get as excited by speccing as much of it as possible in Canadian-made parts.


 
Posted : 24/05/2014 8:29 am
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Fair point if it's a novelty project


 
Posted : 24/05/2014 8:35 am
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http://www.btr-fabrications.com/

BTR Fabrications Pinner full-suspension


 
Posted : 24/05/2014 9:11 am

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