...Best of British...

[avecReynolds531]

Maybe one benefit of a list article like this - and resulting comments that give insight & rightly point out omissions - is to give some acknowledgment or focus to smaller, local manufactures competing in a tough environment against wealthy large companies.

More broadly, Bianchi plans to return to Italian manufacture - so there may be some shift of thinking in the bike world about the long-term viability of manufacturing locally.

Brompton is an enviable success story - I'm not sure if this is due to the originality and brilliance of the design - or can other British manufacturers emulate that level of achievement?

I love the B17 - another global success and design classic; from the little I know, still handmade in the Smethwick factory. I've read that some of the newer Cambium range is made in Italy, presumably with the parent company Selle Royal, which oversees the distribution. It seems crazy that a new B67 made here, needs a trip to Italy, before returning here.

It's good news that Reynolds are still producing world-class tubing from Birmingham.

 

[bonzobanana]

I don't know exactly where Brooks makes all of its saddles these days (it says Birmingham) but unless something has changed I thought Brooks was no longer actually a British British-owned company.

Hope do score heavily on being British I think - ownership, design and manufacturing.

Carradice very definitely.

No distance at all from Hope - an area with a great cycling Heritage, including Karrimor - no longer the latter but the comment on Karrimor and Mike Ashley in the comments is unfair/misses the point - Karrimor was no longer Karrimor in any real sense by the time Ashley bought the brand. I still miss the Pertex top I lost on a ride which I bought from their factory shop.

If you factor in ownership of bike companies you end up finding a huge chunk are either Dutch or Canadian as Pon and Dorel owns a huge amount of brands. Pretty sure Brooks are now Italian owned Selle Royal I think who also own other companies like Crank Brothers. I think Scott are Korean, Marin are Indonesian, Bianchi are Swedish etc. A huge number of brands are Chinese or Taiwanese owned too. People still think of companies that are foreign owned as British even though foreign owned, it makes no sense but its just the way people think. Peugeot still advertise Vauxhall as a British brand but it was something like 1930 that General Motors bought it so it hasn't been British for close to 100 years. It's partly why the UK is in so much debt as when an asset becomes foreign owned obviously manufacturing sometimes leaves the country and profits certainly do. It's just the sad state of affairs when you have two grossly incompetent political parties in power and even more moronic minor parties.

Taiwan is seen as the most advanced nation with regard bicycle manufacturing and yet how did they achieve that? They massively controlled imports with tariffs to create space in the market for their own industry and it grew massively. Why is the ARM chip the most used chip in the world, because it was the basis of the UK educational computer systems and was given exclusive access to schools so it had resources to be developed without the pressure from cheaper competition from abroad. The government enabled its development through positive policies towards British industry.

 

[Dogtrousers]

I read an article recently where a person tried her best to buy goods which were totally British(no oversea components).She failed miserably.

Why would you go to such purist extremes? International trade has been a thing since time immemorial.

 

[bonzobanana]

Why would you go to such purist extremes? International trade has been a thing since time immemorial.

I wouldn't ever be so extreme myself but lets be realistic here anyone trying to buy British is doing something extremely positive. You have people who regularly buy expensive imported cars and frequent foreign holidays and have done huge damage to the UK economy over the years. Everyone has to pay for those people in the huge debts they create when you have a large trade deficit and all the additional borrowing that causes. It's not unrealistic to say many will die much younger because of a reduction in resources in hospitals, the police, welfare services etc having to service the debts these people have caused. Some people just have no understanding of basic economics and how world trade works. Look at the NIIP rating of the UK and what running a huge trade deficit has caused to this country and of course huge payments to the EU on top of that. We have been economically moronic for about 40 years just selling assets and borrowing to compensate for our trade deficit.

Someone looking to buy British is perhaps someone trying to avoid the madness of our time and the self-destructive nature of our society and the economic stupidity of the UK population today so it's a strange thing to call it 'purist extremes' surely people who damage their own economy because they have a extreme view of consumerism without any thought for the consequences of their actions should be seen as extremists. If someone spends all their money on gambling so their family go hungry that would be comparable to how many people think as consumers. Someone who only spends money on local produce to ensure their communities are well off and all people live to a decent level is a positive thing.

 

[Dogtrousers]

I read an article recently where a person tried her best to buy goods which were totally British(no oversea components).She failed miserably.

it's a strange thing to call it 'purist extremes'

Trying to by goods which are totally British, with no overseas components is weird and purist thing to do. No cotton. Precious few spices. Extremely limited with regard to petrochemicals. No aluminium as we have no bauxite reserves. As far as I know, no iron ore is mined in Britain so no steel. The only glass produced in the UK these days is either art glass or some highly specialised technical products. And anyway the batch for glass manufacture is of foreign (ugh!) origin. So no glass.

Fine if you like gruel and things made of wood. Oh, hang on ... not wood.

Choosing to prefer British suppliers is fair enough. But totally shunning anything with any component originating beyond these shores would be just plain weird. And would have been weird for hundreds of years past.

 

[Elybazza61]

Have a Stayer frame made in Leytonstone with another currently being built:they do use Italian Columbus tubing though .Having worked in manufacturing (hi-fi equipment and stage/club lighting) I've always liked the idea of buying UK/European products; there is no doubt that it is more expensive but I'm prepared to compromise on other things to get this stuff.

Have quite a lot of Hope parts as well .

 

[midlife]

I'm old enough to remember the "I'm backing Britain campaign", I'll have to Google when it was though lol

 

[Blue Hills]

I'm old enough to remember the "I'm backing Britain campaign", I'll have to Google when it was though lol

sometime in the 60s I think - i vaguely remember it as a kid - I think Blue Peter* even did a spot on it.
I don't think it lasted long.

(* in case anyone gets the wrong idea about Blue Peter they also once famously did an extended plug for the simply delightful Sha of Iran)

 

[Dogtrousers]

I'm old enough to remember the "I'm backing Britain campaign", I'll have to Google when it was though lol

I remember Arthur Lowe (as Capt Mainwaring) doing something for that.

 

[Arrowfoot]

Taiwan is seen as the most advanced nation with regard bicycle manufacturing and yet how did they achieve that?

When it comes to bikes. the Taiwanese Govt provided research grants to their manufacturers and the focus was on material science. The first material that showed promise over steel and aluminium was Cromoly. Giant was part of the R&D, then they moved to Carbon. Though Japan is the largest supplier of carbon fibre, the biggest purchaser is Giant who still do contract manufacturing for certain brands and also sell the weave to others.

There is no other bike R&D facility that comes close to the one run by Taiwan and it has been there for 25 years.

 

[midlife]

I thought cromoly was steel?

 

[Hover Fly]

Back in the 1920s Reynolds were using Swedish steel.

sometime in the 60s I think - i vaguely remember it as a kid - I think Blue Peter* even did a spot on it.
I don't think it lasted long.

(* in case anyone gets the wrong idea about Blue Peter they also once famously did an extended plug for the simply delightful Sha of Iran)

See the very end ofCarry on up the Khyber 1968.

 

[matticus]

https://road.cc/content/feature/buy-british-11-top-bike-brands-still-made-uk-217200

Some great design and manufacturing from here; refreshing in a world of increasingly generic & mass production.

As always, these kinds of lists will tend to leave out others but give a chance to highlight local & brilliant engineering.

Thanks - I learned of a couple that I always assume are US. Hope being the main one, shame on me 😄

👍

 

[Blue Hills]

Thanks - I learned of a couple that I always assume are US. Hope being the main one, shame on me 😄

👍

surprised at that.
I assume you know that their barlick neighbours Rolls Royce are British.

 

[bonzobanana]

Trying to by goods which are totally British, with no overseas components is weird and purist thing to do. No cotton. Precious few spices. Extremely limited with regard to petrochemicals. No aluminium as we have no bauxite reserves. As far as I know, no iron ore is mined in Britain so no steel. The only glass produced in the UK these days is either art glass or some highly specialised technical products. And anyway the batch for glass manufacture is of foreign (ugh!) origin. So no glass.

Fine if you like gruel and things made of wood. Oh, hang on ... not wood.

Choosing to prefer British suppliers is fair enough. But totally shunning anything with any component originating beyond these shores would be just plain weird. And would have been weird for hundreds of years past.

I'm certainly not saying buying everything from the UK is possible in fact I would say that is impossible but I still understand the sentiments of people who are trying to reverse the consumerism madness of our society that is creating huge debts for future generations. No government should be able to borrow just to improve the living standards of people today at the expense of future generations living standards. If UK manufacturing is gone then the UK economy should collapse and then build itself up again based on low wages and being more competitive. We shouldn't expect our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren to suffer because of our selfishness and incompetence.