Shinola on the front of Washington Post (online at least)

[ShawnoftheDread]

“…a midprice watch mogul looking to go luxury under the cover of charitable business practices.”

Ah crap, they made me agree with the NY Times.

[Geoff]

I will celebrate any good news about American manufacturing, especially in my native state. And Detroit can use all the good news it can get. I would love to see a real Detroit Renaissance.

[PotomacCyclist]

Fortune also had this article about Detroit’s booming bike industry:

https://fortune.com/2014/10/09/detroit-bicycle-manufacturing/

http://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?7670-The-hub-of-cycling-in-the-U-S-Detroit

[PotomacCyclist]

More info about the temporary Shinola store in D.C., at 1534 14th St. NW, and the planned permanent store at 14th & R St. NW next year. Shinola will include coffee bars and couches in its retail stores. The D.C. store will include the watch and leather products. It’s not clear if the D.C. store will include bicycles.

http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/breaking_ground/2014/11/shinola-luxury-watch-retailer-bets-big-on-d-c-s.html?page=all

[PotomacCyclist]

I passed by the Shinola store during the Cranksgiving scavenger hunt today. I discovered that the D.C. store does indeed feature bikes along with the watches.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]7057[/ATTACH]

[KWL]

It appears Shinola knows how to do mudguards right.

[peterw_diy]

Anybody from the FTC here? The Shinola watch website is awash with phrases like “handmade in Detroit” and “American made” but the WaPo article says they’re merely assembled in Detroit of imported parts.

[DismalScientist]

I thought FTC is a defunct boy band.

Have fun reading this prose:
http://www.business.ftc.gov/documents/bus03-complying-made-usa-standard
The answer boils down to the value of parts versus the value of assembly.

[peterw_diy]

@DismalScientist 100532 wrote:

The answer boils down to the value of parts versus the value of assembly.

Not the value, the cost. Maybe Bill Clinton likes paying $550 for a $50 watch because it’s “American made” but ISTM the question is Shinola’s production costs, not the value the market attributes to the Michiganders’ assembly work.

[Starduster]

If the frame, the core of the bike, is manufactured in Wisconsin, then we can call it “American made”. Statement made.

Take a trip back in time to 1981, when my Trek 412 was manufactured in Waterloo, WI. Lugged/sliver brazed construction, using tubing from Ishiwata and rear dropouts from Suntour, both from Japan. OE components a mix from Europe and Japan. Then, as now, there were relatively few American-manufactured components and parts, except maybe at the high end. No one has challenged its “made in America” credentials.

And Specialized established itself with tires made for them in Asia. Find me an “American made” tire, not simply an American brand, that can beat the Schwalbe Marathons for this intended purpose.

I think it is admirable what Shinola is trying to do- to “rebirth” an famed industrial city that everyone else has abandoned and left for dead. Not to mention the human beings- the craftsmen & craftswomen who were also abandoned in the search for lower labor costs. If Shinola’s watches and bikes can compete successfully at their price points on their own merit, then that is wonderful. I will “buy American” IF the product stands up on its own merits- building crap and wrapping it in the flag… disrespects the flag.

[peterw_diy]

I too own a 1980s steel Trek, and I’ve toured their US factory, where they designed, tested, brazed, painted, and assembled bikes with wheels built onsite. There’s no way you can compare installing a Swiss quartz movement in a watch case to that level of effort.

[Dickie]

@peterw_diy 100534 wrote:

Maybe Bill Clinton likes paying $550 for a $50 watch because it’s “American made”

Please tell me where you buy your Swiss movement watches for $50.00…. I’ll be a rockstar at Christmas.

[lordofthemark]

1. I though Quicken was the first big non automotive brand name out of contemporary Detroit (and they are ALSO trying to revive the city, at least the downtown)

2. In general I sympathize with attempts to revive rust belt cities with revived manufacturing, even if the inevitably artisanal nature of it makes it high end

3. That said, I think there are people trying to do it in ways a tad less gimmicky – I also do not know how good these bikes are (or how artisanal, if that even applies)

4. I do recall seeing one at Fresh Bikes in Mosaic a while back.

[peterw_diy]

@Dickie 100541 wrote:

Please tell me where you buy your Swiss movement watches for $50.00…. I’ll be a rockstar at Christmas.

Remember Shinola watches are quartz, not mechanical/sprung. Here’s a site advertising Swiss quartz movements for $12.50.
http://www.ofrei.com/page200.html

Or cannibalize a $50 Swatch — they’re also Swiss quartz.

[Author]

Posts