All

I can assure you there's less Capex with their method of manufacturing than the traditional carbon molding methods. Same goes for their alloy frames vs. traditional construction methods. Their unit costs might be a touch higher and might not scale as easily or cost effectively but my assumption is they don't sell enough frames to be successful the traditional way with amortizing tooling costs so it seems they are taking the right approach. Capex can higher on alu projects than carbon ones, but the volumes with alloy make it worthwhile to turn a profit. For all small and medium brands...

From an industry perspective Enduro is almost ubiquitous for a few reasons: 1. They offer a lot of bicycle-specific sizes that can be very hard (and relatively expensive) to source elsewhere. They are one of the few suppliers with a wide range of max complement small bearings. Max complement is a big improvement in load capacity for the specific use case of suspension pivots (high dynamic load, low rotation speeds). 2. They are well known and have lots of international support for people replacing bearings. Go try replacing all the bearings on a Pivot Firebird with NTN equivalents. You might...

Manufacturers shouldn’t be saddled with carrying the burden of a social safety net though- that is a particularly American Problem, and it’s why this thread exists in the first place… The American economy is a blind consumption machine based on hope and smoke and mirrors and the fantasy of infinite economic growth The underpinnings of the economy are not sound- poor STEM education, horrible educational outcomes per dollar spent, 3rd world healthcare outcomes, historic attacks on family planning, zero affordable housing being built or subsidized, automobile and intermodal-shipping container-centric infrastructure… all Americans pay real social and economic costs for these...