All (North) American Bike

Masjo
Posts
200
Joined
11/25/2014
Location
Ancaster CA
9/17/2020 12:41pm
I have realized that a lot of my life is sourced/purchased from less ethical sources, either due to environmental or humanitarian regions. I have been inspired by recent news articles that have shown bikes made from components only manufactured in the EU, and wondering if anyone else has seen or done the same with a North American build. Some of the parts are easier to source with many options (like frames or wheels) and others are available for older tech (like Paul components for mechanical disc brakes), but I want to find parts to make (in theory) a 'modern' mountain bike from only North America.

To get us started:
Frames: many boutique manufacturers available like Chromag, Reeb, Guerilla Gravity etc. Some Devinci frames.
Forks: Cane Creek, MRP
Shocks: Cane Creek, MRP
Headsets: Cane Creek, Wolf Tooth, Chris King
Stems: 9point8, Thomson, WeAreOne, Industry9
Handlebars: Enve, Thomson, WeAreOne
Brakes:
Rotors:
Grips: Sensus, ESI, RevGrips, ODI
Shifter:
Derailleur:
Cassette:
Chain:
Cranks: Raceface Next SL are mostly made in Canada, Cane Creek eeWings, White Industries
BB: Wheels Mfg, Chris King
Chainrings: Wolftooth, Blackspire
Chainguide/Bashring: Blackspire, MRP
Pedals: Yoshimura
Rims: Enve, We Are One.
Hubs: Industry9. Onyx, Chris King
Spokes: Wheelsmith
Tires:
Tire Inserts: Cushcore
Sealant: Stan's
Frame Protection: RideWrap
Cables:
Hydraulic Lines:
Gearbox: Gates Drive belts
Bike Racks: Saris, OneUp USA, North Shore Racks


Edit: found a pretty great Instagram page for inspiration, if anyone else is curious: https://www.instagram.com/north.american.bike.project/
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sspomer
Posts
4218
Joined
6/26/2009
Location
Boise, ID US
9/18/2020 12:49pm
that's rad! i'll add PUSH to the shock list.
3
Mr. P
Posts
59
Joined
5/8/2010
Location
Rocklin, CA US
9/18/2020 1:55pm
Paul for stems
White Industries for chainrings, hubs, headset, BB
3
Pedal4life
Posts
298
Joined
6/19/2014
Location
San Diego, CA US
9/18/2020 3:01pm Edited Date/Time 9/18/2020 3:08pm
Phil Wood in San Jose CA Hubs & Cranks my experience with them was positive & they've got some super nice looking hubs.
2
Absent
Posts
1
Joined
9/18/2020
Location
CA
9/18/2020 3:33pm
I've been doing this to some extent on my last few build but my thinking was more in the line of, how far do I have to go to build an entire bike with my location being the point of origin. Pretty far it turn's out.
So I'm currently riding this;
Frame: Xprezo Adhoc
Shock:Elka Stage 5
Fork:Mrp Stage
Wheels: We are one rim lace to Onyx hub
Dropper:9.8
Ian
Posts
3
Joined
4/12/2015
Location
Scottsdale, AZ US
9/18/2020 4:48pm
Profile has some stuff
smelly
Posts
115
Joined
3/7/2016
Location
Colorado Springs, CO US
9/18/2020 6:45pm
I'm not sure we will find any shifting components made in America, but Paul at least makes mounts for thumbs shifters.

Alternately, anyone else remember the old White Industries derailleur that used two cables?
Big Bird
Posts
2133
Joined
2/1/2011
Location
Oceano, CA US
9/18/2020 7:34pm
Just to be sure... Are we talking Manufactured in NA, designed in NA or made by a company from NA? Big difference.
3
9/18/2020 8:38pm
Spokes: I9
Rims: the I9 rims that WR1 makes for them (labeled as I9 though)
Pedals, stems: I miss Twenty6
Howse
Posts
9
Joined
8/17/2009
Location
Seattle, WA US
9/18/2020 9:10pm
Can't forget Hadley Hubs
2
krisrayner
Posts
31
Joined
4/29/2014
Location
San Luis Obispo, CA US
9/18/2020 9:38pm
I’ve thought about this too. Drivetrain and brakes are the sticking point. Paul does have mechanical disc brakes. SRAM and Hayes are US based, but don’t think they make any brakes here. If singlespeed you could do white industries all the way. Velocity makes rims in the US.
b0bg
Posts
11
Joined
10/31/2013
Location
San Francisco, CA US
9/19/2020 7:24am
Lots of non-ethical mfg's here in the NAFTA block too, along side many great and innovative companies. Just like anywhere I suppose. This is a cool project and I think it'd be awesome if such a bike could be built. Here's an older list with USA focused products that might help you complete the build:

https://www.oldglorymtb.com/mountain-bike-parts-made-in-america/

Like others have pointed out it seems like Drivetrain/Brakes/Tires are going to be the biggest challenge. Perhaps the folks at Box could hook you up with some in house engineering one offs?
JimEG
Posts
39
Joined
3/1/2010
Location
Leavenworth Olympia, WA US
9/19/2020 7:32am
Mr. P wrote:
Paul for stems
White Industries for chainrings, hubs, headset, BB
Been rolling on White Industry hubs for years. Yes.
Jon_Angieri
Posts
83
Joined
3/25/2019
Location
Broken Arrow, OK US
9/19/2020 9:10am
WeAreOne’s stem is made by 77designz
1
lloyd506
Posts
123
Joined
7/10/2016
Location
CA
9/19/2020 12:47pm
Chromag has stems made in Canada, there is also north shore billet
9/19/2020 6:22pm
Thomson and enve dont make bars here, all overseas. Even alloy thomson. No one has the proper swaging tooling for bars, or at least it seems no one is willing to invest in it and a do the volume needed to be profitable.

Unclear on WR1 stems, I thought it was desinged by 77desinz, but made in kamloops?

I think craig at Avalanche is still building shocks (woodie, etc.) on and off, not sure. Mostly just upgrades. worthy of the list all the same
yzedf
Posts
51
Joined
1/27/2015
Location
Hebron, CT US
9/19/2020 7:10pm
Thomson and enve dont make bars here, all overseas. Even alloy thomson. No one has the proper swaging tooling for bars, or at least it seems...
Thomson and enve dont make bars here, all overseas. Even alloy thomson. No one has the proper swaging tooling for bars, or at least it seems no one is willing to invest in it and a do the volume needed to be profitable.

Unclear on WR1 stems, I thought it was desinged by 77desinz, but made in kamloops?

I think craig at Avalanche is still building shocks (woodie, etc.) on and off, not sure. Mostly just upgrades. worthy of the list all the same
Craig is doing metric sizes now
1
TEAMROBOT
Posts
484
Joined
9/2/2009
Location
Los Angeles, CA US
9/19/2020 8:45pm Edited Date/Time 9/20/2020 12:09am
I think you could get pretty close to a full North American build if you were building up a singlespeed cross bike. Velocity rims, Paul brakes, Paul and White Industries drivetrain. You can get a road-nerd carbon one-piece bar and stem from "Predator Cycling." Don't know about made in America tires, cable, chain, or housing.

https://predatorcycling.com/collections/components/products/the-major-r…
VersusTires
Posts
6
Joined
2/11/2020
Location
Encinitas, CA US
9/20/2020 7:20am
Our tires aren't made here but we're a rider owned, rider operated company based in SoCal.
We love what you're doing & would be honored to be included on such a rad ride!
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1
9/20/2020 11:50am
Our tires aren't made here but we're a rider owned, rider operated company based in SoCal. We love what you're doing & would be honored to...
Our tires aren't made here but we're a rider owned, rider operated company based in SoCal.
We love what you're doing & would be honored to be included on such a rad ride!
There are a lot of similar companies. The unique thing, the challenging thing is being MADE in NA. It would be cool if you put your money where your mouth is and brought manufacturing TO SoCal. Continental makes their best tires in Germany. So clearly it’s possible to make tires outside of Asia. Even if more expensive, I’m sure you’d gain some loyalists by doing so.
2
1
VersusTires
Posts
6
Joined
2/11/2020
Location
Encinitas, CA US
9/20/2020 12:07pm
Our tires aren't made here but we're a rider owned, rider operated company based in SoCal. We love what you're doing & would be honored to...
Our tires aren't made here but we're a rider owned, rider operated company based in SoCal.
We love what you're doing & would be honored to be included on such a rad ride!
There are a lot of similar companies. The unique thing, the challenging thing is being MADE in NA. It would be cool if you put your...
There are a lot of similar companies. The unique thing, the challenging thing is being MADE in NA. It would be cool if you put your money where your mouth is and brought manufacturing TO SoCal. Continental makes their best tires in Germany. So clearly it’s possible to make tires outside of Asia. Even if more expensive, I’m sure you’d gain some loyalists by doing so.
True but Continental is a HUGE corporation that's been making tires in Germany forever.

We're a small brand run by a group of riders only making only bike tires (continental, maxxis, michelin, etc make tires for everything). The cost to setup a factory in the US would be astronomical (like $25,000,000 or more) and tires would have to be 100x what they are now to even begin to regain the costs.
5
Masjo
Posts
200
Joined
11/25/2014
Location
Ancaster CA
9/20/2020 1:09pm
Thanks for the comments, everyone! Glad to see such interest in a project like this.
For me, the important thing would be having the product manufactured in North America. It seems like that would be an impossible build since some parts are just not made here.
I don't want to start a debate over it, but I would assume if something is made in Canada/USA/Mexico, there would be more stringent environmental and social restrictions for manufacturing and it would reduce overall shipping if the item is made close to home. That's not to say that manufacturing in another country is automatically bad, or doing it here is automatically good, but it makes the whole process easier to decipher. It's very difficult to find what any company is doing for their employees and the environment regardless of region, but knowing it's manufactured here would be a small bonus.
On a related note, why does no one list where their apparel is manufactured? I was trying to find a similar list of clothes, shoes, etc. and most companies don't put that info online even though it goes on the garment tags. I think that is a losing battle too since I could not find any shoes that are made here that aren't bespoke custom carbon shoes.
4
9/20/2020 2:12pm
Masjo wrote:
Thanks for the comments, everyone! Glad to see such interest in a project like this. For me, the important thing would be having the product manufactured...
Thanks for the comments, everyone! Glad to see such interest in a project like this.
For me, the important thing would be having the product manufactured in North America. It seems like that would be an impossible build since some parts are just not made here.
I don't want to start a debate over it, but I would assume if something is made in Canada/USA/Mexico, there would be more stringent environmental and social restrictions for manufacturing and it would reduce overall shipping if the item is made close to home. That's not to say that manufacturing in another country is automatically bad, or doing it here is automatically good, but it makes the whole process easier to decipher. It's very difficult to find what any company is doing for their employees and the environment regardless of region, but knowing it's manufactured here would be a small bonus.
On a related note, why does no one list where their apparel is manufactured? I was trying to find a similar list of clothes, shoes, etc. and most companies don't put that info online even though it goes on the garment tags. I think that is a losing battle too since I could not find any shoes that are made here that aren't bespoke custom carbon shoes.
Some Kitsbow, Voler for mtb apparel, maybe others. I will note that as far as labor laws and materials sourcing etc, there are a few brands that are pushing hard on this, and can back some of it up with third-party verified certifications like Fair trade and Bluesign, like Pearl izumi and Patagonia, not all thier stuff though.

Shoes in particular I think are sort of like good swaged handlebars. No one has invested in the tooling and manufacturing for crazy molded soles with multiple rubber compounds etc. We have work boots, hippie shoes, and new sneakers that look like they're from the '80s on lock tho. just rout out some pockets in some Redwings and screw some cleats in there. boom, done.
cedrico
Posts
3
Joined
9/4/2020
Location
CA
9/20/2020 6:05pm Edited Date/Time 9/21/2020 11:16am
Wow, this thread is up my alley. I've been running the Instagram account called North American Bike Project for the past few months: https://www.instagram.com/north.american.bike.project/

I started this Instagram account several months after the European Bike Project guy started his account, and he helped me get going. We talk and send things to each other regularly.

Some of the info that folks shared here is inaccurate or only partly true. A challenge with this topic is that brands often don't share details of where things are made, and they often have some products made overseas even if other products of theirs are made in-house or locally. So whenever someone here suggests a brand, you will usually have to check for the specific product from that brand that interests you to know if it's made in North America. This often involves contacting brands directly to find out (I've done a lot of this and continue to do it).

If yall would like, I can put together a spreadsheet with all the bike brands that I know have things made in North America. I can include comments per brand about details of where things are manufactured. It can be a Google Spreadsheet where anyone can leave comments to suggest additional brands or details, and I can fact check. I would very much welcome suggestions; I don't pretend to know everything there is to know about bike stuff made in North America. So let me know if this sort of spreadsheet would help.

By the way, the list in this thread's first post is a great start.
3
Tmack
Posts
3
Joined
2/28/2019
Location
CA
9/20/2020 7:35pm
We Are One make their own stem and bar in Kamloops. 77designs gets their bars from WR1 and make their own version of the same stem which is slightly different.
Nozes
Posts
23
Joined
1/28/2010
Location
PT
9/21/2020 12:42pm
Can't believe there isn't one single manufacturer in NA that produces disc rotors.
vmartinez
Posts
7
Joined
1/22/2013
Location
Ogden, UT US
9/21/2020 3:44pm
Enve's rims and Stem are made here in Ogden. The Greg Minnaar bar was the only bar they made in Ogden.
Trp is also in Ogden but everything comes from Taiwan.

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