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Re:A bike parts company ditched Amazon to support indie shop... by dheera on Tuesday August 24, 2021 @01:30PM (#28292148)
I dunno, a lot of the time I get higher quality products from China, AND for cheaper. There is much more advanced manufacturing tech there now. You just need to buy from a reliable company that knows their shit.

Sometimes if it is just poor assembly quality you can patch it up yourself easily. If screws are unscrewing themselves out all that's needed is a little Loctite or lock nuts. The metal is still perfectly fine.

Sometimes it's just patents that drive up prices in the US, for some stupidly simple thing like a bike pedal patents shouldn't exist, and for practical purposes it would be laughable to have a patent on some low tech stuff like that in China.

Re:A bike parts company ditched Amazon to support indie shop... by aulin on Tuesday August 24, 2021 @01:45PM (#28292397)
Sure but I'm not really sure how that applies to the biking world and to the initial topic here.

Sure you can get various decent accessories from china, but for most of the basic maintainance you need to source proper components (drivetrain, brakes, tyres, suspensions) from respected brands. You can go to the LBS, let them do the work and pay a premium or you can do it yourself sourcing components online for half the price. You could also source the components to the LBS and do the work yourself but that's usually the more expensive solution. As it often happens the most ethical choice of willingly financing LBSs is only accessible to the rich.