I don't think that's Trek's problem. Bontrager and Fisher are both still active--especially Gary. In those cases, it freed up some extremely smart guys from worrying about crap like accounting and human resources--so they could focus on the technical side. Klein lost interest--as far as I can tell, he hadn't thought of anything new in 5+ years when his line got killed off. I think he got bored with bikes and started making telescopes.

"Made in USA" ....."Like it matters"

It does to me. I personally live in the U.S. and I like my fellow citizens being employed. If nothing more it creates a tax base for all of our civil responsibilities.

I don't think the U.S. can export all its jobs while at the same time making it necessary to import all its purchases.

You can't just produce nothing and import everything. Unless your management, but only a few can be management. Maybe that marginal savings gained by using foreign workers could be offset by the adjusting the overinflated pay scales of management that are ultimately responsible for burying companies in debt and gregarious spending.

AFAIK it was Trek that was regarded 'the most american' ( ) brand in cycling, they were "handmade in wisconsin" (some of them...), and were cool (when LA era begun, even italian brand fanatics would shut their mouths when a trekkie appeared). cannondale, well, the distribution issues made things complicated, and the availability wasn't great (to say the least). since saeco they haven't had anything spectacular till Simoni's 'legalize my cad' marketing hype (though the bike was really nice). plus, it was hard to tell beetwen eg caad4 and caad5. one more thing, strangely, the name 'cannondale' appeared on many 100$ second-hand mall-quality bikes, imported from 'west'. not the best PR i guess..

as for where it's made - who gives a damn these days. if you get a decent warranty, my only concern is they hire adults to make it (though in the end who can be sure..)

So does anyone acutally know the official release date for the '11 bikes?
A quick google search doesn't pull anything up and there are no hints over on the cannondale site

You sound like a populist , which is ironic.

You, fundamentally, do not understand the 3 determinants of economic production: Land; Labor; and Capital. We have more of one than anyone else in the world ($$$). Our 'job' (as America) in the global economy is to buy things. Further, you make the assumption that the "loss'' of jobs means it's not on a parity with the increased sales taxes that will be generated by an increase in manufacturing efficiency that comes with asia production. The US manufacturing, in economic standards, is one of the least efficient manufacturing bases in the world. We use up a ton of resources with very little output. Additionally, your export argument fails to look at the other end of the equation; the buyer. You're assuming that people in other countries can afford to buy an inefficently American made product. Are you even aware what would actually happen if we had a trade surplus, or what would have to have to make that a reality? You think the Chinese can afford to buy an American made cell phone or TV. Hell, I can't afford to buy and American made cell phone or TV and neither could you. You're ignoring the effects of long run trade deficits and confusing David Ricardo's principle of comparative advantage with Adam Smith's principle of absolute advantage, specifically ignoring the latter. Paul Craig Roberts notes that the comparative advantage principles developed by David Ricardo do not hold where the factors of production are internationally mobile (like in this case). Stephen Roach's Global labor arbitrage, where one country exploits the cheap labor of another, would be a case of absolute advantage that is not mutually beneficial nor the case here. The US has an absolute advantage in Capital use and creation where Asian manufactring has an absolute advantage in Labor/Production given a fixed amount of resources.

In the long run.......... our job is to buy the stuff other people make. The US economy is to big to be self supported. Pretty simple.

Starnut

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"Don't pedal harder, pedal faster!"
Q-FACTOR IS A RED HERRING

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Starnut - then why is there such a long waiting list for Pegorettis? The $3,000 on a frame pays for 2-3 employees and it is all done in house, I am sure he makes a tidy profit

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Owl

Rode one (a System 6) for 4 years and adored it. Sadly it was taken away by a dumb bitch in a Nissan...

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Current bike: Parlee Z5, Campagnolo Super Record 11, Edge Composites 45's on DT240's
Former bike: Cannondale System 6, SRAM Red/Force mix, Bontrager Aeolis 5.0's

News about caad11?

I heard that a lot of cannondale's shop have catalogue in pdf...

edit: caad10 2011

2011 trek official road lineup scheduled for first week in july. bikes will ship in august.
2010 has been a very good year for high end road bikes.
cannondale/specialized/giant/trek are all sold out for this year.

btw. n.american manufacturing is not DEAD. zipp/edge/trek/reynolds are still competitive/innovative against the far east.

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Current Rides:

2010 SWorks SL3 7090 di2
2013 Trek 6.5 PO 9070 di2

That sounds like a prediction from 20th century antiutopian futurism, like Philip Dick, or maybe a 1984 Macintosh commercial.

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http://djconnel.blogspot.com/
Fuji SL/1
Send your data to Weight Weenie listings!

ok mate but something about caad10?

Okay -- I recall reading tapered headtube didn't do anything for Al frames; it was only beneficial for carbon. I think that was from Starnut regarding Cannondale. So have they succumbed to marketing-motivated design here?

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http://djconnel.blogspot.com/
Fuji SL/1
Send your data to Weight Weenie listings!

1.5 started in mountain biking at both ends with alu frame. More weld area and stiff front end. By going back to 1/8 at the top you avoid problems with finding the right stem. 1.5 all the way is still used on DH bikes as you can run press in cups headset with short stack height and you get the full benefit of more weld area and a stiff front end with is even more necessary in DH with DH forks. So yes alu benefits from 1.5 and I see no reason why it would not be the same with a road bike.

So... why not just go with a 2" then?
Heck, let's just jump ahead to a 3" size?
No, not sarcasm. If bigger = better by claims, then... why not?

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Exp001

A downhill bike has totally different requirements from a road bike. Downhill bikes need the extra material in the headtube for durability. There is way more play in a 160 mm downhill fork than in any headtube/bearing set. Fatter headtube = more weight due to both more material in the fork and headtube and the larger bearings are much heavier too. Aluminum is about the stiffest material bikes are made from and there are way lighter ways to get the needed stiffness on an aluminum bike than making the headtube bigger. Also, on a road bike, a narrower head tube is more aero.

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For certain parts stiffer is more important than lighter.