Opinions on BH frames?

[azrider]

Loved my Ultralight.....although it was a tad tricky to get the fit dialed in. Climbers bike for sure

[rain dogs]

I'm too busy to look in much detail but here are some links re: Orbea... not the most recent info though (2015 + 2016)

orbea-expands-production-in-portugal-stops-in-china

orbea-focuses-on-omni-channel-distribution

Google Translated: "Orbea has opened its new plant in Portugal. After an event held at the end of April attended by the 55 factory workers and numerous representatives of local institutions, both political (the president of the Chamber), and economic (banks, suppliers and builders), the gun was kicked Departure to our new Portuguese headquarters, which has 8,000 square meters of ship built.

A plant that will also serve as a logistics warehouse and that will collect the surplus production from Mallabia. At its maximum capacity you can gather between 8,000 and 10,000 bicycles (ed. monthly), and it has all the necessary material for its manufacture, two assembly lines and a carbon paint installation.

Although at the moment the factory in Portugal focuses on the low-middle range of the mountain families of Orbea, it is also going to start working with some road models of these ranges.

The production of Orbea bicycles in Portugal is increasing. Right now it is estimated at around 85,000 units per year, although this year it is expected to exceed 90,000 and is marked as the goal to achieve in the next two years the 100,000 bicycles produced per year."

[benb]

FWIW the articles really make it clear Orbea is more Portuguese today but was HQed in the Basque region... BH was traditionally Basque region.

Back when I had my BH I was under the impression it had become a lot more multinational and some of the bikes were not even designed in Spain but were designed by the US branch of the company or other offices and then stuff was manufactured in Asia.

I am not particularly allergic to Asian bikes... most of my bikes have been built in Asia.

[K3RRY]

Awesome info

[rain dogs]

Originally Posted by benb

FWIW the articles really make it clear Orbea is more Portuguese today but was HQed in the Basque region... BH was traditionally Basque region.

How so? Sure Orbea makes tons of bikes in Portugal but does that make them Portuguese? Orbea is in the heart of the Basque country and I'm certain has manufactured more bikes in the Basque country than BH has made anywhere in their history.

That's not a critique of BH, I'm just having a hard time following how BH is more "traditionally basque" than Orbea? If that even matters...

What is Cannondale? US? Or Chinese/Canadian? Orbea still makes tons of bikes in Mallabia (Vizcaya.... Basque....Spain)

[bitpuddle]

Originally Posted by trener1

I was just listening to a podcast last week and they had someone on from Orbea, and he mentioned that being that they are a coop they feel a certain responsibility to keep jobs in the Basque Country.

Do you remember which podcast it was? I’d like to listen to it.

[trener1]

I belive it was The Cycling podcast, if you look through their feed they had a special about the Basque Country during the Vuelta, the whole thing wasn't about Orbea just a small clip, but I am pretty sure that is where I heard it.
If you listen to it and it isn't there, post up and I will try to rack my brain some more.

[benb]

Originally Posted by rain dogs

How so? Sure Orbea makes tons of bikes in Portugal but does that make them Portuguese? Orbea is in the heart of the Basque country and I'm certain has manufactured more bikes in the Basque country than BH has made anywhere in their history.

That's not a critique of BH, I'm just having a hard time following how BH is more "traditionally basque" than Orbea? If that even matters...

What is Cannondale? US? Or Chinese/Canadian? Orbea still makes tons of bikes in Mallabia (Vizcaya.... Basque....Spain)

I'm not sure cause I couldn't really find any historical #s. Orbea is an older company (they're both really old) but BH actually started making bikes decades earlier than Orbea did. Both companies did not start out as bike companies but started out as manufacturing companies making other products and then transitioned into bike companies.

I'm not talking about the modern era where stuff gets made in Asia most of the time. Both companies go back to the 1800s IIRC.

[El Chaba]

I do not have the sacrament of confirmation on this, but I heard some years ago that at least the higher end BH frames were made by Giant (which is not a bad thing at all).

[benb]

Originally Posted by El Chaba

I do not have the sacrament of confirmation on this, but I heard some years ago that at least the higher end BH frames were made by Giant (which is not a bad thing at all).

It'd be a great thing to somehow get a definitive list of all the bikes that are actually made by Giant.

Based on pictures from a few years ago I wouldn't be surprised if my Trek Domane was made in a Giant factory.

When a Giant is the bike that fits I'm totally happy to buy a Giant and usually save a bunch of money.

[rain dogs]

Originally Posted by benb

I'm not sure cause I couldn't really find any historical #s. Orbea is an older company (they're both really old) but BH actually started making bikes decades earlier than Orbea did. Both companies did not start out as bike companies but started out as manufacturing companies making other products and then transitioned into bike companies.

I'm not talking about the modern era where stuff gets made in Asia most of the time. Both companies go back to the 1800s IIRC.

Orbea began making bicycles in 1931. BH after the first world war... let's say ~1920ish. Orbea began as a company in 1840 and BH in 1909 in which both had been making weapons/arms/guns at a point in their respective histories.

The BH part of that history can be seen on their webpage:
https://www.bhbikes.com/es_ES/quiene...os-de-historia

[Plum Hill]

I found an article yesterday concerning tariffs and Kent Bicycles. The article had a paragraph about bicycle production in Portugal. I believe this is the link: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...n-usa-bicycles .
I tried to open it today but can’t get the whole article since I’m not a subscriber.

[FriarQuade]

Originally Posted by benb

It'd be a great thing to somehow get a definitive list of all the bikes that are actually made by Giant.

Based on pictures from a few years ago I wouldn't be surprised if my Trek Domane was made in a Giant factory.

When a Giant is the bike that fits I'm totally happy to buy a Giant and usually save a bunch of money.

Contract manufacturing is a constantly changing space. Even if you could get all that info keeping it current would be a full time job.

[Plum Hill]

Forgot to report back.
A friend and I stopped by BH USA on 10/8/19 while out for a ride. We found local cycling entrepreneur “MW” there.
I posed the question “are BH bikes made in Spain, Portugal, or the Far East?”.
“All of the above” was the reply.

What I gathered from the conversation is BH is big into exercise equipment (there was a large showroom containing treadmillls, etc.) and E-bikes in the US, and they are trying to boost road and mtb sales here. They are also a co-licensee or co-patent holder (foggy memory) of a full suspension mtb design. We were told they’d have a bike showroom set up at the HQ after the new bike models came out.

[the bottle ride]

The definition of where the bike is made in the EU is determined by *where* the greatest value in the process in creation process was done:
So if a frame was built in the Far East and shipped, but the finish was done in Spain (which may have cost more due to higher production costs) the manufacturer can claim the country of origin.

Orbea/BH are great bikes - pretty sure they are made in the Far East (which makes sense- they really have the means of production for high end carbon down pat)