While I was working in the industry many customers asked, “Is X a good brand”. Most people don’t realize that the average $500 mountain bike is made in one of three factories. Giant, in Taiwan, is the largest manufacturer of bikes in the world, and make many of the bicycles you find under other companies names. Remember that these are bicycle shop bicycles, not department store bikes! With that in mind consider that only a few really exotic bikes (expensive), hand built steel, and custom frames being made in Europe and the United States, everything else is made in China (low end) and Taiwan (everything else).
So when you think about Scatante frames, and their cousins, realize that they are being built by companies that manufacture the majority of the bicycle on the road today. That would make them the experts.
Martec of Taiwan for example makes the Scatante frames and forks. They also make Orbea, Kuota, and Kestrel. Logic aside most reviews you run across for these bikes run something like this one from Pez Cycling News about the Kuota Khan:
“I don’t mean to get boring here, but I have to speak about the build quality. It is the logical result when the factory is an ISO 9002 approved facility. That means they have to live up to top flight standards not generally associated with the cycling industry. Adding another set of eyes and opinions and living up to a higher standard at Sintema is nothing but good from a consumers point of view… But enough of the babble about factories.”Read the rest at Pez
So the real question is if they build them, who designs them? Most of the brands design their own frames, either in house or hiring an outside industrial design firm. The manufacturer will offer suggestions on engineering, or the brand may have their own engineers working on solutions with the manufacturers. So when it comes down to how a bike rides it’s mostly the design that determines those characteristics, and as long as a good company is making the frame that should be of little concern.
I’ve added an image at the top of this article that I think warrants some special attention. It is taken from a newsletter that Trek bicycle produces. I saw it when I read this article on the Bicycle Design blog. While it looks bad, it may not be structurally inferior. Additionally Trek makes no reference to the manufacturer, or brand of bike that was dissected. No one has any idea how cheap this frame is. I doubt that Specialized, Giant, Fuji or any other recognizable brand has construction as poor as this. Additionally, with Martec in mind, I doubt that these products meet ISO compliance.
The next time you look at a bike, worry less about who made it and more about how it rides. So go out and ride!
Here is a great article really laying out who makes which bikes.