Trek Madone 6.9

On 5/13/2020 10:09 AM, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 5/13/2020 9:45 AM, AMuzi wrote:
On 5/13/2020 12:23 AM, news18 wrote:
On Tue, 12 May 2020 08:28:16 -0500, AMuzi wrote:

On 5/12/2020 2:32 AM, news18 wrote:
On Mon, 11 May 2020 19:39:15 -0500, AMuzi wrote:


Not only Trek BTW. The most American-content
automobile is a Toyota.
No one believes that either even though it's true.

Are the components made there or just the final product
assembled
there?


I was wrong, as Mr Scharf noted. Currently, others have
more domestic
content which is judged by total value of all the
various components.

And yes, an assembly facility is usually surrounded by a
host of
component makers.

FWIW, 20 miles away is one of those here who supplies
Ford in the USA.
Well, he did a decade ago, but he was experiencing
quality problems from
his chinese casters and was explaining that after having
casting made in
China(cheaper than here), he now had to ship them back to
Australia for
quality assurance and final assembly before finally
shipping them here.




Yes, I am all too familiar!

After four failures and some detective work I discovered
that all three major US suppliers of cam gear for my
engine buy the same chinese gear blank:

http://www.yellowjersey.org/photosfr...t/140cam34.jpg

There is one speed shop in Los Angeles who make an
entirely US cam gear for hardly much extra cost,
especially considering the huge expense of a full engine
rebuild and extraneous damage after cam gear failure.Â
I'm sure your neighbor found excessive freight and
inspection costs offset a big chunk of his 'saving' in
dealing with the 'middle finger kingdom'.

Wow - so the hub sheared right out of the gear?

Are the shapes identical, meaning it's a casting or
metallurgy problem? Or is the cheaper one visibly thinner,
etc.?

I was once hired to testify in an arbitration between two
companies. It was a similar failure, but a weldment with
parts about 30 times larger. I pointed out that the company
that built the part had welded the hub in place, then
machined almost all the weld away, causing the failure.

The arbitrator in charge said "But wouldn't the remaining
weld withstand _some_ torque?"

Yes - and if they stuck it on with chewing gum, it would
withstand _some_ torque. But the arbitrator used the "_some_
torque" idea to reduce my client's award.


Sadly, that image is one of my two broken Clark's brand.
These aftermarket gears are made to about the same
dimensions as the factory gear but the material is of lesser
integrity. The all-US made gear has a thicker wall with a
much larger gently sloping radius between wall and shaft
mount rather than the sharp edge shown.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

On 5/13/2020 1:41 PM, AMuzi wrote:
On 5/13/2020 10:09 AM, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 5/13/2020 9:45 AM, AMuzi wrote:
On 5/13/2020 12:23 AM, news18 wrote:
On Tue, 12 May 2020 08:28:16 -0500, AMuzi wrote:

On 5/12/2020 2:32 AM, news18 wrote:
On Mon, 11 May 2020 19:39:15 -0500, AMuzi wrote:


Not only Trek BTW.ÂÂ* The most American-content
automobile is a Toyota.
No one believes that either even though it's true.

Are the components made there or just the final product
assembled
there?


I was wrong, as Mr Scharf noted. Currently, others have
more domestic
content which is judged by total value of all the
various components.

And yes, an assembly facility is usually surrounded by a
host of
component makers.

FWIW, 20 miles away is one of those here who supplies
Ford in the USA.
Well, he did a decade ago, but he was experiencing
quality problems from
his chinese casters and was explaining that after having
casting made in
China(cheaper than here), he now had to ship them back to
Australia for
quality assurance and final assembly before finally
shipping them here.




Yes, I am all too familiar!

After four failures and some detective work I discovered
that all three major US suppliers of cam gear for my
engine buy the same chinese gear blank:

http://www.yellowjersey.org/photosfr...t/140cam34.jpg

There is one speed shop in Los Angeles who make an
entirely US cam gear for hardly much extra cost,
especially considering the huge expense of a full engine
rebuild and extraneous damage after cam gear failure.Â
I'm sure your neighbor found excessive freight and
inspection costs offset a big chunk of his 'saving' in
dealing with the 'middle finger kingdom'.

Wow - so the hub sheared right out of the gear?

Are the shapes identical, meaning it's a casting or
metallurgy problem? Or is the cheaper one visibly thinner,
etc.?

I was once hired to testify in an arbitration between two
companies. It was a similar failure, but a weldment with
parts about 30 times larger. I pointed out that the company
that built the part had welded the hub in place, then
machined almost all the weld away, causing the failure.

The arbitrator in charge said "But wouldn't the remaining
weld withstand _some_ torque?"

Yes - and if they stuck it on with chewing gum, it would
withstand _some_ torque. But the arbitrator used the "_some_
torque" idea to reduce my client's award.


Sadly, that image is one of my two broken Clark's brand. These
aftermarket gears are made to about the same dimensions as the factory
gear but the material is of lesser integrity.Â* The all-US made gear has
a thicker wall with a much larger gently sloping radius between wall and
shaft mount rather than the sharp edge shown.

For a long time in one of my classes, I gave a few extra credit points
to any student who brought in a broken mechanical part and gave a good
explanation of the cause of failure. That would have been a good one.


--
- Frank Krygowski