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Is Camapagnolo going to phase out production of bicycle parts in Italy and move to cheaper location like China

I noticed that many of the new Campy bike parts are not stamped "made in Italy" like before. All of the vintage Campagnolo components feature "made in Italy" almost as prominently as the company logo. Anyway, I noticed that their clothing is now made in the former Yugoslavia, so chances are if they do open up production outside of Italy it would be somewhere in Eastern Europe. But maybe they will follow in the footsteps of Colnago and Cinelli and start outsourcing production to Taiwan or China. I don't think they will be able to charge the fat prices if its not made in Italy. Shimano works nearly as well (some would argue better) and its high and mid-range lines are made in Japan, which is known for producing high quality precision products. Nothing against made in China, but if you make it in China you better price it really cheap to reflect cost savings to the company through no pollution laws, cheap labor, and lower taxes!! Tullio would roll over in his grave if they do...

Y'know.....If I were you I'd copy and send that exact email to Campy and see what their response is. And post it here! Outsourcing is sure the way everything has been going for the last couple decades.

If they choose to do that, I'd hope they use a country like Taiwan, Pakistan, or possibly India, rather than China. China is leaps and bounds ahead of where they were 7 or 8 years ago.....and worlds away from the 80's and 90's superjunk products. The capability and skill they have NOW to make quality parts is impressive. That's not to say you'll always see quality stuff from China, because a lot of importers just spec cheapie stuff. But little-known-fact, close to 95% of the world's hydraulics are made in China, and not just the cheapie consumer items you find in Walmart and auto parts stores. They have the skills.

China is also the world's leader in the manufacture of carbon fiber and carbon fiber products. (Sounds like King of the Hill, I know...)

Campy has hit on hard times during several periods in the last 15 years, but they always make it through. It'll be interesting to see what effect Sram will have on them in the next couple years.

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