The United States was once the world’s leading bicycle manufacturer. It was also the world’s greatest industrial power. But today, the U.S. is struggling to keep up with China and other countries when it comes to manufacturing everything from electronics and pharmaceuticals to solar panels and automobiles.
Indiana knows this all too well, since the state has lost more than 150,000 skilled manufacturing jobs since 2000.
Here’s some encouraging news, though. Thanks to a sizable investment, Seymour-based Guardian Bikes is currently building the first large-scale bicycle frame manufacturing operation in the United States. It’s an audacious effort to bring a global industry back to the U.S.—and ensure that the bikes Americans ride each day are safer and stronger than ever.
It’s certainly a sign of the times, though, that 97% of all bicycles currently sold in the U.S. are imported. One reason for this is the massive government subsidies that countries such as China pour into their state-owned factories. As a result, they can export large numbers of low-cost, lower-quality bikes to America.
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