Quote:
Originally Posted by John McCann
So you were paid by a company importing chinese dung into the UK...you're nice and impartial then.
I will credit you with this...at least you're honest enough to declare your interests.
Quid pro quo, so will I.
I sell helmets and I try to stock brands that are of European manufacture.
I will never sell something to a customer that I would not be happy to buy myself.
Chinese manufacturing is appropriate in some product sectors but helmet production simply isn't one.
I think my original submission is useful to the original poster. Short and sweet. Cheap Chinese helmets are dung and are best avoided.
What would you have posted.....a long winded explanation about how modern chinese production methods are equaivalent to the best the West can offer ??? how current design standards are expertly executed by far eastern production facilities ??
I've heard them all friend and it's all rubbish.
Go to the roadside and tell it all to some unfortunate who has had a crash while wearing a chinese helmet.
Things are made in China because it is the cheapest place to get anything made- simple as that. Argue your case and I'll listen but you cannot escape that unavoidable fact.
And I didn't dribble any snot onto my keyboard in the process of typing this. I even used more than just my index fingers.
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I've only just seen this thread again because a customer at work said he'd googled for Duchini and found me replying to Mr McCann's original post.
Firstly, Mr McCann can't stock very many helmets because virtually none are produced in Europe nowadays. Those that are European aren't popular because they are a little dated in design and manufacture and bloody expensive for what they offer.
If he's thinking of AGV, then he may as well send his back, because most of them are now made in China as well. Personally I wouldn't put an AGV anywhere near the head of anyone who I liked, mainly because when the Ti-Tech came out me and three customers cracked the chinbars on brand new ones when trying them on in the shop. I sent all 24 of those I had in stock back and refused to ever sell another AGV of any model to any customer who walked in.
LEM? I'm not too familiar with the brand, mainly because no-one round here stocks it. If no-one stocks it then that's usually for a good reason, and not always because of the price. I believe they are Italian designed, but I'll be very surprised if they are Italian made. If they are... just think Ducati, Fiat and Alfa Romeo build quality and you've got the measure of Italian manufacturing standards.
Schuberths? Well, ancient in design and bloody heavy, not to mention extortionately priced. Not everyone can afford them, not everyone likes the weird look of them. Very few people buy them. They are quiet though, they have to have one thing going in their favour. IAM types and BMW owners love them, so that rules them right out as far as I'm concerned.
Talk about limiting your market.
China can and does produce some quality goods, known brand helmets such as Duchini and Nitro are some of them. The random batch testing involved means they have to meet strict quality control standards. Where Chinese helmets are let down is in the quality of the comfort linings inside, the cheap and fiddly easily broken visor mechs found on some and the dubious ventilation systems found on lower priced ones. The actual safety of the helmets is as good as the law requires and no-one, not even Mr McCann, can doubt that.
I've crashed twice wearing Nitros - both times my head hit the tarmac hard and once it also hit a car heavily. Both helmets were deemed scrap by me afterwards because they showed obvious signs of crashing. But I walked (hobbled from one with a broken ankle) away with no head damage. I didn't mind scrapping either helmet because it did exactly what I expected of it and was treated as a 'crash once, bin straight after' item.
As Yorkie-Chris says. They are made to a European safety standard, so they must be ok to an extent. A 50 quid helmet is never going to be as good as a 300 quid helmet, but if your customer only has 50 quid to spend then you may as well put him in a Duchini or Nitro. It's not my job to judge people on their ability to afford stuff or impose my xenophobic views on Chinese production methods on my customers, it's my job to put them in the best they can afford. (except where Chinese bikes and scooters are concerned because they really are **** and not worth buying, and that includes the AJS stuff he stocks)
I'd be interested to know where Mr McCann thinks the Berik and RST clothing he stocks is made, because I can tell you that 100% of RST is made in Chinese or Pakistani sweat shops and Berik is all made in the Madiff Industries factories in Hong Kong. Now I'm not knocking that, because both brands have a good reputation, especially the Berik because they have their own quality control as they make all their own gear not farm it out to whoever comes up cheapest on price. I just feel Mr McCann needs to get some perspective on things.