Indonesian bike manufacturer (Scott, Marin, etc.)

[thelawnet]

Apologies if this is rather esoteric.

There is a major Indonesian manufacturer, Insera Sena.

https://www.insera.co.id/

They make ~0.75 million bicycles a year

https://www.insera.co.id/?page_id=2

Their website shows alloy frames being made

https://www.insera.co.id/?page_id=180

Wheel building

https://www.insera.co.id/?page_id=185

Most of the photos show their in-house brand, Polygon

I am not clear what is going on here, but some sort of decal design for a Scott bicycle



These are presumably intended to be branded in someone's name?




However they are sold in Finland directly as 'Insera', by a retailer also selling Polygon

https://www.baiks.fi/insera-nyx-27-5-24-v.html

I recently purchased a Pinnacle bike from Evans, which had a 'made in Indonesia' sticker. I presume they also come from the same factory, though I have no knowledge of that. (There are other manufacturers in Indonesia, but they produce generally for domestic consumption lower quality bicycles)

The Pinnacle Kapur even has an Indonesian name

https://www.mbr.co.uk/news/bike_news/pi ... pur-375106

(they are being a bit misleading - Kapur typically means 'chalk' or 'lime')

Marin bicycles are apparently owned/produced by Insera Sena.

This idiotic puff piece on 'Pink Bike' manages lots of shots of California & a man in overalls and a warehouse

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/inside-ma ... -2014.html

Actual bike production is missing.

Insera Sena's Indonesian bike shop chain, Rodalink sells Marin & Polygon only. Polygon is the complete line-up of BSOs, road bikes, MTBs, etc. Marin they sell in some limited selection https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/ ... clnk&gl=uk

Those on sale are certainly produced in Indonesia. There is a premium over the 'Polygon' brand within Indonesia for the name Marin, even though, well, it's the same thing.

The Wolf Ridge Pro is a carbon full suspension bike with some proprietary 'Naild' suspension system https://www.marinbikes.com/gb/bikes/201 ... ridge-pro; the Polygon Square One X9 is, er, the exact same thing. https://www.pinkbike.com/news/polygon-s ... -2017.html


It is not clear to what extent they perform contract work; for example, the Kona AfricaBike was produced by Insera Sena, however I don't get the impression they produce many Kona bikes.

I don't know how much involvement they have with Scott - they certainly seem to produce & perhaps design some of the Scott range, but whether it is all of them I do not know. However there are plenty of loose Scott frames floating around in Indonesia, so I guess they are made there. The question of course is that with the 'Scott' label commanding a premium over 'Polygon'. Unlike Marin, I think they at least have some sort of unique identity.

This Scale 960 frame is not clearly a Polygon bike, as it for example features a Pressfit 92 bb. (I believe Scott also buy bikes from Giant & maybe others, so presumably not all from Indonesia.)

Clearly there are different types of manufacturer from those with their own mega production to those who apparently just buy in expertise from the far east; the question is if these brands exist at all, or if they are just buying in bikes.

[Brucey]

you just need to look at what (say) Giant did in Taiwan to see that there is nothing much stopping a similar bike assembly plant from being set up in any country which has cheap labour and favourable trading arrangements with the rest of the world. IIRC Polygon may have started out making some really terrible parts years ago... brakes maybe? Obviously they have come on leaps and bounds but it will be a while before a 'polygon' branded bike will command any real price in western markets. In the meantime folk seem happy to pay for the dubious merits of a 'designed in California' sticker on their 'Marin' bikes....

I have seen a few new midrange Marins being unboxed recently and they look like pretty reasonable quality to me. I have little doubt though that the UK weather will wreak its usual havoc on parts that are not prepared properly, the wheels will need stress-relief (or more) and the hubs are certainly set to grind themselves to atoms in short order if they are not adjusted correctly during PDI. But this is pretty standard for any bike out of the far east, nothing to see here... it would be exceptional if this were not the case.

cheers

[JakobW]

How much lower are wages in Indonesia than Taiwan? We've discussed the development of Taiwan's industry on here before ( viewtopic.php?f=5&t=125702 ), and their success is at least partly due to the existence of manufacturing skills clusters and government support for the development of manufacturing techniques.

[hamster]

Indonesian wages are loads lower than Taiwan. Taiwan now has a higher standard of living than Japan based on spendable income.

[thelawnet]

How much lower are wages in Indonesia than Taiwan?

Indonesian wages are very low.

This is a data entry job @ Polygon, requiring high school (18+) certificate, the advertised wages are 2 - 3 million.

https://www.topkarir.com/lowongan/detil ... nistrasi-4

That is £110 - £165 / month.

This is a job @ the same requring a Degree & multimedia skills, the wages are £165 - £220/month

https://www.topkarir.com/lowongan/detil ... ia-staff-4

I assume welders etc. are in the £150/month range.

Working conditions are typically Monday to Saturday 8am till 5pm.

[thelawnet]

you just need to look at what (say) Giant did in Taiwan to see that there is nothing much stopping a similar bike assembly plant from being set up in any country which has cheap labour and favourable trading arrangements with the rest of the world. IIRC Polygon may have started out making some really terrible parts years ago... brakes maybe? Obviously they have come on leaps and bounds but it will be a while before a 'polygon' branded bike will command any real price in western markets. In the meantime folk seem happy to pay for the dubious merits of a 'designed in California' sticker on their 'Marin' bikes....

Polygon AFAIK make alloy frames. They presumably also make their carbon frames in the same building, though there doesn't seem to be any particular demand for their carbon products from other manufacturers.

Schwalbe tyres' factory is in Java, Araya rims likewise.

Shimano components are made in Malaysia, Japan and some in Indonesia.

They also brand some of their components 'Entity'. I believe they may also buy in other components and brand them 'Polygon'.

Polygon sell in reasonable volume in Australia. Selling is done on 'better value for money' approach https://www.bicyclesonline.com.au/polyg ... mmut~67081

I have seen a few new midrange Marins being unboxed recently and they look like pretty reasonable quality to me. I have little doubt though that the UK weather will wreak its usual havoc on parts that are not prepared properly, the wheels will need stress-relief (or more) and the hubs are certainly set to grind themselves to atoms in short order if they are not adjusted correctly during PDI. But this is pretty standard for any bike out of the far east, nothing to see here... it would be exceptional if this were not the case.

I have had a few delivery issues with Polygon bikes, tyres back to front, cassettes not sufficiently tightened, etc. But nothing particularly out of the ordinary.

FWIW the Marin seems to get better frame detailing than the Polygons

E.g. this

https://www.bicyclesonline.com.au/marin ... ravel-bike

is a slightly upgraded version of this

https://www.bicyclesonline.com.au/polyg ... ke~1716572

and has more attention paid to the top tube

These are identical in price

https://www.bicyclesonline.com.au/polyg ... mmut~67081

https://www.bicyclesonline.com.au/marin ... -city-bike

but the Marin seems to have a lighter weight frame.

The MTBs however seem quite similar

https://www.marinbikes.com/gb/bikes/201 ... t-bobcat-5

or perhaps the Polygon is better

https://www.bicyclesonline.com.au/polyg ... ntain-bike

[Grumps]

To resurect a very old post.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-63869078

[Mike_Ayling]

Hey Mods

How about moving this post to the Tea Shop nex to the C of E thread?

No lgbtqi stuff allowed in Indonesia!