Ummmm RACE FACE CRANK SET INCL CHAINRINGS

forged were mainly OEM, machined were mainly aftermarket. generally a lot less quality control on mass produced, purely due to the higher numbers involved. profit margins, mainly based on low labour costs are waay bigger on the pacific rim... but yeh as mentioned who's the bigger mugs, people willing to pay the extra... wish I'd started oakley, £120 for a pair of sunglasses! ... or crud products... £9 for a plastic mudguard! hahaha

If it was OEM the design could have been licensed to a bike manufacturer using component manufacturers in far east.

TQM and Lean manufacturing can make far eastern production better than western, hence the reason Toyota cars used to (may still) set the standard for quality and reliability in mass car production.

Other factors lower costs:
1. no interference from unions
2. government assistance and lower taxes
3. workers are dedicated to the company
4. JIT delivery of inputs from suppliers
5. long term relationships with suppliers
6. flatter less bureaucratic company structures
7. possibly less workers
8. competitors supplying each other and working together

However all these products need to be designed for a market need and that is usually done in the west. Oakley probably found a niche for their product and built a brand around that, they would probably argue a lot of the £120 goes into making their product so desirable by great design and promotion through advertising and sponsorship. Remember 15% goes to the VAT man.

amt27":24rmma0u said:

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However all these products need to be designed for a market need and that is usually done in the west. Oakley probably found a niche for their product and built a brand around that, they would probably argue a lot of the £120 goes into making their product so desirable by great design and promotion through advertising and sponsorship. Remember 15% goes to the VAT man.

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dude, do you have any idea how much Oakley costs trade plus VAT? the mark up is MASSIVE

80-100%? markup is money that goes to the retailer tho, not to Oakley, unless they are direct selling or rent an area of a shop.

Also markup is being killed by under cutting on the internet. However I am sure a brand like Oakley will have measures in place to stop hugely discounted selling.

Someone like Oakley would also have the additional cost of protecting their designs and quality of manufacturing, especially when manufacturing is being done in some far east countries. They may even own the factories.

scant":3bev4wof said:

I know a shop in UK with NOS in stock <shhhh>

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What colours???

amt27":1wnddp38 said:

However I am sure a brand like Oakley will have measures in place to stop hugely discounted selling.

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I got some 'oakley' glasses in mallorca for a fiver, I'm sure they are genuine

I bought a RF chainset same as that with rings, RF BB and BB tool for £75 off STW last month