My understanding is the XD2 is supplied as raw forges to Stronglight. Stronglight "finish" them to make the Impact.
To what extent and quality I don't know, but suffice to say it's enough value add so the Sugino logo is not on them,
and Stronglight can claim "Made in France".
I suspect that Spa purchase from Stronglight, at what point in the finishing process I don't know (it may be
as simple as unpolished crank backs, no self extracting bolts added, ....). I've handled the Impact, but not
the Spa version of the XD2 so this is purely guess work.
What is clear, there is a significant price difference between a Sugino finished XD2 and a Spa finished XD2 which
does make me think corners have been cut somewhere.
As a side note, the recommended Stronglight JP400 BB contains a Neco BB spindle:
www.necoparts.com
To what extent and quality I don't know, but suffice to say it's enough value add so the Sugino logo is not on them,
and Stronglight can claim "Made in France".
I suspect that Spa purchase from Stronglight, at what point in the finishing process I don't know (it may be
as simple as unpolished crank backs, no self extracting bolts added, ....). I've handled the Impact, but not
the Spa version of the XD2 so this is purely guess work.
What is clear, there is a significant price difference between a Sugino finished XD2 and a Spa finished XD2 which
does make me think corners have been cut somewhere.
As a side note, the recommended Stronglight JP400 BB contains a Neco BB spindle:
Neco - A professional bike parts manufacturer. | Neco Technology Industry Co., Ltd.
Neco has more than 30 years of experience in the cycling field. We specialize in manufacturing headsets and bottom bracket components.
