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> Peloton makes this announcement and it's nothing but sarcasm and snark. Because people expect another Juicer here. There is no way in the world for a bicycle

> Peloton makes this announcement and it's nothing but sarcasm and snark. Because people expect another Juicer here. There is no way in the world for a bicycle factory to cost $400M. For such money, I can setup you 400 bicycle factories, and somebody who is an industry insider can probably do even more. I myself been involved with company trying to start a scooter knockdown kit assembly line, with some parts manufacturing 7 years ago in BC, Canada, and Washington state in USA. It was all around $800k USD, which includes 1 year of operation. It was all a complete disaster though on the manpower, and supplies side, as everybody except for the company owner expected. The first line worked who did not manage to miswire a colour coded, mechanically keyed harness with just 6 connectors was a MEng graduate who wanted 60 something thousand USD, and was slow as molasses. And yes, custom fasteners were impossible to procure in North America as such. Fastener companies wouldn't even talk to you if you don't put up n*$100k up front. Same thing in China starts in under $10k.

jjk166 5y ago
Yeah there's a big difference between a 1 Million square foot factory for a major manufacturer and a couple used tormachs in a garage.
- baybal2 5y ago
  Even just hearing "tormachs" is already telling. If anybody done serious manufacturing, they know to avoid machining like a curse. I really feel they (and pretty much everybody else in this "manufacture in USA" bunch) don't really know what they are doing.
  - jjk166 5y ago
    I'm a manufacturing engineer. Anyone telling you to avoid machining like a curse has no idea what they are talking about. For small production runs it is almost always the most economical option, and even mass produced parts typically need secondary machining for any applications that require tight tolerance. And even if the things you're actually producing can be made without machining, any self respecting factory should have a machine shop for tooling and fixtures. I am also dying to know how you made a scooter without any machined components.
    - baybal2 5y ago
      > For small production runs it is almost always the most economical option, and even mass produced parts typically need secondary machining for any applications that require tight tolerance. I haven't said avoid machined parts. I said avoid machining as part of your own manufacturing process. It looks very odd to have a lone, expensive n-axis CNC sitting on the shop floor just to do few parts. > any self respecting factory should have a machine shop for tooling and fixtures. For most of my career by now, it was always faster, and easier to have tooling made by a contractor, than on-site. I can email a solidworks sketch in the morning, and get a perfect mold/die by the evening. > I am also dying to know how you made a scooter without any machined components. As said before without machining, not machined parts. We were buying Yadea kits. Assembly was very straightforward. Slide two parts of a frame with slide locks, and welds. Affix other parts, and panelling. That was all to it, except for local workforce not being able to handle pretty much everything.
      - jjk166 5y ago
        Assembling kits other people manufactured is not manufacturing - that's assembly. If you don't need it to do a lot of work, a cheap used cnc is incredibly cheap. You can easily get a decent one for under 30k and if you can wait for a deal you can probably snag something for under 10. Lathes are even cheaper. They're easily the most accessible machine tools. I used to work for a tool and die shop. It took us weeks from when we quoted a job to when it would ship and people came to us because of how fast we were. I don't know where in the world you're getting same day molds and dies, but that's not normal at all.
dr-detroit 5y ago
Peloton isn't a bike. My dad works for Nintendo and he told me for the average commercial construction project it costs roughly $14,225,000 to build a medium sized warehouse (25,000 square feet) in Ohio.
jaywalk 5y ago
The 400 $1 million bicycle factories will probably fare just as well as your $800k scooter assembly factory. I think Peloton knows a little bit more about manufacturing their product than you do.
- baybal2 5y ago
  I don't think so
imtringued 5y ago
You're right. They have two models built on top of the same frame. Why exactly do they need a $400 million factory?

jjk166 5y ago

Yeah there's a big difference between a 1 Million square foot factory for a major manufacturer and a couple used tormachs in a garage.

baybal2 5y ago
Even just hearing "tormachs" is already telling. If anybody done serious manufacturing, they know to avoid machining like a curse. I really feel they (and pretty much everybody else in this "manufacture in USA" bunch) don't really know what they are doing.
- jjk166 5y ago
  I'm a manufacturing engineer. Anyone telling you to avoid machining like a curse has no idea what they are talking about. For small production runs it is almost always the most economical option, and even mass produced parts typically need secondary machining for any applications that require tight tolerance. And even if the things you're actually producing can be made without machining, any self respecting factory should have a machine shop for tooling and fixtures. I am also dying to know how you made a scooter without any machined components.
  - baybal2 5y ago
    > For small production runs it is almost always the most economical option, and even mass produced parts typically need secondary machining for any applications that require tight tolerance. I haven't said avoid machined parts. I said avoid machining as part of your own manufacturing process. It looks very odd to have a lone, expensive n-axis CNC sitting on the shop floor just to do few parts. > any self respecting factory should have a machine shop for tooling and fixtures. For most of my career by now, it was always faster, and easier to have tooling made by a contractor, than on-site. I can email a solidworks sketch in the morning, and get a perfect mold/die by the evening. > I am also dying to know how you made a scooter without any machined components. As said before without machining, not machined parts. We were buying Yadea kits. Assembly was very straightforward. Slide two parts of a frame with slide locks, and welds. Affix other parts, and panelling. That was all to it, except for local workforce not being able to handle pretty much everything.
    - jjk166 5y ago
      Assembling kits other people manufactured is not manufacturing - that's assembly. If you don't need it to do a lot of work, a cheap used cnc is incredibly cheap. You can easily get a decent one for under 30k and if you can wait for a deal you can probably snag something for under 10. Lathes are even cheaper. They're easily the most accessible machine tools. I used to work for a tool and die shop. It took us weeks from when we quoted a job to when it would ship and people came to us because of how fast we were. I don't know where in the world you're getting same day molds and dies, but that's not normal at all.

dr-detroit 5y ago

Peloton isn't a bike. My dad works for Nintendo and he told me for the average commercial construction project it costs roughly $14,225,000 to build a medium sized warehouse (25,000 square feet) in Ohio.

jaywalk 5y ago

The 400 $1 million bicycle factories will probably fare just as well as your $800k scooter assembly factory. I think Peloton knows a little bit more about manufacturing their product than you do.

baybal2 5y ago
I don't think so

imtringued 5y ago

You're right. They have two models built on top of the same frame. Why exactly do they need a $400 million factory?