Is it me or does nothing fit anymore?

[limeyrob]

Simple job, fit a new twist-grip. Bought from reputable supplier.
First thing is the slit in the cable adjuster is too narrow for the cable inner.  Get a saw and needle file, but this is made harder because the slit is not straight but at an angle.  Do my best to straighten it up.
Fit it and the action is horrible. Take it off and see that the friction shoe is the wrong shape and the end of the screw is cutting into the moving bit.  Prize that off, reshape it and re-peene the screw.
Fit it, it sticks, why? Because there's no step on the case to make a positive stop, there should be a shoulder.  Spend ages drilling a 1/16 hole and fitting a pin so its stops on a closed throttle.
Simple job ended up taking 2 hours.
The primary chain link arrived with no clip. OK they sent the clip free, but that lost 5 days.
Last week the new big end nuts had a thread that was only partly cut, looks like the bore was made too big.  Got a new set from a different supplier.
It shouldn't be this hard. I'm grateful that we can get parts but why can't they spend 10 mins more getting them right and save me hours?

[berger]

does my head in rob even one tube of araldite only had  a trace of a thread on the tube on ONE!!! side , i get sick of the crap being sold present day.

[berger]

piccy of the crap tube and the other tube with thread for the cap

[RogerSB]

Yeh! What gets me is that China is not one of our best and loyal friends and yet a lot of what we buy is produced there . . . and then sold to us here, electrical items, domestic items, toys, the list is endless, just have a look. I can understand why people want, or need, to buy as cheaply as possible and admittedly some of it seems ok, but a lot more will be sub standard rubbish. I've noticed that they even stock warehouses in this country now, advertise to sell online and say it's from the UK. I can't understand why it's allowed that we are supporting, what is almost, an enemy country's economy.

I expect the same happens in other countries.

Just my take (rant) on why a lot we buy is sub standard.

Rog.

[Worty]

Somewhere on the Forum is my exploits with the knurled adjuster on the rear brake cable being too wide (caught on brake plate).  About 15 mins on the bench grinder and I got it to fit - WHY NOT FOLLOW THE ORIGINAL PATTERN!!!!!

[Rex]

Probably because the blokes sitting cross-legged in the dirt in some foreign country don't have a suitable pattern, so near enough is good enough. This works for everything from tools to electrical parts and tinware.
Not a great business model though; if they made quality stuff they'd sell twice as much and for a higher price.

[Sakura]

Say pattern, say cr@p has been the mantra in the classic bike restoration business for 40+ years.