Originally Posted by seely
Just an FYI, Giant does a 2004.5 model year where you get bikes at 2005 prices that may not be exactly like the finalized 2005 bicycle. For example, the SX for 2004.5 didn't have suspension... in fact, I just quit at a Giant dealer about 3 weeks ago and had never seen a Cypress SX w/ suspension or disc brakes until I just checked their website now. I suspect a late running change to the product. Most shops and salespeople treat the 2004.5 as an '05 model, and it does get stickered for full '05 retail usually and only gets marked down when '06s start coming in.
Wouldn't it be great if the OP had heard your explanation from the dealer? I can now see what's going on, and it's probably legit, but I can understand why the OP feels like he's being screwed. Personally I expect a dealer to know what's going on with model changes and to make an effort to communocate it to the customer. In short, I expect better than what the OP got. Don't you?