Originally Posted by Chris_F

Very unlikely. Once you're owned by a corporate monolith you lose a lot of decision making authority. Chances are pretty good that Dorel has strategic agreements with this factory which give it price breaks in return for having all of their welded frames manufactured there.

Although I take a certain pride in my "Made in USA" sticker I doubt there's any real quality difference. It's not like Americans are genetically engineered to be better welders than Asians. It's just metal. The factory gets the specs and makes the frame, it isn't rocket science. Welding isn't exactly bleeding edge technology. These Chinese Cannondales will last every bit as long as their American counterparts. But there is something lost in this, the aesthetic attention to detail with the un-ground welds. That's just an example of Dorel cost cutting. I can only assume that this cost cutting will be reflected in Cannondale's R&D. That probably won't affect this generation's frames but the next generation's frames will probably fall short of their competition. I don't think Dorel is capable of fostering a high-end bike company (high end meaning anything that isn't sold through Wally World).

I continue to have my hopes though. If Dorel supplies cash and lets C'dale do what it does then they'll be fine. But if they influence the engineering decision making (as evidenced by the un-ground welds) then C'dale will be another Schwinn. It just might take a few years.