Folks, Might want to check some history on Ross. They did not fail because of their bicycle division. They failed because they tried to diversify and took on a government contract with little experience in that area. They did not fulfill the contract to the satisfaction of the inspection and the cost of correction was substantial, eventually leading to their demise. Ross is an interesting company. While they did lose interest in top end road bikes, they shifted much of their emphasis to a new emerging side of cycling, Mountain bikes. While Schwinn saw mountain bikes as a fad that would soon pass, Ross was a leader in this area fielding a team that was championship quality. According to one of the local bike shops, there was a brief period where Ross was seen as one of the top names in mountain bikes. They could not hang on to that as other brands, like Trek, shifted into mountain biking.
If it hadn't been for that government contract, I wonder how Ross would have turned out. Would it have been a more successful brand, playing a second role, but nevertheless profitable? IMHO, there was plenty of room for Ross at the LBSs for a budget priced good quality road bikes and mountain bikes. I think Ross could have made it if they outlasted Schwinn. But thanks to a bad business decision, we'll never know.