Originally Posted by
Bbike4ever
We are just debating sematics here. If you buy a company and move all manufacturing overseeas you have basically done nothing but buy the name no matter what you call it. For the past 40 years this is what has happened all across the industry. Even US "made" bikes are just assembled here using foreign made parts. Dorel bought Cannondale and within a few years had moved all manufacturing overseas. They haven't assembled a bike in the USA much less manufactured one here since about 2010 so they are no more US made than is a Motobecane from BD. Sure, there are some boutique shops doing everything here but their impact on the market place is miniscule and their cost prohibitive for the average rider. I am by no means picking on Cannondale, they aren't doing anything any different than anyone else. In the end we benefit from prices being kept low not that there is any consolation for the guy or gal laid off when their bike manufacturing job moved overseas. If you just gotta have entirely made in America and have the money go to a boutique shop and shell out the dough.
I paid zero attention to the list price on the BD site just like I do whenever I shop for anything (especially automoblies). I compared straight up to what I could get here locally in the stores. The only store that come even close was Dicks with the Diamondback line and you aren't getting anything different with them.
People can hate BD but they are only the beginning. Online retailers like Eds Bike Shop are popping up everyday with unbelievable prices. This will inevitably impact the name brands. What impact it has the LBS is debatable since I don't know their percentage of income from sales and service. I would guess it is in their interest to get more butts in bicycle seats so maybe it will be a wash as they get more service earnings but who knows?
I'm not arguing about where the bikes are made. There is more to a bike company than just manufacturing. Dorel just opened a new 51,000 sqft headquarters for "Cannondale Sports Unlimited" in Wilton, CT. They do product research and design there among other things.
So no, buying a company and buying the name of defunct company are two different things. It's not just a matter of semantics. Are you suggesting that Salsa and Surly under QBP are essentially no different than Windsor and Motobecane under Bikes Direct?
Other than maybe a prototype or two, Surly has never made a bike in the US. Yet they are a real brand, with real products and distinct designs. Windsor and Motobecane are not, - not anymore. They are just names. Which collection of parts ends up being called a Motobecane vs a Windsor, vs a Dawes might be decided by rolling a die.
If Dorel ends up laying off all the staff, shutting down research and design, and basically throws Canondale decals on off the shelf frames and parts, then I agree. It's no different.