When I was driving trucks, I loaded canned pears in Yakima, WA three different times. Each time they were "branded" with a different store label. I asked the girl at the window where I got my paperwork just who they sold to and she told me that they sold to over a dozen different companies and slapped different labels on the cans as the last step before they went into the boxes.
Not a lot different than Giant making frames for BD, called whatever BD wants to call them. Or Giant making frames for Trek.
I just look at the parts bolted on the frame and the selling price. That seems to me to be the bottom line of what you ride and pay for.
That being said that doesn't mean that a big company can't order a huge batch that is to their specs and is not available to another brand. Made by the same people in the same plant, just modified to suit the needs of one customer if they place a large enough order.
Last edited by gregjones; 08-14-14 at 10:29 PM.