Probably a little of both, actually. You have to admit, that with at least some of their bikes, it seems as though they just had various leftover parts; or parts that they got a good deal on- so they used them to throw a bike together. It seems unlikely that they would contract to have a particular frame made today, which the brand-name hasn't manufactured in, say, 3 years.

What would be the sense in having a factory set up a new production line, for something which they had stopped manufacturing a few years ago? If they were going to do that, they could just make something to their own specs- as the cost would be the same.

When I was younger, I actually worked for a business which imported stuff from Taiwan to supply a particular trade. They imported branded; generic; and their own brand of parts- and they way they operated in many cases, was as I described. "Hey, XYZ factory has a bunch of ABC washers I can get cheap; and ACME has a bunch of leftover bodies from their Washking run that I can get for practically nothing. We'll get them, and put our own faucets together, and call it the Blahblahblah". Or "Sigma has a bunch of defective valves; I got them for ten-cents on the dollar! All we have to do is replace Johnson rod in each one, and we can sell them for 30% less than the competition while we make 100% more!". I actually heard such deals go down. I can think of no reason why such wouldn't be the case with discount off-brand bicycles.

I was once, a few years ago, actually considering going into selling Chinese ATVs and scooters. One of the reasons I didn't, was because I learned that you could never be sure of what you were actually getting from the manufacturer. i.e. you order the same model vehicle, and even in the same shipment, some have the spec'd greaseable tie rod ends...some have non-greaseable; Some one brand electronic ignition; some have another; some might even have a different engine- because the factories who make the third-tier brands just mix and match parts; use what they have on hand; what they can get cheap- as long as it works. And the retailer doesn't even know what he has, until he inspects it very closely, or until a customer complains that he bought one expecting XYZ as spec'd, but his has QRS.

The above is exactly why, in many BD ads describing a bike, it will say "May come with XYZ cassette or ABC cassette; no choice"- or, even "New ones are coming with black forks" or "May be slightly different than picture".

This is how many non name-brand Asian manufacturers work. It's a fact. I see no reason why BD would be different; and I do see evidence they in-fact do operate like that. Not that it's a bad thing- as long as the customer knows what to expect- and at least BD does seem to be honest that way. (Just personally, I can't do business that way- I want to know what I am getting, so that I can portray it accurately to my customers and price it appropriately, and not have to tell them "It's a crap-shoot", or lie to them, as many importers do.)