Originally Posted by
NormanF
Dorel, the Canadian conglomerate, owns Schwinn, GT, Cannondale, Caloi, Sugoi and IronHorse. They can afford to split sales between the mass market channel and IBS for their bike brands.
Being big doesn't allow you to afford big mistakes. It just magnifies the impact of those mistakes on your business model. Now, Raleigh USA split bike sales of Raleigh and Diamondback (a brand it owns) because the Diamondback brands is much more closely associated with "youth" sales. It was Diamondback's reputation in BMX bikes and later MTB bikes that allowed them to segment their sales based on whether the buyer was open to shopping at mass retailers and the potential damage such sales would bring to the brand. It is this last consideration that is most likely the reason, I don't know for sure, Cannondale bikes aren't sold direct to customers. To do so would damage the brand.