Originally Posted by
alathIN
2) Diamondback - this one really doesn't make sense. My dad has a Diamondback MTB that's almost 40 years old and still going strong after a lot of hard miles. Then they became a box-store brand. Now they've got a mega-$ tri bike. I have to admit this is snobbish of me, but if in the extremely unlikely event I was going to spend new car money on a tri bike, I'd kind of like to have some brand cachet. Roadmaster could come out with the greatest tri bike in the history of the universe tomorrow, and I'd still have a disconnect about paying elite money for something with the Roadmaster brand on it. Hey, I said this was irrational, and doubly so because I'd never spend that kind of money on a tri bike in any case.
Diamondback has positioned itself in an interesting spot in the market. It's a box-store brand high enough for Performance bike, low enough where specialty stores like Dicks or Sports Authority will carry them, but still too high for your X-Mart department stores.
I have a 2010 Diamondback Insight that I've put a ton of commuting miles on over the years. It's been an extremely solid bike for me. Curiously enough, a co-worker has a Giant hybrid of about the same vintage and when comparing the two bikes it's pretty obvious they rolled off the exact same assembly line. Only the branding and the seats are different.
However, if I were going to drop mega-$ on a bike, I doubt it would be a Diamondback.