Viscount/Lambert killed it. How? By making some odd/dumb choices on the build. Square taper BB spindle I understand, square with no taper I don't. Aluminum fork? OK. Aluminum fork with a pinned steer tube attachment? Nope. And so it went. And see above on fork weight. They could have just bought a decent cromoly fork from Asia, lighter weight, no design compromises, and ultimately, no costly recall.

All in all, I would say they made some really questionable decisions, and in business, it doesn't take that many bad decisions to kill a company.

Really IMHO when the Japanese arrived in the early 1970s with some nice bikes, with standard part sizing, well built, at a low price, it spelled the end for many bike companies. That along with the end of the boom, where you could sell anything, even a POS BSO, ended it too. Don't get me started on Schwinn. They knew how to build something decent, but instead, they continued to pump out the same old heavy bikes. Profits hide problems, and just because you are sold out (the boom) doesn't mean it will last! And once the change comes, its hard for an organization to change fast enough to respond.