I thought the Tony Hawk bike was taking things too far...

Dorel, the Canadian company that bought Cannondale last year and already owns Pacific Cycle, is really shoring up its position as the Dynacrap of the North. Today, the company announced the purchase of PTI Sports, yet another purveyor of crap bikes at big box department stores.

In a news story that just crossed my desk, I read the following:

Established in 1991, PTI Sports products are sold in key mass and sporting goods retailers throughout North America. Its brands include Schwinn, Mongoose, Disney, Nickelodeon, Mattel (Polly) Master Lock, Thomas the Train and The Discovery Channel.

Huh? PTI owns Nickelodeon, Disney, and Master Lock? That'll certainly be news to Sumner Redstone, Bob Iger, and James Larrimore.

Oh, I think I get it now: PTI has bought the licensing rights to put words like Schwinn, Mongoose, Disney, Nickelodeon, Mattel (Polly) Master Lock, Thomas the Train and The Discovery Channel onto bicycle-shaped objects, and then sell them to unwitting Target and Wal-Mart shoppers across the land.


Geeze. I'm beginning to see Dorel's purchase of Cannondale as not so much a sign of Dorel's strength as of Cannondale's weakness. I never did like the Lefty, but who knew it could kill an entire company? Guilty by mere association, watch for Cannondale to become the Huffy or the Magna of tomorrow.