Giant: Big and getting bigger!

Giant Bicycles has announced record revenues, citing a "perfect storm" of... well, I guess global warming, bumper-to-bumper gridlock, fuel prices, and a tanking global economy. Between Giant and Shimano, the two account for something like 90 percent of all bikes.

But I was surprised to learn that Giant is, on the whole, somewhat more expensive -- almost twice as expensive, in fact -- at the wholesale level than the industry average.

In China, by far its largest production center, its average price for an exported bike is 100 usd, against an industry average of 30-40 usd, said Sheu.

The average export price of its made-in-Taiwan bikes is 340 usd, compared with the industry average of 222 usd.

Then again, when you think about the 10 gazillion bike-shaped objects produced by Dynacrap and Kent each year, sold in great bike shops like Target and Kmart, you realize how the numbers could be skewed dramatically downward.

Ahhh. It's been a while since I vented my spleen re: Dynacrap.