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What’s in the cards for Cannondale?

 A few weeks ago, it was announced that Cannondale had been purchased by Montreal-based Dorel Industries. That would normally be newsworthy enough, but what makes the deal particularly interesting is the background of Dorel.

Before purchasing Cannondale, Dorel was better known as the owner of Pacific Cycle, under whose ownership brands like Schwinn and GT have fallen onto the slippery slope into department-store sales racks. While there is no guarantee that we won’t see the same tarnish on the Cannondale brand, Dorel has said that it plans to use Cannondale as the “crown jewel” of a new division of premium brands, so hopefully one of mountain biking’s leading innovators won’t be turned into a Huffy competitor just yet.

Dorel also made it clear that the purchase of Cannondale was only the first step to building this premium brand division, and the company’s press release revealed that Dorel is looking hard for ways to expand its bike brand portfolio. Expect more mountain bike ownership shake-ups from Dorel in the future.

© 2008 Two Six Nation.