Owner is Michael Spratt. He's pretty savvy for buying up old brands like Motobecane and Mercier and branding them on bikes. The quality of them aren't great, but they're stll a step up from Wal-Mart, and other department store bikes. Back around ~2008 during the fixed-gear craze, new riders had Kilo TT frames because they were $300 fixed-gear bikes and the next level up was around $700.
I used to read BikeForums.net back in the day and BikesDirect would post on there occasionally, so he had a community and also answered questions. Here's a notable post by him on RoadBikeReview:
> Kinesis is the largest frame maker in the orient. Their frames are used by just about everyone. They manufacture in a large plant in China and a smaller specialty plant in Taiwan. Le Champion frames are from Taiwan. We have never seen a defect on a le Champion frame. If your frame is the first, it will be replaced for free just like any other customer. I will not sell a bike without free lifetime warranty frame defect protection for the customer.
> Bicycle Frames are one of the marketing successes of the specialty bike business. Manufacturers have marketed the frame as the most expensive and technical item on the bike. However, most frames are very inexpensive compared to cranks, wheels, shifters, etc. This is not to say the frames are not valuable; but the way they are produced brings the cost way down. {Frames are the highest markup item sold by any manufacturer; many are sold at over 10 times their cost}
[...]
> Bottom line on frames and other components for me is clear. If I can save $100 a bike by not running an 800 line and put it in better equipment, I will. If I can spec a carbon frame from Taiwan instead of China and pay for it by savings on operating expenses, I will. And this attitude has always been the same; even before the internet. In the ‘old days’ I used to sell full Campy Record bikes with Colnago, Mercian, Viner, etc frames for $995. I was about $1000 under other shops; all of the discount was due to high volume, excellent buying, and low overhead. {This may also sound like a sales pitch; but it is just true. Even if you dislike Wal-Mart as I do; they are lower priced on CanadaDry GingerAle than other retailers; Why? high volume, excellent buying, low overhead}
