The worst bad actor in pricing, not just in bikes, is the "minimum advertised price" which is a form of monopoly price fixing. It's illegal in Europe and that's why we used to be able to get around it (Chain Reaction, Bike24, etc) but that avenue was shut down a couple years ago. We can still see the prices they pay. Can still get around it via China, but takes more careful shopping, and you're obviously not going to get the very latest from any American bike company that way.
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Genesis 49:16-17