Re: bicycles
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: jabronie</div><div class="ubbcode-body">well it was kinda cheep, but i was expecting a little more from costco than made in china anyway </div></div>
A Taiwanese bicycle costs at least twice as much as the bike you bought at bare minimum.
The only currently mass-produced, U.S.-made road bicycle of which I'm aware is the Trek 6-series Madone. Price one of those and see how it compares--make sure you're sitting down when you do so.
Good bicycles aren't cheap. The crap that passes for a halfway decent bicycle in most stores is complete trash. You'd be hard pressed to find an even bare bones decent bicycle for under $4-500, depending on what you're looking for.
I am actually not sure why good bicycles cost so much, considering the fact that I've bought used motorcycles for about what a really good bicycle goes for, but the market bears pretty extreme prices for even minimally decent, durable bicycles.