General Motors buys Specialized Bicycles!

"In light of global concerns about climate change, GM has been at the forefront in developing new transportation choices that limit our impact on the environment," said Flora Lopi, GM's vice president, Environment, Energy and Safety Policy. "GM's engineering, marketing and distribution expertise combined with Specialized's branding among cycling enthusiasts make this a winning combination for GM investors and consumers."

See the full story in The Silicon Valley Business Journal.

See also the story at BikeBiz.com, who promises to participate in the media conference call about this deal that takes place tomorrow.

This is pretty big news and people all over are discussing this:

• Blue Collar MTB
  
• Commute By Bike.
  
• Bike Forums Road forum and General Cycling forum.
  
• MTBR.
  
• Fixed Gear Cycling.
  
• Steven CX.
  
• Minnesota Off Road Cyclists.
  
• Interbike Times.
  
• RocBike.
  
• Mac Resource (?)

Because of the timing of this announcement, there's a lot of speculation that this might be an April Fool's joke. I talked with Chris Matthews (marketing director at Specialized) on the phone this evening and he assures me this is the real deal.