I agree with you about the phrase "performance bikes" - it sounds a bit weird and is very vague. It could be a clue to suggest that the company is Asian (at least, I don't think a US or UK-based company would use this wording, and probably not a European one), more specifically, they are probably from Taiwan because that is the hub for bike manufacturing. To be funding major research like this, I'd put my money on it being Giant, but I don't know any more than the rest of you about this. If you want to know the answer to the riddle then maybe you should just sign up to be a participant!

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Cycling in Switzerland | Photo blog (mostly travel pics from Switzerland)