Velofreak wrote:List of bike brands destroyed by Trek:
- Klein.
- Gary Fisher.
- Lemond.
I wonder which one is next. Having said this, every time I see a Trek owner I identify him/her with a person who has absolutely no knowledge of cycling industry, otherwise they wouldn't buy them.
I know a lot about the industry and worked in it and would gladly own a Trek. The only thing that made me order my SS Evo over a Madone was the price, but I'd rather ride the Madone.
I know about what Trek has done and don't care. Buy-out and eradication happens all the time in tons of industries. My morals don't influence my bike purchases because, lets face it, it won't make an impact on anyone's sales. If and when I ever started my own company I could apply a different ethos, but until then I want to buy what works well, looks nice, rides nice, and fits in my budget. Most people do as well.
I used to see Lemond bikes in the shop all the time and used on Craigslist quite often. Lots of people still own and love their Lemonds and its a more well-known brand than many others that are still in production. I could see it doing quite well.
I still think Lemond is one of the only clean cyclists of his generation. There were some very unique circumstances that precipitated his win and he experimented a lot in terms of positioning, aerodynamics, periodization, and altitude training.