"Gooserider" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
news:
[email protected]...
>
> "Steve Freides" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> "Gooserider" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> news:[email protected]...
>>>
>>> "Steve Freides" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>>> news:[email protected]...
>>>> "Gooserider" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>>>> news:[email protected]...
>>>>>
>>>>> "Steve Freides" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>>>>> news:[email protected]...
>>>>>> "Lee Michaels" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>>>>>> news:[email protected]...
>>>>>>> Anybody see this?? Apparently Lance Armstrong has done wonders
>>>>>>> for Trek Bikes.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050720/APS/507201045
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Not surprising. FWIW, I think they've always been a solid
>>>>>> American bike company. I don't own more one Trek out of a stable
>>>>>> of a dozen or so bikes here, and it's not a go-fast Lance-like
>>>>>> bike, but I've had it since before Lance was famous, bought it
>>>>>> because it served my purpose, and I still ride it. So far as I
>>>>>> can tell, this is a happy story, good things coming to good folks
>>>>>> who work hard and also got lucky.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> -S-
>>>>>> http://www.kbnj.com
>>>>>
>>>>> I wish they were truer to their roots and offered a lugged steel
>>>>> bike somewhere in their lineup, but they're a good company. I
>>>>> respect that the OCLV bikes are made in the US, too.
>>>>
>>>> There are plenty of folks who'll make you a lugged steel bike -
>>>> Trek's roots are as a successful, mainstream bike company, and
>>>> lugged steel is far from the mainstream these days.
>>>>
>>> Yes, but Trek started out making European-style silver brazed lugged
>>> steel bikes. Those are their roots---two guys in a barn.
>>
>> IMHO, you're missing the point. Some people set out to build a
>> certain kind of bicycle and that's what they always do, e.g., Richard
>> Sachs. Others "roots" are a desire to build bikes for a lot of people
>> using the latest techniques and materials. One is no less "roots"
>> than the other. What you're talking about is just a reflection of
>> what was available in 1976, when lugged steel was the state of the
>> art - what they're building now is still the state of the art, and
>> I'd call their roots something like "making the state of the art in
>> bicycles available to a mass market." Richard Sachs, Stephen Bilenky,
>> Glenn Erickson, etc., have no interest in a mass market.
>>
>> So much idle speculation on my part - I wasn't there with the two
>> guys in a barn in 1976. But that's my take on it.
>>
>> -S-
>> http://www.kbnj.com
>>
> I understood your point, but I feel Trek has given up a measure of
> craftsmanship since they've gotten bigger. They have exactly ONE steel
> bike in their Trek lineup---the Trek 520, which has gone from being
> the prototypical touring bike to being practically inappopriate for
> that very task. They could still produce a line of boutique lugged
> steel. Trek is very aware of what's going on in the world of bicycles.
> If you want proof of that, witness their new line of "comfort" road
> bikes. These bikes are designed to get the bars up to a more
> comfortable level, and have rack and fender eyelets. Hmm, that sounds
> suspiciously like the Rivendell/iBob philosophy. I would not be
> surprised at all to see at least a TIG'd steel line emerge from Trek.
> I suppose they have that covered with LeMond's line, but still...
Perhaps I'm missing your point. This is all about marketing as I see
it, not loyalty to lugged steel. Large companies of any sort can't
afford that sort of loyalty, while small specialty outfits sometimes
can. The choice would be between Trek as it now is or a much smaller
company - look at how big Riv is and how much financial difficulty they
face. (I used to get the Riv Reader but don't any more, and also used
to be on the iBOB list.)
Whether you want to call it loyalty to lugged steel or "craftsmanship",
I think we're talking about the same thing. There ain't no such thing
as a free lunch, and no one is going to run a big bike business selling
lugged steel when the alternatives sell much better (and why the
alternatives sell better isn't the point, IMHO).
In all this, I'm coming from the point of view of a businessman - I own
a business, and I do what my customers are willing to pay for, what I
think they ought to want to pay for.
Just my opinion.
-S-
