Why no "Lance Armstrong" bike range from Trek?

[Craig Boyle]

Considering Lance's worldwide appeal, it amazes me that Trek hasn't chosen to market his name more
through his own bike line. All I can imagine is that LeMond has a lock on Trek's "named after a TdF
winner" bikes.

It just seems that as long as he is riding, the name "Lance Armstrong" could sell any number of
carbon treks, water bottles, shoes etc. - just as in many other pro-sports.

IIRC, there was a yellow Trek 5500 TDF replica, but that's about it. They could at least do a Trek
5900 "Lance Edition" with downtube shifter etc. for authenticity.

Any thoughts? Especially from trek retailers.

Craig

 

[Jkpoulos7]

>Considering Lance's worldwide appeal, it amazes me that Trek hasn't chosen to market his name more
>through his own bike line. All I can imagine is that LeMond has a lock on Trek's "named after a
>TdF winner"

And Lemond was a better rider winning more championships plus Greg knows how to design a good bike.
Lance will fade once the Tour allows some of the better riders in it again. All the contenders were
kept out last year.

 

[Garry N]

Lance own's the naming rights and advertising rights to even his image. There have been stories
published how he has gone after advertizers useing his image in print. I am sure that he will offer
up a bike line sometime, but I think he is being wise to avoid it now. Trek has done a USPS Team
bike for the last 3 years. G-

"Craig Boyle" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Considering Lance's worldwide appeal, it amazes me that Trek hasn't chosen to market his name more
> through his own bike line. All I can imagine is that LeMond has a lock on Trek's "named after a
> TdF winner" bikes.
>
> It just seems that as long as he is riding, the name "Lance Armstrong" could sell any number of
> carbon treks, water bottles, shoes etc. - just as in many other pro-sports.
>
> IIRC, there was a yellow Trek 5500 TDF replica, but that's about it. They could at least do a Trek
> 5900 "Lance Edition" with downtube shifter etc. for authenticity.
>
> Any thoughts? Especially from trek retailers.
>
>
> Craig

 

[Xelbon]

Who was kept out last year?

"Jkpoulos7" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> >Considering Lance's worldwide appeal, it amazes me that Trek hasn't chosen to market his name
> >more through his own bike line. All I can imagine is that LeMond has a lock on Trek's "named
> >after a TdF winner"
>
> And Lemond was a better rider winning more championships plus Greg knows
how to
> design a good bike. Lance will fade once the Tour allows some of the
better
> riders in it again. All the contenders were kept out last year.

 

[Antti Salonen]

Jkpoulos7 <[email protected]> wrote:

>>Who was kept out last year

> Cipolini,

You must be joking. Are you trying to say that Cipollini could've challenged Armstrong for the
yellow jersey? Has Cipollini ever finished any of the three-week tours? AFAIK he, like many other
pure sprinters, tend to bail out when the serious mountain stages start. I might be in the minority
here, but I don't think riders who don't even want to finish have a place in the grand tours. For
sprinters there's the points competition, but Cipollini obviously doesn't want to work hard enough
for that. There are plenty of prestigious, flat one-day races for sprinters like Cipollini.

> Ulrich,

He was injured. End of story.

> Pantani

You must be joking, again. Did you see how he did in the Giro? There were very few particularly
strong riders in his team, so I don't think letting them in to the Tour would've been right, if
teams like Coast were kept out. Mercatone Uno finished dead last in division 1 last year, by a
significant margin.

-as

 

[Andy Coggan]

"Craig Boyle" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Considering Lance's worldwide appeal, it amazes me that Trek hasn't chosen to market his name more
> through his own bike line. All I can imagine is that LeMond has a lock on Trek's "named after a
> TdF winner" bikes.
>
> It just seems that as long as he is riding, the name "Lance Armstrong" could sell any number of
> carbon treks, water bottles, shoes etc. - just as in many other pro-sports.
>
> IIRC, there was a yellow Trek 5500 TDF replica, but that's about it. They could at least do a Trek
> 5900 "Lance Edition" with downtube shifter etc. for authenticity.
>
> Any thoughts? Especially from trek retailers.

Since when does Trek own Lance Armstrong's name?

The usual approach is for a rider to retire first, then become a bicycle manufacturer (at least in
name) - Moser might have been an exception, though.

Andy Coggan

 

[Steven L. Sheff]

In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] (Jkpoulos7) wrote:

> >Who was kept out last year
>
> Cipolini, Ulrich, Pantani

Cipollini has never been a "contender" for the Tour.

Pantani is washed up, and can't be a contender without his 60% Hct count.

Ullrich was out because of injury, leading to a positive drug test for a recreational substance.

--
Steven L. Sheffield stevens at veloworks dot com veloworks at worldnet dot ay tea tee dot net bellum
pax est libertas servitus est ignoratio vis est

 

[Steven L. Sheff]

In article <[email protected]>, Antti Salonen
<[email protected]> wrote:

> Jkpoulos7 <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >>Who was kept out last year
>
> > Cipolini,
>
> You must be joking. Are you trying to say that Cipollini could've challenged Armstrong for the
> yellow jersey? Has Cipollini ever finished any of the three-week tours? AFAIK he, like many other
> pure sprinters, tend to bail out when the serious mountain stages start. I might be in the
> minority here, but I don't think riders who don't even want to finish have a place in the grand
> tours. For sprinters there's the points competition, but Cipollini obviously doesn't want to work
> hard enough for that. There are plenty of prestigious, flat one-day races for sprinters like
> Cipollini.

Cipollini has finished the Giro d'Italia on 2 or 3 occasions, taking the overall points jersey
each time.

> > Ulrich,
>
> He was injured. End of story.

He was injured, and on his way to a suspension for drug use.

> > Pantani
>
> You must be joking, again. Did you see how he did in the Giro? There were very few particularly
> strong riders in his team, so I don't think letting them in to the Tour would've been right, if
> teams like Coast were kept out. Mercatone Uno finished dead last in division 1 last year, by a
> significant margin.
>
> -as

--
Steven L. Sheffield stevens at veloworks dot com veloworks at worldnet dot ay tea tee dot net bellum
pax est libertas servitus est ignoratio vis est

 

[Qui Si Parla Ca]

craig-<< Considering Lance's worldwide appeal, it amazes me that Trek hasn't chosen to market his
name more through his own bike line. All I can imagine is that LeMond has a lock on Trek's "named
after a TdF winner" bikes.

maybe even TREK can't afford to pay lance what he would want-Subaru just paid him $12 million.

Peter Chisholm Vecchio's Bicicletteria 1833 Pearl St. Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535 http://www.vecchios.com "Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

 

[Pete Geurds]

[email protected] wrote:
>maybe even TREK can't afford to pay lance what he would want-Subaru just paid him $12 million.

What did they pay him $12 for?

Is he going to be in commercials? Armstrong edition Outback? : )

Pete Geurds Douglassville, PA

 

[Jim Edgar]

Jkpoulos7 at [email protected] wrote on 3/10/03 3:27 PM:

>> Considering Lance's worldwide appeal, it amazes me that Trek hasn't chosen to market his name
>> more through his own bike line. All I can imagine is that LeMond has a lock on Trek's "named
>> after a TdF winner"
>
> And Lemond was a better rider winning more championships plus Greg knows how to design a good
> bike. Lance will fade once the Tour allows some of the better riders in it again. All the
> contenders were kept out last year.

oh crikey -

- this is why I stopped reading rec.bicycles.racing...

 

[Bfd]

"Andy Coggan" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> "Craig Boyle" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > Considering Lance's worldwide appeal, it amazes me that Trek hasn't chosen to market his name
> > more through his own bike line. All I can imagine is that LeMond has a lock on Trek's "named
> > after a TdF winner" bikes.
> >
> > It just seems that as long as he is riding, the name "Lance Armstrong" could sell any number of
> > carbon treks, water bottles, shoes etc. - just as in many other pro-sports.
> >
> > IIRC, there was a yellow Trek 5500 TDF replica, but that's about it. They could at least do a
> > Trek 5900 "Lance Edition" with downtube shifter etc. for authenticity.
> >
> > Any thoughts? Especially from trek retailers.
>
> Since when does Trek own Lance Armstrong's name?
>
> The usual approach is for a rider to retire first, then become a bicycle manufacturer (at least in
> name) - Moser might have been an exception, though.
>
Agree, when Greg Lemond tried to run a cycling business while still competing, in the early 90s, he
ended up having a falling out with his Dad about the how the business was being runned (and where
the money was going), which eventually led to Greg selling his name to Trek....

 

[Mike Jacoubowsk]

> craig-<< Considering Lance's worldwide appeal, it amazes me that Trek
hasn't
> chosen to market his name more through his own bike line. All I can imagine is that LeMond has a
> lock on Trek's "named after a TdF winner" bikes.
>
> maybe even TREK can't afford to pay lance what he would want-Subaru just
paid
> him $12 million.

TREK considers themselves *very* fortunate that Lance actually likes the product. They've managed to
keep him happy by providing him with very good stuff, and continue to work with him on a regular
basis for future products. TREK has also benefitted from supporting Lance well before his first TDF
victory. Say what you will about Lance, but he does have some degree of loyalty for those who signed
on with him when he was unproven.

Greg does not, as far as I know, have any sort of exclusive regarding the naming of a bike line
after a TDF winner.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles http://www.ChainReaction.com

"Qui si parla Campagnolo" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> craig-<< Considering Lance's worldwide appeal, it amazes me that Trek
hasn't
> chosen to market his name more through his own bike line. All I can imagine is that LeMond has a
> lock on Trek's "named after a TdF winner" bikes.
>
> maybe even TREK can't afford to pay lance what he would want-Subaru just
paid
> him $12 million.
>
>
> Peter Chisholm Vecchio's Bicicletteria 1833 Pearl St. Boulder, CO, 80302
> (303)440-3535 http://www.vecchios.com "Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

 

[Mike Jacoubowsk]

> Agree, when Greg Lemond tried to run a cycling business while still competing, in the early 90s,
> he ended up having a falling out with his Dad about the how the business was being runned (and
> where the money was going), which eventually led to Greg selling his name to Trek....

I do not believe Greg has "sold" his name to TREK. Rather, he has a licensing agreement that
continues for "x" number of years, at which time it is renegotiated. This has already come up once,
if I recall correctly, and the fact that it continues indicates it's a good working relationship for
both sides.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles http://www.ChainReaction.com

"bfd" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> "Andy Coggan" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> > "Craig Boyle" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > news:[email protected]...
> > > Considering Lance's worldwide appeal, it amazes me that Trek hasn't chosen to market his name
> > > more through his own bike line. All I can imagine is that LeMond has a lock on Trek's "named
> > > after a TdF winner" bikes.
> > >
> > > It just seems that as long as he is riding, the name "Lance Armstrong" could sell any number
> > > of carbon treks, water bottles, shoes etc. - just as in many other pro-sports.
> > >
> > > IIRC, there was a yellow Trek 5500 TDF replica, but that's about it. They could at least do a
> > > Trek 5900 "Lance Edition" with downtube shifter etc. for authenticity.
> > >
> > > Any thoughts? Especially from trek retailers.
> >
> > Since when does Trek own Lance Armstrong's name?
> >
> > The usual approach is for a rider to retire first, then become a bicycle manufacturer (at least
> > in name) - Moser might have been an exception, though.
> >
> Agree, when Greg Lemond tried to run a cycling business while still competing, in the early 90s,
> he ended up having a falling out with his Dad about the how the business was being runned (and
> where the money was going), which eventually led to Greg selling his name to Trek....

 

[Qui Si Parla Ca]

raleigh-<< What did they pay him $12 for?

Is he going to be in commercials? Armstrong edition Outback?

That's 12 MILLION dollars and he is going to hype Subaru-like Tiger 'sell's' Buick or something..

Peter Chisholm Vecchio's Bicicletteria 1833 Pearl St. Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535 http://www.vecchios.com "Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

 

[Gocycle]

Cippo never finishes major mountain events. Usually has a face plant, gastro-intestinal problems
etc. The BEST damn sprinter!

Luigi "Steven L. Sheffield" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] (Jkpoulos7) wrote:
>
> > >Who was kept out last year
> >
> > Cipolini, Ulrich, Pantani
>
>
> Cipollini has never been a "contender" for the Tour.
>
> Pantani is washed up, and can't be a contender without his 60% Hct count.
>
> Ullrich was out because of injury, leading to a positive drug test for a recreational substance.
>
> --
> Steven L. Sheffield stevens at veloworks dot com veloworks at worldnet dot ay tea tee dot net
> bellum pax est libertas servitus est ignoratio vis est

 

[Pete Geurds]

>That's 12 MILLION dollars and he is going to hype Subaru-like Tiger 'sell's' Buick or something..
>

oops, right, 12 million dollars. Hope he does better in commercials than Tiger Woods. Most of those
have been pretty lame. How about a signed "Armstrong Special" Trek with every WRX hillclimb special?

Pete Geurds Douglassville, PA

 

[Mrvongole]

>Lance will fade once the Tour allows some of the better riders in it again. All the contenders were
>kept out last year.
>

Of course you mean contenders like [email protected]....(snicker, snicker....)