Trek and Lemond - a question from the diaspora

[oliver1850]

Originally Posted by benb

It strikes me almost no one likely got carried over from any of these companies since they seem like brand names that Trek just sent over to Taiwan to have applied to outsourced products.

I don't remember Matrix. My first Trek had "Icon" branded parts. I am curious what year they first started marketing Bontrager. When I first bought a Trek Fisher, Lemond, and Klein were all part of the company at that point IIRC.

After acquiring Klein in 1995, Trek continued to produce Kleins in Chehalis Washington until 2002. Production then moved to Waterloo Wisconsin.

The Matrix brand dates back to 1984. It was mainly used on rims. I've never been sure but always suspected that they were made by Sun Metal Products in Warsaw Indiana.

[Mark McM]

Originally Posted by shinomaster

What happened to all these brands? It seems like Bontrager is gone?

It seems that these brands were bought because they had a lot of value at the time. But as is often the case, the corporate parent milked as much of that value as they could with minimal re-investment (often because they are still paying off the initial investement), until the brand name value withered away and got retired. Standard corporate practice. Bontrager lasted the longest, but Bontrager products have been being re-branded as Trek products recently, and the word on the street is that this is the last year for the Bontrager brand.

[Mark McM]

Originally Posted by mhespenheide

I would be floored if I found out that Trek had zero suspicion of drug use by LA.

"It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it."

- Upton Sinclair


You can probably count Oakley, Nike, Phil Ligget, Sally Jenkins, and many others in that group.

[mhespenheide]

I remember that Fisher, Bontrager, and LeMond all spoke positively about their associations with Trek at the beginning. Gary Klein seemed to take the money and peace out.

[benb]

Originally Posted by mhespenheide

I would be floored if I found out that Trek had zero suspicion of drug use by LA.

Every single manufacturer sponsoring a team at that level in that era had to be 100% aware they were sponsoring a bunch of dopers.

I'd have thought if you read carefully what all the riders who came clean have said there's gotta be some smoking gun in there... someone in the room from Trek or whoever when something happened.

[robt57]

Was never a Trek fan really. I did have a free frame Multitrack 730 I did a Franen-CX with bar cons and 45mm fireCX tires that got a good decade of use for the 90s into the 00s.

Fast forward; Race Shop offerings. Got a Used 2013 Team Issue Domane long/low. Replaced it with a RSL/SLR Domane. More about the bike and the fit for me with long/low than is it saying trek on it.


As far as Trek and drugs. A lot of blinders I suspect in the day, if not blatant funding. 2 cents worth it at 1/2 the price from MOI.

[oliver1850]

I own a few Treks, purchased a 1994 5500 a few weeks ago. All were purchased used and all but one were made prior to the company's sponsorship of the USPS team. I loathed LA from the first time I was aware of him - likely the 1993 Tour DuPont. Trek's association with him has definitely made me less interested in owning any of their current product. I always thought Trek treated LeMond badly for speaking the truth - but that wouldn't prevent me from buying another Trek produced LeMond frame. I currently have one each of LeMond, Bontrager, and Klein frames produced under Trek ownership and would buy more if the right frame/deal turned up. Killing those brands was another strike against Trek in my mind, as was stopping US production of most of their line.

Where I live (135 miles from Waterloo) it's almost impossible to avoid dealing with Trek dealers if you need anything right away. In many towns there is no other bike shop other than the Trek dealer. I would have to drive over 50 miles to the nearest bike shop that doesn't sell Trek.

[slambers3]

Originally Posted by benb

Bontrager is still there right now. This was just a rumor I think, but it came to me from a Trek dealer, they said because Keith Bontrager retired.

But Keith Bontrager did indeed retire at the end of 2023:

https://www.investors.com/news/manag...ions-of-bikes/

It's possible he actually designed/engineered a whole bunch of Trek's new features/innovations over the years.. if he did, Trek did a terrible job marketing that and/or intentionally wanted to downplay his role.

Actually you read that article and it sounds like Trek acquiring Bontrager was basically:

- Acqui-hire Bontrager cause he didn't want to be a business man
- Bontrager comes on and does good stuff at Trek
- Bontrager brand name is gravy on top

Bontrager branded components and accessories are being phased out as products lines are refreshed/updated.

[deluz]

I owned a Trek 5200 the first year they made it. After 7 years the BB shell delaminated and it was replaced for free with a 5500 which was the same frame. Rode that for about another 10 years. Both great bikes. Bought a used 5200 for $300 and built it up for my daughter. But after they screwed LeMond I have no interest in a Trek and I don't care for the look of their bikes either. I am mostly into steel now so it doesn't matter.

[Waldo62]

I am sure that this forum is more about Lemond bikes than Trek.

[mhespenheide]

I will say that I own a few Trek-built LeMonds, bought used. The friction between Trek and LeMond has never held me back from buying one of those LeMonds secondhand. I'm also actively looking at early-80's lugged steel Treks. So evidently I don't hold too much against the brand.

[zap]

Companies (and/or leadership) in other industries have done far far worse yet their products are very popular.

Lemond's win inspired me to get into cycling in '86. Riding Trek products since '88. Trek sorted out Klein's road geometry in '92/'93. The Lemond affair is unfortunate but I'm pretty certain Lemond is not innocent.

So......though I am a fan of Lemond, I started tuning him out.

[benb]

Is there a definitive book on Lemond that covers this entire saga from his career through all the stuff afterwards? I'm on a cycling book kick at the moment and just refreshing my memory looking at Wikipedia it's ridiculously wild how often Lemond called stuff out, got blasted by the UCI/Other Riders/whoever and then a few laters something blew up and Lemond had been right the whole time.

[Elefantino]

I interviewed for a part-time job at a Trek store. The (young, new) manager's questions were all dancing around my apparently overly advanced age. Surprise! I didn't get the job.

That store, at one, point, had 22 employees. Now there are five. And they closed down one day a week.

[unterhausen]

I am not a fan of Trek or spesh, but I have purchased bikes from both. And probably would again if I could get what I wanted from a dealer I liked. The dealer part of the equation has made it much less likely over the last few years. At least in this area, both brands are sold by company stores.

I know Lemond thinks that Trek somehow screwed him with their buyout, but all the other buyouts seem like the previous owners did okay. And Lemond can use his name again wrt bikes, correct?