General Cycling Discussion - A moment of silence for GT

If you haven't heard, GT as we knew it is history. The cutting edge mfr. of the I-drive and all around cool bikes has gone BK and was swept up by some mega giant company that's going to mass market the now low-end brand in Walmart, Kmart, etc. Just like what happened to Mongoose (John Tomac's early ride). How cool is Mongoose today? They're not. Sad, sad, sad.

Not only that - they are screwing the race teams!

From Velo News:

Another indication that Pacific's support of racing will be slim or none came last week when riders and staff of the existing Schwinn and GT squads (approximately 60 people) were informed they would not be receiving their final-quarter paychecks. This is completely within the rules following the purchase of a company that's declared bankruptcy, but still came as a surprise to some of the riders.

Downhiller Steve Peat was reportedly the hardest hit, with Pacific opting not to pay him nearly $70,000 that would have been owed him if Schwinn/GT had not filed for bankruptcy. Overall World Cup dual champion Leigh Donovan was owed about $25,000 that she won't be receiving, and Alison Dunlap won't be getting her bonus for her win at the world championships in Vail.

Just another wonderful aspect of the globalist conglomerate mindset.

Does that mean my GT is now worth more?

Originally posted by MtnBikerChick
Not only that - they are screwing the race teams!

From Velo News:

Another indication that Pacific's support of racing will be slim or none came last week when riders and staff of the existing Schwinn and GT squads (approximately 60 people) were informed they would not be receiving their final-quarter paychecks. This is completely within the rules following the purchase of a company that's declared bankruptcy, but still came as a surprise to some of the riders.

Downhiller Steve Peat was reportedly the hardest hit, with Pacific opting not to pay him nearly $70,000 that would have been owed him if Schwinn/GT had not filed for bankruptcy. Overall World Cup dual champion Leigh Donovan was owed about $25,000 that she won't be receiving, and Alison Dunlap won't be getting her bonus for her win at the world championships in Vail.

I think that the above sums up Pacifics plans for GT/Schwinn. They are obviously going to go mass market. Which totally sucks. I wish GT had sold the I-drive design to Trek or something. Now we are going to get that kind of stuff at x-mart.

That's to bad. I just bought a GT and think it is a nice bike.

Originally posted by mascardr
That's to bad. I just bought a GT and think it is a nice bike.
It's still a nice bike.

I'm not quite convinced things are going to be QUITE so disastrous for Schwinn/GT. If you think about it, Pacific is now well set to sell to three markets/channels simultaneously. If they're smart -- and they may well be -- they'll position GT as their premium, bike shop brand, Schwinn as the family brand and Mongoose as the cheapo pseudo-MTB/BMX xmart brand. They paid a lot for these assets, I wonder if they're really stupid enough to completely subvert the brands.

Me? I'm going to wait and see. I understand the 2002 GTs will be turning up in American and Europ shops soon... Maybe there'll be 2003 GTs next year.

BTW, I haven't heard anything about GT withdrawing sponsorship from Lotto-Adecco. Anyone have dish?

I don't think they'll get much sympathy from LBS customers, or owners for that matter, for screwing over the race teams. I don't call that very smart, whether it's legal or not.

Not having a race team doesn't seem like a very smart marketing strategy either. I expect the LBS 'prong' will wither and die in fairly short order.

BTW was the i-drive really all that good?

The I-drive was good, not great, but good. It did everything it claimed and was super smooth; but at what price? It was as heavy as a boat-anchor. O.K. not that heavy but you could feel the difference in two equally equipped bikes.

The I-Drive sure looked cool though.

The I-drive is a great example of innovative engineering in bike technology. Despite its detractors, this gizmo really worked, merging suspension and drive efficiencies in a unique design. IMO, this sort of creativity is the biggest loss in the demise of GT. It's truly sad.
Eddie