>>Cannondales were the run-of-the-mill bike about 10 years ago. It seemed that everyone owned one, road, velodrome AND mtb. People made fun of them all the time, "Crack 'n fail" was their nickname.<<

Much like Trek, Cannondale's involvement with pro bike racing (both road and MTB) has VASTLY improve their bicycle design. Ditto for Giant and Specialized. I'm a perfect example of how this has worked for these companies in the high end bike market. 10 years ago I never would have considered a bike from one of those mainstream companies. They simply weren't as good as the bikes out there from Litespeed, Merlin, Ibis, etc. I bought an Ibis Ti Road (stiill ride it daily). When it came time to get a new racing bike late last year, the main contenders were top of the line racing bikes from Trek, Specailized, Cannondale and Giant. Big change. All because those bikes now offer performance (if not bling) comparable with bikes like Serotta. In the case of my Cannondale Six12 (the bike I purchased) for $4,000, not $6,000. And a BETTER racing bike than my Ibis Ti road (Ibis is somewhat more comfy but the Cdale climbs/accellerates better and is also fine for 3-5 hour rides).

And if the Bike Weenie Snob Patrol doesn't like it. Hell, that makes it MORE attractive to me. Half those jerks have pot bellies and couldn't hang on the rides I regularly frequent, so who cares? 'Crack n' Fail'? So what? My LBS tells me that Cannondale is the BEST warranty company in the business. In fact they already replaced my six month old Six13 frame no questions asked over a finish issue that was so minor that I can't imagine what a pain in the ass that might have been with Serotta or Seven. So far my Cannondale ownership experience has been stellar (2nd Cdale, my 'rain bike' is a 1998 CAAD3).

Nothing is more emblematic of the immaturity and foggy thinking of a significant portion of the bicycle community than Trek bashing. Here's a good comparison: I don't particularly care for American cars. I've driven European and Japanese cars for 30 years. But why would I root against GM's success? That's crazy. What's good for GM is good for America. Ditto for Trek. And I would hope both companies come up with such a great product that even I wind up jonzing for it some day. In the meantime I'm not about to say negative things about companies that do so many good things for Americans.