Originally Posted by JJakucyk
I think that is partly true. When I was looking for my new bike last year, I was considering a Trek 1500 or 2100. One of the shops I went to here didn't carry Trek, but they used to. The shop owner said that he couldn't meet Trek's sales requirements, so he lost his franchise.
I've also heard this - Trek sets minimum yearly purchase quotas for dealers, and you need to carry a full range of accessories, and also sell a fairly full selection of their bike range. (Eg: you can't just buy a couple of $400 cruisers, and a bunch of 5000s, 5.2 and 5.9). They have sales presentation plans set up with minimum square footage quotas.
My last mountain bike was a Gary Fisher, great frame. I would like to own a Fisher-branded cyclocross bike... If I could get a Lemond Poprad for a good price I might consider getting it repainted and branded as a Fisher on the downtube. It would confuse Mr. Fisher if I meet him again in the future at another trade show.
