Grasschopper

Ok so I was reading over some news bits at velonews and I read about Lemond being in court and telling the jury "neither his stardom nor his marketing appeal has been eclipsed by Armstrong,"

What is he smoking? I mean maybe I am new school or something, I remember Greg Winning the TDF and sure he was a star and one of my favs but to say Armstrong isn't bigger now is just crazy and delusional even.

How about this line "LeMond explained further that he believed his "LeMond" brand could become a household name "like Calvin Klein" in testimony Monday."?

Dude needs to put down the crack pipe.

KrisPistofferson

I think he's actually HURT his marketing appeal with some of the asinine stuff he's had to say about Armstrong over the years. I hate it when athletes can't relinquish their crown gracefully. Hinault and Merckx are always gracious in their interviews, as far as I can tell.

don d.

Eclipse means to obscure. Have Armstrong's accomplishments obscured/eclipsed Lemonds? Not to me. Perhaps his accomplishments have surpassed Greg's, but not eclipsed. And Lemond says LA hasn't pushed Lemond out of the marketing spotlight, which is true. Just look at all the users of Lemond products on this forum.

And just because he believed something could happen with the proper marketing, doesn't mean he's deluded(on crack ). Business plans fail because of bad marketing.

KrisPistofferson

Looks like someone owns a Lemond...

LordOpie

Agreed. In fact, I'll never buy a Lemond bike.

No one knows Greg outside of cycling. Non-cyclists know who Lance. You wear a yellow jersey on your bike and non-cyclists will yell "go lance!"

don d.

Actually I don't and wouldn't, because I don't like their frame designs, not because of anything related to Greg.

But on this topic, I read an article about this a few days ago on Yahoo, and when I read it, I wondered if anyone had seen Lemond branded products at Target? I don't shop in Target but rarely and have never had a reason to go into their bike section. Do they or did they carry Lemond products there?

LordOpie

That would be the death of any high-end brand, so I'd be shocked.

bac

Add ",in his own mind" to the end of that statement, and ding, ding, you've got yourself a winner!

pedal

I'll walk over to a 40 year old co-worker non-cyclist right now and ask who LA is and ask who LeMond is. She was around in the LeMond era, I bet she's never haerd of him.

And I think eclipse would mean to cast a shodow on something by stepping into the light. Which Lance has done.

I won't say LeMond is on crack because that would be pulling a 'LeMond', accusing someone of drug use with no evidence.

don d.

Really. Considering that Target is one of the two largest, most successful retailers in the country, and that Target has made it's name by marketing discounted brand name products and is known as the "designer label" discounter, why would you say this?

Add to this that Lemond's lawsuit against the company in question is specifically related to their removal of his products from Target and their replacement of those products with the Schwinn branded products, why would you be shocked to see his products in Target when he had a contract with this distributor to have them there?

pedal

I agree with Lord Opie. Selling your product in Target would make your brand drop off the side of the cycling world and into the realm of bike owners. When I want a cheap bag of nachos, I'll go to a dept store. When I want a Bicycle, I'll go to a bike shop.

Trev Doyle

Granted it is a little odd if Greg said his product line will become a household name, as no bike or related product I can think of would fall into the "household name" category. But to say LA's accomplishments have not eclipsed his own is a totally resonable thing to say. Greg will always be remembered for his unique and various accomplishments and acheivements, Lance will be remebered for different things. Perhaps Lance will be remebered by more people than Greg but that doesn't detract from what Greg has done in anyway.

Maybe Greg will also be remebered as one of the few cyclists to speak his opinion and not worry about how it will be perceived by the public even if it hurts his business. Greg has a lot more conviction (not to mention balls) than a lot of people in the cycling world.

I own a Rocky Mountain, Pinarello, Eddy Merckx, and a LeMond. Go Greg!!!!!!!!!!!

KrisPistofferson

I'd heard Lemond had his name on some X-mart junk, but haven't seen any because I don't shop at those places! (I'm so LA-DEE-DA!)

KrisPistofferson

Not to badmouth his bikes, they are very nice!

LordOpie

you're confusing "brand" with "revenue".

Perfect example is Vlassic pickles at Wal-Mart. They were the elite, now they're just one of the many. And that's just a pickle

LordOpie

Ha! Huffy track bike! is a perfect example... who respects Huffy? No one. Once the ignorant (like me) learn it's a serotta, our opinions change completely.

don d.

Really. So you're saying what, that Target is the second largest retailer, not of brands, but of revenues? And I'm confused? OK.

If Lemond wanted his "brand"(no confusion there about what I'm trying to say, Lorddopie) in Target, don't you think there is a reason for that? Do you think he makes decisions based on your perceptions of what happens to brands or based on marketing studies of what happens to brands? Why does Schwinn what it's "brand" in Target? Possibly to maximise sales and exposure?

Crack'n'fail

I might argue that Schwinn is just such a product. Maybe not so much anymore, now that they've had so much financial difficulty, and the new move into Target. But just a few years back when I was working at an IBD every day some mom and pop looking for a Bike would come in ask where the Schwinn's where.

I can't quite figure LeMond out. Every time he opens his mouth in the public he seems like he says something that makes him look crazy. But he doesn't do it very often and the rest of his life is managed so well it's hard to give much weight to the weird stuff.

LordOpie

yes yes, you don't like me, get over yourself.

I said Target, et al. would be the death of any high-end brand. Would you agree with that?

don d.

Feeling insecure, Lorddopie? [COOING BABY SOUNDS]It's ok, everything is all right[/COOING BABY SOUNDS]


By et al, I'm assuming you mean all discounters and mass retailers, like say Kmart?...and the Martha Stewart brand?

LordOpie

*sigh*

okay, you win. I won't type with you any more.

Crack'n'fail

wow this has taken a strange personally attacking turn. Play nice folks.

Guest

I don't know the details of the court case he's involved in, but LeMond has a nice, juicy contract with StairMaster. StairMaster was it's own monster until it was acquired by Nautilus (who also bought Schwinn Fitness and Bowflex). The moneymaking potential for LeMond to have his RevMaster indoor bikes and all products from the RevMaster line of his indoor cycling bikes have enormous potential for Greg to bank some serious cash. Schwinn fitness had a relationship with Johnny G to make the Johnny G bikes, and until that relationship soured (when Nautilus bought Schwinn), Schwinn made the Johnny G bikes. Once Johnny G broke off his relationship with Schwinn and allied himself with StarTrac, Schwinn was free to take the Johnny G design (the only thing Johnny G owned from the bike he created was the seat design) and develop their own fitness program and bike. With the money backing of Nautilus, Schwinn was able to pull themselves out of bankruptcy and do just that, and at the same time, mass produce bikes for stores like Target and Walmart. Now, it looks as though Lemond, who was part of the Stairmaster group, could have also benefitted greatly from the same type of support from Nautilus and positioned himself as a huge player in the fitness industry. If I were in his shoes, I'd go to court and tell them just about anything to make sure Target honored their contract with me. He'd be crazy not to go to court over this. The money lost from the Revmaster line would be too great a potential to not go to court and sue.

I am just speculating, but if this is the issue (which I suspect it is, since Nautilus has a huge contract with these big time stores to sell its subsidiaries' products on its shelves), he better be saying he made the moon too.... he's about to lose a lot of money if he loses in court.

Stairmaster and Nautilus could stand to lose also. I'm sure Lemond had a contract with Stairmaster, and when that contract expires, Lemond is free to walk with his bike and ally himself with other major players in the fitness industry. I'm sure Stairmaster doesn't want that.

Koffee

pedal

Ya, I go to Target for all my Gucci needs.

Trev Doyle

Schwinn I guess would be a household name. But don't try to deny that if you went into the mall and saw new LEMONDS Disco Jeans you would snag a pair right then and there.