Over the many years of being in the bike business, I have experienced strongarm tactics from almost, if not all the "A" line companies. Since money has always been but one of several motivating factors in my quest to squeeze a living from this great sport, my response to arm twisting was to dig in my heels. I dropped Cannondale in the 80s, Specialized in the 90s, and FUJI in the past 3 years because they got too full of themselves. No one tells me how to run my shop or how many bikes I will buy.

Trek's tactics are nothing new. They want more of the small bicycle pie. They are flush from years of success and the "Lance" effect. The smaller shop may lose bike sales with a mass merchant type store taking over for Trek, but Trek loses in the long run IMO. The small independent shop is still the backbone of this sport. To cast them aside in their search for profit over quality is so very typical of the American retail mindset.