Today Dick's Sporting Goods partially blamed Lance Armstrong for their poor quarterly earnings.

They said the folks were not buying the Livestrong branded exercise equipment. Livestrong or not I am not spending $1000 on an exercise bike that I can not affix my own Fizik seat to.

Read a while back that these Livestrong bikes were overpriced and under-performing. No doubts that the Livestrong brand accounted for a few sales, though.

It's hard to know where to start on a statement like that.

I don't care one way or the other about Dick's Sporting Goods, but Lance doesn't deserve a break. I appreciate what he's done, and my brother survived the same type of cancer he had. But eff 'im.

Does not deserve a break.

Come on, now everyone down at Dick's knew Lance was dopin'. Just like the housing market, they thought the boom would last forever. Live by Armstrong, die by Armstrong.

Just like Dick's figured this winter would be like the last one, mild. So they didn't bother ordering winter stuff. Turned out to be one of the coldest winters locals can remember, and Dick's was out in the cold with sales for that little faux pas, too. Live by the winter, die by the winter.

Actually, I'd say it's Dick's that can't catch a break.

Imagine how one of the DVD online sellers over here is feeling right now--He has 7,000 Lance Armstrong DVD's to shift that he paid a fortune for from Livestrong.

Let me get this straight. Of all the stuff they sell, they base their stores' profitability on one or two pieces of equipment? Did they change their name to "Livestrong's" and I just didn't hear about it???

I no longer admire L.A. I do hope that he straightens his life out, but let's face it; he defines some of the worst that professional sports has to offer.

However, the stock market annalist trend of blaming or giving credit to a single entity for market fluctuations is nothing but a bunch of nonsense imo. This simplistic excuse is designed to pacify investors that are unwilling or unable to understand stock market volatility. It is also sometimes used as a scapegoat to cover-up management failures and/or inaccurate projections imo.

The good thing is that many investors ignore this nonsense.

He could always catch a break when he was doping

They're just reaching for branches. Poor performance requires an explanation (excuse), so they grab for anything they can find. That's bidness.

I'm always wary when some piece of equipment has a star's name on it. It doesn't mean they think it's any good - it means the manufacturer has been able to pay them $$$ for the name.

I'm looking to add a bike to the (growing) collection later this year. Everyone tells me the Trek Domane are a great bike. But. I. Just. Can't. See. Myself. Buying. A. Trek. Sorry, Trek. For me, it'll take years to disassociate your name with a certain Mr. Armstrong. If ever.

I mentioned the Dick's problem (sans LA) to my fairly unknowledgeable wife this weekend. Her reply? Of course they're not going to do well. I buy you cheaper stuff at Target of the same quality, and anything you really need you order online, or if you're not too lazy, get at the LBS. Why should anyone shop at Dick's?

Indeed.

Aw...I just bought my daughter a Trek Lexa. It's a perfect bike for her, and I like my LBS, they give great service, and it's not their fault that Lance is a deceitful lying badinoff. Buy the Domaine.

I agree Dick's is stretching with their blame of Livestrong. I also agree, at least for a while, that LA does not deserve a break. I will, however, definitely consider Trek for my next purchase. They were around before LA, and I like their product. I don't agree buying Trek products is supporting LA

When are we going to stop this blaming game . doping , his fault . Made millions over the years , his fault . world economy is in the toilet , his fault . Obama won the second term . his fault . Bad weather , his fault . You get my point .

A bit of off topic, but I'll offer up my impressions about a Domane test ride. The shop let me have it for as long as I wanted and ride any route I wanted, (they knew me from previous purchases). It's a really nice bike! But, toward the end of my test ride, I decided that the 'comfort' of the Domane with its 23mm tires wasn't all that different than my Pinarello after I switched it to 25mm tires. I've since gone 25mm on all my bikes, and they all ride sweet. I was offered the Domane at about a 20% discount, which is surprising as it is the first year they are being sold. Wasn't from stock either; it would be a factory order. Had to think long and hard that weekend about the decision to purchase a Domane.

Hey, don't shoot the messenger. I am just reporting what Dick's had in their press release about missing their earnings estimate and their crap sales. I thought it was pretty lame to blame Lance, irrespective of how you feel about the guy.

I looked at the indoor bike Dick's offered branded Livestrong but made by ?? in China. It was about 60% overpriced and not all that great in features or quality in my opinion. You could not even put your own seat on the thing. When I pointed it out to the sales person they said "Oh never noticed that".

Maybe the headline should have read, Dick's Sporting Goods makes poor bet on Livestrong.

In other news, Bicycling Magazine blames Lance Armstrong for the fact that their journalists are being forced to think of something to write about now they can no longer reference him in every second paragraph.

I bought my Trek in the mid '80s and now I'm stereotyped

But how well would the Domane have rode if it had 25 mm size tires

Power outage, definitely his fault.

WHAT??? BUYCYCLING MAGAZINE EMPLOYS WRITERS??? Why didn't anybody tell me this earlier????

Whut??? The recent doping revelations have given them more grist for the mill than anything in the history of cycling.

I'm ashamed that we have the same initials


LA