Tweek

I had someone come upto me yesterday while I was taking a break in the middle of my usual ride and asked me if I bought a Trek just because Lance Armstrong rides one, I couldn't help but laugh, he gave me a weird look and I said no. Weird people.

Forced

Alot of people do things like Buy a bike because someone famous uses it. It's great for companies , they make tons of sales this way and they have been doing it for years.

Trek will get many sales due to this fact.

slagjumper

I figure that the outstanding growth in sales of road bikes in the past 3 years is directly related to the media coverage of Lance.

LowCel 

I think that 50% of the people that are riding trek roadies bought them because Lance rides one. Then 25% of the people buy them because the sales people talk them into buying trek. The remaining 25% do their research and then decide that Trek's the right bike for them.

Of all of these I would guess that only 25% of the trek's sold end up with over 500 miles on them.

Could be wrong but that's my opinion.

LowCel 

Yup, and I'm very grateful. The more riders the better.

wogdog

Dont forget about the Seinfeld effect. Remember the bike Jerry had haning in the background? I believe that spawned a lot of sales also, but I think it was for Klein.

motomickey

I bought a Litespeed because Lance won a stage on one......

BErad

I agree. When Trek signed Lance several years ago they were probably just thinking that his story of overcoming the battle with cancer would generate a "feel good" type attitude with the public. Now, 7 straight Tours later (I'm guessing Basso won't beat Lance by 3 minutes in the Time Trial) Trek's decision is paying huge dividends. Nike has done it twice (MJ and Tiger).

roadfix

After reaching the top of a grueling 6 mile fire road climb, these 3 seemingly fit guys in their thirties on somewhat cheap FS bikes with platform pedals and full lycra who apparently reached the top moments before I did starts chatting with me and one of them turns and examines my completely rigid Dean full XT rig and asks me "is that a real mountain bike?......how come there are no springs?" WTF?!!

ckleps

did you then point at your elbows and knees?

PWRDbyTRD

People around here don't even know what a Kona is. The closest dealer is 90 minutes away. I have seen ONE kona in Knoxville, other than mine.

Montana Rider

Funny... this AP article was in today's paper...

Thursday July 21, 2005

Bike company cashing in on ties to cyclist Lance Armstrong

WATERLOO, Wisconsin (AP) - When executives at the Trek Bicycle Corp. signed a contract with Lance Armstrong in 1998, they were betting the public would see the cyclist recovering from testicular cancer as a human interest story.

Seven years later, Armstrong is still riding a Trek manufactured in this southern Wisconsin town as he competes for his seventh straight - and last - Tour de France victory this week.

Armstrong's prowess and personal story have reinvigorated American interest in cycling, and no company has felt the impact more than Trek, the privately held company that is the top U.S. manufacturer of bikes.

"It was just a gamble that paid off dividends that we could never imagine,'' said Zapata Espinoza, a spokesman for Trek.

"It was like putting a penny in a slot and winning a million bucks.''

The Lance factor, as Trek executives call it, is hard to quantify but has certainly been real.

Combined with an aging baby-boom generation that is turning to cycling for fitness and leisure, that means big business in road bikes, the fast, lightweight cycles used by Armstrong and other world-class racers.

Road bikes, which sell for an average of $1,150 (euro953), accounted for 28 percent dollar sales by specialty dealers in 2004, up from 16 percent in 2002, according to the National Bicycle Dealers Association.

Overall, the U.S. bicycling industry has remained flat since 1999, generating an estimated $5.5 billion (euro4.5 billion) in sales of bikes, parts and accessories in 2004, the group says.

At Trek, sales are up and the company is undergoing a major expansion that will increase the size of its headquarters in Waterloo, a town of 3,200 just 50 kilometers (30 miles) east of Madison, by about one-third.

The project, to be completed next month, will allow the factory to produce more of the lightweight carbon bikes that have become the company's trademark around the world.

The business now produces more than one million bikes per year, including road bikes, mountain bikes, and kids' bikes.

"We have seen a significant increase in sales and production because of demand,'' said company official Steve Swenson, speaking in the company's factory in front of racks filled with finished bike frames.

Trek refused to release sales figures, but Ash Jaising, president of the Bicycle Market Research Institute in Boston, estimated Trek's sales have increased from less than $50 million (euro41.4 million) in 1990 to $500 million (euro414 million) this year.

Jaising said the company is No. 1 in terms of units sold and value of sales in the specialty market sector, and has increased its market share to 30 percent.

The company's success has, in turn, allowed the independent bicycle dealers that sell Trek bikes to increase their market share, which had been losing ground to sporting goods stores and large retailers.

"The growth is high among the more serious bikers. People are spending more money for the equipment and that has helped Trek,'' he said.

"Trek has the momentum and has had it for the last couple of years.''

Trek, which started producing steel bike frames with five employees out of a red barn in 1976, now employs more than 1,500 workers, the majority of whom are in the U.S.

The business is still owned by the Burke family. CEO John Burke is the son of the founder, Dick Burke.

The company says it does produce low-end bikes in Asia. Still, the company is considered a success story for American manufacturing at a time that 99 percent of bikes purchased in the U.S. are made overseas.

The factory churns out 700 bike frames per day that are later shipped to another plant in Whitewater, Wisconsin, for assembly and sold under the Trek, Gary Fisher, Klein and Greg LeMond brand names.

Armstrong is deeply involved in the designing and testing of his bikes.

The Trek Madone SSLx he is riding this year, which features a stiffer frame to climb hills, will go on sale as early as next month.

Previous Armstrong models have gone for up to $4,500 (euro3,730).

The affiliation with Armstrong is a source of pride at Trek's headquarters, where four of Armstrong's winning bikes hang in the lobby and dozens of employees take spins on their bikes over their lunch hour.

Workers follow the Tour de France on a big-screen projection monitor, hoping their hero can pull off one last victory in the race that ends Sunday.

At the same time, there is chatter about what happens when Armstrong retires from racing.

Derek Deubel, the Trek brand manager, said the company has a contract with Armstrong through 2010 that will not be affected by his retirement, as well as a two-year deal with Armstrong's Discovery Channel team.

Trek officials hope the next champion will be a Discovery rider they can claim as their own.

If Armstrong ends with one last victory, the industry and Trek can continue to reap the benefits, said Megan Tompkins, editor of Bicycle Retailer and Industry News.

"If he comes out on top, I think there will be a longer influence from his success and, hopefully, the industry will be able to ride that out,'' she said.

Dave Driscoll, a curator at the Wisconsin Historical Museum in Madison, which unveiled an exhibit on Tuesday on Trek featuring the bike Armstrong used in the 2003 Tour de France, said Trek has made all the right moves.

"They are doing everything that the commentators advise American business to do: putting a lot of money into research and development, having a well-defined niche market, and producing a lot of high-value added products,'' he said.

"The company benefited from Lance in ways they never imagined, but they were pretty solid to begin with.'' - AP

hoga98

Uh, isn't that what sponsorship is all about? Sponsor a good rider, hope for results and sales that follow from the success/publicity.

joelsp

Exactly. It still kills me when people look at my trek and say, "Next Lance Armstrong, uh hew"
Truth is, Lance's amazing accomplishments have intoduced a lot of people to biking in general, and they aren't all going to buy a trek. Heck, when I bought mine, i didn't even realize he was riding a Trek. Though, I also didn't buy my bike because oif Lance Armstrong either.

a2psyklnut

I don't really like Trek bikes, but that has nothing to do with Lance. They just don't seem to fit me very well.

I do have a LeMond bike. Fits great!

Waiting for the ARMSTRONG brand to be unveiled?

Raiyn

That would be interesting considering the friction between LeMond and Armstrong. Someone would lose out if Armstrong were to produce under the Trek umbrella