Discovery team finished

I was not surprised after Discovery's problems with Basso. This just
goes to show much the doping problem has hurt the sport. This also why
we need a first offense lifetime ban.

The other thing to remember is that teams come and go and Discovery
has been around for awhile.

I am interested to see how the Trek stores are affected. I am not
convinced that a single brand store of that size has enough brand
equity to survive.

Quoted post said:

I was not surprised after Discovery's problems with Basso. This just
goes to show much the doping problem has hurt the sport. This also why
we need a first offense lifetime ban.

The other thing to remember is that teams come and go and Discovery
has been around for awhile.

I am interested to see how the Trek stores are affected. I am not
convinced that a single brand store of that size has enough brand
equity to survive.

Being a fringe sport is the problem -- folks whine about drugs in
baseball and football not resulting in the same public outrage. True,
but more people in the US care about those sports and cycling is
easily dismissed/ignored by most of the US public even without drugs
which have increased their awareness of cycling and certainly their
disdain for cycling.
Best,
Bill Black

Quoted message said:

I am interested to see how the Trek stores are affected. I am not
convinced that a single brand store of that size has enough brand
equity to survive.

We were a single-line, Trek-only store long before either Discovery or US
Postal came along, and did just fine. I don't think it's going to be too
much of a blip on the radar, plus the team sucked up one heck of a lot of
$$$ that might be available for marketing.

And by the way, we're not a Trek "concept" store. It just happens to be the
only family of bikes we sell, for many reasons.

--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com
Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA

email hidden said:

I was not surprised after Discovery's problems with Basso. This just
goes to show much the doping problem has hurt the sport.

Yeah, just like doping killed Fassa Bortolo, Novemail/Panasonic. Even
Motorola.

--
JT
****************************
Remove "remove" to reply
Visit http://www.jt10000.com
****************************

In article
<[email hidden]>,
Bob Schwartz <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I was not surprised after Discovery's problems with Basso. This just
goes to show much the doping problem has hurt the sport. This also why
we need a first offense lifetime ban.

[censored]. I'm supporting the death penalty.

Stoning.

Quoted message said:

The problem is that people don't take this stuff seriously. Next
they'll be telling us that bike racing is only entertainment.

--
Michael Press

in 552646 20070811 074017 Michael Press said:

In article
<[email hidden]>,
Bob Schwartz <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I was not surprised after Discovery's problems with Basso. This just
goes to show much the doping problem has hurt the sport. This also why
we need a first offense lifetime ban.

[censored]. I'm supporting the death penalty.

Stoning.

Thought they were stoned already?

On Aug 10, 2:49 pm, "Mike Jacoubowsky" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I am interested to see how the Trek stores are affected. I am not
convinced that a single brand store of that size has enough brand
equity to survive.

I suppose one reason for being a Trek only store is because Trek
demands that it's dealers product line consist of 70% Trek products. I
guess they want to like the old Schwinn shops. The other thing to
remember is that bicycle brands have their ups and downs.

If you are a smaller to midsize shop this less of a concern But
dealers have invested a huge amount of capital in the Trek concept
stores here in San Diego. One problem is that their overhead is so
high. A friend who owns a shop tells me that the rent is $9000 for a
Trek concept store in Kearney Mesa SD.

Trek also has been acting heavy handed with their dealers. I
personally believe that a lot of their dealers will revolt if Treks
sales drop off much.

Quoted message said:

We were a single-line, Trek-only store long before either Discovery or US
Postal came along, and did just fine. I don't think it's going to be too
much of a blip on the radar, plus the team sucked up one heck of a lot of
$$$ that might be available for marketing.

And by the way, we're not a Trek "concept" store. It just happens to be the
only family of bikes we sell, for many reasons.

--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycleswww.ChainReaction.com
Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA

email hidden said:

On Aug 10, 2:49 pm, "Mike Jacoubowsky" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I am interested to see how the Trek stores are affected. I am not
convinced that a single brand store of that size has enough brand
equity to survive.

I suppose one reason for being a Trek only store is because Trek
demands that it's dealers product line consist of 70% Trek products. I
guess they want to like the old Schwinn shops. The other thing to
remember is that bicycle brands have their ups and downs.

If you are a smaller to midsize shop this less of a concern But
dealers have invested a huge amount of capital in the Trek concept
stores here in San Diego. One problem is that their overhead is so
high. A friend who owns a shop tells me that the rent is $9000 for a
Trek concept store in Kearney Mesa SD.

Trek also has been acting heavy handed with their dealers. I
personally believe that a lot of their dealers will revolt if Treks
sales drop off much.

Thanks for the insight. I'm sure you are much better informed about
Trek than Jacoubsowsky is.
--
JT
****************************
Remove "remove" to reply
Visit http://www.jt10000.com
****************************

On 08/11/2007 02:50 AM, in article
[email hidden], "John Forrest Tomlinson"

Quoted message said:

email hidden said:

On Aug 10, 2:49 pm, "Mike Jacoubowsky" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

> I am interested to see how the Trek stores are affected. I am not
> convinced that a single brand store of that size has enough brand
> equity to survive.

I suppose one reason for being a Trek only store is because Trek
demands that it's dealers product line consist of 70% Trek products. I
guess they want to like the old Schwinn shops. The other thing to
remember is that bicycle brands have their ups and downs.

If you are a smaller to midsize shop this less of a concern But
dealers have invested a huge amount of capital in the Trek concept
stores here in San Diego. One problem is that their overhead is so
high. A friend who owns a shop tells me that the rent is $9000 for a
Trek concept store in Kearney Mesa SD.

Trek also has been acting heavy handed with their dealers. I
personally believe that a lot of their dealers will revolt if Treks
sales drop off much.

Thanks for the insight. I'm sure you are much better informed about
Trek than Jacoubsowsky is.

I'm sure that Mike J. would never publicly post anything negative about Trek
as long as he is dependent on them for his income, regardless of the
veracity of "hizark"'s claims.

If Trek cancelled Mike's dealership agreement tomorrow, how long would it
take for Mike to get all new dealership agreements in place with other major
manufacturers, without encroaching on other dealer's protected territories?

--
Steven L. Sheffield
stevens at veloworks dot com
bellum pax est libertas servitus est ignoratio vis est
ess ay ell tea ell ay kay ee sea eye tee why you ti ay aitch
aitch tee tea pea colon [for word] slash [four ward] slash double-you
double-yew double-ewe dot flahute dot com [foreword] slash

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Thanks for the insight. I'm sure you are much better informed about
Trek than Jacoubsowsky is.

I'm sure that Mike J. would never publicly post anything negative about
Trek
as long as he is dependent on them for his income, regardless of the
veracity of "hizark"'s claims.

If Trek cancelled Mike's dealership agreement tomorrow, how long would it
take for Mike to get all new dealership agreements in place with other
major
manufacturers, without encroaching on other dealer's protected
territories?

If something were to happen that resulted in us going down a different path
than Trek, there would be quite a few companies knocking on our door,
including those with nearby dealerships. About 7 years ago one of the other
major bike companies, one with a very significant and well-established
dealer in town, called and asked for a dinner meeting. Interesting... I
wondered why? I figured why not, what harm would come of it, so I go and
have dinner with their VP and National Sales Manager and one other guy. They
begin to lay out their plans and I ask them what it has to do with me, since
they've already got a very loyal dealer in town. Well apparently that's
subject to change, at which point I tell them I'm uncomfortable with things
and please, anything that's discussed has to be something that can be spoken
about openly outside the dinner. Things got very quiet.

Bike companies are very fond of dealers who pay their bills on time, and
don't keep secrets from them (as in, if you're hitting a rough spot, let the
credit manager know, don't try to hide things). We're very good about that;
many dealers aren't. They see an adversarial relationship between themselves
and the credit department, which creates a lot of FUD (fear, uncertainty &
doubt). This is not to say that the bike companies themselves are blameless
in what they do! We had a major row with Trek some years ago when they gave
Fisher and LeMond to a chain store down the street, despite early assurances
it would not happen. That caused about a 4 month chill in our relationship.

But overall, the point is that a well-financed honest dealer with the
smallest amount of patience can probably pick up just about any line they
want from one of the major companies. They come knocking on our door now,
they'll become even friendlier were we to part ways with Trek But it's
unlikely to happen, since we've invested so heavily in Trek over the years.
Not in product, not even in terms of how we've marketed them. Rather, the
relationships within the company that we have, relationships that, in many
cases, go back over 20 years... those would be very tough to leave. If
something comes up with a Trek bike, I don't just have the best connection
in the tech & warranty departments to deal with, I can talk directly with
the engineer involved with the product. I can bump issues up the chain as
high as required to get results, if need be. I can have an honest
conversation with the sales department about what's selling, what's not, and
why. I don't have to worry about someone giving me the company line to keep
me "up" about selling their product, because they know I'm in it for the
long haul and helping them work through a problem (one they'd perhaps rather
not other dealers focus on, because it might effect their sales) won't
negatively effect their image with us.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

"Steven L. Sheffield" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On 08/11/2007 02:50 AM, in article
[email hidden], "John Forrest Tomlinson"

Quoted message said:

email hidden said:

On Aug 10, 2:49 pm, "Mike Jacoubowsky" <[email hidden]>
wrote:
>> I am interested to see how the Trek stores are affected. I am not
>> convinced that a single brand store of that size has enough brand
>> equity to survive.

I suppose one reason for being a Trek only store is because Trek
demands that it's dealers product line consist of 70% Trek products. I
guess they want to like the old Schwinn shops. The other thing to
remember is that bicycle brands have their ups and downs.

If you are a smaller to midsize shop this less of a concern But
dealers have invested a huge amount of capital in the Trek concept
stores here in San Diego. One problem is that their overhead is so
high. A friend who owns a shop tells me that the rent is $9000 for a
Trek concept store in Kearney Mesa SD.

Trek also has been acting heavy handed with their dealers. I
personally believe that a lot of their dealers will revolt if Treks
sales drop off much.

Thanks for the insight. I'm sure you are much better informed about
Trek than Jacoubsowsky is.

I'm sure that Mike J. would never publicly post anything negative about
Trek
as long as he is dependent on them for his income, regardless of the
veracity of "hizark"'s claims.

If Trek cancelled Mike's dealership agreement tomorrow, how long would it
take for Mike to get all new dealership agreements in place with other
major
manufacturers, without encroaching on other dealer's protected
territories?

--
Steven L. Sheffield
stevens at veloworks dot com
bellum pax est libertas servitus est ignoratio vis est
ess ay ell tea ell ay kay ee sea eye tee why you ti ay aitch
aitch tee tea pea colon [for word] slash [four ward] slash double-you
double-yew double-ewe dot flahute dot com [foreword] slash

Michael Press said:

In article
<[email hidden]>,
Bob Schwartz <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I was not surprised after Discovery's problems with Basso. This just
goes to show much the doping problem has hurt the sport. This also why
we need a first offense lifetime ban.

Quoted message said:

[censored]. I'm supporting the death penalty.

Stoning.

Quoted message said:

The problem is that people don't take this stuff seriously. Next
they'll be telling us that bike racing is only entertainment.

--
Michael Press

Stoning is for the other 'doping'

"Steven L. Sheffield" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

If Trek cancelled Mike's dealership agreement tomorrow, how long would it
take for Mike to get all new dealership agreements in place with other
major
manufacturers, without encroaching on other dealer's protected
territories?

Geez Steven, have you ever seen Mike's shops? It would take him about 15
minutes to get another major manufacturer begging him to sell for them.

Thanks Mike,

This is interesting stuff. I'm impressed that you are willing to share this
much about your business.

I personally like Trek bikes. Being a middle of the road (figuratively)
rider, they work well for me.

Bob P.

"Mike Jacoubowsky" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Thanks for the insight. I'm sure you are much better informed about
Trek than Jacoubsowsky is.

I'm sure that Mike J. would never publicly post anything negative about
Trek
as long as he is dependent on them for his income, regardless of the
veracity of "hizark"'s claims.

If Trek cancelled Mike's dealership agreement tomorrow, how long would it
take for Mike to get all new dealership agreements in place with other
major
manufacturers, without encroaching on other dealer's protected
territories?

If something were to happen that resulted in us going down a different
path than Trek, there would be quite a few companies knocking on our door,
including those with nearby dealerships. About 7 years ago one of the
other major bike companies, one with a very significant and
well-established dealer in town, called and asked for a dinner meeting.
Interesting... I wondered why? I figured why not, what harm would come of
it, so I go and have dinner with their VP and National Sales Manager and
one other guy. They begin to lay out their plans and I ask them what it
has to do with me, since they've already got a very loyal dealer in town.
Well apparently that's subject to change, at which point I tell them I'm
uncomfortable with things and please, anything that's discussed has to be
something that can be spoken about openly outside the dinner. Things got
very quiet.

Bike companies are very fond of dealers who pay their bills on time, and
don't keep secrets from them (as in, if you're hitting a rough spot, let
the credit manager know, don't try to hide things). We're very good about
that; many dealers aren't. They see an adversarial relationship between
themselves and the credit department, which creates a lot of FUD (fear,
uncertainty & doubt). This is not to say that the bike companies
themselves are blameless in what they do! We had a major row with Trek
some years ago when they gave Fisher and LeMond to a chain store down the
street, despite early assurances it would not happen. That caused about a
4 month chill in our relationship.

But overall, the point is that a well-financed honest dealer with the
smallest amount of patience can probably pick up just about any line they
want from one of the major companies. They come knocking on our door now,
they'll become even friendlier were we to part ways with Trek But it's
unlikely to happen, since we've invested so heavily in Trek over the
years. Not in product, not even in terms of how we've marketed them.
Rather, the relationships within the company that we have, relationships
that, in many cases, go back over 20 years... those would be very tough to
leave. If something comes up with a Trek bike, I don't just have the best
connection in the tech & warranty departments to deal with, I can talk
directly with the engineer involved with the product. I can bump issues up
the chain as high as required to get results, if need be. I can have an
honest conversation with the sales department about what's selling, what's
not, and why. I don't have to worry about someone giving me the company
line to keep me "up" about selling their product, because they know I'm in
it for the long haul and helping them work through a problem (one they'd
perhaps rather not other dealers focus on, because it might effect their
sales) won't negatively effect their image with us.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

"Steven L. Sheffield" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On 08/11/2007 02:50 AM, in article
[email hidden], "John Forrest Tomlinson"

Quoted message said:

On Sat, 11 Aug 2007 00:52:34 -0700, "[email hidden]"
<[email hidden]> wrote:

> On Aug 10, 2:49 pm, "Mike Jacoubowsky" <[email hidden]>
> wrote:
>>> I am interested to see how the Trek stores are affected. I am not
>>> convinced that a single brand store of that size has enough brand
>>> equity to survive.
>
> I suppose one reason for being a Trek only store is because Trek
> demands that it's dealers product line consist of 70% Trek products. I
> guess they want to like the old Schwinn shops. The other thing to
> remember is that bicycle brands have their ups and downs.
>
> If you are a smaller to midsize shop this less of a concern But
> dealers have invested a huge amount of capital in the Trek concept
> stores here in San Diego. One problem is that their overhead is so
> high. A friend who owns a shop tells me that the rent is $9000 for a
> Trek concept store in Kearney Mesa SD.
>
> Trek also has been acting heavy handed with their dealers. I
> personally believe that a lot of their dealers will revolt if Treks
> sales drop off much.

Thanks for the insight. I'm sure you are much better informed about
Trek than Jacoubsowsky is.

I'm sure that Mike J. would never publicly post anything negative about
Trek
as long as he is dependent on them for his income, regardless of the
veracity of "hizark"'s claims.

If Trek cancelled Mike's dealership agreement tomorrow, how long would it
take for Mike to get all new dealership agreements in place with other
major
manufacturers, without encroaching on other dealer's protected
territories?

--
Steven L. Sheffield
stevens at veloworks dot com
bellum pax est libertas servitus est ignoratio vis est
ess ay ell tea ell ay kay ee sea eye tee why you ti ay aitch
aitch tee tea pea colon [for word] slash [four ward] slash double-you
double-yew double-ewe dot flahute dot com [foreword] slash

Crescentius Vespasianus said:

They've completely changed their
strategy from "Lance" to innovation.
Trek employees are instructed not to
mention Lance's name. Their marketing
strategy is that we make the cutting
edge bikes, etc, no talk of yesterday,
and of Lance.

Right, that's why even when they talk about the evolution of their
bikes they don't mention Armstrong at all. Oh wait, they do

http://www2.trekbikes.com/madone/a_new_history/

Dumbass
--
JT
****************************
Remove "remove" to reply
Visit http://www.jt10000.com
****************************

Quoted message said:

This is interesting stuff. I'm impressed that you are willing to share
this much about your business.

Uh-oh, now I'd better re-read what I wrote and make sure I didn't say
something I shouldn't have! :>😉

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

"Bob Palermo" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Thanks Mike,

This is interesting stuff. I'm impressed that you are willing to share
this much about your business.

I personally like Trek bikes. Being a middle of the road (figuratively)
rider, they work well for me.

Bob P.

"Mike Jacoubowsky" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> Thanks for the insight. I'm sure you are much better informed about
> Trek than Jacoubsowsky is.

I'm sure that Mike J. would never publicly post anything negative about
Trek
as long as he is dependent on them for his income, regardless of the
veracity of "hizark"'s claims.

If Trek cancelled Mike's dealership agreement tomorrow, how long would
it
take for Mike to get all new dealership agreements in place with other
major
manufacturers, without encroaching on other dealer's protected
territories?

If something were to happen that resulted in us going down a different
path than Trek, there would be quite a few companies knocking on our
door, including those with nearby dealerships. About 7 years ago one of
the other major bike companies, one with a very significant and
well-established dealer in town, called and asked for a dinner meeting.
Interesting... I wondered why? I figured why not, what harm would come of
it, so I go and have dinner with their VP and National Sales Manager and
one other guy. They begin to lay out their plans and I ask them what it
has to do with me, since they've already got a very loyal dealer in town.
Well apparently that's subject to change, at which point I tell them I'm
uncomfortable with things and please, anything that's discussed has to be
something that can be spoken about openly outside the dinner. Things got
very quiet.

Bike companies are very fond of dealers who pay their bills on time, and
don't keep secrets from them (as in, if you're hitting a rough spot, let
the credit manager know, don't try to hide things). We're very good about
that; many dealers aren't. They see an adversarial relationship between
themselves and the credit department, which creates a lot of FUD (fear,
uncertainty & doubt). This is not to say that the bike companies
themselves are blameless in what they do! We had a major row with Trek
some years ago when they gave Fisher and LeMond to a chain store down the
street, despite early assurances it would not happen. That caused about a
4 month chill in our relationship.

But overall, the point is that a well-financed honest dealer with the
smallest amount of patience can probably pick up just about any line they
want from one of the major companies. They come knocking on our door now,
they'll become even friendlier were we to part ways with Trek But it's
unlikely to happen, since we've invested so heavily in Trek over the
years. Not in product, not even in terms of how we've marketed them.
Rather, the relationships within the company that we have, relationships
that, in many cases, go back over 20 years... those would be very tough
to leave. If something comes up with a Trek bike, I don't just have the
best connection in the tech & warranty departments to deal with, I can
talk directly with the engineer involved with the product. I can bump
issues up the chain as high as required to get results, if need be. I can
have an honest conversation with the sales department about what's
selling, what's not, and why. I don't have to worry about someone giving
me the company line to keep me "up" about selling their product, because
they know I'm in it for the long haul and helping them work through a
problem (one they'd perhaps rather not other dealers focus on, because it
might effect their sales) won't negatively effect their image with us.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

"Steven L. Sheffield" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On 08/11/2007 02:50 AM, in article
[email hidden], "John Forrest Tomlinson"
<[email hidden]> wrote:

> On Sat, 11 Aug 2007 00:52:34 -0700, "[email hidden]"
> <[email hidden]> wrote:
>
>> On Aug 10, 2:49 pm, "Mike Jacoubowsky" <[email hidden]>
>> wrote:
>>>> I am interested to see how the Trek stores are affected. I am not
>>>> convinced that a single brand store of that size has enough brand
>>>> equity to survive.
>>
>> I suppose one reason for being a Trek only store is because Trek
>> demands that it's dealers product line consist of 70% Trek products. I
>> guess they want to like the old Schwinn shops. The other thing to
>> remember is that bicycle brands have their ups and downs.
>>
>> If you are a smaller to midsize shop this less of a concern But
>> dealers have invested a huge amount of capital in the Trek concept
>> stores here in San Diego. One problem is that their overhead is so
>> high. A friend who owns a shop tells me that the rent is $9000 for a
>> Trek concept store in Kearney Mesa SD.
>>
>> Trek also has been acting heavy handed with their dealers. I
>> personally believe that a lot of their dealers will revolt if Treks
>> sales drop off much.
>
> Thanks for the insight. I'm sure you are much better informed about
> Trek than Jacoubsowsky is.

I'm sure that Mike J. would never publicly post anything negative about
Trek
as long as he is dependent on them for his income, regardless of the
veracity of "hizark"'s claims.

If Trek cancelled Mike's dealership agreement tomorrow, how long would
it
take for Mike to get all new dealership agreements in place with other
major
manufacturers, without encroaching on other dealer's protected
territories?

--
Steven L. Sheffield
stevens at veloworks dot com
bellum pax est libertas servitus est ignoratio vis est
ess ay ell tea ell ay kay ee sea eye tee why you ti ay aitch
aitch tee tea pea colon [for word] slash [four ward] slash double-you
double-yew double-ewe dot flahute dot com [foreword] slash

"John Forrest Tomlinson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Crescentius Vespasianus said:

They've completely changed their
strategy from "Lance" to innovation.
Trek employees are instructed not to
mention Lance's name. Their marketing
strategy is that we make the cutting
edge bikes, etc, no talk of yesterday,
and of Lance.

Right, that's why even when they talk about the evolution of their
bikes they don't mention Armstrong at all. Oh wait, they do

http://www2.trekbikes.com/madone/a_new_history/

Dumbass

You don't suppose this dumbass doesn't understand that Lance's name is
licensable and they aren't using it anymore because it costs too much?

Quoted message said:

They've completely changed their strategy from "Lance" to innovation. Trek
employees are instructed not to mention Lance's name. Their marketing
strategy is that we make the cutting edge bikes, etc, no talk of
yesterday, and of Lance.

A troll has to be at least marginally believable for someone to fall for it.
You ought to be able to (errantly) point to something that would seem to
support your wacky idea.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

"Crescentius Vespasianus" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I was not surprised after Discovery's problems with Basso. This just
goes to show much the doping problem has hurt the sport. This also why
we need a first offense lifetime ban.

The other thing to remember is that teams come and go and Discovery
has been around for awhile.

I am interested to see how the Trek stores are affected. I am not
convinced that a single brand store of that size has enough brand
equity to survive.

-------------
They've completely changed their strategy from "Lance" to innovation. Trek
employees are instructed not to mention Lance's name. Their marketing
strategy is that we make the cutting edge bikes, etc, no talk of
yesterday, and of Lance.

Mike Jacoubowsky said:

A troll has to be at least marginally believable for someone to fall for
it. You ought to be able to (errantly) point to something that would seem
to support your wacky idea.

He needs to take something to improve his trolling.

Bob Palermo said:

Thanks Mike,

This is interesting stuff. I'm impressed that you are willing to share this
much about your business.

I personally like Trek bikes. Being a middle of the road (figuratively)
rider, they work well for me.

I like Treks and I'm kind of interested in the WSD stuff since I'm one
of those women who needs the slightly shorter top tube (looks like I'm
going with a custom Habanero) but... Treks cost more here than they do
there and the one time I was in a position to ask someone in the know
at Trek China he hemmed and hawed and gave me a non-answer that not
only wasn't a reason but was also good enough for me to basically
decide no Trek for me.

At the same time I have to admit, the newest Madone is very attractive
to me and I can see myself getting one a year or three down the road
when I add a carbon bike to the stable.

-M