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The piece in Forbes is entitled ‘Bike co. cashing in on ties to Armstrong.’ It doesn’t mention the millions of dollars Trek has spent on researching and producing Armstrong’s bikes
"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," said the Forbes report.
Zapata Espinoza, the former MTB mag editor and now PR/marketing bod at Trek, said staying with Armstrong in 1998, after he had been diagnosed with testicular cancer and his future was far from certain, was "a gamble that paid off dividends that we could never imagine. It was like putting a penny in a slot and winning a million bucks."
Trek is currently expanding its HQ in Waterloo, Wisconsion by a third.
"We have seen a significant increase in sales and production because of demand," company official Steve Swenson, told Forbes magazine.
Trek is a privately held company and does not have to release sales figures so it doesn’t.
However, Ash Jaising, president of the Bicycle Market Research Institute in Boston, estimates that Trek’s sales have increased from less than $50m in 1990 to $500m this year.
It has a US market share of 30 percent, Jaisin told Forbes, a dominance that has helped independent bicycle dealers stave off competition from discount chains and big box retailers.
Trek was founded in 1976 by Dick Burke with five employes and now employs 1500. The company is still owned by the Burke family
http://www.forbes.com/…/ap2149068.html
If you have a fast internet connection click on this link for a minute-and-a-half advert from Trek featuring a little bit of company history, a lot of lingering close-ups of Lance’s bikes from two years ago and children learning to ride not on just bikes, but on Trek’s….
