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LeMond Bike Comeback?
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Dave B
Joined: 10 Jan 2004
Posts: 4511
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

2/8/13 8:38 AM

LeMond Bike Comeback?

Today's bikerumor.com has an article saying that Greg LeMond is considering resurrecting the LeMond bike brand and has a survey on his web site asking for opinions.

I wonder, now the Greg has reestablished his credibility and Trek no longer has any ties to Lance, if that partnership could be resumed. I sure hope Greg doesn't try to go it alone as his track record as a businessman is pretty poor.

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ErikS
Joined: 19 May 2005
Posts: 8337
Location: Slowing boiling over in the steamy south, Global Warming is real

2/9/13 6:27 AM

His geometry will have to adapt to today's more compact frames.

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henoch
Joined: 12 Jan 2004
Posts: 1690

2/9/13 9:17 AM

I went to his website but couldn't fine the survey.
As for business, he just started a company that will produce his trainers, so we will see
how that goes.

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dan emery
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 6884
Location: Maine

2/9/13 9:23 AM

Lemond trainers

Hey I still use a LeMond RevMaster I've had for at least 10 years. I really don't know about his business dealings, but IIRC he was credited with revolutionizing compensation for pros by getting a much better contract than anyone before. I wish him the best. I always found him credible.

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Dave B
Joined: 10 Jan 2004
Posts: 4511
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

2/9/13 9:45 AM


quote:
I always found him credible.

I had mixed feeling about him until recently. He was portrayed as a whiner and sore loser, particularly by the LA publicity machine, and they were effective in damaging his image until Lance was "outed". Now I respect him (and Tyler Hamilton too) a lot more.

As to his business dealings, his first couple of attempts were failures, in part due to letting his father run them, and his third bike business was saved when Trek took over. i hope he does better this time.

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Andy M-S
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 3377
Location: Hamden (greater New Haven) CT

2/9/13 9:50 AM

I'd like to see the bikes come back.

Who knows? Trek might even try...does anyone know the legal relationship between Trek and Lemond? Greg owns his name as a trademark wrt bikes/parts/clothing/etc..

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dddd
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 3345
Location: NorCal

2/10/13 9:31 AM

Somehow I get the vibe that Trek might be the one with a "credibility problem" if they were to bring back a line of supposedly "LeMond-designed/inspired" bikes.
I mean, they dumped LeMond for violating the omerta.

I don't know if I would judge LeMond for the early failures, since A) the companies involved were in it for themselves, B) LeMond was racing/training during some or much of the time, and C) it was a long time ago, and people change.
But I would agree that LeMond is no Eddie Merckx when it comes to the bike biz, even if, also, the USA is no Belgium, and LeMond's involvement with cleaning up the sport might be tough to exploit in terms of drumming up business in the cycling industry.
Now, if the press picked up where they left off, and gave Greg his due, he might be regarded as more of a savior.

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PLee
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 3712
Location: Brooklyn, NY

2/10/13 9:43 AM

What did Greg LeMond do to clean up the sport other than bitch and moan about Lance? Did he ever call out any other rider?

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dddd
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 3345
Location: NorCal

2/10/13 1:07 PM

"What did Greg LeMond do to clean up the sport other than bitch and moan about Lance? Did he ever call out any other rider?"

It now appears that he had correctly homed in on what some have most recently been calling the biggest doping conspiracy in cycling.
If so, his efforts were especially well-targeted, no?

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dan emery
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 6884
Location: Maine

2/10/13 3:03 PM

What else?

Well as I recall Greg had some participation in the Landis matter that provoked something akin to a blackmail attempt.

And he called out Ferrari years ago.

And he said the power levels being produced couldn't be done without drugs.

That's a few that come to mind, and I don't really even follow this stuff. I think it would have been much easier (and probably more profitable) for him to join the ranks of Lance sycophants.

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ErikS
Joined: 19 May 2005
Posts: 8337
Location: Slowing boiling over in the steamy south, Global Warming is real

2/10/13 7:35 PM

I give the guy a lot of cred. He did not sell out to the LA world where could have gotten LA on bikes with his name and gotten richer.

He saw dirt and called it dirt. Very few listened until now.

Kudos for Greg Lemond for holding his ground.

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Brian Nystrom
Joined: 26 Jan 2004
Posts: 5096
Location: Nashua, NH

2/11/13 6:23 AM

What does he have to offer to the bike market?

When you get right down to it, the only distinguishing characteristic of his original bike line was longer than average top tubes. If they happen to fit your body type, great, but there are lots of other options out there for that. He originally did what a lot of other riders have done, which was to capitalize on his name while he was in the public eye. Those days are long gone and over the years he's pretty badly eroded his brand. I don't see it making a comeback, but that doesn't mean he won't try. I can see the slogan now:

"Lemond Bicycles, brought to you by the only American winner of the Tour de France who hasn't admitted to doping."

What I saw was that he was keeping part of the indoor trainer business and forming a new company with it, which at least makes sense.

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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19068
Location: PDX

2/11/13 9:34 AM

Could only be way too little way too late IMO.

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PLee
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 3712
Location: Brooklyn, NY

2/11/13 11:33 AM


quote:
Well as I recall Greg had some participation in the Landis matter that provoked something akin to a blackmail attempt.

And he called out Ferrari years ago.

And he said the power levels being produced couldn't be done without drugs.


All of these were tied, one way or another, to Lance, which makes Greg's efforts seem targeted just to the only other American winner of the TdF, and can be easily written off as a peculiar expression of jealousy. Where was Greg's voice when Mapei was winning everything in sight, or when Pantani was dancing up every mountain, or when Festina was caught out?

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henoch
Joined: 12 Jan 2004
Posts: 1690

2/11/13 12:18 PM

I have to agree with Parkin on this one.
While Greg turned out to be right about Lance, it seemed (and still seems) like a personal crusade against Lance and not a real concern with rampant drugs by every real rider in the sport all through the 90's and 2000's.
I never heard him talk about Jan, Alberto, Ivan, I could go on but you get my point.

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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19068
Location: PDX

2/11/13 12:44 PM

Not to mention the 'general' bike buying public may/?/will probably just think he is more of the same creed. Which he may well be, just better at sticking to his lies for PEDs DeJour which were just as undetectable then as well?? He just did not get caught out retrospectively as LA did, on paper I mean, unless the paper got ate by someones dog.

I find it likely Lemond, or should I say find it unlikely Lemond didn't dope dejour frankly...

I really don't give a shit, but did like his geometry frankly for my form [or lack of anymore] ;)

Yadi yada across the board from them and MOI. ;)

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Steve B.
Joined: 19 Jan 2004
Posts: 769
Location: Long Island, NY

2/11/13 6:36 PM

"I never heard him talk about Jan, Alberto, Ivan, I could go on but you get my point."

Yeah, but Jan, Alberto and Ivan didn't go out of their way to kill his livelihood. That might make me a little focused as to who my anger was directed at.

In truth I never liked my Lemond titanium. Not the best road bike I've owned or ridden. It was a Trek product and after the Euro geometry had been changed to more mainstream. As well the titanium was noodly in the b-bracket and had issues with F derailer rub. Not a good bike for a heavier rider, though my steel Soma is stiffer. The paint from Trek sucked as well.

So not sure what a new Lemond brand would bring to the market that isn't pretty well covered by dozens of other products and no cache to the name any more.

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Brian Nystrom
Joined: 26 Jan 2004
Posts: 5096
Location: Nashua, NH

2/12/13 7:10 AM

As I recall, Lemond didn't have much to say about lance until he was on the verge of eclipsing his record of 3 tour wins. That's when the "sour grapes" became obvious. I suspect that he didn't say much about anyone else because they didn't directly affect his legacy and for fear of drawing attention to the doping in his own era.

Although I don't ride it anymore, my Lemond Ti RS is actually pretty stiff, but it's the stiffer of the two models they offered. They were built by Clark Kent and sold by Trek/Lemond. Paint? What paint?

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PLee
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 3712
Location: Brooklyn, NY

2/12/13 7:42 AM

I seem to recall that the LeMond reputation for longer top tubes was a little misleading, at least for the model year when I checked. If you compared the geometry of the LeMond vs Trek, a 56 cm Lemond would seem to have a slightly longer top tube than a 56 cm Trek. But the LeMonds measured the seat tubes center-to-center while Trek measured them center-to-top.

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Dave B
Joined: 10 Jan 2004
Posts: 4511
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

2/12/13 9:00 AM


quote:
They were built by Clark Kent and sold by Trek/Lemond. Paint? What paint?

I thought the Clark Kent built LeMonds well proceeded LeMond's arrangement with Trek and represented his first attempt at selling bikes under his own name and as an independ business. The Trek-built LeMonds came several years later.

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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19068
Location: PDX

2/12/13 11:29 AM

IIRC, as I had a 90s Lemond Ti bike at one point; At a point LiteSpeed made some or all [dunno4sure] the Ti frames for the Lemond Brand. IIRC, it was for a shot period either after KK or while KK could not keep up or something. It was a straight ga. 3.2/4 Ultimate with a little longer TT. The bike was small for me, but performed great. I used it as the 'Ti frame' bar on the next few LiteSpeed frames I rode or owned. It was among the best of them particularly in the BB stiffness dept. Among the worst was the mid 90s Catalyst FWIW&IMO.

Still got a Pic:

<img src="http://coupekiss.host-ed.me/images/ttf/PIC00006.JPG" /img>

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dfcas
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 2815
Location: hillbilly heaven

2/12/13 6:09 PM

I remeber the following companies made bikes for lemond. Bilato in Italian steel,Litespeed, Clark Kent ti, Calfee carbon, and other steel makers that I can't remember.

I highly doubt that Trek and Lemond will get back together. I think there was some pretty bad bridge burning during the lawsuit.

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Brian Nystrom
Joined: 26 Jan 2004
Posts: 5096
Location: Nashua, NH

2/13/13 11:50 AM

The Clark Kent frames...

...were from the '94-'95 timeframe and perhaps a year or so either side of that. I'm not sure what years Litespeed was their Ti frame supplier, but I think it was earlier. They may have stopped offering Ti frames for a while (or completely) after the CK fiasco, but I'm not certain.

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Doug
Joined: 13 Jan 2004
Posts: 204
Location: In the shadow of the Valley of Death

2/22/13 12:57 PM

From the BRaIN Newsletter

http://www.bicycleretailer.com/industry-news/2013/02/21/lemond-plans-re-entry-bike-market

"DENVER, CO (BRAIN) — Tour de France hero Greg LeMond said he expects to begin selling bicycles again, possibly showing prototype models as early as this year's Interbike.

"I've got quite a few different ideas," LeMond said in a Skype interview with BRAIN this week. "Ultimately I'm looking at coming back into the bicycle business, integrating some technology and stuff that I have used in my cycling career."

LeMond, who was still wearing a back brace as he recovers from a car accident earlier this month, said he had decided to avoid a licensing agreement like he had with Trek Bicycle, and instead look for a "partnership" with a manufacturer, with a goal of eventually bringing manufacturing in house.

"I want to build a company that can be around for more than a few years; I'm still young," he said.

LeMond sold Seattle-based LeMond Fitness, which sold stationary bikes and trainers, to Hoist Fitness last fall. Then he and investors set up a new company, LeMond Inc., that bought back the trainer business from Hoist. Hoist is focused on selling LeMond stationary bikes into the health club market.

The new company, based in Minneapolis, is selling the trainers and will expand from there. Among its employees is sales director Gene DiMenna, who is a former regional sales manager at Trek, involved with the sales of LeMond bikes when Trek still sold the line.

Trek began licensing the LeMond name for bikes after LeMond's retirement from racing in 1994. The relationship ended badly with a suit and countersuit that were finally resolved in 2008. Since then LeMond said he has received several licensing offers from bike manufacturers and had considered re-entering the bike market with a consumer direct sales option, but has since swung around toward selling through bike shops.

"There was a period when I needed to digest the whole end of the relationship with Trek and decide where I wanted to go and whether I wanted to get back into the bike business," he said.

He said the company has "conceptual designs" for new bikes and he hoped to produce a special Tour de France 100th anniversary bike this year, with prototypes at the fall trade shows.

For more than a decade LeMond was in the public eye as a critic of Lance Armstrong, and that criticism was central to his messy divorce from Trek. Armstrong's more recent sanctioning and confession to doping reduced LeMond's personal stress at the same time it changed the public's perception of him.

"We are in a much better place in terms of what I want to do, now," he said.

Aside from the planned bike line, LeMond said he has ideas for products involving power training. Revolution trainers offer a power measurement option and LeMond — who began training with an SRM power meter in 1993 — said he has insights into power training that few possess.

"I want to get a little more in depth in simplifying the mystery of watts for the consumer," he said. "Ideally I'd like to be able to provide a complete service to the bike shop: indoor trainer, outdoor bikes, things that work together and complement each other."

Watch for more on LeMond's new company in the March 15 issue of Bicycle Retailer & Industry News."

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Brian Nystrom
Joined: 26 Jan 2004
Posts: 5096
Location: Nashua, NH

2/23/13 7:57 AM

Based on that...

...I guess the Litespeed-made Lemond bikes must have been after the Clark Kent bikes.

It will be interesting to see if Lemond actually has anything new or interesting to offer to the market. I'm skeptical, but who knows...

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