Just wondering if Greg Lemond’s comments will hurt sales of his bicycle line?
Happy training this weekend!!!
based on some of the threads i was reading at roadbikereview.com, yes, it will hurt his sales.
This is the reason the Department of the Interior does not name mountains after living people.
I hope so.
For many more years than I care to remember, Lemond has always been a whinner and jealous about any other cyclist that might take the spotlight off of his life. From the chasing down off his own teammate, Boyer, at the world championships or complaining about not being able to win the tour and had to give it to Bernard H. when he was paid to be a worker not a team leader. I will never recommend anyone purchase a Lemond bike and I feel that the distrubutors, the same ones that handle Trek by the way, drop his line.
Never ridden a Lemond, but from what I have seen of them they are pretty freakin generic. Jealous bastard.
I said it in an earlier thread, Lemond has never had anything positive to say about Lance. I’ve always felt that Lemond has been jealous of Lance’s attention and popularity in the US. Think about it, if you’ve watch the tour for many years. I remember him being interviewed four years ago, after Lance’s second tour win, and thinking “Wow, that was almost a put down to Lance.”
I think that the change in direction Lemond Bikes took this year will hurt sales. Maybe it’s just me, but when you fill a specific niche in the market, you shouldn’t blow it by changing your product so that it no longer caters to that niche.
Two years ago, Lemond meant a good quality 853 steel road bike with Ultegra for $1,500. This year, it means a hybrid steel/carbon frame with 105 for $2,000.
Whether or not Lemond’s inability to keep his piehole shut will hurt sales is hard to say. Among hard-core cyclists, probably, but I don’t think that Lemond bikes targets them(their new lines certainly don’t). But if the general public isn’t following the cycling news very closely, they probably have no idea.
Ah, he just said what everyone else is thinking!!!
Seriously though, the Lemond line has some good bikes, but I don’t believe they represent good value. The graphics are superior to the Trek line, which tends towards the gaudy end of the spectrum.
Greg Lemond may be slightly bitter that his career did not end as well as he would have hoped, but that is the case for most cyclists. He deserves a lot of respect for blazing the trail for Armstrong and others, even if he did tend to complain a bit. He was always available to the fans. Also, I think he has a unique perspective into the Euro peloton that the general public does not have, and he was around when the peloton shifted gears, so to speak, which gives him a bit more reason to be cynical.
He has earned the right to speak. His Tour wins, at least the first 2, came without the support of 8 other guys. At La Vie Claire, the team was fractured between himself and Hinault, by all accounts. In 1989, ADR was simply a second rate team incapable of supporting him, even if it did include a young Museeuw.
I seriously doubt it. Not substantially anyway.
I didn’t realize they were still naming mountains.
I ride a Lemond Ti bike. There is nothing wrong with the bike and the tie in with Greg Lemond never crossed my mind. The bike is WAY better than the cannondale that it replaced. If you have never ridden one, then you can not pass judgement.
Wow, you put me in my place…I just said they seem generic. All u have to compare it to is an aluminum Cannondale? ummm…there went your opinion “muscle boy”
I don’t think muscle.boy was trying to put you in your place. Your comment that they seemed generic was kind of pointless since you admit you know nothing about their bikes. It’s not that hard to be offended by the casual and self-admittedly ignorant way you dismissed Lemond bikes.
Did you notice how awesome Team Saturn was last year? Of course the riders were the main factor, but Lemond’s sponsorship of them definitely gave them a big image boost.
I’m the first to tell people that the bike industry is 90% marketing driven, but you can’t say that Lemond doesn’t have one of the industry’s most unique lineups at the high end. Two years ago they were totally boring and the only selling point going for them was the so-called “Lemond geometry”. The low-end was too expensive and the high-end (Ti) too indistinct. Their middle of the line bikes (Buenos Aires, Zurich) did pretty well.
With the Ti/Carbon frame they really put themselves on the map. I’m not saying they’re perfect, just that they’re far from generic. All you had to do was check out their website.
I don’t think his comments will hurt the company. He’s been making comments like that for a long time. Lemond is a jealous guy, and it’s probably because most people buying his bikes don’t even remember/know what he did for the sport. In my mind Lemond=Trek=big bike company (relatively speaking). If I were him though I would be happy just to be alive because he’s pretty damn lucky. Life’s not worth bitching and moaning all the time.
On a side note, a former classmate of mine, spectacularly talented violinist, top IL female at the Boston Marathon, who just finished her first year of medical school, and incredibly kind person died this past weekend in the Grand Canyon, alone, of dehydration, at the age of 24. This sort of thing completely rearranges your perspective.
The circumstances aren’t totally clear so please don’t speculate on this. I wish whining people would realize that things could be a lot worse and that useless complaining suggests immaturity.
sorry for such a weird note.
best,
kelvin
I have a LeMond Zurich which I bought several years ago as a training bike. I like the bike but have thought about selling it because of Greg’s bad mouth about Lance. The bike is okay and so is the Trek company which probably designed the bike and put LeMond’s name on it. My LeMond bike is for training. However, I race a Softride which is vastly superior. Anyway, I don’t like LeMond’s comments about Lance. He should be supportive and not an idiot cry baby.
Look, whenI said generic, i meant there is nothing about them outside of a decal that to me seems differnet or interesting comparedto any other bikes. I should have clarified that. One only has to look at a bike to make that judgement.
As for your friend, very, very, sorry. You are right that issues like this are stupid to argue about. But you get a lot of that stuff on this page. Trivial arguments make up half the threads here. eg. campy vs. ultegra. So, I guess except for you, most of us are immature.
I wasn’t trying to put you in your place. Just stating that I’m happy with my Ti lemond. I ride my Quintana Roo TiPhoon most of the time, but I’m always happy to ride the lemond. I went to RBM looking to get a Trek 5900, but I didn’t like the feel. The salesman suggested the lemond, it felt great and has held up well. I’m comparing it to my cannondale and the POS diamonback interval that I previously had. The current lemond Ti/carbon bike is a thing of beauty. If I had done my homework, I would have bought a Litespeed off the net for the same as I paid for the Lemond. I don’t know how much say Greg has in the making of the Lemond Brand, but I think it’s a name only deal. The graphics on the bike suck, but the bike is a joy to ride. I’m a pretty good cyclist, almost always leading the FAST group.