So how many bikes did Trek supply for Disco/USPS?

Triathlon Forum
1

The last WSJ article brought up an interesting accusation. Namely, that excess bikes provided by Trek were sold for cash to fund the doping. This is just an accusation, but one that could surely be settled one way or the other with a little investigating. If I was Trek I would stonewall any requests for the information, as they have nothing to gain and a reputation to be sullied.

Trek knows how many bikes it supplied to Armstrong and his teams over the years. It would be interesting to see what the numbers look like. One could make a reasonable estimate on how many bikes a team actually “needs”. If the numbers were way out of whack it would be interesting to hear the explanation. Obviously bikes being sold for charity would not end up in clandestine sales on ebay and if a bike for sale was one used by an actual rider, surely that would have been advertised as it would increase the value of the bike. How many team bikes were sold, there might be a story here.

Like in The Wire…follow the money…

2

I don’t think this has any traction. If there was organized doping on the team, do you really think they’d have to sell bikes on ebay to pay for it? Money isn’t the problem here, there’s no shortage of it, and no shortage of people who were probably willing to fund it.

I highly doubt that Lance and co. were selling bikes in “clandestine sales on ebay”. Don’t you think someone would notice the sudden plethora of usps/disco bikes on ebay? It’s not exactly a hidden site. Bikes get flagged on ST all the time from ebay auctions, so I think people would notice. Not exactly clandestine.

It would be noticed if any tour rider/team put any significant number of bikes up for sale. It is noticed if one tour bike goes up for sale, much less enough to fund an entire team’s doping program.

Whether there was doping or not, this one is grasping at straws.

3

I don’t think this has any traction. If there was organized doping on the team, do you really think they’d have to sell bikes on ebay to pay for it? Money isn’t the problem here, there’s no shortage of it, and no shortage of people who were probably willing to fund it.

I highly doubt that Lance and co. were selling bikes in “clandestine sales on ebay”. Don’t you think someone would notice the sudden plethora of usps/disco bikes on ebay? It’s not exactly a hidden site. Bikes get flagged on ST all the time from ebay auctions, so I think people would notice. Not exactly clandestine.

It would be noticed if any tour rider/team put any significant number of bikes up for sale. It is noticed if one tour bike goes up for sale, much less enough to fund an entire team’s doping program.

Whether there was doping or not, this one is grasping at straws.

The WSJ, what a rag? No credibility, where do they come up with this stuff.

If you were trying to run a clandestine doping program, why would you be trying to be bring anyone unnecessary to fund it. How would you even go about approaching people (gee I think this guy would not have a problem with doping, lets ask him for money).

No one ever said a plethora of bikes. If you read my first post, it was clear these would not have been advertised as tour bikes, that would attract too much attention. They would have been sold as stock top of the line Trek bike. Aside from Armstrong, I am pretty sure no one was getting custom Treks, they were just riding the top production bikes or what would be the production bike in the next model year.

If you sold a couple of bikes a month (2 bikes x $4K x 12 months), that could easily be close to $100K per year. Why would this be flagged? There are currently 337 listings for Trek bikes on US ebay, how would a few extra bikes get any serious notice.

If it was grasping at straws, why would they publish the idea. As I said, this could easily be checked out. I am always suspicious of dismissing claims out of hand that can easily be proven one way or the other with facts/numbers.

4

Lance makes about $25 million a year…

5

If you read the article closely its asserted that they may have been selling Lances bikes and getting a hefty premiium. 10 -20K per bike. Certainly a good way to do it, have him ride a different bike every week in training, then sell them as his personal bike and make big money pretty easily.

I’m surprised that Trek said they saw team bikes for sale, as they are still a sponser. My wild eyed conspiracy theory. Lance is a team owner and one way of his being in big trouble is if USPS money was used for drugs. If Trek money was used for drugs, even through selling bikes, he may be in the clear legally.

Styrrell

6

Lance makes about $25 million a year…

x2.

And this is why they wouldn’t have to ask anyone else to fund it. They’re not going up to people who they think are ok with doping. There is no shortage of cash to fund doping if that’s what they chose to do.

If they wanted to dope, they wouldn’t have to sell bikes to do it. Paypal $$ wouldn’t be hard to trace. With the amount of money that flows through Lance, Johan, their team, and affiliated organizations, the $48k/year is nothing. With the kind of money that he has, Lance likely has accounts and investments all over the world. Selling bikes on ebay to pick up $48k in easily traceable money that is used to buy drugs seems like something pretty stupid to do. Like them or not, Johan and Lance aren’t stupid.

7

If I recall this info came from Landis’ interview- for which parts were just released on the eve of Le Tour… I can see this being plausible due to accounting records etc. needing funds not on the books. I also recall hearing about a stolen bike from one of the stages that was in the news. I think this is one of the “problems” that Landis was referring to. (?)

8

Plus Trek would sue Lance, like they did Lemond for getting rid of bikes for his own profit ;)!

9

2 bikes x $4K x 12 months<<

So where are all of these bike buyers??? Mr. Short Penis is riding Lance’s old bike and isn’t telling all his buddies about it? “Hey, I got this great deal on a used Trek!”) Right.

clm

10

Lance makes about $25 million a year…

Follow the money. Why would you risk the possibility of using your own money to do something illegal when there is an opportunity to have someone else fund it with cash, by selling bikes that no one is really keeping track of? In a potential lawsuit any financial records could be used as evidence. If you have missing bikes that were given to a third party to sell for cash it is a lot easier to cover up or deny. Do you think if doping did go on, they were dumb enough to pay with check or anything traceable? If they did, it would have been caught by now (unless they were all clean, which is possible).

Armstrong is obviously extremely smart. I remember having a conversation recently about how if he was not on top of the world as a cyclist, he would probably be a CEO.

Iran/Contra scandal. Sure the US had plenty of money to just fund the Contras. They did not do that. Why? Staying one step removed, sell something else on the black market and use that money. It keeps it off the books.

I’m sorry I think there is a good case against Armstrong. In the end the money will get him. The $100,000 donation to the UCI has still never really been explained.

11

Trek has already stated that, indeed, many bikes were missing and they suspected, or even knew, they were being sold. In fact, many Trek dealers at the time were complaining that USPS bikes were showing up for sale online despite Trek’s restriction of online sales. At the time, not many paid attention…now it makes sense.

Look people, everyone who has been contacted by the federal investigators has cooperated and told the truth; even riders they weren’t planning to interview have come forward - mostly out of fear. There’s truth to the Landis allegations; how much truth is what we’ll hopefully all find out. Let the process run it’s course, and let’s see if there’s enough for prosecution. It’s going to be awhile, and likely be sent to a Grand Jury first. From the fed’s point of view, this is not about Lance, but the possibility of a much larger conspiracy.

12

2 bikes x $4K x 12 months<<

So where are all of these bike buyers??? Mr. Short Penis is riding Lance’s old bike and isn’t telling all his buddies about it? “Hey, I got this great deal on a used Trek!”) Right.

clm

No way a bike Lance road goes for $4K. Again, read my post. They could have been selling top of the line Trek bikes, through a third party, with no mention of the team. E.g. Trek Madone for sale, no mention of where it came from or any connection to the team. Just being sold as a top of the line Trek bike, There were obviously not many Lance bikes being sold. However, selling several dozen Treks over the course of the year adds up to real money and with the number of bikes sold on ebay this would not attract much attention.

For all anyone knows they were sold at Mellow Johnny’s as “new” bikes.

13

"I’m surprised that Trek said they saw team bikes for sale, as they are still a sponser. My wild eyed conspiracy theory. Lance is a team owner and one way of his being in big trouble is if USPS money was used for drugs. If Trek money was used for drugs, even through selling bikes, he may be in the clear legally. "

exactly.

14

"If you sold a couple of bikes a month (2 bikes x $4K x 12 months), that could easily be close to $100K per year. Why would this be flagged? There are currently 337 listings for Trek bikes on US ebay, how would a few extra bikes get any serious notice. "

And 100k a year would roughly pay for the initial doping consultation with a doc who is putting his career at risk. The team didn’t supplement with Vitamins, so that 100k means absolutely nothing.

15

For all anyone knows they were sold at Mellow Johnny’s as “new” bikes.

Except Mellow Johnny’s didn’t exist when this supposedly happened.

16

Hahaha…you got em there…but really… who gives a shit? There’s a few more important things going on in the world at the present time, I think.

Stop the oil leak and get out of Iraq and Afghanistan for starters. That should keep you guys busy for a few days. Go get’em.