# Gary Fisher to Make Road Bikes



## California L33 (Jan 20, 2006)

It had to happen-

http://reviews.roadbikereview.com/blog/gary-fisher-to-debut-road-bikes-in-2009/


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## Dave Hickey (Jan 27, 2002)

Trek had to do something with all those re-badged Lemonds


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## JaeP (Mar 12, 2002)

*LeMond Zurich*

I love my '99 LeMond Zurich. I love the LeMond geometry (I like a longer TT). If the Gary Fisher's are truly re-badged LeMonds, then I might consider getting one.


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## zyzbot (Feb 3, 2004)

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## moreair (Aug 22, 2008)

I have been MTBing Treks and GFs for 12 years. I just might buy my first road bike. I have been wanting to do so for a while.


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## Rubber Lizard (May 10, 2007)

It looks like Trek will not be bringing the Klein brand back next year. Instead it appears Gary Fisher road bikes will replace the LeMond brand instead of Klein as was previously stated.


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## Don Duende (Sep 13, 2007)

Maybe the marketing mavens at Trek are hatching a diabolical plan to sell road bikes to the MTB crowd with the Gary Fisher name? Isn't the Trek brand name good enough? Why GF and not LA and cash in on the name while there is still a buck to be made? Any idea what Greg Lemond is planning?


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## zyzbot (Feb 3, 2004)

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## cryoplasm (Jun 14, 2008)

They will be bringing Klein back. To satisfy dealer demands in certain areas. Besides the market needs it, and so do we..


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## Rubber Lizard (May 10, 2007)

I personally don't think Trek knows what to do now that LeMond branding is dead. LeMond may not have been super hot anymore, but it was still a huge well recognized brand. 
Do they try they try and bring back the Klein name, a brand that never did very well for them and always appealed to a niche market? Or do they rebadge the aluminum LeMond designs and call them Gary Fishers, a much more widely known bicycle brand? 
I think that there might be a Klein model or too next year, but I don't think it will be launched with vigor as Trek had previously stated earlier this year. It'll probably be carbon fiber as that's what people want these days. Bicycles take time to develop (especially carbon fiber) source materials and production for, build tooling for, assemble and ship. Most of the 2009 are being made as you speak. The prototypes for the 2010 models are in development now. I don't think Trek quite had the time they wanted to build a solid line for Klein that they could vigorously launch. Something that didn't look like rebadged LeMonds. 

Dealers have known that there will be a few Gary Fisher road models for some time now. I don't think that anyone outside of Trek knows whats going on with the Klein name. There is even a Gary Fisher subforum that Trek has kindly paid the owners of Roadbikereview to put up which is an indication of a big investment for that line. Lots of little things floating in the wind make me suspect that Trek has gotten cold feet about the Klein branding. 
Of course I could be 100% wrong on all of the above and I have no shame in admitting that . Speculating what goes on in the boardrooms of big bike companies is kind of like celebrity gossip here. Its always fun and sometimes it's true, sometimes it's not.


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## heliskyr (Feb 21, 2005)

I'm no marketing guru, but I don't know why Trek messes around with other road brands when they've built a great brand name for themselves-- 10 Grand Tour wins on Treks, vs. 0 on LeMonds, Kleins, or Gary Fishers.


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## Rubber Lizard (May 10, 2007)

heliskyr said:


> I'm no marketing guru, but I don't know why Trek messes around with other road brands when they've built a great brand name for themselves-- 10 Grand Tour wins on Treks, vs. 0 on LeMonds, Kleins, or Gary Fishers.


Trek has other brands for many reasons. The first reason is that at one point Trek bikes had the reputation of utterly sucking and the brand couldn't break out of the lower to midrange market. They sold lots of bikes, but they were all middle of the road bikes. So in the mid 90's Trek bought Gary Fisher, Bontrager and Klein as well as licensing LeMond. I think they bought Klein for their aluminum welding experience, but the point is that they now owned a bunch of brands the public perceived as high end. Since the Trek brand now had three high end brands they didn't need to work on reinventing their brand as a high end brand. This was all before the Lance era. Then Lance started winning on Trek bikes and Treks reputation on the road bike thing suddenly changed.
It also makes sense to have a diverse brand portfolio as a big company. There are lots and lots of bike shops that sell Gary Fisher or LeMond bikes, but not Trek. Having a diverse brand base allows for more dealers and therefore more sales than having one brand. Its been a successful strategy for Trek and I am suprised that the big red S and Giant haven't tried something similar.


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## cryoplasm (Jun 14, 2008)

I regard aluminum TREKs very highly. Honestly can't see what the fuss is all about with carbon. A real shame for KLEIN on the other hand.

Going off on a slight tangent. When I see bikes with carbon splashed all over the place in stems, handlebars, bottle cages, groupsets it frankly looks a mess. Hence one of the reasons why the fuss with carbon.

The KLEIN I have is just as light and comfortable as any high end carbon frame. But it is also so much more stiffer. Now I can attest the same to aluminum TREKs too. And so many KLEIN features have come through in TREKs especially pre-dating the 2008 models.


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## WhiskeyNovember (May 31, 2003)

cryoplasm said:


> The KLEIN I have is just as light and comfortable as any high end carbon frame.


With all due respect....

Having owned more than one Klein and more than one carbon road bike, I can assure you that the Klein you have is most certainly NOT as comfortable as many (and perhaps most) high-end carbon frames. Not even close.


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## cryoplasm (Jun 14, 2008)

WhiskeyNovember said:


> I can assure you that the Klein you have is most certainly NOT as comfortable as many (and perhaps most) high-end carbon frames. Not even close.


Now that's a statement I don't believe. Sorry..

But then I'm talking about my own bike and you are doing the same, talking about *my* bike. So you can stop trying to assure the world of things which are out of your experience.


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## WhiskeyNovember (May 31, 2003)

cryoplasm said:


> Now that's a statement I don't believe. Sorry..
> 
> But then I'm talking about my own bike and you are doing the same, talking about *my* bike. So you can stop trying to assure the world of things which are out of your experience.


Ok then. Which Klein do you own? I've owned and ridden Kleins that are full aluminum, aluminum with carbon stays, aluminum with carbon stays and rear suspension, and I've test-ridden a full-carbon Klein. Chances are, I know a thing or two about how yours rides.

So which Klein do you own?


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