The new Gary Fisher HiFi (Image credit: James Huang)
Trek has spent the better part of the last decade pouring the bulk of its development resources behind the Lance Armstrong machine. Now that the party is over, some much-needed attention has been redirected to its relatively neglected mountain bike lineup. James Huang heads out to Fruita and Crested Butte, CO, to see what the giant from Waterloo has in store for the upcoming months:
For the most part, Trek's mountain bike introduction was staffed by the usual cast of characters: an assortment of product and development crew, public honchos Gary Fisher and Zapata Espinoza, as well as a variety of its professional riders, including regional pros Nick Martin (www.ridewithnickmartin.com) and Ross Schell as well as long-time team member Travis Brown, who is now heavily involved in Trek's own product development process.
However, the most significant figure on hand from Trek was Mr. Trek himself, company president John Burke. Burke's presence at the event sent a clear signal as to how important it is for Trek to regain its position in the mountain bike world. In his own words, "We've grown our business a lot in the last five years in a lot of different areas, and it's elevated Trek in the marketplace. One area of business where we haven't grown is the mountain bike business, especially when you take a look at full-suspension and serious mountain bikes. It hasn't been a big part of what we were about. We've got a really good crew here and a lot of talented people, and we haven't performed to what we think we're capable of. If you take a look at what we're introducing tonight, we've gone out there and we think we're bringing out best-in-class product. This is just the start, but it shows the future direction of the company."
