29er (bicycle) used were forks designed for trekking bikes or hybrids. For many years, 29" frames and bikes were usually only available from small little-known manufactures like Niner Bikes. Surly Bikes introduced their 29" frameset, the Karate Monkey, in 2002. Gary Fisher Bicycles, a division of Trek Bicycles, became the first of the major manufactures to offer a line of 29" bikes. Their lines never sold well until the introduction of single-speed 29" bike the Rig, in 2004. Today, most bicycle manufacturers in the US market offer at least one 29" bicycle or frame. Even companies that openly dismissed 29" as a
Trek Bicycle Corporation performance enhancing substances". The complaint includes examples of Trek threatening its ties with LeMond in 2001 and 2004 after he made public statements against doping, Michele Ferrari, and Lance Armstrong Trek responded in April 2008 by suing to sever business ties with LeMond. Trek's press release said that "LeMond's suit was characterized by Burke as containing false and irresponsible allegations ". Burke also said "for years, Greg LeMond has done and said things that have damaged the LeMond brand and the Trek brand as a whole". . . . "His actions are inconsistent with our values—values we believe in and