Bicycle suspension which they use for their "FSR Suspension". Several manufacturer had licensed the design from Specialized. Some European manufacturers, such as Cube and Scott, do use the same suspension design, but couldn't import it to the United States until 2013 due to patent protection. Norco, Canadian bicycle manufacturer also licensed the design from Specialized but further optimized the FSR system, calling their own system Advanced Ride Technology (ART). Although not necessarily sharing any general suspension characteristics, these designs all share a certain structural benefit. Because the connecting links are so short, the floating link comes in the form of a rigid
Trek Bicycle Corporation subsidiary of Roth Corporation, a Milwaukee-based appliance distributor. In early 1976, with a payroll of five, Trek started manufacturing steel touring frames in Waterloo, Wisconsin, taking aim at the mid to high-end market dominated by Japanese and Italian made models. Trek built nearly 900 custom hand-brazed framesets that first year, each selling for just under $200. Later that same year Trek Bicycle was incorporated. In 1977, Penn Cycle in Richfield, Minnesota became the first Trek dealer in the world. Within three years, Trek sales approached $2,000,000. Hampered without additional manufacturing capacity, Trek sales plateaued in the late 1970s. In just