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 In 1984 Trek ventured into the aftermarket parts and accessories business, launching its Trek Components Group (TCG) department. In 1985, borrowing technology from the aerospace industry, (and bike companies such as Alan and Vitus), Trek introduced its first bonded aluminum bike frame, the 2000. The introduction of bonded aluminum to Trek's production line proved very problematic for a company that had built itself on hand-brazed steel frames. Manufacturing ground to a halt as Trek worked to figure out how to build bonded frames in a production environment. A year later Trek followed up the success of the 2000 with a