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 the company. Despite the split, Trek and Trek Travel enjoy a close working relationship. In 2003, Trek acquired Villiger, a Swiss bicycle company, and Diamant, the oldest bicycle company in Germany. The acquisition gave Trek a foothold in the active-leisure bicycle market, an important segment in Europe. As part of the acquisition, Trek took over ownership of the Villiger-Diamant production facility in Hartmannsdorf, Germany. Trek's global expansion continued in 2005, when Trek expanded into the Chinese market by opening two stores in Beijing and signing deals with 20 Chinese distributors. For the third time in its history, in 2005