Trek Bicycle Corporation signed a long-term licensing agreement with Greg LeMond, the 3-time Tour de France champion and the first American to win the Tour—to design, build, and distribute LeMond Racing Cycles. 1995 was also the year Trek opened a state-of-the-art assembly facility in Whitewater, Wisconsin, leaving the Waterloo location free to focus solely on frame production. In 1997, Trek helped sign former world road race champion (1993) Lance Armstrong to the Trek-sponsored United States Postal Service Pro Cycling Team. Armstrong won his first Tour de France in 1999 aboard a Trek 5500, becoming the first American to win the Tour on an
Bicycle fork intended by the frame designer. The functional length of the fork is typically expressed in terms of Axle-to-Crown race length (A-C). Also, the axle on the wheel must fit in the fork ends (usually either a 9mm solid or hollow axle, or a 20mm thru-axle). Some manufacturers have introduced forks and matching hubs with proprietary standards, such as Maverick's 24mm axle, Specialized 25mm thru-axle and Cannondale's Lefty system. Fork steerer tubes may be threaded or unthreaded, depending on the headset used to attach the fork to the rest of the bicycle frame. An unthreaded steel steerer tube may be threaded