Schwinn Bicycle Company a separate deal with the China Bicycle Co. (CBC) to produce bicycles to be sold under the Schwinn brand. In retaliation, Giant introduced its own line of Giant-branded bikes for sale to retailers carrying Schwinn bikes. Both Giant and CBC used the dies, plans, and technological expertise from Schwinn to greatly expand the market share of bicycles made under their own proprietary brands, first in Europe, and later in the United States. By 1990, other United States bicycle companies with reputations for excellence in design such as Trek, Specialized, and Cannondale had cut further into Schwinn's market. Unable to produce
Trek Bicycle Corporation for Trek, marking the year that the company unveiled its first molded carbon fiber frame, the Trek 5000. The 5000 frameset (monocoque carbon frame plus bonded aluminum fork) had an advertised weight of . Designed by Trek but built by Brent Trimble, an outside manufacturer, the 5000 suffered enough quality problems that it was discontinued after just one year. But the lessons learned from the 5000 would prove to be instrumental in driving Trek to develop its own carbon manufacturing capabilities in the coming years. In 1990 Trek developed a new category of bicycle that combined the comfort features of