BikeBiz

The fact that President Bush accepted a $2700 Trek MTB is known in the bike trade but it's now part of an official financial disclosure document, released Friday. Trek's John Burke also supplied Dubya with gloves and a helmet. The president accepted $26 000-worth of gifts last year.

There is no limit on the size of gifts a president can receive from a US citizen, but federal law requires him to declare them if they are valued at $285 or more.

Bush is no pauper, the financial disclosure document reveals that he invested millions of dollars in Treasury notes and certificates of deposit last year.

However, Trek - and mountain biking - are getting good value for the $2700. Bush is now a regular cyclist and is often pictured on his Trek Fuel.

Last year he told a reporter from the Associated Press: "Nothing compares to getting your heart rate up to 170-something, riding hard for an hour-twenty, getting off and not hurting, as opposed to 24 minutes of running, at the end of which I hurt. When you ride a bike and you get your heart rate up and you're out, after 30 or 40 minutes your mind tends to expand; it tends to relax."