Out of 1029 reader votes, Lance Armstrong’s Trek road bike garnered nearly 18 percent of the poll, knocking CSC’s Canada-designed Cervelo bikes into second spot.
"Bike fans traditionally hankered for hand-crafted esoterica lovingly assembled by Italian artisans. Does the ascendancy of the two North American-designed bikes, one made in the US, the other in the far East, mean anything?" ponders John Stevenson of Cyclingnews.com
"It shows the truth of the old adage "win on Sunday, sell on Monday" but it might also be that the day of the romantic craftsman framebuilder is over."
In the best product of 2004 section, Shimano’s Dura-Ace was voted top by 122 people out of a vote of 741. Six people voted for the LAF Livestrong band. There were even five votes for Oakley’s Thump, the MP3-playing sunglasses (which should be remamed Thud because of the sales impact they’ve had…)
http://www.cyclingnews.com/…/jan05news
1 Shimano Dura-Ace 10 speed
2 fizik Arione saddle
3 Shimano Ultegra 10 speed
4 Look Keo pedal
5 SRM Dura-Ace cranks
6 Blood doping test
7 Compact Cranks
8 Zero Gravity brakes
8 Giro Atmos
10 Zipp 808
11 Polar S725 HR monitor
12 Zipp 202
12 Powertap SL
12 FSA Carbon Cranks
15 Livestrong band
15 Crank Bros Quattro pedals
15 Colnago C50 ultralight
15 Cannondale six13
19 Ridley X-Night
19 Oakley Thump