Quote:
"Tom Ritchey made the best from from the start (He did invent the sport after all) to the finish IMHO His frames won more races than any other at all levels.
He also didn't sell out to the big bucks corporation and stayed faithful to steel and his own designs (unlike Klein, Yeti, KB, Fisher etc)"
This question always seems to let idiots like this vent themselves. Tom did not invent the sport, though he is happy to tell us all that he did.
The other guys did not sell out, economy of scale was pursued to make mtb's available to all. Trek stepped in to allow some great names to continue to design and the industry/sport/customer to benefit.