So sue me....

These are probably NOT the words to say around a certain 7 time Tour winner because he will, in all likelihood, do just that. Such is the fate of Skidstrong. Skidstrong, now Fisso, was the brainchild of Gary Boulanger the owner of Cycles Gaansari in Dayton, Ohio. I met Gary when he was in town for the Seattle bike expo and have exchanged e-mails with him over the years. He is without a doubt one of the nicest people in the bike business. Cycles Gaansari produce some stunning looking frames and his site is a thing of beauty. He started Skidstrong as a way to promote fixed gear riding while also giving money to the Bicycle Messenger Emergency Fund. The BMEF was established to help bike messengers - who typically make less than your average burger flipper - with medical bills that frequently come with the job. All was good for a few brief weeks and then Lance's legal team apparently thought that the general public might somehow actually think an obscure bike brand in Ohio might get confused with a 7 time Tour winner. Oh yeah, that makes a lot of sense. I respect the need to protect copyrights and frequently find myself in the position of protecting the copyrights of the company I work for. That said, Lance's people should have taken a step back and thought twice about what they were doing. I suspect the damage done to Lance's reputation is now greater than any damage that would have been the result of copyright infringement.