please answer the question below and include this question as well. what are the steategies of the bicyle firms? support youe response.

Another successful bike manufacturer is Trek Bicycles. It has revenues that are similar to that of Pacific Cycles. It was founded by partners Richard Burke and Bevin Hogg in 1976. With $25,000 in seed money, Burke and Hogg started building bikes by hand in a Wisconsin barn. From the beginning, they targeted upper-end users and success came quickly. Today, customers pay top dollar for smooth suspensions, custom paint jobs, and innovations in racing geometry. With annua I sales of $400 million, Trek is now the country's number-one manufacturer of high-quality bikes and was perhaps the first US bike maker to overcome European resistance to American-made cycles by focusing on quality and innovation which have long been the company's hallmarks. Trek introduced its first mountain line in 1983, the first bonded aluminum bike in 1985 and a carbon-fiber road bike in 1986 Although the firm has mostly been fueled by internally developed products. Trek has made a few strategic acquisitions including Gary Fisher mountain bikes and two other mountain bike manufacturers. Trek now makes various types of bicycles including mountain, road, children 's, police bikes and BMX bikes. Internationaily, Trek bikes are sold through wholly owned subsidiaries in seven countries and through distributors in 65 others. Trok designs all of its bikes at its Wisconsin headquarters and manufactures a quarter of them in the US Finally. sponsoring seven-time Tour-de-France winner Lance Armstrong has given the company tremendous exposure and the centerpiece for a marketing plan than can be summed up as "Lance, Lance, Lance" Whereas Pacific Cycle and Trek represent the larger plavers in the US market, Montaque fits the profile of a boutiquestyle bike firm Frustration prompted Harry Montague, a Washington DC architect and inventor to develop the Montague line of high-performance, travel-friendly bikes. He was unable to find anything but small-wheeled folding bikes and they were both uncomfortable and inefficient for serious cyclists who wanted to take their bikes in the car or on public Each of these companies is in the same industry, but each of them pursues a very different business strategy. Using your knowledge of Porter's generic strategies: 1. Identify the generic strategy of each firm, the benefits of that generic strategy and the pitfalls associated with each. 2. How could each company combine generic strategies to produce an advantage that is both inimitable and sustainable? Whereas Pacific Cycle and Trek represent the larger plavers in the US market, Montague fits the profile of a boutiquestyle bike firm Frustration prompted Harry Montague, a Washington DC architect and inventor to develop the Montague line of high-performance, travel-friendly bikes. He was unable to find anything but small-wheeled folding bikes and they were both uncomfortable and inefficient for serious cyclists who wanted to take their bakes in the car or on public transportation. After much trial and error, Montague succeeded in developing a full-sized high performance folding bike that he then custom-buit and sold out of his garage for DC area riders. The business moved out of the garage when Harry's son David was required to write up a business plan for a course in entrepreneurship at MIT. After passing the course, David and his father formed the Montague Corp, to design and produce full-size bicycles that sacrifice little in performance while providing convenience for a targets market of customers. Today Montague is the world's leading manufacturer of folding bikes. All Montaque's bikes fold into a compact size in less than 30 seconds without the use of tools. They have been sold to the military for tactical- use and to several car manufacturers for promotional packaging with SUV's In 2004, over 18.3 million bicycles were sold in the United States. According to industry y trade reports, the total retail value of bikes, part and accessories was more than $6.7b. on There are hundeds of bicydes manufactures in the US, however, most are small, specialized firms. Pacific Cycle, which designs, markets, and imports a full range of bikes and recreation products under such familiar names as Schwinn, GT, Mongoose, pacific InSTEP. Roadmaster, Flexible Flyer, Powerlite, Murray and Dyna sells more bicycles than any other company in the United States. Its powerful brand portfolio serves virtu ally all consumer demographics, price categories and product categories, from children to mountain bikes to racing bikes). Pacific is one of the fastest growing branded consumer companies in the United States. It has achieved its success by combining its aggressive acquisition of power brands with low-cost outsourcing, efficient supply-chain management, and multi-channel retail distribution. Distributors include leading mass-market retailers such as Wat-Mart. Target and Toys-R-Us, sporting goods stores such as Dicks, and Sports Authority, and independent dealers serving local matkets. The company's brands appeal to a full spectrum of demographics, price preferences, and image and usage criteria that are critical to targeting the key consumer segments served by each channel. This broad-based marketing strategy enables Pacific to provide retailers with one-stop shopping and to respond efficiently to changes in the marketplace. Pacific cycle was recently acquired by Doral Inc: Another successful bike manufacturer is Trek Bicycles It has revenues that are similar to that of Pacific Cycles it was founded by partners Richard Burke and Bevin Hogg in 1976. With $25.000 in seed money. Burke and Hogg started bullding bikes by hand in a Wisconsin barn. From the beginning they targeted upper-end users and success came quickly. Today, customers pay top dollar for smooth suspensions, custom paint jobs, and innovations in racing geometry. With annua I sales of $400 milition, Trek is now the countrys number-one manufacturer of high-quality bikes and was perhaps the first US bike maker to overcome European resistance to American-made cycles by focusing on quality and innovation