Scott Sports had bolted the U.S. bike market in 1997 after a buyout. (The firm got its start in Sun Valley, Idaho in 1958, selling the first aluminum skipole.) Montgomery persuaded Zaugg to reintroduce the firm's road and mountain bikes in the U.S.--with him as a vice president of Scott USA. Zaugg, admiring Montgomery's confidence and connections in the bike biz, figured Montgomery was the ideal front man.