wheelreason

Funny seeing that bike on the snow, My LS rusted out from the inside...

Maelochs

Right? Do you think CF frames require special Frame Maintenance? Do you know anyone with a CF bike who does extra Frame Maintenance? if you, please list the details.

See ... when you post ignorant and wholly invented crap like this, people tend to think that maybe your claims are unreliable and your opinions are pure BS.

Nobody care what bike you ride if everything you post is nonsense.

terrymorse 

Another example: Team Z’s carbon frames with Greg Lemond branding were made by Calfee. The story goes that Lemond faxed Calfee the specs for a frame, and Calfee delivered the finished frame 4 days later.

SurferRosa

This is more rich than all your sales thread posts where you mention to no one interested that it's not your size!

Velo Mule

I know that sometimes you have to "Stand by your man".
For me, it is buying and then dissolving brands. It appears that Bontreger is going to be the latest victim. This is nothing new in business though.

So, I don't dislike them. I just like them less than I used to.

Steel Charlie

For me the traditional RED Specialized bikes have always been faster. Simple as that.

wheelreason

That rock must have been very uncomfortable...

bampilot06

I think trek is removing bontrager from everything except the wheels. I forgot what my buddy said about it. The good news, expect some crazy sales soon on bontrager products.

Maelochs

I have no clue but I would assume that whatever contract Trek had with Bontrager had a time limit and that limit has been reached, and in the future Trek will brand its own parts. By now, I think only old people remember when the name Bontrager had any meaning, so it is no longer a marketing tool ... it is just "Trek's house brand."

I am sure Keith Bontrager has long since cashed out for as much cash as he could get and could do pretty much anything he wanted ... seeing his name on a random bike stem probably doesn't elevate his heart rate much.

Shadco 

corwin1968

The only problem I have with Trek is their choice of financing companies. Citizen's Bank should be put out to pasture.

Steel Charlie

Clearly, Trek has no shame.
HAHAHAHA

terrymorse 

Think you used a big enough font size there, Butch?

Shadco 

I don’t know you would have to ask the Trek marketing department.




.

Steel Charlie

Too much is never .......

terrymorse 

FYI, I was going for this Butch Cassidy reference:

Bully4

I don't care about their marketing, my Madone just fits and feels fast. My favorite bike. It's way faster than my abilities. But, it just feels right.

Plus, my LBS in Altoona always treats me well.

Can't ask for much more.

I might start whining though, if the seat breaks off. lol

base2 

That down tube hurts to just look at it. It screams hungry graphic design gig worker.

I like red/white together. But, I wouldn't buy that bike because that, whatever that is, is over the top awful.

It's like the ever growing hood ornaments and insignia on cars nowadays. It used to be that a brand had an image, a style, some identifying feature that set it apart. Think the shape of a Coke bottle or Jeeps 7 vertical bars on the grill. Or even the driver side window forward drop near the mirrors on a Ford truck...Instantly recognizable as a defining characteristic of a brand. Now, the logo is so often the defining feature. Lazy. Desperate. Billboard for status seeking fools.

That down tube cheapens Trek.

Shadco 

Ah ha, now I get it. Slow on the uptake I am sometimes.

.

Shadco 

Conversely




.

Atlas Shrugged

Seriously? Remember the Trans Am screaming chicken on the hood, HEMI plastered on the side of some garishly purple or mint green car. From what I recall Masi, Pinarello, Olmo etc. took up the whole down down tube in contrasting colours, just it was small tube that’s all. Back in the day all bikes were effectively made from the same materials and looked identical other than paint and graphics, that was a time of “status seeking fools” because effectively they were all the same if that is your perspective. There are many examples of modern bicycles with very subtle graphics and yet the same old men who yell at clouds complain about those boring blacked out bikes. Trying to build a case around one extreme example is sad. Then insulting them is pathetic.

base2 

I think you've missed the point.
Give this a read:
Martin Lindstrom


TLDR;
In conclusion:
The red/white Trek in the picture isn't the only failure. It is one of many. The giant billboard is a hack. It's a cheat code for personality. It totally overpowers and blots out all other potential genuine differentiating aspects of the bike. In short, that logo, in that way...It subtracts value.

At least the all black, blacked out image you provide allows the unique silhouette shape and other proportions of frame design to become apparent. The name is there. But the company manufacture is the least important aspect of the product identity. Paint & graphics is not "brand."

The second bike, as far as these things go, sort of gets it "right." It is unmistakably Trek by way of bulbous head tube top tube junction, top tube curvature flowing to seat stay & seat mast designs among other features. Features you don't get to see in the red/white example because it is so garish to look at. The design, it says "Trek" moreso than the graphics. In this particular case, in spite of the graphics.

To be fair, neither is very good at establishing a unique identity. That's probably the reason for the billboard in the first place. I stand by my original assertion.

Trakhak

On the topic of "unique identity":

I always enjoy reading the "what is this bike?" C&V threads that crop up frequently. Remove the decals from any of a thousand steel 1"-top-tube-1 1/8"-down-tube '70's and '80's bike models, change the components, and repaint, and it will usually take several of the resident experts and at least a dozen or more posts before a guarded consensus emerges, if it ever does.

Which explains why, back in the days when the body governing British bike racing prohibited the application of frame decals for advertising the bike brand, builders resorted to the use of unusual and easily identifiable features (e.g., Hellenic or wavy stays).

Those Treks, and other modern bikes, will likely be no more difficult to identify in the future than those C&V steel bikes.

Steel Charlie

I have one of each of these. I really don't care for the gross logos but it is easy to live with since they're such great rides.
And totally black bikes are totally boring. A simple truth, not opinion.

Jughed

Logo’s, talk about logo’s…

This is a bike from the other side of the Trek story… he couldn’t fit his brand on enough places of the bike!! (And I love it)