Trek 520 discontinued?
 

I purchased a new Trek 520 in November of last year (2021)
I was on vacation in Maine and camped in 3 different spots and I got a chance to do some riding
Two different guys at the campgrounds told me the Trek 520 was discontinued. One said he worked at a Trek dealer
Is it true that Treks longest running bike they have made for nearly 40 years is no longer being produced?
If so, does Trek have a replacement or are they getting out of the touring market?

The website lists a 2023 model, but states it is no longer available. Very confusing.
https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/b...0/520/p/24000/

I suppose Trek has or will make an announcement. It could either be the long term effects of the pandemic or changing their marketing target to gravel bikes

Probably pandemic shortage and possibly a date change that might not actually be the case. I know from Specialized they will roll a year forward but the actual product is previous year or earlier in some cases. Not necessarily in a bad way but if they didn't have a change to make they didn't make it.

It is possible they are getting rid of it but I feel like there might be a farewell or send off for it seeing as how it has been in the Trek line up since 1983 and recently was redone with a alloy fork.

Looking at their website it looks like any bike that is out of stock online has the same announcement.

It looks like there is a 2023 model in size 54 in a shop in San Francisco.

I had one for many years and it was an outstanding bike. My first tour on mine (model year 1990) was remarkable in that the only adjustment needed down the whole of the West Coast was a slight tightening of the headset.

For the last few years, they have been putting aluminum forks on them, and some fairly sketchy components. I guess this bike isn't a big money-spinner for them compared to all the $15K project one bikes.

All of the 2023 MY 520’s have been spoken for… a few Trek Dealers have them in stock, and some Such as my LBS has 2 in stock and several more on back order. The Trek Rep told my LBS not to worry, there will be a 2024 MY 520…

This is what the website says now:

"This product is no longer available online, but it could be in stock at your local Trek shop! Check in-store availability below."

Touring bikes have been a low production run item for many years, so it's not much of a surprise that they're not available from the manufacturer in the fall. Check back in March or April.

But is the model year really a full year ahead of the calendar year??

MY starts in May… so yes MY 23 is May 2022-April 2023. Trek only does so many runs of a bike model per year… They don’t keep track of inventory sitting on the dealers show room floor or storages. Trek (and other companies) only care about their inventory on hand at their warehouses, that is why online Trek shows out of stock and recommends calling your LBS for local inventory

Not unlike auto manufacturers. I bought my 2017 Subaru Forester in mid-June of 2016. Had no idea that is how it works. Assumed the 2017s would not become available until mid-fall of 2016. Last time I had bought a car was in late 1994. It was MY 2005.

The message on their website is applicable to almost all of their bikes.. I recently purchased a 2023 FX Sport 6 and the website said the same for it. I went into a Trek corporate store and was able to order it in size L through them. I had to put 10% down and get on the wait list.. Took a few months to come in and I was told I could cancel the order at anytime for a full refund of my deposit...

I assume this is just standard now for them so they can manage demand and shortages better..

Does anyone in here think a big reason why others are eating the trek 520s lunch is because of the aluminum fork ? I’ve been a trek fan since I got back into biking several years back and the aluminum fork is a deal breaker for me. I just can’t reconcile it in planning my next bike build/purchase.

Are Trek 520 sales down? That I have not heard
I have only been riding bikes for about 10 years and only touring for the past 2 years
Can anyone really tell the difference between riding with an aluminum, steel, carbon fiber, or titanium fork?

I have a LeMond Poprad which is all steel including the fork
I have a Trek 520 that is all steel except for the aluminum fork
I cannot tell the difference in the ride

The ride isn’t the issue.

Don't know how large a presence Trek has in Europe, but many of their competitors there use aluminum forks for their touring bikes and have done so for many years.

Edit: just looked up Koga-Miyata's (well-respected) touring and trekking bikes. For those bikes, their search filter lists five fork types, including variants of carbon and aluminum, with or without suspension. None are steel.

What specifically is it about the aluminum fork that you don't like?

I own two bikes that came with aluminum forks. I have been happy with the forks. Both bikes were 1990 vintage Cannondales (bought new) and are now very high mileage bikes. The ride characteristics are great on both bikes as far as I can tell. I have always really liked both bikes.

Both have held up to normal wear and tear well. The road bike is very high mileage. I don't know the total mileage, but it had a number of 10,000 mile years back in the day and regular usage since then. The mountain bike saw lots of off road use on the rough trails of Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, as well as a good bit of travel to other states for wountain biking. It also did some touring on mixed road/trail surfaces.

The fork on the road bike did ultimately break in a crash. I squarely hit a car at maybe 20-25 mph. The fork was bent and had a crack at the bend. A carbon fork probably would have failed too. Steel might have been able to be straightened, but maybe not. The frame was okay and I'd have happily put on an original aluminum fork if I could have found one, but I wound up putting on a carbon one. The bike has since gone coast to coast, done a few years of daily commuting (on loan to a family member), and done a bunch of recreational day rides. I tried to estimate the mileage on the bike and my best guess is 100,000 miles

I agree with staehpj1's post above. My all-time favorite bike is a fixed-gear Specialized Langster with oversize aluminum frame tubes and an oversize straight-blade fork. In fact, all of my favorite bikes are aluminum, and several have aluminum forks, all with high mileage. For a touring bike, I'd seek out bikes like the Trek, with aluminum forks.

Forks
 

I thought that the Cannondale touring bikes all had Cro-mo forks?

Crit race bike that I U/L toured on and mountain bike that I toured on.

If they seemingly already sold out their run for this year, why would you conclude they’re selling poorly?

What makes you think Trek is getting eaten up by the competition? Have any sales # that show a larger decline for Trek when compared to other bike brands? I assume all manufacturers suffered, and are still suffering, though COVID and the parts shortages.

The message on their site is pretty consistent across all bikes, components and parts. I ordered a carbon stem last week that had the same non availability message. I called Trek dealer and they ordered it.. Easy-peasy..

sales aren’t shown on the 520… infact with the introduction of the 520 Grando sales increased due to the “Gravel-Adventure” Hype. Not declined…

BTW… Last shipment of 2023 520 Grandos came into my LBS last week and he’s sold out until MY 2024.

There have been rumors of the 520 being discontinued before.

It appears they spin-up the factory lines to do a limited run of them (not surprising, given that there is a limited interest in the touring market).

People see "run out" as meaning discontinued when it (appears) to mean just a short/limited production run.

Many did. Some of the highest end ones had aluminum forks.

The [steel] 720 was always better.

If the 520's lunch is being eaten by competitors, it's due to recent quirky design like that axle release that nobody else uses and the lack of value for the cost of the bike.