jamesdak 

Well I went with them last year when I started biking because I got a good deal on a Madone 4.5. 4 months of riding and the RD shattered one day and totally fractured the seat stay. Took 4 months (LBS seemed to be dragging their feet) but Trek replaced with frame with a 2011 Madone 5.9. Total cost to me was just barely over $100.

Now according to Trek's warranty the Shimano components are covered by Shimano, not them. So legally I guess the truly responsible party was Shimano but Trek warranteed the item. I still have a bad taste in my mouth due to the whole experience but after talking with other local bikers I think the LBS was responsible for more of the delay than Trek.

So, draw your own conclusions on this. I do know that after about the 2nd month I contacted Trek directly and they replied back the same day telling me that no claim had been filed yet.

bonz50

I've never had a problem with trek bikes... have an old (early 90's) steel mtb in the garage the wife ride and I have a newer al mtb i use for family riding, have previously had a session for dh/fr duty (parted ways with that about 3yrs ago)... they have all been problem free and worked fine...

but the bontrager saddles on all of them sucked monkey nuts... and i'm not particularly impressed with the wheels, durable, but so friggin heavy I could mount them on my truck on not have problems... the bontrager stuff overall is bullet-proof, just horrendously heavy stuff and if you look at the msrp of that same stuff its very overpriced...

I wouldn't ~not~ buy a trek, but i surely wouldn't put them at the top of my list either... lot of other bikes out there for similar prices and ihmo are at least equal or better... but I also wouldn't eliminate them from my list either just because of their name...

Crappymonkey

My father has an older Trek 2300 composite with 105 that has been very good to him. He just replaced the wheelset after almost ten years of use. Personally I don't have any problems with Trek other than their bikes appear very generic to me.

On a side note does anybody know if it might be possible to move the components from my father's Trek to one of those Chinese carbon frames (not sure if the 105 is a ten speed though)? He's been lusting for an aero carbon frame for years and it might make a nice 60th birthday gift for him in March.

BikeWise1

Or not. More on that in a moment.

I have been a Trek dealer for many years, and have lots of happy customers because I have a maintained a good working relationship with Trek that benefits my customers. Never yet had them turn down a warranty claim I have submitted. Never failed to replace a bad wheel. Or saddle. Or tire. Or.....anything! I have dealt with several other brands in my 3+ decades in the business and can say no one does warranty better more consistently.

I feel that part of the problem is that people don't read the legal document that is the warranty before they buy, then blow a fuse when something they think should be covered isn't. Read the warranty before you buy! Know what you're getting into.

Is Trek perfect? Far from it. I have my complaints as a dealer, and it pains me to see more and more production sent outside the US. I understand, of course, that they have to respond to market pressures, and when their main competitors make nothing (and haven't for decades) in the US, they have to act in such a way as to continue to support their customers. That means more products are made in Asia.

The new Bontrager tires and saddles are really good and there aren't many other brands with such a thorough "love it or bring it back" policy. They have made it so that there is no risk in trying their stuff, which is more than I can say for many, many other companies.

Love 'em or hate 'em, they do a lot more for the cause of bike advocacy than the vast majority of bike companies.

Back to the waterrockets case: That guy was totally out of line demanding brand new stuff to replace a piece of gear he knowingly purchased used without any warranty from another racer. Admittedly trying to "save money", he made a poor assumption that because he spends lots of time on BF, and has a good reputation as a racer, that it entitled him to defacto warranty coverage. He seemed to be attempting to extort a new frame by telling everyone he would go out of his way to tarnish Trek's reputation if they didn't accede to his demands. At least that's how it looked. Had he purchased a new one through authorized channels, and Trek had denied the warranty, then I would have been just as upset as he appeared to be.

BikeWise1

That's the shop's problem right there. I usually take the appropriate pictures and submit the claim right there in front of the customer and then follow up with a phone call to my warranty rep. Trek can't act unless the dealer does first!

Adrianinkc

Completely agree. I think people have had bad experiences because of they're lbs and not so much trek.

twobadfish

Who cares if your bike is assembled or manufactured in the USA? Nobody complains about Toyota, Honda, etc for not being made in the USA. Hell, the reliability of those cars over Ford, Chevy is proven to be better.

I don't really care much what brand bicycle I ride as long as it's fairly priced and made from quality components. Trek IMO is overpriced what they offer.

patentcad

That could be because 90% of those cars are made in the USA.

RacerOne

Just to clarify on this.. does this mean you don't submit some claims because you see for yourself they don't meet the warranty standards? ie, the wheel is tacoed and the frame is cracked / scratched up from an obvious crash so you say I'm not even submitting that? Or everything you've ever sent in, regardless of condition / circumstances Trek has warrantied?

RacerOne

+1, my cousin helped build my Toyota in Princeton, IN.

twobadfish

I think you know what I meant. Stop wasting my time.

RacerOne

Actually, I quite like the fact my bike says 'Made in USA' on it.. but I'm sentimental in that 'I'd like my country to remain able to produce some of it's own stuff' kind of way.

LesterOfPuppets

The "Buy American" sentiment was pretty strong in the 70s and 80s.

Like RacerOne, I'm pretty stoked by the American Flag flying on my Trek's frame and on my KHS.

I'll probably never buy new Trek, I can't afford their ad budget.

Used low end Trek track record :
1988 Trek 400T road bike - meh,
1999 Trek 4000 - pretty sweet ride for the price.

twobadfish

Right. There is a difference between being assembled in America and being made from parts made in China or Japan and designed in those same countries.

twobadfish

But somebody has to make note of various semantic interpretations regardless of context. How else can they +1 their post count when they don't actually have anything to contribute?

twobadfish

Yeah I get your point but it just gets played out and tiresome.

twobadfish

Haha, is that a play on words meant to describe pcad as played out and tiresome? Well done!

twobadfish

Thanks. Maybe we should make a thread about it? He will rue the day! lollercicles

bonz50

Toyota recalled 1.7 million more cars today... their quality/reliability is no longer any better than the domestics... for many years it was... no longer a true statement though.

personally i don't care where my bike is made, as long as it works fine I'm good with it... any more the only thing that would be made in usa is the frame... most of the components are just bolted onto a made in usa frame... doesn't matter to me

BikeWise1

Yep.....Honda, Toyota, Kia, Nissan, Hyundai, BMW, Mercedes, and VW all have US plants. Does it matter? It sure does to South Carolina if BMW's impact in that state is any indication. According to the report by the Moore School of Business, the Spartanburg plant has contributed $8.8 billion and a total of 23,000 jobs to the state economy since its inception 16 years ago.

The attitude of "who cares where it's made as long as it's cheap" is why our cities are full of empty buildings that used to employ millions. But that's a whole 'nuther topic. :-)

StanSeven

You're basing your statement on cars with old information:

https://www.jdpower.com/autos/ratings...ings-by-brand/

LesterOfPuppets

Toyota quality started dipping in the 90s. I had a bunch of 80s and up to 1991 Corollas that were all awesome. 1996 Camry had some gremlins.

longbeachgary

My only complaint with Trek is that it comes with Bontrager parts. It just can't be that Bontrager is the right spec for every bike they make - and if they do it because of price then the bikes should be cheaper than comparable bikes not more expensive.

My wife has a 4.7 that has been a good bike - doesn't shift the way I'd like it to but I think that's because it's a triple.

twobadfish

You're right... American car companies have become far more reliable than past years. According to that link, overall, it still looks like they are behind foreign car companies with most of them having 1+ categories with 2 star ratings.

I was just making the point that there isn't necessarily a correlation between being foreign made and quality.

JazNine

Trek is the number one selling bike brand in the USA (not counting mass merchant bikes). They're doing something right because more people are choosing them than others. I think their sales volume is one reason they are not seen as exclusive or especially cool, kind of like Toyota. I bought a Trek 2.3 at least in part because of some promotional copy that made me laugh. They described the 2.3 as "the bike Lance Armstrong would ride if he rode aluminum." The thought of Lance racing an aluminum bike with 105 components was just funny. Made me wonder what tricycle he'd choose "if he rode a tricycle" or what sort of recumbent he'd ride "if he rode sitting in an easy chair."