Salamandrine 

Sure, but since this is the C&V forum, I think the "Early" era should be divided in two. Early early boutique handbuilt period, and late early full line period.

Originally Trek was sort of a craft brewer. Basically all their bikes were high end. We mostly sold frames and built them to suit at the LBS where I worked. I guess they theoretically had a line of assembled bikes but we ignored it. Perhaps this was a shipping cost issue. I always had the impression they were brazed together by hippies in the midwest. They were well made and a solid value.

Around 1984 or so, they set up a new factory, and introduced a full line at various price points. These are the bikes with special cast seat lugs and dropouts. The rep convinced us to carry the full line, basically sliding into the slot that Motobecane had recently vacated by going under. There were a few teething problems, but they were pretty nice bikes for the most part.

79pmooney

One thing that Trek and one particular shop did aggressively in Portland (so I am told; it was before I got here) was once in town, start buying shops and switching them over to Trek. Many other shops that carried mixed lines could not compete and disappeared. There are old timers here who still resent Trek for doing that.

My gripe is that a lot of mechanics know Trek-Shimano and little else. The good thing is that in Portland, a counter culture has thrived in recent years.

Ben

Cyclist0108

Thanks!

I think I am starting to take on the personality traits.

BTW I am originally from the land of Schwinn, and my sister moved to Madison about 25 years ago.

CroManganMan

Over 10 years ago I talked to a respected bike shop owner who said Trek approached him and said they wanted his shop to carry Trek. The deal with Trek was that you could only carry their bikes, clothing, etc. and nothing from any other companies. The owner said no thanks and still doesn't carry Trek bikes.

I don't like current Trek for that reason and I think that is monopolistic business policy. But the classic Treks look like good bikes and I'd have no issue owning one.

Chrome Molly

I agree with this and think it is probably less about the transition to Lance as an overnight thing. Maybe better said as the high end steel era, the aluminum/carbon era (that covers Lance), and post Lance.

The golden period of the steel era is 85 and prior IMO, mainly pre 83.

Bikerider007

I also think it's Regional. Trek is loved in the East.

But the new Treks are popular in Az groups and most valley clubs know who the "Trek guys" are on the westside. One is an owner of shop and they hold A-B-C group rides on the weekends that always exceed 100+ riders (even dead of summer 6am ride). Multiple kitted clubs show but Trek guys lead and break away as they ride high avgs. I'm sure some others hang as well. Bgroup is 20mph ish average. A is supposed 25+. People talk of it like local legends.

I have come across them at stops with other groups rides, but last week went to their ride on my own. The first several miles before getting dropped in the hills it was 26-29 mph. I ride my Klein and don't have a Garmin so I lost the route and ended up with 32 miles at 19.3 on my own. I think they do 50 miles fast. Legit rep.

bradtx

chr0m0ly, Back in '97 I ordered a 7000ZX. Everyone that knew I was in the market for a new mountain bike asked me "Why a Trek? There are so many of them around." I still have it and won't ever sell it so it was then a very good choice for some simple reasons. I did try a lot of other brands, but sight unseen, other than a magazine ad, the Trek was the one.

Brad

T-Mar

Yes, but what are they supporting by wearing those jersies? Is it the big corporate sponsor? I doubt it. More likely it is a favourite rider or possibly the bicycle brand ridden by the team.The big corporate sponsors are only along for the ride out of necessity. Cycling became a big money sport in the mid-1980s, due to American influence, and with that came the big corporations who started absorbing lots of smaller companies.

Most of the avid cyclists that I know, support what they believe to be smaller companies/brands, even if they are owned by a larger corporation. The avid cyclist has always gravitated towards the smaller artisan builder, believing that the product was superior. While many of the large mass manufacturers are capable of building just as good a bicycle, most serious cyclists would rather have something built by a name master craftsman producing a small volume of frames per year than the faceless employee of a mass market manufacturer.

While they are anti-establishment, most avid cyclists also tend to be elitist. But then, both are ways of standing out from the crowd.

Brennan

Yes, and it's a freakin' great bike. I love it!

Chombi1 

Hey, Cudahy!!....



...

vtchuck

I own a 660 frame, same as yours, with the True Temper team tubing and it is my first choice to ride in spite of the fact that I hate the powder blue decals. I also owned a 1200... white with red decals. Loved the way it looked, the ride was just meh to me.

Also own a Trek / Lemond Maillot Jaune OCLV Carbon Fiber. Very light, but I can't generate any enthusiasm for it. Has been for sale for a while

Maillot Jaune

StarBiker

I like the powder blue decals. Out of all the colors I have seen for this year this is the one I like the most. I do not like red and white. Pink and aqua?
The pictures don't do the bike justice. Plus it has the mavic ma40 rims. Much nicer than the matrix rims many of these bikes came with. Many compliments. And they are hard to get in the DC/New York 95 corridor.

vtchuck

I know the 660 with the true temper tubing is not very common. 89 model if I remember correctly. Shortly after Trek stopped making steel racing bikes, so the model was kind of the end of an era. I got mine as a bare frame in a trade.

I changed out the contrast color to red... bar tape, cables, straps, bottle and I like it better. Picture before the change:

660

3speedslow

Great job decking that one out! I only rode a friend's for awhile. He was a food delivery guy and loved his Earl too. He said it was indestructible. I seem to remember when they first came out they had some good tubing but in its short run, gained some weight.

Have you ever used the bottle opener?

DiabloScott

A few people have touched on this, but Trek the company is more polarizing than Trek bikes are.

Shop/dealership exclusivity contracts gone bad.
Buying other brands and killing them: Klein, Lemond, Gary Fischer
Selling Trek brands as if they weren't Trek brands: Icon, Bontrager
Opening Trek only stores like Start to Finish that competed with contracted dealers
Marketing themselves as an American company but hardly making any bikes in USA

I have a Klein and the most frequent comment I get about it is "Too bad Trek killed them off"
The only Trek I've ever had is my fixed-gear commuter District S... cheap but I love it, and no one else made anything like it when I was shopping.

Brennan

Thanks. I don't know if the tubing changed, but I have one of the earliest models. I believe it's a 2011. Bought it used on craigs for $300. I will concede that many of the stock components were cheap and heavy, but I had a lot of higher quality parts on hand that made a big difference. Once there are decent components on there, it's a really nice ride, because it's a good frame beneath it all. The twin top tube chromoly really helps the frame flex like a spring, which soaks up the harsh roads around here, and the top tubes are long, which makes swept back city bars, like the ones I used, very comfy. At some point, I'm going to get a better quality wheelset with a 3-speed IGH, but the single speed is serving my purposes for now (all-weather errand/commute bike, basically). As for the bottle opener, I think I've used it once, but most of the time I forget it's on there. I just think of that part of the frame as the place where my U-lock goes. I even sewed a velcro strap to the frame to keep the lock secured while riding. Best U-lock mount I've ever used. So convenient for city riding.

StarBiker

$22 at a thrift store two months ago. Tubes, tires, seat. Soon new brake levers, cables, and bar tape. I am sticking with blue.

I prefer green gold, maybe I will find another 520 that will fit.

StarBiker

I don't think I have paid $300 combined for the last ten bikes I have bought. Made about 6 times that though.

Brennan

Do you shop for bikes in the SF Bay Area? If not, take a gander at the bike section on craigslist SF...

StarBiker

I am located in the Baltimore Metro. Being on the dole often doesn't translate well to the hundreds people are willing to pay. Even if I could I would never pay it. Unless it was an amazing deal at said price, and I had the cash.

The most expensive garment I ever sold was to a San Fran buyer.

I have occasionally looked at the San Fran CL. Mostly for audio equipment. Audio is what led me into the whole thrift store thing. Local thrifts are awful now, but they use to be a goldmine. But occasionally.....

Okay, off topic. Sorry.

Bikerider007

Old Treks here are pretty cheap here as well and tend to sit. I missed a nice one at $60 but watched others in the $150-200 range but decided not to.

Funny you mentioned that @DiabloScott, in reference to the Trek guys here the shop owner looked at my Klein the first time I met him and he said something like...oh those are nice but have the long dropout that breaks off. I said no this one does not have that dropout like those Cannondale. I almost said that must have been the Trek years but bit my tongue as the other guys were a bit in awe that we chatted.

2cam16

I second Brad. I have the exact same '97 7000ZX which I bought earlier this year. Restored it and it is one of my favorite bikes in my steed. My one and only Trek and I love it.

noglider 

I worked in a Trek shop in summer 2011. They didn't require us to carry all Trek and only Trek but there was a minimum of some kind. We had Bontrager accessories and other brands. They also supplied the computer software which was good, so that's a benefit. I see good and bad. It's a big company, so you have to expect it to act like a big company, good and bad.

nlerner

The first and only complete new bicycle that I have bought was a Trek 412, purchased from Palo Alto bikes with pretty much all of the money I had at the time, just after college in 1982:



I knew about Treks from a high school friend who had gone to college in the midwest, but I likely walked into Palo Alto bikes, knew about how much I wanted to spend, and let the dude on the floor do the rest (up to that point, I had been riding my brother's Peugeot UO8, upgraded with alloy wheels, but he took it back before I left for CA).

A couple of years later, I had a head on crash with another cyclist on Stanford's campus and bent the down tube and top tube of the Trek. The fork was fine, which led me to write to Trek and complain that the fork should have absorbed the impact and bent, not the frame. They never replied. I continued to ride the 412, but it didn't handle particularly well.

A few years after that, the Trek was stolen outside of the Menlo Park Caltrain station. I might have locked it up that day or maybe not. I've owned quite a few used Treks since that time, but none has been a keeper. They were all reasonably nice but kind of meh.

DiabloScott

Yeah, that weird long dropout wasn't a Klein thing, but mine has the weird reverse micro dropout... actually I love it.