seypat

Still going.

https://www.bikeforums.net/road-cycl...ver-hater.html

bike eagle

Couldn't say. I'm more of a Star Trek guy myself.

bike eagle

Star Trek? Lover.

indyfabz

Meeza no sure about that.

big john

I had one of those new in 1988, I think. Before I took it home I had them change the rims and the red bar tape to black. Also took off the Biopace rings and put a 28 in the back. I rode it about 15K miles before it cracked around the BB.

3alarmer 

...I think maybe it depends on how old you are, and how you've experienced the two different companies from their early origins.

As I said earlier, Trek started out as an American manufacturing concern, in Wisconsin, marketing hand built American frames of pretty high quality, for what seemed at the time to be pretty good prices. So a lot of us still remember Trek like that. The, gradually, they became larger and more corporate in their marketing, and eventually offshored part, then all of their production to Asia. So if your first exposure was in the 70's/80's, you remember what the company once was, and how good the best Trek frames were to ride.

AFAIK, Specialized and the guy who started it, Mike Sinyard, has always made it a point to source from Asia, even to the point of sending the original Stump Jumper frame prototypes, (American designs,) over there to be copied. Again, this is something that has been argued about over the years, along with Specialized's extreme litigiousness. But again, they made and sold some very fine bicycles under the Specialized brand.

But if you're coming at it from a viewpoint of what's current, probably not that much is different. Other than the company histories.

Sierra_rider

I don't really harbor any hate in my heart towards Trek, it's just that I don't really like the look of their bikes. While appearance isn't everything, it is an important factor to me. The only Trek I've owned was a 2002ish 5200...eventually it succumbed to worn-out drop outs and the frame is now hanging on my shop wall. I don't necessarily fault Trek on that one. Nothing lasts forever, and for all I know, it could've been user error.

The other big reason is just the cost of them. I partake in a several different cycling disciplines and I can't afford Trek-level prices and be able to own several modern bikes. Most of my bikes are more value-conscious choices(Canyon.) I do have one fairly expensive non-Canyon (my Santa Cruz XC mtb.) It was definitely a Trek-level price and I don't really have a logical reason for choosing it over an online bike, other than it's just what I wanted.

mstateglfr 

Well there are certainly many explanations to an event.

Jughed

I don't think he was framed.

I think most people knew cycling was dirty, knew that Lance was dirty, Jan was dirty, Pantani was dirty - all of them were dirty. And ALL entities did what every they could to keep things covered up. And all the teams did whatever they could to keep things covered up***...

Lance was the top dog, so he was the target for the journalists and such - as he should have been.

Lance's world came crumbling down by his own doing - he came out of retirement. If he would have stayed on the sidelines, he still would be the 7x champ.


***Just like they do now.

bampilot06

Specialized prices are just as high, in some cases higher.

bampilot06

I don’t harbor hate towards any brand. I don’t think my treks are better than specialized, or any other brand out there. I buy trek because the shop has always treated me well. What I have noticed in the riders around me, the ones that are pro specialized, have such an arrogance view of the specialized brans That is what I don’t understand. Talking to them, you would think the tarmac was the greatest piece of cycling art ever made, and that every other bike out there is not even on the same level, especially trek.

Jughed

This.

I ride a Trek now because the LBS had a bike in stock that fit during Rona times - I didn't have to wait a year+... was it the bike I absolutely wanted, not really. Has it been a great bike, a bike that rides right next to all of the other bikes - week after week - yep.

In the end, between all of the major brands - there is very little real difference between the bikes.

Trek, Giant, Cannondale, Specialized... (insert brand name here)... you start the group ride, fondo, century and finish in just about the exact time/place regardless of brand - and dare I say it, regardless of how much $$$$ you spent (to a point).

terrymorse 

Untrue. Bolts come loose because of faulty design or improper installation.

A properly designed and installed fastener will not come loose under intended use.

I used to design space equipment that was subjected to a shake test. A loose fastener was a failure.

bampilot06

Weird, Mine came loose on my last ride, they were torqued to spec. I think my bottle becoming a brick of ice had something to do with it. Happened to look down and see it bouncing back and forth and quickly swapped it to the other cage.

Eric F 

Utter nonsense. Lance was intentional in his decisions, ruthless in his determination to win, and a @$$hole to people who got in his way or were no longer useful. At this point, it's no longer a question. The facts are known.

bampilot06

Not to mention, Landis was not winning and they came down hard on him first.

Trakhak

I briefly played in a rock band in the mid-'70's with an organist who worked as a machinist at the Sikorsky helicopter company. He said that he'd once spent two weeks machining an aluminum gasket ring for a spacesuit helmet. When he'd finished it, the guy from NASA mic'ed it and said it was out of spec.

So the keyboard guy sat around reading porn magazines for two more weeks and then told the NASA guy to come back for the "new" ring. He gave the same ring to the guy, who mic'ed it again and said it was perfect.

Reporting the story as told to me. Veracity not guaranteed.

Sierra_rider

I'm not arguing against that, Specialized isn't the best value proposition IMO. Unlike Trek, I do have a dislike for Specialized...my previous XC bike was a Specialized Epic(that I did not pay full retail on.) I learned my lesson on that bike, as the bike was addled with expensive and poorly designed proprietary componentry. I know my issues were specific to that model, and wouldn't cross over to a road bike, but I'm just unwilling to give further money to a company that locks owners into expensive maintenance on poorly designed components.

bruce19

I'm one of those who did not like what Trek did to Greg LeMond over the Lance Armstrong scandal. They put corporate profits over the sport and did it by throwing LeMond under the bus. So, screw 'em.

Jughed

I'm torn on that mess... like I said above, my Trek sits right next to my Lemond...

Morals, ethics, business - billions in sales (Trek driven sales from Lance) vs 10's of millions (sales of Lemond bikes)... Lemond said what he believed, unsubstantiated, unproven at the time. His words could cause potential huge losses to his parent company - way more than he ever made for them, way more than he probably would ever make for them. That was a flat business decision - and probably an easy one for any business manager to make.

terrymorse 

And let's not forget Landis did the most to take down Lance, with his whistle blower lawsuit, after Lance denied him a spot on the team.

bampilot06

I was given a 2015 epic frameset/ partial build for free and turned it down for the same proprietary reasons.

Eric F 

From my understanding in talking with people in the bike biz, Specialized has a history of being pretty crappy and demanding with their dealers. Trek, however, was really good to their dealers...until they started opening corporate shops in the same towns. There is a LBS in my area who has carried Trek as their primary line for many decades (since at least the '90s, possibly longer). Trek opened a corporate shop in the same city because they feel like there is more business to be squeezed from the area. It was a kick in the teeth to the loyal LBS.

terrymorse 

Bottle cage bolts are poorly designed, being too short to provide a spring tension. The same is true for chainring bolts.

Best to put some blue Loctite on the threads.

bblair

Did not know that about Trek and independent shops. Just none around here.

But your comment about chain and tires is not comparable. Those are consumable items. A properly torqued bolt will not vibrate loose. It just won't. If my car wheel was not torqued sufficiently and fell off, then it is 100% the shops fault. You don't check that on a regular basis.

Anyway, not my bike, not my problem. I just didn't like the way they handled a good customer. Done.