50PlusCycling

My favorite bike was a Trek, my wonderful 660 with its Reynolds 531 frame and Campy Victory group set. Of all the numerous bikes I have had over the years, this was the one with the sweetest ride, the best geometry, and the one which I had the best pedal stroke.

I don’t have much interest in more modern Treks, but I bought a new Precaliber for my daughter, largely because there is a Trek dealer only a few steps from where I live.

bblair

Perhaps a poor choice of words. Around here, you can only buy a Trek bike at a corporate Trek store. And they only sell Trek bikes and Trek gear there. Shoes, gloves, wheels....all Trek. So, good for them; I can't buy Toyota parts at the Chevy dealer either. I just like to support my LBS, because the same guy is there year after year.

Now, the other guy's bike. If I buy a car, I would assume that it had been assembled properly. Failure happens, but not so soon. Someone's fault, but I certainly don't check my water bottle bolts regularly, do you? "Basic bike maintenance" shouldn't have to include checking on someone else's work.

ScottCommutes

In my experience, some things are just hard to engineer and stand behind, even for the most reputable companies. Water bottle cages could be permanently attached, but apparently that is not best practice. Best practice is to check your bolts. Companies can't give away freebies every time something happens in the world.

On a side note, a BBQ grill that stands up in 99% of the world might rust out at the shore. A BBQ grill that will survive the shore is over-engineered for everyone else. At some point, end users need to accept that products are made a certain way for a certain benefit and stop whining about the manufacturer's choices.

Steel Charlie

We used to call those "JRA's". As in, " I was just riding along and the fork bent back to the frame ".

Chuck M 

Wouldn't that have been on whoever installed the bottle cage?

Fahrenheit531 

They're just not interesting to me. Generally bland colors and a real "lowest common denominator" vibe, both in their vintage and newer offerings.
Not that this matters. I just thought I'd go ahead and post in a thread that's been on BF longer than I have.

Joe Bikerider

Just saw on our local Fox outlet KTVU a bit from their greatest cheaters show. Right up front Lance Armstrong. I agree.

rsbob 

Face it, some people dislike everything or if they are obstreperous, anything you might like. IMO, life is way too short to get caught up in brand hatred unless they are doing something horrible to people or the planet. If that’s the case, boycott them. Too much hatred in this world already. Off soap box.

shelbyfv

Didn't take the world long to resume patronage of Mercedes, Audi, Merck, Bayer, DB, Hugo Boss, etc etc. I'll confess to buying Yuengling beer again after a brief wrestle with conscience.

Desert Ryder

As far as like or dislike Trek as a company...Meh. They seem to make a decent product at different price points.
I have 1 Trek in my quiver of bikes.It's not high end and, if I recall correctly, I paid $20 for it. Real reason I bought it was because it is a 19.5" frame and the $20.
It's functional, reliable, comfortable, and fits me well.

2008 Trek Alpha 3700

bike eagle

I had to google "Yuengling beer controversy." Thanks for the tip. I'll have to buy even more of it now.

shelbyfv

Try the Black and Tan.

indyfabz

How do you pronounce “Yuengling”?

indyfabz

I’d buy less of it, but I can’t, because I don’t buy any now, because it’s meh.

shelbyfv

You don't want to hear how it sounds from my grits-mouth.

Outrider1

Subjective data point here. I love my Trek Emonda ALR 5 that I purchased new in 2016. I replaced all the typical parts; wheels, tires, saddle, and bars, however, it's still a joy everytime I ride it. I also am wondering if the folks dissing on Trek are doing so because of the Lance factor versus having owned one and didn't care for the bike. Also, my LBS sold to Trek about a year ago and the same staff manages and works at the store providing the same top-shelf service I've become accustomed to.

Chuck M 

Years ago when Yuengling was only distributed East of the Mississippi, someone brought some back from a trip for me to try. I was not impressed. Then last year when it was made available in Oklahoma, a lot of restaurants yanked COOP F5 which is an Oklahoma product to put Yuengling on draught. That lasted a minute.

Back on topic... I've been very happy with my Domane and I didn't give a rat's patoot if Lance Armstrong used PEDs or took a shortcut every stage when I shopped for that bike. I wanted a new road bike and at the time we had a LBS in town that I wanted to support instead of going to Tulsa or buying sight unseen online. The shop I bought it from closed not because Trek forced them out of business, but because this was just not a profitable endeavor for them in this small town.

indyfabz

I bought a used one of those back in college in '87. kind of a burnt red with yellow decals. 531 tubing. Campy Nuovo drivetrain with black Modolo brakes with aero levers. It marked the day I became a serious cyclist.

Rode the carp out of it in all sorts of conditions. Finally developed a crack in the head tube so I relegated it to the trainer. One afternoon, I dialed it up 400 watts and snapped the right chainstay clean through. Loved that bike. I actually rode it behind both 7-11 and Coors Light one day before the US Pro Championship.

Lamont Cobb

I think that Lance was framed. Not that he was completely innocent. But I think that the Europeans were jealous of an American winning too much, so they came down hard on him.

Trsnrtr

QFT. People love to dislike stuff. Life is short, move on.

tkamd73 

I like Trek, but all of mine are from the 70s and 80s, when Trek was new and cool, and the frames came mainly out of Wisconsin.
Tim

seypat

Might as well keep it going.

https://www.bikeforums.net/road-cycl...bontrager.html

Turnin_Wrenches

It is not true that all Trek stores are corporately owned. There are still plenty of independent Trek dealers that carry Trek along with other brands. Independent dealers are under pressure from changes in the industry, that is true. In addition to more corporate stores, there is more of a "direct to consumer" effort by Trek in which the independent dealers get the "short end of the stick" via lost business and/or smaller margins for the same amount of work. However, Specialized is doing the exact same thing to its dealers. Canyon is "even worse" with its 100% direct to consumer model that bypasses dealers altogether. Yes, Trek deserves some criticism, but let's be fair about it. There is plenty of criticism to go around.

As for your water bottle cage "incident" in which you place 100% of the blame on the shop that built the bike, I'm calling major BS on that claim. Are you kidding me??? Bolts come loose all the time from normal, regular use. Road vibration is the common culprit. There is a certain amount of maintenance responsibility that falls on the owner of just about any product. Bicycles are no different. Do you expect your tires to never lose pressure after the bike shop inflates them? When they lose pressure is that the fault of the bike shop? If the bike shop lubricates your chain and it goes dry several weeks later because you failed to clean and relube the chain, is that the fault of the bike shop? No, it is not!!! As the owner, you (and your friend) can choose to not maintain your bicycles. Nothing wrong with that. However, you own the consequences of that lack of maintenance, not the bike shop.

tomato coupe

Didn't Anikan Skywalker kill all the Yuenglings?

bocobiking

Why is Trek worse than Specialized? I don't see the difference.