Trek question

Kinda like a Ford. They make some low end stuff and some decent stuff.
Most of them are comparable to the other big brands in the marketplace in a
similar price-point.

They're no BMW, tho.... ;-)

"Jackie" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hi all,

I just got a new Trek and I'm interested in knowing if the bikes have a

good

Quoted message said:

rep.

Thank you.

J

HA! I suppose that's why Lance Armstrong has won 6 Tour de Frances on what
is essentially a stock Trek 5900.

No BMW indeed!

I don't believe that Trek makes any "low end stuff" at all. They're a middle
to top end manufacturer. I may not be all that wild about Trek but that
doesn't mean they aren't one of the highest-end bike companies in the world.

"GWood" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Kinda like a Ford. They make some low end stuff and some decent stuff.
Most of them are comparable to the other big brands in the marketplace in
a
similar price-point.

They're no BMW, tho.... ;-)

"Jackie" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hi all,

I just got a new Trek and I'm interested in knowing if the bikes have a

good

Quoted message said:

rep.

Thank you.

J

One additional note: it isn't really true that Trek owns every other
bicycle manufacturer in existence. Roadmaster is still independent.

Tom Kunich said:

HA! I suppose that's why Lance Armstrong has won 6 Tour de Frances on what
is essentially a stock Trek 5900.

No BMW indeed!

I don't believe that Trek makes any "low end stuff" at all. They're a middle
to top end manufacturer. I may not be all that wild about Trek but that
doesn't mean they aren't one of the highest-end bike companies in the world.

"GWood" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Kinda like a Ford. They make some low end stuff and some decent stuff.
Most of them are comparable to the other big brands in the marketplace in
a
similar price-point.

They're no BMW, tho.... ;-)

"Jackie" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hi all,

I just got a new Trek and I'm interested in knowing if the bikes have a

good

Quoted message said:

rep.

Thank you.

J

"GWood" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Oh yes, I'm sure Lance's bike was pretty much off-the-shelf. (Not that he
couldn't compete on a tricycle - or most other bike brands - anyways.)

USPS rode off the rack OCLV frames. No custom frames, there. The team was
used to torture test some components, but that's about it.

Quoted message said:

At a quick glance, Trek offers mountain bikes with an MSRP of $239. The
non-Trek components probably comprise more than half of that cost. Then

the

Quoted message said:

dealer requires a significant mark-up. So the "Trek-made" frame (mass
produced somewhere in China) is probably worth, what, $40-50? If you

don't

Quoted message said:

think that's low end, possibly you are including the department store

bikes

Quoted message said:

in your spectrum of products, which I don't.

Not China. Taiwan. And the OCLV Treks are made in the US.

Quoted message said:

Like I said, they have a full range of quality. In my opinion, they are a
huge company with average products. While I'd conceed that a couple of
their highest priced models are very good, that doesn't make them "one of
the highest-end bike companies in the world".

I'd say the OCLVs are among the best racing bike frames in the world.
Trek-Bianch-Cannondale-Giant-etc all have super high end stuff, high end
stuff, medium end stuff, and entry level. Cannondale beats them because
every Cannondale frame is made in the US. But you can't buy a bad bike from
any of them. Far and away better than a 'mart bike.

At the risk of sounding picky now... I did some checking on that
"essentially stock Trek 5900" frame that Lance rode. Turns out it was
developed especially *for* him, nowhere near stock. They took the developed
bike and eventually made it into a product offering.

http://www.chainreaction.com/oclvhistory.htm

I can't find a current 5900 price, but the 5000's come in at $2300+. Lots
of really good bikes out there for this kind of money. In fact, Trek owns
lots of those "competitive" brands (ie Klein, Lemond, Gary Fisher...). I
suspect their price points would come out pretty similar on competitive
models - after all, they're a business first.

And I'm not so sure Taiwan is completely independent of China...

http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/tw.html

Well, fun is fun. Time to go for a ride.

"G Wood" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

At the risk of sounding picky now... I did some checking on that
"essentially stock Trek 5900" frame that Lance rode. Turns out it was
developed especially *for* him, nowhere near stock. They took the
developed
bike and eventually made it into a product offering.

http://www.chainreaction.com/oclvhistory.htm

I can't find a current 5900 price, but the 5000's come in at $2300+. Lots
of really good bikes out there for this kind of money. In fact, Trek owns
lots of those "competitive" brands (ie Klein, Lemond, Gary Fisher...). I
suspect their price points would come out pretty similar on competitive
models - after all, they're a business first.

And I'm not so sure Taiwan is completely independent of China...

http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/tw.html

Well, fun is fun. Time to go for a ride.

OK Woody, let's take it from the top:

The bike that Lance rides YOU can buy right now. It's in their catalog.
Indeed they DID build it especially for Lance and the team but Trek isn't
the kind of company to throw away development time and money and they sell
what he rides. In case YOU want to buy one just ask for a Madone 5.9 and
pony up the bucks and stand in line for your delivery date.

Secondly, since you obvoiusly wouldn't know a good bike if it climbed Mt.
Vesuvius by itself with you on it, how the hell would you know that there
are "lots of good bikes out there for that kind of money"? Exactly how many
"good" bikes have you owned?

Thirdly, the Taiwanese government might be interested in your belief that
somehow they're a part or econimically attached to China. As someone who
does business with both countries I happen to know that they wouldn't much
like your inferences.

Fourthly, the bottom end of the Trek line is indeed MIDDLE range bikes.
Since you seem to think that you can judge bikes by their catalog price
without having seen them perhaps you might want to learn the difference
between a Huffy, a Roadmaster, a Motive and real bicycles.

Let's get back to the original question.....

Do the bikes have a good rep?

Like many companies Trek has gone through good times and bad.

Some time ago Trek was known for "average" bicycles where in their focus was
on touring and recreational riding.

In the 80's trek branched in to "pro" frames, and it took a while for the
racing community to accept them. Think back to when steel was king and
everyone wanted a frame from Masi, Colnago, Pinarello, Merckx, etc. Trek
had a hard time gaining acceptance in the European peloton. In fact very few
US based teams were riding treks. It was not until Treks sponsorship of
Postal that Trek made it into European racing.

In the late 80's Trek had problems with their carbon fiber and aluminum
lugged frames. This was not necessarily Trek's fault as there were problems
with the technology of bonding carbon and aluminum. This problem was
solved, but not before Trek's reputation was damaged in the racing community
(for a while anyway)

The original OCLV's were a warranty nightmare. Not to contradict all of the
Trek fans out there, but I was in the retail business at this time and am
quite aware of people buying new frames while Trek made the warranty
raplacements on their frames.

For about 3-4 years the mail order classifieds and postings on local
bulletin boards in shops had "New" and "Never Ridden" Trek frames that were
finally received for warranty. Whole seasons would have been lost, if riders
had waited for the warranty process.

Now to the current Trek. There is no question that they have a good
reputation. Many companies had problems while developing carbon frames.
Many of them are now gone. Trek persevered and solved the problems.

Trek's carbon frames are some of the best. Their aluminum frames are nice,
but you cannot say that they are better than the offerings from most bicycle
manufactures. The technology in aluminum has spread throughout the industry
and the tubesets are available to all. Titanium....... call Litespeed.

Fodder for thought and discussion.

Bottom Line....It depends who you ask, and if the retail sells other
bicycles than Trek.

A"Jackie" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hi all,

I just got a new Trek and I'm interested in knowing if the bikes have a

good

Quoted message said:

rep.

Thank you.

J

Ok Tom. This was fun, but now you're getting personal and making some pretty
crass assumptions about me - based on the fact that I disagree with you and
researched some of my statements.

I'm not getting into a flame war with you. My comments were for discussion
and exchange of opinion. And frankly, I could care less.

'Later - much.

"Tom Kunich" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"G Wood" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

At the risk of sounding picky now... I did some checking on that
"essentially stock Trek 5900" frame that Lance rode. Turns out it was
developed especially *for* him, nowhere near stock. They took the
developed
bike and eventually made it into a product offering.

http://www.chainreaction.com/oclvhistory.htm

I can't find a current 5900 price, but the 5000's come in at $2300+.

Lots

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

of really good bikes out there for this kind of money. In fact, Trek

owns

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

lots of those "competitive" brands (ie Klein, Lemond, Gary Fisher...).

I

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

suspect their price points would come out pretty similar on competitive
models - after all, they're a business first.

And I'm not so sure Taiwan is completely independent of China...

http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/tw.html

Well, fun is fun. Time to go for a ride.

OK Woody, let's take it from the top:

The bike that Lance rides YOU can buy right now. It's in their catalog.
Indeed they DID build it especially for Lance and the team but Trek isn't
the kind of company to throw away development time and money and they sell
what he rides. In case YOU want to buy one just ask for a Madone 5.9 and
pony up the bucks and stand in line for your delivery date.

Secondly, since you obvoiusly wouldn't know a good bike if it climbed Mt.
Vesuvius by itself with you on it, how the hell would you know that there
are "lots of good bikes out there for that kind of money"? Exactly how

many

Quoted message said:

"good" bikes have you owned?

Thirdly, the Taiwanese government might be interested in your belief that
somehow they're a part or econimically attached to China. As someone who
does business with both countries I happen to know that they wouldn't much
like your inferences.

Fourthly, the bottom end of the Trek line is indeed MIDDLE range bikes.
Since you seem to think that you can judge bikes by their catalog price
without having seen them perhaps you might want to learn the difference
between a Huffy, a Roadmaster, a Motive and real bicycles.

On Wed, 27 Apr 2005 15:30:02 GMT, "Remove No Spam to Reply"

(nospam)newsgroups(nospam)@allanoxenreiter(nospam).com said:

Titanium....... call Litespeed.

Or Mark Hickey.....I will put my $695 Habanero titanium up against
ANY ti frame in the world for road performance, quality of material,
and workmanship!

(Unsolicited remark--I have no relationship with Mark/Habanero, save a
few conversations here. I'm just an extremely satisfied customer.)

Guy A
Ripley, TN