Why does everyone seem to hate Trek

ninjamini said:

Better bikes - I dont even know what better is.

Thats a problem! 😉

Trek is just Trek. Nothing bad, and nothing really that awesome either. There are so many companies out there now that it is more of a race of who can trick the consumer that their bikes are better.

Now building a custom bike.........................................is a whole different story.

Do your own research, read as much as you can but apply some common sense to what people are saying. Test ride the bikes you like. If you go to a shop that sells Giant's, expect them to tell you that Trek's are [censored] and vice versa. Sometimes they will point out something really valid, but most of the time it's just salesmen trying to get you to spend money at their store.

I started to listen to too many people when I bought my road bike and after a while, I got sick of the contradicting reports. So I picked my budget, visited the shops to see what they recomended, researched on the web to find 3 or 4 well known options in that range, went and test rode them all in one day (back to back) and chose the one that I liked the best.

If your suspicious, ask the salesman whether they get more for selling a particular brand. Quite often they just tell you outright that they are told to push a specific bike.

If you like Trek and want Trek, get a trek. I don't own one, I do ride with a few guys that do. My honest opinion is that they are decent bikes. If you look at the components on their frames, they are a bit pricer than some other stuff out there. However, that isn't everything. If their geometry fits you, then go for it.

L

ninjamini said:

Why does everyone seem to hate Trek?

I am not looking for the I ride a trek and I like it comments. But I do want to know why so many people seem so polarized on Trek bikes. I am new into biking...ok I used to mountain bike a little about 7 years ago or so. But it seems that a lot of people seem to hate them.

Here are the reasons I get:
I hear build quality.
I hear your paying for the name.
I hear if it wasn't for Lance...
I hear that there are better bikes...

Let me address, from my ignorant position..

build quality - no one can point out this one its just more of a blanket statement.
Paying for the name - $4$ it seems to measure up and is even $20 cheaper than the comparable Giant or Jamis.
Lance - Well it is #1 and yea he is paid and yea he gets what he wants...But he still makes the trek choice and wins with it.
Better bikes - I dont even know what better is.

Now I am rambling...Why do some hate Trek so much. I really want to know.

Build quality is as good as anyone else.
Paying for the name as much as you would with Specialized,Giant,Cervelo, ect.
Trek was there before LA and after LA.
Of course he helped sales.
Better bikes and plenty of worst ones to.
Dont forget they have a pretty good warr and i've heard plenty of stories where they honor them when it was questionable that they might not.

I think people hate Trek because, other than the drive train, their bicycles are equipt with Trek's private label, Bontrager. Aficiados want to know how all of their components rank versus the best (or worse) of what is out there and even though Trek has made an effort to position Bontrager as independent (own website etc), there is no effort out there to rank individual Trek components versus the competition.

So even though the Bontrager components are a good value and even though they are actually made by the "name" component manufacturers (like DT Swiss hubs) there is no way of knowing just how good these components are. But so what. For what ever reason you don't like Bontrager parts, replace them when they wear out.

I have a Trek 5200, and other than the tires (and decals), I have no objective complaints about any of its stock components. Subjective complaints I have plenty. I felt the same way about this bike as I would if I bought a Toyota Camry - confident that I got good value for my money, but wasn't going to turn any heads.

ninjamini said:

.........

is this where you got your idea? 🙂

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=187191&highlight=trek

I think that some people are more comfortable riding a bike that's just like everybody elses. I suspect that Trek is the big dog in the US so those people will all want Treks.

Some people are more comfortable riding a bike that's different from everybody elses. They are going to want non-Treks for the exact same reason.

All of that other stuff that you mentioned is just justification for whichever decision they chose to make.

Hating Trek is like hating WaltMart. People do it because they don't like the big corporation that everyone is buying into. They make some damn fine bikes and their marketing efforts get many newbies into shops more than willing to sell them something way above what the customer needs. The beef really isn't in the quality of the product itself.

[font=Comic Sans MS]Hi Trekkie,[/font]

[font=Comic Sans MS]Trek out here has a very good rep, unfortunatlly about two years ago they priced themselves out of the market, whom is to blame the retailers, importers or suppliers. It’s done now.[/font]

[font=Comic Sans MS]So, going from a majority seller to a selected market has cost them dearly. As for bike components the mass-produced bikes use the same factories from china and Taiwan. I still own two trek MTB'S[/font]

[font=Comic Sans MS]My new bike, a Scott Genius MTB, PROUDLLY AMERICAN BUILT, YEAH RIGHT TURN THE FRAME UPSIDE DOWN AND THERES A STICKER that reads MADE IN TIAWAN[/font]

[font=Comic Sans MS]The other parts shimano, china? Ok!the headset is made by crane creek.[/font]

[font='Times New Roman'][font=Comic Sans MS]The best bike is the bike of your dreams regardless of make.[/font][/font]

I spent the last 6 years on a Trek 5200. I have absolutely no complaints. I am not convinced that I could have bought a better bike for the money back in 2000.

However, I recently sold my Trek to fund my dream build: a Look 555, w/ Dura-Ace and lots of carbon extras. Is my dream ride better than a top-end Trek Madone ... maybe ... maybe not.

... but it's my dream.

capwater said:

Hating Trek is like hating WaltMart. .

exactly. Because Trek is so massive, and the advertising so HUGE, some people see Trek (or similar) owners as being less discerning, or like they've been sucked in to hype and haven't really researched their purchase. Some of "us" like to own a more obscure brand so we look as if we're in the know. 🙂

I've gotta admit, I sometimes feel a little like this when I see Giants down here. No joke, about a third of the road bikes on the local drags are freakin Giants!! This is silly and prejudgemental, but when I see a guy on a Giant, my initial thought is that they didn't research too many bikes, bought the only brand they recognised, and/or they think that they're a great bike because they've seen the name everywhere -- I guess this is how advertising works. 🙂 My second thought is that the Giant owner understands what great value they are or, they are super riders getting an awesome deal from their sponsor 🙂

531Aussie said:

exactly. Because Trek is so massive, and the advertising so HUGE, some people see Trek (or similar) owners as being less discerning, or like they've been sucked in to hype and haven't really researched their purchase. Some of "us" like to own a more obscure brand so we look as if we're in the know. 🙂 I've gotta admit, I sometimes feel a little like that when I see Giants down here. No joke, about a third of the road bikes on the local drags are freakin Giants!!

Yeah. If you do a "what's your favorite" poll and a "what's your least favorite" poll for most any product (not just bikes) there will always be a lot of overlap between the top ten in both polls. Once something reaches a certain level of popularity you start to get as many "haters" as there are fans. That's just the way it seems to work.

meehs said:

Yeah. If you do a "what's your favorite" poll and a "what's your least favorite" poll for most any product (not just bikes) there will always be a lot of overlap between the top ten in both polls. Once something reaches a certain level of popularity you start to get as many "haters" as there are fans. That's just the way it seems to work.

Absolutely not true! Everyone loves Mila Jovavich, including women. However, she is decidedly un-Trek.

from what i hear trek treats dealers bad, but what do i know. i think lower end treks come from the same factory as pacific (schwinn, GT, mongoose) one day at work someone found a trek packageing tag in an unopened schwinn box... it's a damn conspiracy i tell ya.... ride what makes u happy. if it's a few bux more who cares as long as your happy and like it.

LOL Better eat some more rice,its brain food.

[quote="ninjamini"]Why does everyone seem to hate Trek?

Hate is a strong word. I was first introduced to road cycling in the 80's. Back then I always admired some of the handbuilt lugged Italian frames like Colnago, Tommasini, Rossin, Bataglin, Pinarello (I own three), Benotto, Mondonico, Masi etc. It's important to me that I love my bike and to know it was built by an artisan who loved building it. Trek just strikes me as mass-produced and dull. Even the name is boring. I'm sure they ride fine and Bontrager components/wheels are solid performers too (steerer tubes notwithstanding). If I'm plunking down $4K on a bike though, I don't want to own the same bike as half the folks in my club who would never dare to buy something unique. Just my .02...
Ciao!

Lance almost did leave Trek after winning his 7th Tour. But Trek offered him so much money to stay on after his contract expired for fears that he would start his own company. Now that should tell you they know without him, sales would have dropped.

Anyway...

They are nice bikes. I personally dont like them for the frame geometry and their disgusting bike graphics and decals. Not sexy.

[quote="ninjamini"]Why does everyone seem to hate Trek?

I am not looking for the I ride a trek and I like it comments. But I do want to know why so many people seem so polarized on Trek bikes. I am new into biking...ok I used to mountain bike a little about 7 years ago or so. But it seems that a lot of people seem to hate them.

Here are the reasons I get:
I hear build quality.
I hear your paying for the name.
I hear if it wasn't for Lance...
I hear that there are better bikes...

Let me address, from my ignorant position..

build quality - no one can point out this one its just more of a blanket statement.
Paying for the name - $4$ it seems to measure up and is even $20 cheaper than the comparable Giant or Jamis.
Lance - Well it is #1 and yea he is paid and yea he gets what he wants...But he still makes the trek choice and wins with it.
Better bikes - I dont even know what better is.

Now I am rambling...Why do some hate Trek so much. I really want to know.[/QUOTE

I have a Trek Fuel mountain bike which i love and have no complaints. But when it came to buying a road bike, i couldn't buy a Trek. No real reason why. I guess i viewed them as big and normally big equals low quality. Maybe i had talked to someone before i bought who hated trek or something. At any rate I bought a Lemond which in the long run is made by Trek anyway. Honestly, I don't see any reason to hate Trek, unless George Hincapies bike had a defect and in that case hate on!!!

StartTday said:

They are nice bikes. I personally dont like them for the frame geometry and their disgusting bike graphics and decals. Not sexy.

Funny you mention it - sexy is how more than one person has described my daily ride - a Trek Y-Foil. (that's my avatar) And that was one reason I went looking for this frameset - saw one on the road, and it was so unique looking that I just had to try one out.

The Foil has been out of production for several years, after the UCI decided beam frames looked funny, so I picked the frameset up for a relative pittance. The Chorus group that adorns the bike was NOT picked up cheaply, though...

The other Trek bikes I've been on were reasonably well built, for what you pay. No better or worse than Giant, and definitely better built than some of the no name brands one finds at walmart. Let's face it - Trek provides decent bikes to the masses. If you're not one of the masses, you'd probably find their average bike boring. I don't hate boring bikes, I just avoid them.

Personally, I'd love to have a Pinarello, but just can't scrape up the dough. And I've grown rather attached to my electric gold ride. Aside from the fact that it's a very competent CF frame, I enjoy the duality of an extremely unique looking bike, from the most proletarian of bike makers.