Shouldn't this thread be in P & R?

This thread needs more pics.

DSC00002 by cb400bill, on Flickr

I'm partial to pink bikes in general, and your 770 is a damned nice example.

Hmmm, can't say I hate them. But I don't miss my Trek Madone 5.9 nor the 560 Pro Series I had. I sold the 560 this year after seeing it had sat so long while I seemed to pick everything else to ride instead of it. Not sure why but it just didn't speak to me I guess. Oh and as the owner of 4 Greg Lemond/Lemond bikes I obviously ummmm..... Ok, I won't go there.

Funny thing is the local bike shop that gets all m business over the others is a Trek dealer. But that's because the staff is so awesome.

All boils down to preference. Personally, I love the early stuff, but they're not everyone's cup of tea.
They're nice, but so are alot of others out there. I do like the fact that they WERE American made. As for quality, it's hit or miss in my experience.

Got a half-dozen early 80s American, Japanese and newer German and Taiwan bikes. Ride them all. But the ride of the '82 Trek 614 is the most fun. I wonder what it would take (if) a custom builder could duplicate it?

Nice ride. I thought I would flip it , but I kept it. I also had the 1200 for two years.
I always thought the consensus was that vintage Treks are tough, reliable bikes.
Like a fool I had a mint 1990ish Trek Multi Trak 750 that I sold.

Take the Kathy Ireland Worldwide people seriously. Mega business and rich mogul. Company valuation surpasses Martha Stewart branding by a 100+ mil.

Anyways, here's a peak at the beauty


Back on topic, my '87 Trek 520 Cirrus. Love this bike. Have a long list of Treks I wouldn't mind, including more modern carbon like a Y-foil.
[IMG]DSC_1035 by carrera247, on Flickr[/IMG]

I got my 510 over a month ago and had mixed feelings about it. But after a couple of weeks it really grew on me. I'm interested in growing my Trek collection with a modern one (or maybe a vintage frame with modern components).

There are a few applications that have pretty good facial recognition, probably the most work was submitting the take down request.

I admit I was not a big Trek fan, it started way back when they first came by the shop for which I worked and were trying to get the brand picked up, the shop owner thought they would not last. Shipping to the West Coast was a problem too and no pricing allowance for that added cost, to carry the brand made a shop a serf to the brand. Then came Lance, as soon as read "it's not about the bike" I concluded, he was amped.

The schwinn guy will have the Weight advantage/disadvantage.

I neither love or hate Trek, they just don't get my interest due to volume and popularity. Everyone seems to have one and most fall in the mid range or seem to be popular for touring. Granted I have an outside looking in opinion as I do not own one. I do realize they are American so that has weight, I have looked at a few and considered but never pulled trigger.

A Schwinn guy, a Raleigh guy, and a Trek guy rode into a bar...

(I'm still trying to figure out how to fit Peugeot into that scenario.)

Trek hate? I suppose that some of the folks bent out of shape about the LA period do dislike most anything Trek out there. But with the quality products they had/have it seems just plain counterproductive to be down on them. There is no figuring out human kind it seems.

And Trek isn't the primary line I see get bad posts and press, Specialized and Mike Sinyard can draw out the hate quicker than an Isis recruiting center in the Deep South...... And I cannot accept that Spesh hate either, but no-one wants to listen to this old guy anyway. And that is fine too.

Seeing bikes like [MENTION=94607]cb400bill[/MENTION] 's pink beauty, and so many of the others seen here over these few years I have been a member, makes it difficult to lump every Trek into one pile, in either direction. My wife's Trek 7300 hybrid had been trouble free, and she enjoys it, yeah its heavy but she ain't climbing Mt Ventoux or in one of the Classic either. Snobs gonna be snobs and haters gonna hate.

Bill

I've got all four in the barn. Set up the house!

Top

The Peugeot guy is sitting in the corner Eating Cheese sipping Wine and waving a White Flag.

Peugeot, Fuji, and Raleigh as well.

Although I have had Peugeot bikes that needed work, one with a dent on the top tube that sold laser fast and was a lower end model, and one with a beautiful frame that needed minor work that took forever to sell.
And a beautiful Cannondale 600 that needed tubes and tires but was otherwise perfect and it took forever to get $200. It was a large, but not huge (Every bike I found for a long time that was nice was a tall).
I had a nice Raleigh Sport that needed cables and you would have though I had something magical. No special components. CL weirdos.
I can sell a nice Fuji with my eyes shut. I would rate that Fuji up there with Trek. Including vintage.

Between family members, friends, and myself, we've had a lot of Treks over the past 40 years. No racers but several tourers, sport tourers, mtb's, and hybrids. Every one has been a solid, well-made and nicely finished machine, what a bike should be.

Off topic, and I'm not a Sinyard hater...but...

Some of their IP battles have been pretty off putting.

In the 70s, Trek came in and offered what we thought wasn't possible: a well made, American made bike, made the way we liked them (European style), at the proper weight, and less expensive than everything else. It was a breakthrough. They've continued to do everything right from a business perspective and become the largest bike company in the world. The companies that were formerly the biggest are all gone. Now that they are as large as they are, they have a hugely wide range of products. How can they have cachet when they're so big? They can't, but who cares? They're not trying to be the company they were in the 70s, and why should they? If you broke into a market doing something unusual and had a chance to be the biggest player in the world, you might not turn that down, either.

Their products are good. I'm not tempted because they're a commodity, and I tend to like things that are at least a little unusual. But my wife needed a lighter bike for the country, and she bought a used FX 7.3. It's a road-oriented hybrid. Many might call it boring, but it's extremely competent and comfortable, and it weighs only 25 lbs. She loves it, and rightly so. I have respect for the company and its products, but I can't see the company the way I did in the late 70s and early 80s. And that's not important, anyway.

Agreed Aaron, they do defend their trademarks heavily. Possibly its because Mike built the company from less than zero. I am part owner of a business, we had to defend an IP item against piracy by another general contractor. I wasn't thrilled, but I wasn't going to let several thousands of dollars in design be taken outright. I can understand his thinking, just not at the fiscal level he does.

Bill

I don't mind defending IP...but when you're going after a little shop in Canada that uses the word Roubaix for wheels...a word that pre-dates Specialized...that's a bit overly aggressive to me. Complaints that are really nothing more than bullying nuisance attacks seem de rigueur for some companies.

"I know it when I see it."

I feel the same way emotionally, but speaking to IP lawyers, I understand that you have to defend at every opportunity, because not doing so conveys the idea that anyone is allowed to take your IP. I don't like it, but that's how it is.

I can see people being polarized on Trek, who has now become one of the big three, along with Giant and Specialized. That means they have wide appeal with the general public. That alone is enough to alienate them them with the avid cyclist, who typically tends to be anti big corporation.

Have them ride into a bistro in France...