No question...and it's case by case, but there are also some incidents that I find overly aggressive and offensive. Specialized was involved in one.

"I know it when I see it."

You might enjoy this Tom...

Jack Daniel's Sends the Most Polite Cease-and-Desist Letter Ever

Have to agree with [MENTION=20650]T-Mar[/MENTION] = top dogs always have critics. Top dogs play for big stakes and make publicly visible choices.

No hate here, 2 of 3 data points favorable. The vintage Trek 600 owned was a good bike, but just not my cuppa'. A vintage Trek loaned to me for several rides (long ago) was a 531 bike and a quality ride. In the late 90s, carbon was coming and I almost bought a 5500 before riding a far better CF bike than early monocoque frames.

I had no idea they were polarizing. I've seen people that really like them, but never someone that loaths them, or anything like that really. On this forum they seem very appreciated and everywhere else I've only seen indifference at worst.

I just think that this thread is based on a false premise. Treks may be polarizing today (at least to some) because of what it has become. That was not true back in the day when C&V bikes were actually new bikes. They made fine steel bikes some of which are very desirable and all of which are pretty good riders since even the low end steel Trek bikes are good quality. I worked in a bike shop in the 80s and sold a lot of Treks. I liked the bikes then and still do today.

I've been riding the heck out of a 1984 Trek 610 which is a basic sports touring bike. It has a reynolds DB main frame and chrome moly fork and stays. That bike is nothing super fancy or super rare but it is without a doubt an excellent machine that eats up the miles.

Plus Treks came with tough, quality Imron paint jobs. They're fun and easy to work on. They get a lot of love on this site for good reason. And if you read the posts, you don't find much if any Trek hate when it comes to Trek C&V bikes.

I currently own 3 Treks I ride regularly: a 1984 Trek 610, a 1982 Trek 720, and a 1993 Trek 950. Plus I'm working on a 4th--which is currently hanging on my workstand--that I plan on getting ready for the Dairyland Dare.

I agree and that is not the only example of an overly aggressive legal team. OTT in my book. I guess they didn't think there would be an impact to sales as a result. Marketing probably isn't too thrilled, not to mention sales.

Behavior of the management doesn't really impact my perspective of the product, even though managements decisions do impact the product produced. "investing" in the purchase of a product is different than investing in the company.

I have two Treks from 84/85 time period. I have not ridden one and only a few miles on the other so don't have an option about either one. I have them because of the reputation and opinions from BFer's. I do have two Specialized bikes, a MTB and a Langster. The performance of both are impressive enough that I have not flipped them. I think it has more to do with the parts than the frames, though the Langster is crazy fast for a 22 lb SS.

My view is that trek has three eras.

Early, Lance, today...

I really like the craftsmanship of some of the early bikes (own three). The Lance era was a series of decisions that were good for Trek but caused me to lose the respect I have for the early era. Their current stuff can be nice but their high end stuff is more expensive than what I can build myself and I don't have any brand loyalty due to the Lance era.

Want polarizing? show up to a weekly group ride on today's Motobecane lechampion with DA and hang with the egos on the hills and pull the pace line for a couple minutes.

I really like Specialized and how willing they are to try things that are different. The Diverge is a heck of a bike.

Don't hate me, but I LOVE some of the Trek LA offerings.

Polarizing?
Maybe it's the anonymous Internet, or the callous nature of 'social' discourse.

Japanese components on a classic vintage Italian frame?
531 or SLX?
Helmets or None?
Wear a replica TdF Yellow Jersey on a group ride?
CF, or Ti, or Steel - which makes into best bikes?
Wool or synthetic?
etc.

The reality, how many are avoiding it, is that it is all about the engine! Some operate well, some need an oil change, and some are missing.

Between me, the wife and kids, we have probably purchased between 10 and 15 Treks over the years, spanning everything from (lots of) kids bikes, to touring, adult full-suspension mountain bikes, etc.

I sort of fell out of love with the brand about the time they stopped making most of their frames in Waterloo WI. I originally paid more for Trek because my experience was that they were high-quality, low-maintenance, and the frames were produced domestically.

I just compared an Ultegra Di2 Domane with hydraulic brakes to the steel custom bike I had built for me 3 years ago in my own zip code, and I paid less for mine, even with better wheels, etc.

I just don't feel like their list price is justified any more, and can't really see a significant advantage over Specialized (who I avoid due to their litigation) or Giant (who are significantly less expensive).

Also, most of the modern Trek stores (as opposed to the one where I bought the majority of my bikes) seem far too monolithically brand-oriented and extremely pushy.

Finally, for whatever reason, every aluminum Trek bike I have purchased, apart from our full-suspension mtn bikes, was a very harsh and unpleasant ride. (I have cynically concluded the main reason for full-suspension is to compensate for the harshness of their aluminum frames.)

+1. If treks are polarizing, it's news to me. They're bikes. Mostly boring. Historically interesting for the way they carved out a niche and took it mainstream. But not something to polarize people.

I at one Time had a Trek 930 it was anything but boring. The Colnago I had stayed parked in the Garage. The Trek was a much better Bike.

I think they were pretty far up the butt of...he who shall not be named. That's enough for me. Their customers paid for that adventure.

These guys say this because they want you to hire them. In reality you lose nothing by not defending trademarks against things that no one would confuse with your product. If this was true, JK Rowling would have lost the trademark to Harry Potter by not suing everyone who wrote fan fiction.

Kleenex and Xerox are two names that come to mind.

Maybe there's another example that has something to do with bikes...

If I could just put my finger on it...

Oh yeah.. Mountain Bikes.

My favorite kind of thing to do.

Did a Tuesday night ride with a new group this week. Figured it would be mild-paced shop ride so I took the +23lb Circuit. Boy was I wrong, it was more of a training ride for a group of hammerheads. Managed to hang with them for 25 miles with a constant flurry of accelerations. I know it wasn't pretty but I'm sure they're wondering where that shiny red and chrome bike came from!

Back on topic, I was always neutral on Trek. Never owned one because for me they were too ubiquitous and not enough cachet. I have a 760 frameset procured here on BF that will become my first experience with the brand some day.

This is my post from the other thread:


What I like about Trek is partially what so many people don't like about Trek. A very midwestern company rooted in touring and sport bikes. It didn't have a fancy accent, or pretend to have a fancy accent. It didn't have a fancy pedigree. It was about riding, not necessarily competitive riding.

Yes, Waterloo is like 50 miles west of here. The first Trek I ever saw was at a friend's house, probably around 1980 or so- talk about this new company that made a bike that you could pick up with one finger. One finger. I wasn't into bikes back then- but that "one finger" thing made me remember Trek.

I look at touring bikes and I see what Trek innovated- and I look at the full-flower iteration of the flagship gran tourer. My 3 mid-80s Treks are beautiful bikes- the paint is so gorgeous.

I can see where someone not into that sort of thing, or into the eliteness of European racing, would not find Trek interesting, and would, in fact, be irritated by Trek's success. That says nothing about people who hate 15 years worth of bikes before Lance Armstrong had anything to do with Trek- just the association is enough. I sort of get it.

I think most of the angst is/was caused by the Lance fanboys and Insta athletes/cyclists. You see it in every sport. In golf, it was the Tiger fanboys. The angst comes from the person having the complete line of equipment like their idol. Not only did they have the Trek bikes, but also the same kind of helmet, shoes, jersey, bibs, seatbag, etc, etc, etc. Every little detail just like their idol. The only thing missing was the word D*****bag on the back of the jersey. Same for the Insta cyclists. They just roll into the store and say, "Give me the Lance treatment." Or, "give me the Trek package" Or, "I'm doing my first Tri in a month, I read somewhere I need this." In any of these cases, it makes the person look like a newbie and a poseur. It looks like they have just jumped on the bandwagon. Now you are seeing this with the Sagan fanboys. The companies don't mind because it helps sell lots of product.

I can see where hate might come from, at least for newer Treks. I worked for a Trek dealer in 2015 and some of the lower-end models I saw had real quality issues, while none of the high end stuff was appealing to me in the slightest, and prices were generally high. I may be biased though, because the shop I worked in that year was a sterile lab designed to steer as many wallets to the cash registers as possible, the bicycles were just incidental things on our sales racks... If that was my only experience with Trek, and I hadn't gotten started riding seriously on a 90's Trek, and hadn't encountered some great Treks from the 80's, I might be inclined to think poorly of the brand as a whole.

I currently have one Trek in my stable and it's great, an '88 870, recently powdercoated:

But yet emblazons those big corporation logos all over their jerseys and shorts and glasses and bikes...

I just had a guy who works in a LBS tell me my bike is beautiful as I whizzed by him. I tend to agree with him. And it's weird, I really was like great find when I found it, but otherwise was unimpressed. It wasn't until I cleaned it up, put tires on it, and started to ride it I was like this bike is really nice.

Yup. At that time, they were cracking into the market pretty much monopolized by Schwinn, and those bikes were very heavy and ponderous (and for us kids, indestructible).

How correct Mr. Zweibel!!!

Wow, you really are from Wisconsin!

I used to see him every week.

That is a brilliant avatar.