My girlfriend upgraded from a Roadmaster Mt Fury to a Trek 4500 WSD for $249. We thought it was a pretty good upgrade. I wasn't so worried about her on trails as I was when she was on the Roadmaster.

Then we were talking to a guy she works with who's like a an uber elite mtb'er with a $4k bike and chipped teeth. When we told him about it he was like "Uhh Trek? Why'd you go and do that?"

So I was just wondering does this guy just have really extreme opinions? Or are Trek's entry level bikes not that great?

I should also add he had a tone like he was utterly disgusted for some reason.

I've found that it's generally considered "cool" to dog on Trek. In researching actual part vs. part, warranty vs. warranty the Trek line stands up to anything out there at comparable prices. Many people like to say that Trek shoulda stuck with road bikes, that's fine too, to each their own.

The most common complaint I've heard is that people don't seem too fond of the shorter top tube's typically found on Trek's MTBs. Now that can be a ligitimate complaint depending on the rider. If it fits your girlfriend and she's comfortable then that certainly doesn't apply.

I have a Trek and considered all the others first. I was really torn between my Trek and a Specialized but in the end went with Trek because it fit me well and I liked the LBS where I was going to be purchasing it.

Anytime someone states that an entire line of anything is crap you should generally take it with a grain of salt. Trek makes cheaper China bikes (like mine) and they make very nice bikes (like the 8000 series) all the way up to the elite that are stellar with a pricetag to match. (Speaking exclusively about hardtails here) I've never heard a single safety concern with Trek when you're using their bikes as they were designed. Your girlfriend should ride and enjoy her new bike with no safety concerns that are legitimate. People are snobs about different things, to each their own.

I've been wondering the same thing for quite some time now. I'm sure you'll get the well-written response ive gotten before of "trek's suck" or "don't buy a Trek, you'll thank me later". Things like these are constantly on the forums. Most can't give any good reasons to why other than preference either. I personally have had no porblems with my Trek and think they make great bikes.

Trek is kind of like the General Motors of the Bike Industry. Some people don't like that. Me, I don't really care for Trek, don't like the way they ride not to mention my deep dislike of in house parts.

Yep thats kinda what I was thinking. Thanks for the insight. All of our local LBS's that I've been able to find are primarily Trek dealers. I'm looking to replace my old bike too so if the Trek hecklers were right then I'd be depressed LOL. Thanks

No, Trek, unlike GM is still gaining money. I would compare it to Honda or something. Very good in quality, but not what everyone is looking for. There are also a lot around. Some people have had bad experiences, but more people have had good ones. They do somethings well, and sometimes other companies have better stuff going.

I mean as in puppet companies.

I generally don't like trek. However they have jumped into the dh/fr side of things with an impressive lineup. I really enjoy the session 77. I doubt I would ever buy their more popular models though.

Have you test ridden the Session bikes? What did you think of them? They look like a big step in the right direction for Trek (finally) but they also seemed a bit pricey.

I wrote a review but have some more time on it. This bike overall is one of the best feelign fr bikes around. Based on a similar geometry to the kona stinky's it just works well as everything. Even with the really slack HA the SA is still upright, so you don't 'feel' over the back wheel as much. This really improves pedalling I found. The adjustable bb kicks ASS. I love being able to change that. Weight was light. I was impressed, with the full bontrager setup this thing couldn't have weighed much more than 35pounds. I tried this on a short techy up and down trail. It climbed like a goat and felt much better than my FSR bighit. Could have been the weight or the 26" wheel but something felt right. I have never really enjoyed my bighit for climbing.

For descending it was slack enough to allow for steep descents and a really fast responsive ride. It was a rock garden so it put it to some tests. I could really whip through my lines.

The weakness was the fork. I don't like manitou SPV for downhill. So it climbs well but feels like a sloppy old fork for dh.

I intend to buy one used if I can find it. They are pricey but it sure felt worth it. The build quality of the frame was up there with the demo's, intense and other boutique priced frames. Very nice.

When looking for a bike I looked at Trek and Specialized, among others. The Trek was competition till the very end. Parts were comparable, as was cost. I eventually sided with Specialized because it "felt" a bit more suited to me, as well as a more "solid" feel to it.

That aside, I know MANY people on Trek MTB, and they are all happy with them. The important thing is how it feels to you, not what others b*tch about.

No opinion, really, of Trek. Nice bikes, everyone has one, just kind of boring, IMO. I'll admit that I've never ridden one. If you like the Trek and it fits, then go for it and enjoy.

Personally I don't like Trek. I don't like the way they handle, or feel in general. However if it works for your girlfriend - great. She's the one that has to ride it not me.
Trek's bikes are (for the most part) on par with the rest of the good players in the industry no better no worse than say a Specialized, and other than the occasional warranty issue I can't say I've heard a bad thing from Trek owners.
ithink one of the main reasons people hate Tek is due to the fact that people who know jack**** about bikes "know" that "Trek has to be the best 'cause that Lance guy rides one in the Tour Duh France" It's those people that cause a lot of the backlash.

Theres a seat for every rider. You should bash any one company as the people who enjoy that company may get very offended.

Not all bikes are for everyone. I like GT , Giant , Cannadale and Specialized. Trek I really didn't care for when I was shopping. My friend loves his Trek and swears by em. Example of different riders with different body builds and tastes.

I look for moreso the components in a bike, not so much the brand name. Another importsnt factor IMO is how well the bike is put together. Some LBS's take 20min to build a bike in peak season, while others take 30 - 40min per bike. I would prefer the bike that was put together in 35min, then the one that was put together in 20min. I've put bikes together before so its not a problem for me, but for the general public, thats another thing you might want to look out for. Take "X-Mart" as an example .

IMO Trek arn't such a bad company, they have a lot of good bikes, and I would say value for money.

Treks are ok, but they are so...

meh....

Trek =

There is absolutely nothing wrong with Trek.

When I was pricing bikes, only a few were really good at the price I was at.
I rode a Trek 4500, a Specialized Hardrock (can't remember which one), and a Kona Fire Mountain. For 1, the Kona was a bit underspec'd, for two, the specialized looked and rode kinda crappy, for me anyways. The Trek Won the battle, because it rode nicer, for me, than the other 2, and beat the Kona hands down on value.
Now those are the brands that my LBS's, all 2 of them, carry. So that is what I had to choose from. And I am still very happy with my choice.

Agreed. That was my attitude when I first started getting into mountain bikes relatively recently. Then I realized I would never buy a pair of shoes because a pro-athlete endorsed them, or a car because a super-model flogged it. So I slowed down and actually researched and test rode some bikes in the price range I established (mid-level).

I ended up getting a Trek 4500. I rode Giants and Specs and Kleins and Fishers and Tass's, etc...........and in the end I picked what felt best FOR ME.

My 4500 is going strong after many 100's of miles now - not all of them easy, and I do not regret my choice for a moment. While I now have other MTB's in my garage and the 4500 is not my favourite, it was a good jumping off point and tought me many things beyond the "Lance rides one - it must be good" mindset.

My Trek is made of "Alpha Aluminum". The Trek rep I spoke to said they discontinued making their frames from rising yeast and flour dough "quite some time ago".

Bush rides one.

Right away you are losing half the country.

I have ridden a fuel and I liked it but decided not to get it.

i've had my Trek for 15 years. when i bought it, everyone else i knew was buying Specialized, Fat City, Gary Fisher and Cannondale... now everyone is buying Trek. hey! i'm a trend-setter!

but yeah, it's because everyone and his brother has one. folks are making the popular = uncool assumption. but who cares? if your gf likes it and it fits, just ignore pretentious jerks like you described.

Trek is too "popular" to be cool with the in crowd. Same with the road bikes. It's just like music. Once a band becomes "pop" there's a certain crowd who will dislike them for no reason other than the popularity.

That said...

My first mtn bike was a Trek 7000, and it was awful. The handling sucked and the fork was a piece of crap. I had some friends ride it who were much better riders than I was, and they concurred with my assessment. The bike was a bit too big for me, so I sold it to my room mate.

I moved from that Trek to my AlpineStars Al-Mega (bought used) and I went from playing catch-up to breathing down everyone's necks, overnight. I was suddenly very fast and able to do things I'd never been able to do on the Trek.

After a few years, the front derailleur braze-on broke off the AlpineStars, and I needed a bike fast for an upcoming trip. The LBS made me an incredible deal on a Trek 9700, and it was back to Trek again. But fortunately, the 9700 rode nothing like the old 7000, so I ended up liking that bike, which isn't what I expected. In fact since it's a carbon frame, I expected it to have exploded by now.

Now that bike's in parts because I pirated stuff to get my Jamis rideable. Once the finances are in better order I'll get the Trek riding again. It's really light for a mtn bike, and I miss it on certain trails.

Hah! Good for you. Sometimes I feel like a trend-setter too.

- I bought my OCLV road frame in 1993, way before Lance had one
- I build it up with a threadless steerer, which not many road bikes had back then
- I used a nude carbon fork on the bike, and everyone told me it looked silly to have a nude fork on a painted bike
- My AlpineStars MTB had a crank w/ the bottom bracket spindle build onto one of the crank arms, just like the "new" x-type crank/BB combos

Now if only my purple and green polka dot shorts would just catch on...

you should have definately bought the fat city.