I was going to derail the recent cycling purchase thread because the subject of Trek came up, but decided to give this it's own topic.

So one of the good bike shops by me was recently bought out by Trek apparently. I hadn't been there in a while as it's further away than my go-to shop, but, I had a gift card. So, of course I was going to use it. I had a new bike arrive that needed assembly and tuning. I cannot do it because I was recently in a very serious bicycle crash and am mostly out of commission.
Anyways, the bike shop in every way has gone way downhill in just about every area and I was wondering.. for those of you with Trek stores... is this normal?
I was sent home with a flat tire, a bizarre, oddly angled seat and handlebar tape that honestly should have been replaced.
I asked that they look over everything.. tune it up and get it road safe so that when I'm healed, it'll be good to ride.
The tire was flat when they grabbed the bike.. so the guy that checks it out says "seems they forgot to inflate the tire" and inflates it. He cashes me out, and I leave. In the 15 mins it took me to get home, the tire was flat already.
I think they merely slapped the parts together and sent me out the door. I have no clue if it's working efficiently, etc. It's my first di2 bike, so I wanted to be sure it was tuned right.
Needless to say, I won't be back. They had the opportunity to make some $ on bar tape, tube, etc. instead, it seems they took the parts out of the box, slapped them in place.. total time 20 minutes.. and sent me out the door. I can't say I'm surprised though.. its kinda what I expect from Trek.
Just curious if anyone else had this experience.

Yeah, had a bad experience the first time I went into a Trek store, which had purchased Revolution cycles in DC. I did go back and experience the second time was better. I think the service guys and management may have been shaking out the first time, because it was only a couple months after.

Just for clarity, you're talking about a Trek-owned and -operated store as opposed to a store where the primary bike brand is Trek? If so, I wasn't even aware that they were a thing.

One of Atlanta's better bike shops - used to carry Trek, Cannondale, Cervelo, Scott... and lots of brands of accessories - went all in on Trek. Now, they have 90% Treks, a couple Cervelos, one or two Cannondales. Their accessories consist of Bontrager... and Bontrager.

I think they're just trying to make it easier for me to justify doing all of my shopping online. ;-) Their mechanics are still excellent, their fitter is really good, and the sales guys seem pretty solid. But now, I just feel like a Toyota guy in a Chevy dealership - just a showroom full of stuff I have little interest in.

I've only been to the Trek Store in Goodyear AZ once, but the whole place felt pretty sterile to me.

Yes it's a thing. There is/was a local chain of bike stores in my area called "Bike Line" maybe about a dozen stores, the owner sold to Trek several months ago so they are all now rebranded "Trek" stores.

In my experience, the staff in my local Trek store is unchanged, but I can imagine how once a store goes corporate the quality could be uneven.

I was just chatting with the long-time owner of a high-end LBS near me. He commented on the demise of indy bike shops, and specifically mentioned Trek buying out shops and replacing employees. On the other hand, another nearby indy shop is very loyal to Trek- they had a fire a few years back, losing a big inventory, and Trek took care of them.

I've visited a couple of Trek stores, and yeah, much more of a department store, big box vibe. I stopped in one outside Cincinnati, I was impressed they had a good selection including the (then) new aero Madone 9.9

This sums it up to a tee.

Trek bought out the shop and sell only Trek/Bontrager...the employees ignored us and just BS'd for the first 5 mins we were there and then made my girlfriend carry the big bike box in even though they acknowledged that I could not help In any way.
It's sad because this used to be a good shop.
They did less than the bare minimum.

We have a Trek owned and operated store in town and I've had pretty mixed (and mostly negative) experiences there. The first time I went there I was seriously shopping for a touring bike and wanted to check out the 520. I couldn't find anyone who could give me the time of day, so I scratched Trek off my shopping list and moved on. I wound up buying a Specialized AWOL.

I had the same experience last year when I was shopping for a road bike. I was very interested in the Domane, but again, I was treated so indifferently that I scratched that bike off my list and moved on, wound up buying a Scott Solace from a small local dealer instead.

A few months ago I was shopping for a gravel bike and was interested in the Checkpoint. I actually was treated very well when I went into the store this time round, it was a pleasant surprise! Alas I learned that the Aluminum framed model I was interested in wouldn't be available until late July and I really didn't want to wait that long so I explored a number of other options. I wound up loving (and buying) a Diverge E5 Comp.

Our Trek stores here aren't owned by Trek but they're Trek and Bontrager exclusive shops and when I was shopping for my bike last year it was a pretty awful experience. It's like going in and saying "here take my money" and they say "Oh we'll get to you later". huh???

I've actually gotta go by one of the locations on the way home from work today, I've heard they have a new manager and I need to look at saddles so we'll see how that goes. Lot's of bike stores can seem a bit uppity which I don't really understand? You're selling bikes...get over yourself and help your customers.

My go to LBS is a big Trek store. The team is great and give awesome attention to the many vintage rides I bring in to them. I cannot say enough good things about The Bike Shoppe in Ogden, UT. Yep, free plug. They are awesome.






Oh and to be honest I don't own any Treks. They probably do about 50% of the work on my vintage bikes which is a lot with over 20 bikes. I'd rather ride than work on the bikes so I give them a lot of business. Even the younger group seems to really like messing with my old stuff.

So you were sold a bike with a bad innertube and since the salesman didn't catch it... you now hate the shop and will never go back? And his mistake is Trek related?

It was the overall experience. The mechanic was told to assemble it, tune it up and make it road-worthy. Flat tire definitely does not = road worthy
Secondly, the group of employees BS-ing and having no interest in helping customers was a major turn off
The fact that they set up my seat like they did made me feel like the mechs had no clue what they were doing
They couldn't offer to help a small woman carry a big bike into the shop from 20 feet in front of the door? c'mon. These guys were just shooting the ****.
I don't care about the bad tube. That **** happens. I paid them good money to do a job and they totally half-assed it.

My only experience in a Trek owned store was not good.
I'll never buy a new Trek.

Some of the Specialized dominated stores are the same.
I'll never buy a new Specialized.

It's like many of the employees get a superiority complex over the products in their store. Must be the Corporate training programs.

They ask what bike you own, if it's not their brand, they go negative or get defensive.
My parting question to the Trek store manager was, Have you ever owned a bike other than Trek? Well No. So then you've got a lot to learn about bikes,... eh?

edit: If you live in USA, support bikes made in America, by craftsmen who are experienced in their trade. If you live elsewhere, buy from experienced local builders. Trek and Spesh will always have their supporters and enough buyers.

I've had access to financial information of an indy Trek shop. Based on my analysis/review, most of the profit was from service and parts & accessories. Relating to bike sales, they had much more sales of sub $1,200 bikes than over this amount.

From a business standpoint, the big box store mentality probably works. That is until the internet completely runs all of them out of business. I firmly believe most of the profit from bike shops come from people other than those reading these forums - unless you are a specialty shop in a ritzy area. The things we care about are much different than the things the majority of the customers care about. Hence the box store approach in a small sq footage shop seems to work for now.

Mfg owned shops eliminates the need for an owner taking a somewhat high salary.

Not sure if Trek owned but was in the area of one when i got a flat... yea I dont carry spares and had to watch a video the 2 times i changed my own tubes. They fixed it right up in minutes and charged a couple bucks. I was pleased enough. Went there bike shopping once or twice and the salesman did seem indifferent. I don't want to be hounded but would like a little interaction. It was upstairs in another room so i think he had to watch you so it was uncomfortable just to have them watching silently while i look at the bikes. You'd think they'd hear me clunking down the stairs and out the front door if i was trying to run off with one.

Screw that. I wanted to build up a gravel bike for under $1300 and couldnt have come close if the frame was built domestically.
got a black mountain cycles frameset for less than $600 and built it up with a modern 105 drivetrain.
designed and sold domestically is good enough for me.

Buying local in the US mostly limits a buyer to steel and for 2-5x more than buying a reputable and reliable Taiwan built frame.
the few local builders dealing in carbon, to, and aluminum are also 2-5x more expensive...and it seriously is few compared to global options.


so I pay 2-5x more and significantly reduce my options. It may work for some, but not really a winning setup for many.

i have noticed that cost is a primary driver for most when buying a new frame/bike.

There was a Trek store in Boulder when I was there. It was as bad as the others are saying.

That store is gone now; I assume it couldn't compete with the other dozen plus in that town that were better.

My LBS sells Trek, They also sell Cannondale, Pinarello, Felt, Cervelo and a few other brands. I bought my Trek road bike from them because it was the right bike for me. I also bought a Cannondale CX bike because it fit my needs better than the Trek CX bikes.

Don't h@te Trek just because. They make great products, but not everyone fits their bikes.

A Trek only dealer will try to sell you a Trek. Just as a BMW dealer will try to sell you a BMW.

I'll be honest, if the big brands keep taking over the local bike shops like this.. (and by 'like this' I mean corporate trek/specialized stores) they're just going to force people to shop online. I'm with Point.. I don't have any desire to put Bontrager or Specialized parts on my bikes.

I personally don't hate Trek, but what I've seen them do is different than what oldnslow2 said above. It's more like if BMW went around buying up Honda, Toyota and Nissan dealerships and turned them all into BMW dealers. I did see a Giant/Liv store in Boston and while the experience there was 100% more positive than at this recent Trek store visit.. it's the same concept. I want particular parts for my bikes.. not bike manufacturer garbage that's been marked up to try and make you think it's good.

Meh, the only worthy shop I've been in is primarily a Trek dealer. I think your shop experience has almost nothing to do with the bikes they carry, but the competence and customer service skills of the employees. The one I go to has it in spades. I've been in bad shops that sell Treks too, so again, it's not a brand thing, unless you are somehow turned off solely by the "look" of the store, or have a preconceived bias against the brand (which is the situation in most cases).

Yeah, I'm not sure what's up with this but my experiences at the Trek Store haven't been inspiring. Though as I said, my last visit there was much better. And I do have a friend that has bought a couple of bikes from them and seems to like them.

But the Specialized dealer I've bought from is an independent local shop and they are terrific, just a fantastic bike shop.

I'll also note that Giant has opened a store here in town and I found them to be friendly and enthusiastic. I haven't bought anything from them except a couple of inner tubes, but I really liked their attitude.