pdxtex

bontrager is at least one of the better house brands out there. i would not go out of my way to purchase much of their stuff though. maybe some wheels or stem. everything else is pretty basic until you spend some real big bucks and step up into some of those aeolus wheels. interestingly, bontrager seems to be out of the road fork business. i dont see any offered in their current line up. has trek had some problems with the race fork? ive seen some thread about it but never heard anything formally....

SirHustlerEsq

They are too ugly to be ridden.

CommuteCommando

+1. I will be upgrading from my entry level aluminum 16 speed to a Carbon bike soon. It will probably be a Masi because that is what my favorite LBS sells. Treks are OK, but not having ready access to a shop I like that sells them bothers me not at all, especially after how Trek treated Lemond and Klein. For various reasons, I support local brick and mortar and don't buy some items, bikes and shoes are two of them, on the internet. Fit is a big issue with those two items, and I'm willing to pay a little more for access to a good guy who is a better bike mechanic than I am.

unterhausen

nothing is true, everything is permitted

oldbobcat

Prior to 2011, ass-hatchet was probably the best description for Bontrager road saddles. The new ones are quite good, actually, but it will be a long time before they get the kind of loyalty Body Geometry commands.

pdxtex

specialized has done a good job of cultivating their reputation for good after market parts, well at least in respects to their saddles, and helmets/shoes to some degree also. actually, i see alot of people with specialized helmets on non specialized bikes. trek may have a little image maintenance to do after the lance mega #$%^ storm of the last few years but im sure they will be fine.

caloso

I'm one of those. I had a Specialized seat post on my Trek, as a matter of fact. And I'm loyal to their helmets and shoes.

Long Tom

Pretty sure adding a Specialized seatpost to a Trek means you can push that bad boy to beyond the 400-watt Trek asplosion threshold. I'd estimate- and I'm not a seatpost engineer, full disclosure- that you could take the resulting Frankenbike and safely "dial it up" to 417 watts.

caloso

The funny thing is, I had to get a new seat post to replace the alloy one that Trek spec'ed with a CF frame. It became galvanically welded to the inside of the CF seat tube. The shop mechanics had to lock the seat post into a bench vise and have two guys crank on the frame to pop it out. Afterwards, the shop manager called me and said "Bad news. We didn't destroy your frame." (Because Trek would have replaced it.)

pdxtex

im on my 6th trek bike at the moment but ive been riding with specialized seats for ten years. currently favor the romin evo gel. ok, back to trek hating!!!

shoota 

The reason you don't see treks here is the same reason you wont find Budweiser on beer snob forum.

Long Tom

Ouch. That's cold. Budweiser isn't even BEER! It has rice in it!

znomit

Forbidden? We can dream.

99Klein 

Yes but with another trek frame:-)

bianchi10

I don't know why but I totally Lol'd at that comment! I think the brutal honesty, short N sweet. I'm with nachoman here, except for me its just the majority of them, not all. It takes the right set up, right wheels, right stem angle, right...everything to make a trek LOOK good. I base my dislike for trek only on that because I have only ridden a trek madone once. Still didn't like it. But I can't judge my dislike for the bike solely on that one ride. So for me I just go off of the looks. That being said, I don't like.

znomit

Don't ask don't tell is the best policy.

ol rob

OP here, I have a 2012 Madone 5.2 flat black in 56mm H3. I have had some back issues in life. I really like the position. My previous bike was a GF with standard positioning, but my LBS had to put a 12-14 degree riser stem to keep me on the bike any length of time. That bike got crashed in an auto accident during transport. No regrets with the Madone, just over 2K miles. I did replace the wheels.
My apologies for stirring the pot. I agree with most things posted in the thread. I will say this, Trek being the huge conglomerate of bike companies has good and bad limitations. The fact that they are so big is probably the only reason a small bike shop an stay afloat in my area. We are not a true biking destination if you know what I mean. But it did allow me and many local riders the opportunity to try something better than a wal mart bike. When my Gary Fisher got ruined I went back to the LBS, not for a TREK, but for his service. He ordered me what I needed. He has steered me in the right direction more than once. I have steered more than a few riders to his shop for bicycle purchases. If in the future I need another bike, will it be TREK? Who knows, but I will be using my LBS who has been there for me.
To the guy who said ride more and loose some weight,........DUH!!! Why do you think I bought a bike in the first place. I have been riding 3 summers now. I do intend to ride more this winter. I have done a few centuries, barely. But we ride 30-60 mile rides on average. maybe I will be ready for 3 or 6 gap next year, not quite there for this year. Thanks for the replies to this thread. I knew I was throwing a hand grenade in the pool. But it turned out better than I thought it would.
Be safe, Rob

SirHustlerEsq

If I can't hold you tonight.

GeorgeWerr

if you ride a Trek you must be on PED's

robbyville

As a proud Trek owner (Domane 5 series frame), I'll say that I think Trek does themselves a tiny bit of a disservice with the paint schemes (albeit probably not affecting sales much).

I started off the season with a much cooler bike, that never properly fit. Moved to the Domane frame and never looked back, I ride more and I ride more comfortably.

I think Bontrager has some nice after market stuff that doesn't get its deserved kudos, perhaps because it's always spec'd on the Trek bikes. I use the Bontrager R3 tires and really like them, I just bought a set of Race Lite tubeless wheels which have been utterly superb and reasonably priced. But that being said I think that Specialized (another corporate conglomerate) has absolutely nailed contact points (pun intended). Their shoes and saddles are IMO the best in the biz.

Gramercy

I'd like to try out a higher end bike compared to my Trek 1.2 to see if I notice a difference or go faster, or if it's more comfortable, etc. I don't have a lot of exeperience with road bikes but I think my Trek is really nice. I definitely threw away the stock saddle and bought one off Nashbar. I couldn't ride 3 miles on the stock saddle.

erief0g

Can't wait to upgrade then.. lol. I've got 150 miles on the stock saddle and haven't even ridden in biking shorts yet. I don't feel any pain but as you can see I also don't even have enough wind to stay moving much over 6-7 miles a day. It's getting easier though so once my arse says it's time for a new saddle I'll start looking over reviews. .... Glad to know that I've got a minimally "hardass".

caloso

Just as a point of information, the stock saddle on my '00 5200 was a Selle Italian Flite Ti. I still have that saddle; in fact it's currently on my SSCX bike (see avatar photo).

mprelaw

I gave it 10 rides. The shop offered me a Paradigm for the difference in price (I think $40). I said no, thanks. They really should change the company name to Buttraper.

I have a Spesh Romin on there now. Originally I replaced the Buttraper with a $29 Riva. It was fine, but I ran into a nice clearance sale on 2012 saddles at a nearby LBS.

I like everything else about the Madone 5.2. I don't get all of the worries about the new brakes---they're fine. Even the Race wheelset has held up for a lot of miles over some pretty crappy rural roads around here.

Cactuskid

Trek is easier to spell than Spesialised