I sometimes really find the vitriol toward the Trek brand to be amazing. You mention the name Trek and there is a 90% chance someone will voluntarily mention what awful bikes they are. As a point of disclosure, I have owned ONE Trek in my life, from about '94 through '97. It was a Trek 2300 with carbon tubes in the main triangle and aluminum everywhere else. I found it to be an average bike. I never had complaints but I also don't look back at that bike with any great affection, either. It did it's job for a not-so-great Cat 4 racer.
The move of Sven Nys from Colnago bikes to Trek is why I mention this topic. Many people seemed distraught and dismayed that Sven would even consider moving from Colnago to Trek. You see, Colnago has earned some level of mythical status in the eyes of Americans. They made nice lugged steel frames with extravagant (often ugly, in my view) paint jobs. And they were Italian so they must be good...right?
But, for several years now, the majority of Colnagos have been built in Asia, just like the majority of other bikes. And those bikes that are still made in Italy...is that really important? To my knowledge, Italy isn't world renowned for their carbon fiber technology.
Trek, on the other hand, have been doing carbon for 20+ years. They have had many wins, in the pro ranks. More than Colnago in the last 10-15 years. They, too, have many of their bikes made in Asia with some bikes still make in the US. And, frankly, I think the US is probably better known for their use of carbon than Italy.
So, why the hate? From what I can tell, the hate really only comes from self-loathing Americans. It really is quite strange. We have a twisted Euro-inferiority in the bike world. If it is bike related, it must be better if it is from Europe, specifically France, Italy, Belgium and Holland and to a lesser extent Spain, Germany, England, Switzerland, etc.
Take this sample comment that was made about Nys' move to Trek bikes
Being born and raised in Wisconsin, and being an avid cyclist and fan of the sport, I hate trek. Partially because if I'm spending major $$$ I want something unique with euro flair and trek brings none of that. Also what this move does is make a MAJOR HUGE PUSH for disk brakes. Watch, it's probably in Nys contract that he has to or will have to race disk brakes. Just thank god he didn't go to F#*King specialized (puke)
Let's analyze, shall we.
1) This guy lives in the home state of Trek and he hates the company. That's ridiculous for economic reasons a lone. Having a major bike manufacturer in Wisconsion, of all places, should be a source of pride.
2) Part of the reason for his hate is a lack of Euro flair. What the hello is Euro flair anyway? I would wager that it's purely a perceived "flair". A foreign sounding name. Take the decals off of a Colnago and, with the possible exception of their lugged C59, there is nothing that distinguishes a Colnago from most other carbon frames
3) Disc brakes - the writer was correct that Nys rode his first race on a disc brake equipped Trek. This ignores the fact that Nys also occasionally rode disc equipped Colnagos this year. On top of that, Nys used normal cantilever brakes in his second race with Trek. I guess that whole "contract" thing was in the writers fertile imagination, much like Colnago "flair". And, in case the writer has not noticed, there is already a major push toward disc brakes. Nys move won't slow the trend but it is not pushing the trend toward discs either
In conclusion, cyclists need to get over themselves and the perceived "flair" of certain products. Get on the bike and train hard. Do you want to ride with flair or do you want to ride a bike that you think has flair?
