Category: Road Bicycles

For many years, cycling had been primarily dominated by European brands, such as Pinarello, Colnago, Bianchi, etc. While those bikes were sold in the United States, there was no American bike builder to speak of and bikes were not always easy to obtain.

That all changed when a father and son met with a South African bike shop owner. Today, Trek is not only a national brand but also is known internationally, especially on the European race scene where the company’s bikes were ridden to victory in the Tour de France by Lance Armstrong seven times.

A Brief History of Trek

Trek was born in 1976 in Waterloo, Wisconsin. Over a couple beers, Dick Burke and Bevil Hogg ( that bike shop owner previously mentioned) agreed to begin manufacturing bikes in America. The name “Trek” was chosen to represent the spirit of adventure, although “Kestrel” was suggested.

Burke and Hogg built bikes with just five employees inside a barn. Initially, the two entrepreneurs focused on touring bikes and built 904 of them from “Steel tubing, lugged and silver-brazed, handcrafted and hand-painted with care.” But the goal was to build bikes made for racing.

The Mission of Trek and The Company Today

Today, Trek’s headquarters are located a mile down the road from that storied barn. In the four decades that followed, the company embraced the technological advancements that occurred with bicycles. They built carbon, aerodynamic, road, and mountain bikes.

The mission, however, has always been the same. Trek is “…on a mission to make our world a better place to live and ride. We build only products we love, provide incredible hospitality to our customers, and change the world by getting more people on bikes.”

Trek As a Racing, Bicycle, and Travel Brand

Over the years, Trek has supported several pro riders and teams in road racing, mountain bike racing, and other pursuits. The most famous team the company sponsored was the United States Postal Service team and Lance Armstrong. Armstrong, in fact, continued to ride Treks until his retirement. In today’s pro peloton, Trek recently sponsored Trek Segafredo and this year are working with Lidi-Trek, both the men’s and women’s teams.

But one of the most interesting things about the company is that it continues to function like a bike shop where you can not only buy a bike but also all the accessories that go along with it, such as helmets, clothing, and shoes. They even developed their own accessory brand called Bontrager.

The other area that makes Trek unique as a brand is that it developed its own travel brand, Trek Travel. It hosts cycling trips all over the world for the enthusiast up to the hardcore cyclist. It focuses on trips in Europe and America and also has trips in Australia, Chile, and Japan.

Last Thoughts

Trek is an iconic American cycling brand. While other American bicycle builders have arisen, Trek continues to build, innovate, and support racers and riders of all kinds. But not many bicycle builders can claim to have also succeeded in their offshoot companies with Bontrager and Trek Travel.

Cycling is what Trek is all about, and its simple origins built from a bike shop to a standout, innovative builder go on today. That’s why consumers can shop the company’s website for parts if needed. And that is why Trek continues as a major player in the cycling world. Pretty amazing when you think about that barn in the mid 1970s with five employees.