Trek bikes moved down in components?



Caden

New Member
Jun 30, 2006
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What happened to Trek road bikes? I have an 06 Trek 1500 that came with Ultegra brake/shifters, Ultegra rear derailler, 105 front derailler, and 105 brakes. Now I look on the Trek site (just because I was trying to figure out what some of my parts are like the bottom bracket, etc) and I can't find a bike as highly spec'd as mine anywhere near the price I paid ($1099). WTF? Has inflation hit that hard or what? Everything in that range looks like it has Tiagra stuff.
 
Trek seems to have the worst value for the money. And they load their bikes with Bontrager stuff which is still them and they don't give you the good stuff for cheap! Like a $4K Madone would have only Race Lites - that sucks!

The only Treks I liked were the Pilot spa models and they discontinued these. At $1649 a 2007 Trek Pilot 2.1 spa was overpriced, but I bought mine on year end clearance for $1400 - a good price for it!
 
Trek's "bang for the buck" factor seems to be going in the wrong direction but they've succeeded at saturating the market so well that the average buyer walking into a bike store is likely to end up buying one of their bikes anyway (or a Specialized, Giant, etc.). This is not to say that Trek doesn't make a quality product. I've owned several Treks in the past but their current price-to-component ratio has steered me in other directions on my last three bike purchases.
 
what the others said.

also i guess its cause the newer components are better than 06' so they cost more. 07' 105 might be just as good as 06' ultegra. i dont really know though thats just a thought.
 
Two years ago I bought a Trek 1000C. WORST bike I've ever owned. The derailleur literally exploded while on a ride, stranding me ten miles from the car. The crankset has developed strange noises twice. The brakes stick and can't seem to get fixed.

I was told there was 3 years service, but last month at 19 months of ownership I was charged for my third visit to the repair shop.

I owned a Nishiki for 14 years and other than bi-annual tuneups and 6 sets of tires in 14 years I did absolutely nothing to that bike and I loved every minute I was on it.

This Trek won't see it's 3rd anniversary with me. I'm lookng for someting better for next spring. I've learned my lesson with Trek.
 
I think you just got a really good price for your first bike and now are expecting that. Ultegra on a bike usually is priced higher than $1100, I'm thinking. Several years ago my mostly 105 equipped bike was $900 and I got it at a very good price. Sometimes you just hit things at great price points - my newer full DA - and I mean full - everthing is DA, carbon bike cost me $3550 - which I'd never even get close to this year....

some other mfg's for 2008
Kona Full Ultegra steel frame - $2000
Kona mostly 105 aluminum frame $1200
Kona mostly 105 carbon frame $2200
Specialized Tiagra and Sora aluminium frame $800
Specialized mostly 105 carbon frame $2000
(looks like Specialized isn't even bothering to go better than Tiagra and Sora on the aluminium bikes for 2008)
Giant mostly Tiagra aluminum frame $1100
Giant mostly Ultegra aluminum/carbon frame $2100
Giant mostly 105 aluminum frame $1200
Fuji mixed Tiagra and Sora aluminum frame $800
Fuji mostly Ultegra aluminum frame $1800
 
Caden said:
What happened to Trek road bikes? I have an 06 Trek 1500 that came with Ultegra brake/shifters, Ultegra rear derailler, 105 front derailler, and 105 brakes. Now I look on the Trek site (just because I was trying to figure out what some of my parts are like the bottom bracket, etc) and I can't find a bike as highly spec'd as mine anywhere near the price I paid ($1099). WTF? Has inflation hit that hard or what? Everything in that range looks like it has Tiagra stuff.
Giant are heading the same direction. My 2005 OCR1 has 105 but the 2008 models are Tiagra. Mind you, the 2008 model TCR Alliance is around $400 cheaper than the 2007 models but I think that's just a result of the stronger Aussie dollar against the greenback.

//k
 
kakman said:
Giant are heading the same direction. My 2005 OCR1 has 105 but the 2008 models are Tiagra. Mind you, the 2008 model TCR Alliance is around $400 cheaper than the 2007 models but I think that's just a result of the stronger Aussie dollar against the greenback.

//k
Trek are probably still relying on the armstrong roller coaster to sell bikes. I'm sure it works