In a fashion that’s become a sort of tradition lately, Trek is honoring another one of their star athletes with a custom paint job just before a big event. In this case, the bike honors the people’s favorite of Jens Voigt, offering him a custom painted Trek Madone for Jens to use in the Amgen Tour of California, which starts Sunday.
Everyone’s favorite hard man is known for riding a child’s bike to avoid elimination from the tour and for his many catch phrases such as “shut up legs.” If you haven’t checked out that link yet, to the Jens Voigt Army Soundboard, you should. It’s a good time. It should come as no surprise then that “shut up legs” would be emblazoned across the top tube, along with a few special touches harking to Jens’ long career racing bikes like “100 crashes, 11 broken bones, 25 screws or pins, 1300 kg of pasta eaten.” We’re not sure if that last one is true, but we’ll take his word for it.
Check out the rest of the bike, along with the complete word from Trek after the break.
From Trek:
(Waterloo, WI) – Trek is excited to announce the unveiling of a Jens Voigt-themed paint scheme designed for the world’s most popular rouleur, just in time for the Amgen Tour of California. The all-new “Shut up Legs” scheme pays homage to one of cycling’s most respected competitors and a nod to one of the more popular post-race quotations attributed to him. Along with the famous quote printed along the top of the top tube, reminding its rider of the hardman’s philosophy of controlling the body with the mind, a weathered wolf’s head is emblazoned on the seat and head tubes, speaking to Jens’ uncanny ability to seemingly always lead the pack. The bike also incorporates amazing statistics from Voigt’s long career as a professional cyclist, with the numbers hidden inside the fork legs and within the downtube logo.
Never short for words, Voigt had a lot to say about the design throughout the concept and development of the bike. “I was thrilled when Trek said they wanted to do a bike for me,” commented Voigt. “We went back and forth about the theme and I talked a lot about the way I approach racing and going for the attack and we came up with this really cool wolf theme. It’s pretty aggressive but I feel like it fits.”
“We wanted to incorporate some of the accomplishments of his huge career so we asked Jens to talk about his career and to list some interesting statistics from his years on a bike,” said Trek VP Joe Vadeboncoeur. “He came back with the standard stuff, ‘64 pro wins, 15 years as a pro, 35 wins as an amateur’ but what was really unique, and this just speaks to who Jens is; was that he included things like ‘100 crashes, 11 broken bones, 25 screws or pins, 1300 kg of pasta eaten’. It was an amazing list that he had kept and we’ve incorporated all of it into the details of the bike.”
The bike will be raced at Tour of California, with a replica on display at Trek’s festival space at each stage. Voigt’s bike is the latest edition in a line of rider-inspired paint schemes crafted by Trek’s in-house Creative Design Studio. Last year during the 2011 Tour de France, Trek unveiled limited-edition paint schemes for Frank and Andy Schleck as well as the popular “Spartacus” bike for Fabian Cancellara.
