Since Project One now includes select mountain bikes, it seems like a fitting time for Trek to put together this clip of the entire process at work. From layup of the carbon frame, to paint, decals, final assembly, and shipping out the door to you, your perfect bike awaits.
despite what trek’s marketing department would have you think, this is NOT custom! it isn’t even custom paint! custom is picking your own geometry, tubing and layup (in the case of carbon) custom is getting little drawings of lance armstrong shooting dope into his arm all over the bike if you want them. custom is getting blue nipples on one side and green nipples on the otherside just for the f$&! of it. custom is putting campy record eps on your bike with disc brakes despite the fact that trek doesn’t a campy equipped road bike and they don’t offer a disc brake road bike either. support made in america custom carbon builders like alchemy, calfee, predator, Independant fabrications, parlee, kirk lee, apleman, crumpton, seven, serotta, and argonaut (forgive me if I’ve forgotten others)
@andy: nearly nobody does custom layups. They say they do, but mostly they are using standard tubing which is mass produced in the industry. There is no such thing like mass produced custom carbon tube…
But anyway, nowedays it’s custom to let choose the customer the color of one screw. So YEAH!
So people bash companies for not producing in the USA, and when the company that produces the most USA made bikes per year makes a clip that showcases what they can offer, people bash them anyway??? Seriously folks? Forget the technicalities of what is and isn’t custom. What ever country you live in, supporting local labour helps to keep the money at home.
@Andy – Most of the companies you listed either charge as much or more than Trek does (have you priced a Serotta), or have their own limitations on exactly what they can build you. This might be a strained analogy, but think of Trek like Richard Sachs: Sachs makes a Richard Sachs bike. You tell him what size you are, and he makes one of his bikes for you. You don’t get to add disc brakes, or a BB30 bottom bracket, or an oversized steerer. You get the bike that he makes in your size. It’s a phenomenal bike, but you leave many of the major decisions to him. In this way, a Project One Madone is very similar.
If you want 135 spacing and disc mounts, then no, go somewhere else. If you need custom geometry, then Trek’s probably not the company to do it for you (though they will often reluctantly do it). But if you fit within a pretty normal range of human beings, you want custom paint, custom carbon layup, an unmatched race pedigree (spare me the Lance BS), and a lifetime warranty, then Trek’s a very good option.
@ApeEscape – Humorously, the Domane, Top Fuel and Superfly are now all made by Giant in Taiwan. Unpainted frames are shipped from Taiwan to Wisconsin for Project One assembly.
@Andy – Semantics. Clearly your definition of custom differs from Trek’s, but one could easily argue that the ability to choose the layout, the headtube, and the paint constitutes a “custom” frame. Again to my analogy – would you say that his bikes are not custom because you cannot get anything you want?
This is partially a response to “craig” specifically, but further a response to this conversation in general.
Beside the frame which was made by, according to the video, mostly fat people in Wisconsin, what exactly was made by Trek? I would go so far as to say that every single other part on the bike was made in the Far East, with exceptions few and far in between.
Seeing the “Made in USA” or the even more rare and coveted “Made in Oregon” label on a bike which was made with imported tubing and hung with Taiwanese parts makes me dislike bicycle industry executives and smalltime custom builders all the same.
@David – It’s pretty easy to find a builder using American made tubing and no shortage of companies making American made components. My last build was a Kish which was probably 90% American (incl tubing) without even trying. The other 10% was half German and half far east. I can’t think of where the nipples and bolts were made but every large part except the rear hub, saddle, and tires were made here in the lower 48.
@will
Sadly the only frames they MAKE in house are the pro Domane’s (read H1 geometry, not offered to the public), 6 and 7 series madones, and 9 series SC’s. The rest are made in Taiwan and shipped over, the Signature series paint jobs are then done in house at trek, boxed and shipped out.
