Trek Factory Experience lets you visit HQ to order, pick up your new bike

Buy a frame and add air miles with your purchase.

I’d be interested to hear an answer to that, too, John. All they’d have to do is some bonding together of tubes made overseas to “make the frame” in Waterloo.

John – 08/08/15 – 3:31pm
“and meet ‘n’ greet with the folks that build your frame”
How many frames are still being built in Waterloo? Last I checked, it was only the OCLV 700 series Madones.

And Sessions.

Only a very small percentage of Trek frames are made in the USA, but Trek still makes the most USA made frames of any company.

40,000 per year built in Waterloo.

Just an fyi, Domane’s, Fuel’s, Emonda’s, Session’s, Superfly/Top Fuel, and Madone 700 series top end bike are made in Wisconsin. The 9.9 or equivalent versions that is… they make all their bikes sections at a time. Almost no monocoque construction at all. They have much more controll over eliminating voids. Chop a trek frame across a tube and do it to any competitor brand and You will see the difference. The OCLV is purely a technique. But it works… As a ME that also studied material sciences trek is one of the few companies that ive worked on bikes for that really gets carbon. I have yet to be there but I get to talk to the carbon guys enough to know the truth of what they do and don’t do. Also going to the hq is unlike any other companies hq. Specialized doesn’t have their own hotel…

Emonda SLR frames are Waterloo built as well.

Volvo does a similar thing as well. Seems like a great experience for buyers.

@Champs: “think Trek’s domestic production is orders of magnitude greater than its major North American competitors put together.”

Made in USA, when it comes to bikes, is a bunch of nostalgic, jingoistic remnants of a bygone era.

I mean, are you really going to proudly prop the flag up on your Chevy on your way to pick up said “Made in USA” Trek when 90% of its components are made overseas?

Take a look at your “American” Chevy’s sticker and you’ll see about 20% of the car is sourced domestically.

Plus, carbon made in Taiwan is way better than anything made here. “Made in USA” stickers make us forget about the inferior quality of the product underneath.

They only make their reminds slr and 7series madone in Wisconsin. The other high end bikes aren’t made there.

@Cheese
Estimates are all over the place. CNBC reported that Trek made 20-25k out of 56k total US made frames in 2014.

am I the only one who thinks this is cool to even OFFER it? Those of you who think it’s silly likely aren’t in the market for a high end Project One back anyways. But for those people with bigger bank accounts than me, why not give them the same experience as Corvette, BMW, Buell, etc?

Turbo, you lost me at “carbon made in Taiwan is better than anything made here”. Talk about pulling something out of your you-know-where. Got any “facts” to back that statement up? Of course you don’t, that is not a quantifiable fact, it’s called your opinion.