March 30, 20122 Comments on The MAMIL’s Comfort Bike
April 2, 20112 Comments on Trek Allant
Kent writes a blog post about Trek’s Allant commuter bicycle earlier this week, and suddenly I see a spike in search results landing on my Flickr photo page of the Trek Allant.
And Kent claims he doesn’t have any influence at his bike blog 🙂
March 15, 201016 Comments on Bicycle for my daughter
My daughter grew out of her old 20″ wheel bike a while ago. It’s a real stretch for her to ride any bike with 26″ tires (including my son’s old 13″ Gary Fisher frame), so I need something with 24″ wheels.
She definitely wants a step through frame, which eliminates Specialized’s and Raleigh’s entire line of 24″ kids bikes. We live in a mountain town so gears and a reasonably lightweight bike are good — no clunky hi ten balloon tire cruisers, please. The only two candidates I’ve found so far that fit the bill are Trek’s “Zara” girls’ bike and the Electra Townie 21D with 24″ wheels.
I think overall I like the Zara over the Townie 21D. First of all, it’s $100 less expensive, which always appeals to the cheapskate in me. There’s no front derailleur on the Trek and I like the chainguard. I’m not a fan of Electra’s flat footed frame geometry (though if my daughter prefers it that’s what will be important), and the Townie handlebars look uncomfortably high. I’m a sucker for the sportier look of the Trek.
On the other hand, the Local Bike Shop I almost always use carries Electra, but not Trek. Trek dealers are few and far between in my part of California (I’m a mere 40 miles from the International Domination Headquarters for Specialized Bicycles). Trek calls the color of the bike “Coral,” but it’s clearly pink, and my daughter is all done with pink and Disney princesses in her life. Finally, the bike shop owner is my neighbor and a super nice kid so I can maybe get a bro deal from him.
We’ll look for a Trek dealer this week that carries the Zara, I think, to try the bike out.
Do you know of other bikes that meet our qualifications?
Thanks!
August 18, 2008Leave a Comment
Mark Stevenson is spending the weekend in Madison Wisconsin for Trek World 2008 show, where Trek shows their dealers what they have coming up for the next year. He kindly sent me a lot of photos and information about the show.
According to Mark, “commuter oriented really were front and center this year with the star of the show being the Trek District.” The District, a flat bar singlespeed bike featuring the Gates belt drive system, will be available in October for around $900. According to Trek, this aggressive road bike inspired design” produces an edgy ride with color matched Bontrager Inform saddle, orange rims, accents on the stem face plate, and even constrasting colored water bottle cage bolts. The Gates carbon belt drive shaves 280 grams from this urban bike while producing a “ninja quiet ride” with no lubrication.
Soho is another belt drive bike, which will retail for under $1000 in December. The existing 2008 Soho (chain drive) has an 8 speed Alfine hub. The 2009 model shows at Trek World included matching fenders and a minimal chainguard.
Trek Allant is a new offering that eschews the suspension bits of a common hybrid for a standard rigid steel fork and seatpost. Standard gear includes fenders and rack. The WSD version with a step through frame puts the rack on the front. Allant will be available beginning in November for $540.
Fisher road bikes revealed at the show includes the Presidio CX bicycle and the Triton, a fixed gear city bike. They twins to the LeMond Poprad an Filmore fill holes in Trek’s product line that appeared with LeMond’s vacancy.
According to Trek, the Fisher Simple City bicycles have been hugely successful, and dealers are looking forward to possible refinements and additions to this series in the future.
Thank you to Mark Stevenson and Arleigh Jenkins for the photos and details! See more of Mark’s photos from Trek World 2008 at this photoset. You’ll find more from Trek World 2008 at CommuteByBike and Twenty Nine Inches. I also just noticed that James beat me to posting information from the show at Bicycle Design, where he wrote about the District, Fisher El Ranchero, and the Soho. The El Ranchero is the anticipated longtail bike that will be offered by Trek dealers.
August 7, 2008Leave a Comment
From our spies at Trek One World Domination Headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin…
Trek was shooting some video of a prototype Gary Fisher utility bike this afternoon at the neighborhood market just down the street from us. She described it as being about the same size as the Big Dummy, but with some kind of integrated passenger seat in the stoker position, a short steel platform, and some “really cool” side bags with zippered flaps. Fat tires, disk brakes and wide upright bars.
Read more: Sconnyboy.
July 17, 20082 Comments on Win a free bike from Trek
Trek Bicycle today announced the “Go By Bike Challenge,” a national pledge campaign sponsored by 1 World 2 Wheels — Trek’s cycling advocacy initiative — that challenges people to put down the car keys and instead go by bike.
“The momentum for going by bike is undeniable,” noted Trek’s Director of Advocacy, Rebecca Anderson. “Growing traffic congestion; skyrocketing gas prices; alarming obesity rates; concerns about global climate change as the result of greenhouse gas emissions; there is interest all over the country for transportation alternatives. The bicycle — as arguably the most efficient mode of transportation on the planet — represents a simple solution to some of the toughest problems; and tons of communities are recognizing this fact by taking steps to become bike-friendly. There has never been a better time to go by bike!”
From July 17th through August 31st, 1world2wheels.org will accept “Go By Bike” mileage pledges online, displaying a homepage ticker that tracks total miles pledged, money saved, calories burned, and pounds of carbon offset accumulated. Visitors to trekbikes.com will also be presented with the “Go By Bike” ticker and invited to visit 1world2wheels.org to take the “Go By Bike Challenge.”
To promote the challenge nationally, Trek will take out two full-page print ads in USA Today, and Trek’s network of independent bicycle dealers will ask customers to make in-store pledges. Each day of the campaign, one lucky pledger will also be selected at random to receive a brand new Trek 7.2 FX fitness hybrid bike, valued at $519.99.
According to a National Personal Transportation Survey, nearly 40% of all trips taken by car are two miles or less. Whether it’s to work, to school, to the park, store, or gym, the “Go By Bike Challenge” asks individuals to think about all the short trips they take by car and instead pledge to go by bike.