Here are a variety of pictures from Mtbr's recent tour of the Trek Factory. Although we were disappointed at the last minute decision to not allow us to take photos of the actual fabrication of their carbon road and mountain bikes, we were still stoked to see the inner workings of such an innovative, iconic brand such as Trek.

Trek HQ - Waterloo, WI

Trek HQ is located in a small town (pop: 3,000) called Waterloo, which is about a 45 minute drive from the Wisconsin state capitol of Madison. There are approximately 800 employees at this campus.

The Lobby has a very impressive display of Trek history:





The Entryway has a few of Lance's bikes along the right side and a few choice mountain bikes along the left.



Gary Fisher's Klunker

Gary Fisher's original Klunker from 1974 - Mountain biking begins. This bike is the only one in the entryway that requires 3 struts to hold it up! Even compared to all of Lance's TdF bikes on the opposite wall, Gary's Klunker is the most valuable bike here. The placard reads:

"Mountain biking begins

Gary Fisher wasn't plotting a revolution. He just wanted a bike he could ride off-road, away from "cops, cars, and concrete." But when he and a few like-minded rebels started grafting gears and moto parts onto a burly pre-WWII singlespeed cruisers, they forever changed the biking world. Their death-defying runs down Mount Tamalpais paved (or unpaved) the way for a whole new genre of biking - and now we couldn't imagine life without it."



next: More Bikes, The Offices, Graphics Department, Gym>>

Who remembers the "Y" bike??
Trek Y bike 1995

Yes

Mathias Fluckinger's 2010 U23 World Championship winning Top Fuel:
Top Fuel

Tracey Moseley's Trek World Racing Session - 2010 UCI World Championship Winner:
Trek Session

Not your average cube farm:

hard at work

IMG_0881 IMG_0882 IMG_0883 IMG_0884

Mountain biking legend....no, I don't mean Jimmy Mac....

Keith

Trek also has their own in-house photography studio. Some various pictures of the Graphics and Design department:

Photography Studio part 2 IMG_0890 IMG_0893 the people under the stairs

This is what 900 blues looks like:

shades of blue

View of the in-house gym. Staying in shape in Wisconsin is not always easy, especially during the winter. I saw not a single over weight or out of shape worker in the whole place and the gym is a large reason why. Of course, riding bikes is the other reason!

in-house gym

in-house gym part 2


next: Racing Department and Fabrication>>

Scott Daubert is the head of Trek Racing and he gave us the background on Trek's Racing efforts and how they relate to product development. His department is immaculate, by the way. The Trek Racing department operates almost as a stand alone business-within-a-business with its own space, own staff, own budget and own game plan. The sponsored athletes are integral in the communication of what they need for their own racing needs, whether it be triathletes like Chris Lieto to Team Radio Shack to the Trek World Racing Team and more.

Scott Daubert

Racing Department Racing Department Team Radio Shack Chris Lieto's sons bike

CNC Machine lathe press Honey Stinger is a tool?

From the Racing department, we proceeded into the Fabrication area. However, due to some recent changes in certain processes (since the Discovery Channel was last in, apparently) all of us journalists had to surrender our cameras before entering and sign NDA forms of confidentiality. It really is a shame, because this truly was the highlight of the tour for me. Jim Cosgrove was our guide and he is THE MAN, when it comes to building with carbon fiber. His background is in aerospace and he answered all of our questions, and there were many. UD (unidirectional) vs. weave, 12k vs 3k, plans to recycle excess materials, approaching ultimate limits of the material, possible other materials....Jim had an answer for everything.

And the carbon fiber fabrication process was amazing! From the bundling of the fibers, to cutting the layers, to forming the shapes, to hand laying the material in the molds, to bonding, baking and finishing...it's all done in house for the mid to upper end carbon fiber road and mountain frames and forks.


next: ACG and ID departments

From the Fab, we proceeded to the ACG department (A.dvanced C.oncepts G.roup). This is akin to the R&D department. It was here that we got our first glimpse of the new Trek DH 29er, still very much a prototype.

ACG

Dylan Howe Trek DH 29er ACG for analysis of the competition

not your typical office chair WTF?

From the ACG department, we headed to the ID deparment (I.ndustrial D.esign) Here we watched a slideshow about the industrial design global process which includes such things as team collaboration, project research, concept creation, and design development. Topics include such concepts as where is the business headed, where is the market headed, identifying lifestyle trends and researching concepts, and then finally creating those concepts. From those concept creations come the design development.

But much more interesting than the slideshow, were the one-off bikes that showed off some of the design concepts. Not meant to become production models by any means, these bike are more to show what is possible.

The Jet Bike was an instant hit. Yes, it really works. Yes, it is really, really loud:


Jet Bike

Jet Bike Jet Bike Jet Bike Jet Bike

Belt-drive, single-speed, electric bike:

Belt-drive, singlespeed, electric bike

Belt-drive, single-speed, electric bike Belt-drive, single-speed, electric bike Belt-drive, single-speed, electric bike Belt-drive, single-speed, electric bike

a few more, simpler bikes:

singlespeed, disc brakes hardtail cruiser cargo-ish bike integrated basket

close-up of the integrated basket:
integrated-basket

some shots of the new Bontrager road helmet for the Team Leopard Trek racers like Andy Schleck and Fabien Cancellara.

Leopard Trek team helmet

Leopard Trek team helmet Leopard Trek team helmet Leopard Trek team helmet

And so concluded our Trek Bicycle Factory Tour. It's evident from the smiles and enthusiasm from all of the employees that Trek has really built a fun place to work, interact, learn and grow. It's no wonder that Trek has become the global powerhouse in the cycling industry that it is...the Passion runs deep within these walls.

But two things to note for next time....we want to ride the Trek Trails AND we want to show the world the amazing carbon fiber fabrication and craftsmanship!

For More Information About the Trek Bicycle Company:
https://www.trekbikes.com/