Burke and Bevil decided that, instead of trying to sell budget bikes or imports through their shops, they needed to create their own brand to bring high-end bike manufacturing to the U.S.īurke and Hogg established Trek Bicycle in December of 1975 with only five employees working in a red barn in Waterloo, Wisconsin. However, many of these top brands weren’t easily available in U.S. Budget-friendly Schwinns were easily available, but if you wanted performance and refinement, European and Japanese brands were the only option. Unfortunately, the shops failed and closed in the fall of 1975.Īt the time, America wasn’t known for producing high-end bikes. Burke’s vision was to set up a nationwide chain of bicycle stores in college towns. Together, they bought a bike store in Madison, Wisconsin named Stella Bicycle Shop and later opened a second location in Champaign, Illinois. A businessman always looking for new opportunities, Burke was convinced by Hogg to pursue his interest in bicycles. Trek’s founders, Richard (Dick) Burke and Bevil Hogg, met by chance on a plane ride. Trek simply makes too many bikes to go over all of them!) Find out which riders fit with each bike model so you can better understand Trek’s line-up and make an informed decision when buying your next bike.īevil Hogg and Dick Burke with an early Trek. (Time trial, triathlon, electric, urban, and sub-$1,000 bikes are omitted. It will cover Trek’s history, innovative technologies, model naming system, and its most popular road, gravel, and mountain bike models. This overview is your guide to all things Trek. But how do you know which Trek bike is right for you? Trek’s huge catalog includes everything from race-ready road bikes, to trail-shredding mountain bikes, to reliable cruisers for your daily commute. It has supported some of the world’s top racers on their path to glory and introduced innovative bike technologies that have had a huge impact on modern cycling. Over the last 40 years, the little company from Waterloo, Wisconsin grew into one of the biggest manufacturers in the world, making more than a million bikes per year. Their one goal was to prove an American brand was capable of producing high-end, high-performance bicycles capable of competing with the best European and Japanese bikes. To them, it called forth the spirit of adventure and the promise of great things beyond the horizon. The founders of Trek Bicycle believed there was special power in the name Trek.