Trek works to stay at the top of their game In Bordeaux, France, the towers of a cathedral rise in the distance. A group of weary bicyclists peddle on. The road, which runs through a vineyard, has no street lines. Up ahead, the homes and shops of an old village look appear far away, nothing but dots on the horizon. In the Czech Republic a couple of bicyclists ride downhill on the streets of a quaint town. A couple, deep in conversation, strolls by in the opposite direction. Shop signs advertise food and drink. Red flowers spill out of window planters. A dark wooden fence lines the store fronts. In the heart of California wine country, bicyclists peddle uphill. The sun shines down on them warm and bright. Evenly spaced trees line both sides of the road. The ground looks sandy and dry. The grape vines grow on wooden posts on one side of the road. The bicyclists have the road to themselves. Trek Bicycle, one of the world’s largest bicycle manufactures, knows that they need to offer customers more than a good, fast, lightweight bike. They need to offer a bike that works on the crowded streets of Tokyo. They need to offer specialty products. And they need to offer a little piece of paradise now and then. When it comes to travel, Trek Travel is ready to meet the demand. Trek Travel, born two years ago, arranges bike rides in scenic locations throughout the United States and Europe. Interested riders choose from group, custom and women-only trips. Trek Travel takes care of details, including luggage transfers, gratuities, snacks and entrance fees to parks and festivals. Trek Travel is one of Trek’s newest business ideas, according to Mike Teff, a 21-year-old, working for Trek bike maintenance and repair. “In the industry, Trek is always leading the way and not just with technology also with retail and sales. It’s a pretty amazing thing,” says Mike Teff, 21, who works for Trek doing bike maintenance and repair. Aggressive growth has always been part of the company’s vision. In 1976, the company got its modest start with five employees working in a snug 7,000-sq. foot barn 29 miles outside of Madison in Waterloo. Entrepreneurs Richard Burke and Bevel Hogg began with $100,000 dollars in their pockets. Before founding Trek, Burke had worked as an accountant and Hogg had owned several bicycle stores in the Midwest. They made the perfect pair. Hogg’s love of bikes complemented Burke’s savvy business sense. Burke knew a business opportunity when he saw one. He had noticed that most bikes, including those made by Schwinn, came out of Japan. He thought it was time for a quality American product that could compete with international producers. Trek did compete and growth happened fast. In 1978, the company sold bikes primarily in the Midwest. By 1979, Trek sold bikes from Wisconsin to California, and sales topped out at more than $1 million that year. In 1980, the company relocated from their barn to a 26,000-sq. foot factory down the road. From 1981 to 1982, sales doubled. By 1985, sales reached the $20 million mark. Today the company doesn’t only sell bikes. They sell safety helmets, jerseys, gloves, riding shorts, bike pumps and bike locks. Nearly all of the clothing stretches and comes in bright, bold colors, including yellow and red. “I compare Trek to Harley-Davidson,” Trek Human Resource Manager Jeff McFarlane says. “There’s that same kind of passion. The Harley-Davidson people wear leather. The Trek people wear bike shorts. They’re really into it. They’re attached to the brand’s image.” Ken Baun, an information technology specialist for Dane County and long-time Trek bike rider, finds the trend alarming. “It can leave the casual biker out,” Baun says. “I think it’s intimidating to see people flying by on their high-tech bikes wearing their high-tech clothes. People are intimidated by all the spandex out there.” For better or worse, Trek produces bikes and the accessories to go with them. And now the company plans to take even more of their products overseas. Currently, the company distributes their products in 65 countries. “We’re opening a sales office in China at the end of this year,” McFarlane says. “The bikes will be built here in the U.S. and shipped to China.” Overseas sales currently account for about a third of Trek’s business. Trek President John Burke hopes to expand this market. He says many European and Asian countries rely on the bicycle for transportation. He hopes Trek can supply more of the bicycles that people in these countries need to commute to work and school. However, the company has not forgotten about tapping new markets in the United States, where the spirit of bicycling is more recreational. Although the mountain bike still accounts for about 80 percent of Trek’s product line, the company has recently developed or expanded on their lines of specialty bikes to suit different types of bicyclists. The new stunt bikes, part of the BMX line, have thick tires and an overbuilt frame for the rider who takes on ramps, dirt hills and empty air. The romantic double-seat bicycles make riding a social activity. And Trek offers four models of folding bikes that compress for when city bicyclists need to jump on a bus, get on a train or catch a taxi. Zapata Espinoza, who works in Trek’s marketing department, says designers in Waterloo are working on the plan for bicyclist Lance Armstrong, winner of six Tours de France, who will ride a new line of tricycles. Maybe, Espinoza hopes, Trek can make a perfect bike for everyone and for every terrain. Like veins under skin, bike trails weave across Wisconsin, largely unseen by those who don’t use them. Most of the trails are old railroad tracks that have been filled in with packed dirt. Brian Kramer, a 25-year-old sales representative for Trek, grew up in Green Bay. Kramer says, “There were no bike trails back when I was a kid. Now there’s this long route that goes around the bay.” Still, they are changing the face of the state. Wisconsin has more than 1,000 miles of bike trails, most of which have been created in the last 25 years. In Barron County, the trails follow the edge of Chetek Lake. In Eau Claire County, the trails zigzag from Augusta to Fairchild. And in Vilas County, the trails loop through the northern woods. Trek Travel appeases to people who use these trails and they hope to take them from Green Bay to Europe and back again.
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