Inside Trek HQ

Cutting-edge design, manufacturing and programs

Canadian Cycling Magazine June 18, 2013

Trek founders Richard Burke and Bevil Hogg started their bike manufacturing company from a small red barn near the centre of town in Waterloo, Wis. In 1976, they had five employees. Now, the company is one of the biggest bicycle brands in the world. Their current facility is up the road from the original location in a 185,000-square-foot-facility with more than 800 employees. Run by Burke’s son John, Trek has invested heavily in creating a facility that not only manufactures and designs some of the top products in the industry, but offers employees a progressive work environment that supports health and wellness.

Canadian sales manager Mike Heitpas, who has been with Trek for more than 20 years, says throughout the past eight years the company has invested heavily in both product development and infrastructure. Touring the facility, you notice two things: the company’s commitment to product innovation and testing (the company has the only UCI-certified wheel-test centre in North America) and its commitment to providing staff with a comfortable working environment that supports healthy lifestyles. As an example of that commitment, Trek runs programs for employees that subsidize nutritious lunches and provide incentives to staff for riding to work. The facility has a full gym with spin bikes and offers staff health classes.

Trek manufactures all their Madone 6 and 7 Series on-site, along with Domane 6 Series and Speed Concept 9 Series, as well as the Project One custom paint program.

Trek has various bicycle theme art pieces on the wall as part of a previous competition — Trek has bicycle-themed art pieces that came out of art competitions

The Trek colour lab has all possible variations for testing graphic and paint schelmes on a variety of frames — The Trek colour lab can test various graphic and paint schemes for a variety of frames

Trek's mountain bike department.Note the frame at the top left once belonged to former US President George Bush Jr. who is an avid cyclist — Trek’s mountain bike department. The frame at the top left once belonged to former U.S. President George W. Bush, who is an avid cyclist

Trek manufacturer's all 6 and 7 Series Madone's, 6 Series Domane's and 9 Series Speed Concept's in the Waterloo facility — Trek manufacturers all Madone 6 and 7 Series, Domane 6 Series and Speed Concept 9 Series bikes in its Waterloo, Wis., facility

Project One allows consumers to create a custom paint scheme for their 6 or 7 Series Madone, 6 Series Domane or 9 Series Speed Concept frame. Customer's can choose the frame and components and then customize the paint scheme. The bike can typically take between 1 to 2 weeks to turn around but custom paint schemes can add anywhere from 18hrs to a month to production depending on complexity. Check your local Trek dealer for details. — Project One allows consumers to create custom paint schemes for their Madone 6 or 7 Series, Domane 6 Series or Speed Concept 9 Series frames. They can choose the frame and components, and then customize the paint scheme. The bike usually takes between one to two weeks to complete, but a custom paint scheme can add 18 hours to a month to production depending on complexity.

Madone and Domane forks set aside for assembly

Trek recycles all unused and scrap carbon pieces not used in the building process. Scrap is sent to an outside agency where it is all used again in other moulded technologies — Trek collects all the scrap carbon-fibre pieces not used in the building process. Scrap is sent to an outside agency who recycles it in other moulded technologies

All the Pro Team and Athlete bikes are set aside and worked on separately — All ProTeam and athletes’ bikes are set aside and worked on separately

Inside the decaling shop you'll primarily see women doing all the detail work. Women traditional are much more patient than men and have much finer motor skills making them the ideal for this intricate work — The decaling shop where all the fine detail finishing work takes place

A Project One Madone rolling off the line — A finished Project One Madone rolling off the line