Friday News And Views

Trek Remedy 29 image found on Twitter

Trek Intros New Bikes- Tries New Approach To Intros:

Yesterday Trek Bicycles made a big announcement about two bicycles done up in 29 inch wheels. That isn't too news worthy, other than the fact that the two models in question probably should have made the leap to 29 inch wheels at least four years ago. (Those being the Remedy and Fuel EX)

More on the bikes later, but what I thought was really interesting was how Trek approached this and the new direction they are taking with introductions. Trek made the prototypes, tested the prototypes, spec'ed the bikes, did all the advertising and POP for the bikes, manufactured the bikes, stocked the bikes, and made then available to order all before the media announcements and before the dealers knew about the bikes. That is unprecedented, and that is a "big deal" when you think of traditional marketing, or even "new school" marketing.

Media launch is May 30th. A full two weeks away, and that says a lot about Trek wanting to control the message and do something different with the media. How that plays out will be quite interesting to see, (and I have opinions that I can not share just yet- stay tuned....), but this is going to mark a different approach to media/marketing/dealer relations that we haven't seen since the pre-internet days.

And what about those bikes? Well, that's also pretty interesting as well. Obviously there are legacy bikes/names from the Fisher era, and the Remedy and Fuel EX , (which are still also offered in 26, by the way), stayed out of the 29"er realm so as to not duplicate/overlap product. Well, with the Remedy and Fuel EX 29"ers, doesn't it make sense for Trek to ax the Rumblefish?  Seeing as how these new Trek Fuels are pretty much taking the place of the old HiFi as well, it would almost look like another washing away of the Fisher name from Trek's line.  I also saw a rumor that Domane technology is crossing over to the 29"er racing platform. If true, that would be another odd thing when seen up against some of the current models. Well, who knows.........we'll find out soon enough.

And wait until you hear what Trek says about 27.5"ers...... 

Good Luck Almanzo Riders!

 Big Weekend In Gravel Grinding:

Well, one of the "biggies" of the gravel grinding calendar happens this weekend with the latest edition of the Almanzo events. Things kick off tomorrow with the "Alexander", a 380 mile route that will take riders from Southern Minnesota to Southwestern Wisconsin, back in to Northeastern Iowa, and eventually back to Spring Valley Minnesota.  The Almanzo 100 and Royal 165 events kick off Saturday morning. I'd like to wish all the riders tailwinds and sunny skies, (with clear nights for the Alexander riders), and to keep the rubber side down.

3GR: 

This brings me to tomorrow's  3GR, which is going to happen. The thing is, I have a chance to take advantage of a neighborhood clean up and that happens in the morning tomorrow. So, I am going to push back the start of 3GR to 2:30pm at Gateway Park. If you are game, show up and we'll ride about 30-ish miles of primo gravel.

That's all for today! Have a great weekend and good riding wherever you are!