Two years ago TREK launched their one world two wheels inititive. Since then, they've made some pretty impressive contributions to both IMBA and Bicycle Friendly Communities. At the same time Fisher launched their line of Simple City bikes. As soon as they came available I grabbed one and have commuted on it daily all summer. For 2010, Trek is introducing thier ECO line on commuter bikes dubbed the Belleville. The focus was to create a bike that was responsibly manufactured, durable and easy to recycle when it's life cycle ends.
The majority of the bike is either steel or aluminum. What little rubber bits remain are designed to be either recycleable or degradeable. Starting with the tires, TREK is producing natural rubber treads that will ultimately degard faster in the landfill. The grips and saddle are made from recycleable materials which leaves the inner tubes.
Bontrager has teamed up with Alchemy goods on this one. TREK dealers can now save old tubes, ship them to Alchemy where they produce a line of panniers and seat bags made from old inner tubes and recycled vinyl banners, each one unique based on the available materials. Pretty cool.
63 comments:
that's pretty neat how they brought the old logo back...
now let's see that black district you must have picture of :D
Hhhmmmmmmm....
So when are the Bellevilles going to be available?
Ditto, Rafal, on the retro Trek Logo. Purdy sweet. I also really like the fenders with more coverage.
the kogswell p/r is the way to go for this one.
no offense intended to the trek-marketing heavy publishing on the generic bicycle omaha site, but can't this just go on your bike shop's page? it seems a bit out of place, good bike or not (and there are dozens of excellent city bikes out there, trek and gary fisher are just doing what they always have--capitalizing on trends. at least we've gotten beyond lance syndrome in it's hegemonic totality).
Nice that Trek is thinking a little more about the environmental impacts of a couple of its products, and those panniers seem interesting. Besides that, I've got to say "ditto" to Erik's comment.
Oh Erik, here we go again.
"generic bicycle omaha site"-If it was generic there wouldn't be an extensive list of products, manufacturers and businesses linked on the side bar.
I laugh at the fact that you guys think TREK is this mega evil corporation. I did your homework for you. TREK's annual revenue in 2007 was $600m, versus Giant's $1.2B, and Dorel's (Cannondale, Schwinn, Mongoose, Iron Horse, Roadmaster, Pacific) $2.4B. Couldn't find what QBP's sales were, makers of your beloved Surly. But I'd imagine they're pretty mega corporate as well. They're the largest distributor in North America and are in the process of opening a second warehouse in Utah to better serve west coast dealers. GE...$157B. Wal-Mart...$315B. So is Trek's $600M really that Mega?
I like to see people on bikes, and the intent of the this post is not to pump up Trek and Fisher, but to showcase what's happening in cycling product. Not everyone can afford to build a $2000 framed Rivendell.
I like to look at sweet gear whether it be Trek or Kogswell. So maybe you like to share some bike love too. I'd like to see it.
"oh [mark], here we go again."
You work at the trek store, you pump their products on this site, your site, the trekomaha site. the latter two are great, I enjoy that and I know what to expect. I even just recently commented that it was great that fisher was finally putting a fork on a cross bike that didn't have god-awful clearance issues--awesome! Those links to the trek store and your blog are in the sidebar, and plenty of people use them regularly (I know, because gee I see traffic coming from here to my site regularly). Keep your sales pitches there, which is the responsible thing.
If you don't want to do that and want to mud sling steve and I, then why don't we go into the ethics of gary fisher frames once more?
1)Greenwashing avoids the issue of responsible production (sweatshop)
2)the frame is a direct lift from successful micro-business enterprises, such as kogswell p/r or handsome cycles
3) (2) is just another screwover of the little guy coming from a long tradition with trek and gary fisher--going back to the era of tom ritchey, the abandoning of domestic frame construction, and so on.
I would recommend you do buy yourself a 2,000 frame if you are serious about cycling, I fully expect my rivendell to last the duration of my life -- and you know if there's ever a problem I can go over the hill and talk to an honest humble gentleman who stands in the face of the marketing oriented onslaught that is unleashed by companies such as trek/gary fisher. Finally, I rest easy knowing that my bicycle was built by a craftsman/woman, not a sweatshop factory worker (so I could get a sweat deal on my god-awfully styled hipster ride). For the record, my quickbeam was 1k, and my atlantis was purchased used. How much is your plastic landfill-filler-to-be superfly mark? Oh yeah.
I think you chose phrasing like "mega evil corporation" in order to create a strawman of my position. In reality my position is far more nuanced and there are serious reasons why I think that this is inappropriate on this site. First and foremost, you are an employee utilizing a shared space to spin your product--classic gary fisher tactics, but certainly unwelcome.
As far as any comparison to surly or otherwise--Irrelevant and another poor attempt to skirt the issue at hand which is your consistent abuse of this site for your store's propaganda.
To anyone considering buying one of these greenwashed "city" bikes -- save a few more hundred dollars and get a kogswell p/r. The geometry is superior, the construction is superior, the function is superior, the company is superior.
Finally, look at the marketing history of trek/gary fisher. For the past 15 years they have hitched upon the racing/extreme bandwagon and consistently pitched bicycles not as transportation or utility vehicles but as demonstrable toys for going fastest/x-tremest. This ideology has resulted in the general trend away from the view of bicycles as practical vehicles ala the late 70s/early 80s and prior, and instead as a toy for recreation. People hate bicyclists because that is the perception--that they are recreationalists just hogging the lane, etc. Now, for more verification of this look at the recent petition circled in Iowa -- bicycles are viewed as recreational toys entirely. I commend fisher for starting to get his shit together after 30 years of selling out to marketing of lance armstrong wannabes but this is honestly too little too late. Meanwhile, this company is pushing out the committed minority of cycling companies who were responsible for keeping this view of bicycles as vehicles alive, just like it pushed out its USA based production facilities in order to maximize its profits in the 80s.
Go with a company that cares about its riders, not its profit margin.
Good?
good.
you know what, i'm not going to let that slam on me for spending 2k on a riv frame slide so easy. it's a bullshit move, which is what I guess i've come to expect from you.
You want the low down on how I bought that bike? I sold my car. How many people fucking sell their car to get a bicycle? Not too many, and in fact cheap bikes that don't even work properly as intended mesh well with car-centric communities like omaha so I imagine you don't really understand the motivation. I wonder how many of these "city bikes" you'll be helping hapless customers load into the backseat of a suv at your suburban garage-dust-collector-bicycle sales company. Fuck you for insinuating that 2k is too much to spend on a frame that functionally is superior to any car out there.
Absolute bullshit, and you'd frankly expect more from somebody like you. But I guess the only thing we are allowed to spend money like that on is carbon fiber.
Also, steve did the same and sold his car to throw down on his incredibly useful long haul trucker. That guy is as legit as they come and dedicated to seeing omaha as a place where practical bicycling is accepted. I owe much of my decision to ditch my auto to him. He has more knowledge and compassion than you are willing to grant, and is hardly wild about surly's -- but they are unequivocally the best value going for a classically functional bicycle today and will last. I think he deserves a bit more than to be brushed off like you did.
Keep selling racing bikes, fashion accessories, and keystone cruisers. Keep lashing out when people make a simple request to keep your propaganda contained to your site. It's real becoming of someone who supposedly cares about the cycling community and pretends to function like an elder statesman of normative truth.
Now I'm going to go ride, thanks for giving more something to be disturbed by in omaha today.
What would we rather see? 1000 people on Treks, or 8 people on Riv's? I for one, work a low paying job so that I can get people on bikes. That to me is more important then the money. I do this because I believe in bikes, as does Mod. We believe that while yes, it would be awesome if everyone could ride something as well built and beautiful as a Rivendel, it's just not feasible for 95% of our society to do that. That's where a company like Trek comes into play. They fill the gap between junk and unobtainable. They produce the bikes that people can afford and that will last. Does it suck that most of their product is made overseas? Absolutely. But that's how they stay accessible. I'll say it again, Riv's are awesome bikes, beautiful steel steeds, you'd have a hard time finding a better built bike, but let's be realistic they aren't accessible at all. Sometimes we have to sacrifice for the greater good. Mod and I sacrifice big paychecks to get people on bikes. We believe in bikes and we believe in Trek and Gary Fisher's belief in bikes. When I started this job I too hated Trek. I thought they were ugly, mass produced junk. But I wanted to be around bikes, I wanted to share my passion with other like-minded individuals(which is the same reason I read this blog), I wanted to change the world. And I have. The middle aged overweight guy who walked into my store a year ago and bought a hybrid, he came in yesterday. He's sold his car and lost 50 pounds. That's why I'm here. Would I rather ride something different? Probably... you buying?
We're all here for the same reason...bicycles.
Peace
last year's salary, 14k.
if most everybody in our country can afford a car, we all could get vanilla cycles instead. i don't buy it.
this has nothing to do with the bicycle i choose to ride, but everything to do with the bullshit marketing that doesn't belong here.
let's keep it on track.
i'm happy to talk about rivendell, but it's irrelevant here unless you want to point to a much longer list of options (including kogswell, handsome cycles, steelwool, surly, soma, and so on)
yeah,
you right we're not Berkley we do not have sweet lane blvd, and stone throw away to the beach of nice hills. But we do make the best of what we have and we try to improve it..
you right I do pack up my bike in giant box and sent via my Vietnamese neighbor to sweatshop. Even though each time I talked/bought things from local stores and supported people who i call friends
you right you did so much for advocating cycling in omaha (thank you) everyone is so much more educated because of you and most importantly things changed for the better because you wrote your lenghty op-ed on some omaha blog. I never seen you at trail day but I know you rode them.
So thank you for telling us how to "fix" whatever biking scene we might have obviously it would just fall apart without your moses like leadership
i don't think my request here was unreasonable (not to advertise your store's crap), nor is it related to anything i did or did not do.
i wish i would've ridden more trails, and for what it's worth i left no trace with my 37mm slicks and cleared plenty of downed branches etc. but it's not really about that, or about my being in berkeley. it's about all our vested interest in seeing omaha become a bike-friendly community, which i don't think is really compatible with corporate propaganda.
if you ever want a place to crash out here, you can sure hit me up, but don't get all pissy about it (believe me, it's not so great to spend 3 months looking for a job with fail).
so, back on track again.
Whoa buddy, take a breath.
I too have been without a car for two and half years now. I ride my little Fisher 3 speed every day to work, rain or shine, snow or ice. It's not some fancy carbon thing, it's about as basic as you can get.
My carbon bikes are my guilty pleasure. As I'm sure your analog equipment is to you. You don't need it, but it's pretty fun to have.
I wasn't bagging on Steven, so don't drag him into this.
My apologies for reading too deep into your first comment, but taking your prior history into account I'm sure I can be forgiven.
The bottom line is you don't know me, I don't know you. You have me pinned as some hardline company man who loves to spew all things Trek because it gets me somewhere in my professional life. Welp, that's the narrow minded view. I really don't care what bike you buy, just as long as you give cycling a chance.
You need to educate yourself my friend.
rafal, read my posts--your reply is pretty much an attack on my person about things you know not. i moved to berkeley to be with my partner who's getting an msw. trail maintenance? give me a break, i spent my fair share of days working at the bicycle cooperative and out of my basement for dozens of people. ask anybody who actually knew me, and you'll see i put tons of people on functional bicycles and spent hours wrenching bikes without expectations.
total bullshit, this is about inappropriate advertising--not lashing out about personal frustrations over where you live or where you ride or the bike you own. i made huge sacrifices to do what i've done, and frankly this bullshit makes me glad to be out of the cultural clusterfuck that is your so-called scene.
If that was a Surly(made in Taiwan) or a Rivendel instead of a Trek you wouldn't have said a goddamn thing, you would have praised it for the nice bike that it was and we wouldn't be in the middle of this negative fucking counter-productive bullshit. Quit hating everything.
For the record I still believe that Treks are ugly(mostly), mass produced junk, I just know that their hearts are in the right place.
i don't think advertisements belong on a community bicycling blog, they belong elsewhere.
BUY TREK! BUY TREK! BUY TREK! BUY TREK! BUY TREK! BUY TREK! BUY TREK! BUY TREK! BUY TREK! BUY TREK! BUY TREK! BUY TREK! BUY TREK! BUY TREK! BUY TREK! BUY TREK!
Whoooooooooooooooooooooooo!
Gorilla marketing on the loose!
BUY BUY BUY!!!!!!!!!
I'M CRAZY, WE'RE SLASHING PRICES ON EVERYTHING, DON'T MISS OUT.
BUY NOW!!!!!
...for reals?
that's what you've done time and time again, mark.
it is ridiculous.
not as ridiculous as your dodging of a legitimate complaint, and ensuing ad hominem attacks, but ridiculous nonetheless.
It's easy to complain when you contribute no content.
Add homonym huh? Aisle get back two you on that 1.
Erik wants people ride bikes.
Mark wants people to ride bikes.
I want people to ride bikes.
Trek wants people to ride bikes.
Trek finds a way to get more people on bikes by making affordable, solid bikes, with a push to make them more environmentally friendly along the way.
Mark, who wants people to ride bikes, points out Trek's initiative, which is pretty cool. (Do any other large-scale bike manufacturers have something like this cooking? Not that I know of.)
Erik -- remember, he wants people to ride bikes -- disapproves of making mention of something that could get people to ride bikes. You know, because a big company (that wants people to ride bikes) is behind it.
And Mark sells bikes made by that company.
HOLY SHIT.
Suddenly, a unique initiative taken by a company that wants people to ride bikes, and could cause people to think differently about riding a bike, is an obtrusive, inappropriate blight on a blog that focuses on people riding bikes.
Huh.
So ... wait. Does Erik like bikes? I can't tell anymore. Maybe he only likes bikes that are made and ridden like his bike.
Me, I just like bikes. I wish more people rode them. I wish I had time to ride them. But I don't, because I have other responsibilities. And so do a lot of people who aren't unencumbered by families, mortgages and second, third and fourth jobs.
Erik, you're welcome to offer something more substantial in the way of bike news. Maybe there's a company out your way doing something cool to get people on bikes. But since all you do is post your bitchy, contrarian bullshit, we'll never know about it.
Do you like bikes? Or do you just like your bike?
That's ridiculous. Why wouldn't we share input on products that we as cyclists can all use and enjoy? The entire purpose of this blog is to combine energies under a common flag. Mod saw a bike that looks good and has a good story. A story that was deemed worthy of re-telling to the kind of people who would appreciate this type of story. His friends at Pedal Omaha. Two positive comments later (munsoned, October 5, I have one on order), and Dr. Doom pops up and crashes the party. I'm sorry that you hate Trek, Eric I truly am, but unless you blow up Madison Wisconsin they aren't going anywhere. Wouldn't it be better if we just tried to keep a positive outlook. You do things your way, we'll continue to operate under the Dark Master and let's just talk about bicycles.
If everyone rode a bike like his he wouldn't like it anymore.
wow, just... wow.
idiocy.
congratulations on skirting the issue and creating a fantasy with no basis in reality. none of you have any clue.
anyone reading this easily notes that the trek store has quite the mafia going.
Erik,
Some day, when you have graduated into big boy pants that reach all the way to the ground ( I can only assume you are constantly clad in knickers) you are going to be embarrassed about all of this. You will realize that it does no good to judge people all the time: about where people live, about what bikes, they ride, even what bikes they like. jesus man, If someone is psyched about Trek then so what? Let it go man. Your attitude is bad for cycling.
Who cares if you sold your car. you are a boring, tired hack of someone I met 15 years ago. I am over it, If you like to ride your bike then ride your bike.
You are not the blog police, let it go.
i usually wear arborwear full length pants, thanks.
anymore personal attacks?
i've had it with the personal attacks from the trek store employee membership of omaha.
keep sucking that cow!
I have plenty left I just usually keep them off of the blog, but you Erik are a special and unique kind of annoying, ergo, I could not resist.
Good luck with those long pants you have, I forgot what brand name you dropped but they sound fantastic. I'm sure there is a long, terribly condescending story behind them.
-Trek o mafia drone.
So I didn't even read the post -- I went straight to the comments. (that's the equivalent to eating gravy without putting it on grandma's mashed potatoes)
You know why I skipped it? Because when you see 26 comments, one can almost guarantee the post has become irrelevant. (Meanwhile I make popcorn to watch the drama unfold)
-- I went back and read the post. Pretty neat stuff. I didn't feel like it was shouting anything but "Hey, there's some pretty neat shit coming out in the industry and it might fit into your donut loving life." (I freaking love donuts)
I drool over all bikes, but if what I ride deems whether I am gonna go to heaven or hell. Screw it, my lugged steel is gonna burn my skin, and my carbon fiber is gonna melt between my legs. I am going to ride/ race both and do a track stand at the pearly gates until I turn and take a sweeping corner at 35 into the pits of doom.
Sorry. I have respect for all of you, but I can't take anything seriously. Again, I can't see any problem with the original post. I'd be psyched to see more of what makes other people's lips curl into a smile on this site like MOD has shared with us. I sure wish I could use some of the bigger words you guys do, you guys are all top shelf in my book.
Heart shaped lugs & stiff integrated bottom brackets to all of you.
This whole thing has turned into a ridiculous mess. Still, the original criticism deserves to be directly addressed. Is this a site for advertisements that even appear to be ads for bicycle shops? Sorry MOD (and others), but it really does just seem like you are trying to use this site as a means for advertising a few certain brands and products that your shop sells. I would like to see fewer posts that appear to be ads on here. This isn't the first time it has happened, and the other times originated from the same shop.
Yes, I like to hear about interesting new products (like when Scott posted about the bike light that lights up a bike lane on the road), but I don't want to hear about products from essentially one brand that the person posting is also trying to sell me. Sorry, but I can't trust that. The brand involved is irrelevant.
Go ahead and post about neat products, but please try to expand your scope beyond the products that could make you money.
The "marketing that doesn't belong here" bit has been addressed. Did Mark say "Go buy this right now?" No. Did he give prices? Availability? Did he suggest that Pedal Omaha readers submit a deposit so they can be the first to get one of these bikes? No.
He said, "Hey, this is cool." If any other large-scale manufacturers are doing something like this, I'd like to see it. But again, nobody else appears to be doing this.
Steve, you mentioned you'd like to see posts about other products. Post away. Contribute something useful instead of beating the tired old "I don't like marketing" drum. I guarantee you Mark wasn't thinking about selling bikes when he posted this. He was excited to see a product with possibilities.
And yeah, we'll sell a few. It's a business. We sell things. But not here.
Not everybody who mentions a product is trying to sell it to you. Sometimes people really are just trying to say, "Hey, cool bike!"
Interbike is comming up in a month then nahmbs. Yes I agree it would cool if this was like dirt rag and someone got sweet bike for 3 months and review it well but it isn't I'm sure lucas got paid in donuts when he posted those pictures of the district nevermund it was first belt bike that most of us have seen in person.
Eric
you seem to have plenty of time go And grab whatever steel bike you can rude it and tell us how was it someone might buy it if it's a cool bike don't worrry I'll say so I might even ask a question about it
for example I know for fact rivendell found both of dirt drop bars put it on your km ride it and tell us how it was I know at least 3 people that posted something here thatvlove dirt drop bars they would like to see how they run on monster cross bike
needless to say inernbike is comming u bet you there will be some cool new bikes and if you
I rarely get involved in discussions like this. I avoid confrontations. Just ask my frustrated wife.
Also, I've personally met or corresponded with almost everyone in this thread, and consider them either friends or valuable acquaintances who have helped me out immensely in my fledgling, but intense immersion into the world of cycling. The information, advice and encouragement received from each of you has turned me into a bona fide bike nerd. I'm not sure what purpose will be served by posting here, but I just wanted to say a few things.
First, I didn't post about the light-up bike lane. I can't remember who, but it wasn't me.
It was an aluminum Trek hybrid that got me started a year ago. I didn't know anything about bikes, but I knew the folks at the bike shop (any bike shop) would have the experience to help me, plus an active inventory that I could try out and leave, that day, with a suitable bike. I chose Trek because I have a friend who had ridden a trek for over 10 years and loved it.
I haven't sold my car, but cycling to work each day, I've lost about 25 pounds and have only put four tanks of gas in my little pickup truck in that time.
After riding that a while, I picked up lugged steel Schwinn 10 speed, which after a recent single speed/fixie conversion, has become my in-town ride of choice because it's so much fun to ride. I love this bike because I can work on it without too much fear of messing it up. The parts are simple, durable, and classically styled. It's 33 years old, and I fully expect it to last another 33 years.
All I really wanted to say was my opinion on the nature of the original post. Pedal-Omaha is, in my opinion, a blog about the urban side of biking in Omaha. I don't know that we'd call it a "scene." It's just a bunch of diverse writers who care about promoting city biking in our humble town.
I saw Mark's post on his own site last week that set the groundwork for this post. If I read it right, I think basically he was saying that he had a preview of Trek's upcoming offerings, perhaps as the result of a product demo, corporate pow-wow or something in Madison. He's using his blogs, and this one, to share what is effectively insider information. He posted some info about road bikes on his site, dirt bikes info on the MTB blog, and the urban stuff here, where people would see it.
I would bet (and hope) that anyone else involved in cycling in Omaha would do the same, regardless of brand or affiliation, if they had access to information, photos, press releases, etc. Sharing info on bikes is a good thing.
Ironically, Mark called out, lightheartedly, someone on one of the other blogs for posting items for sale just the other day.
Let's put this thread to rest and get back to nerdy bike talk, plans of epic rides with hours of riding, and how we're going to change Omaha (and the world) using bikes (any and all styles). It's so much more fun.
Sorry Steven, but now I've got to call you out for talking out your ass. This is the first time I've ever posted anything related to product on this site. However I've seen folks post stuff about bike lights, new Surly builds, EB's Felt's and Salsa's, blah, blah, blah, it's product. whatever.
And frankly, when have I ever tried to sell you anything? You've come to the Trek store, what, twice maybe while I've been working? And I'm pretty sure I welcomed you as a friend and a confidant of the road as I do with everyone who walks through our doors.
To assume I'm so shallow is insulting and only reflects negativly on you.
To follow up to RD's comment, and to enlighten you a bit. The Trek dealer show happpens to be one of the first on the calendar. However I'll be heading to Vegas in a month to see what Interbike has to offer (fyi, Trek doesn't even attend Interbike so I won't be posting any photos that fit the image you've so boldly painted of me). These are company paid trips for me, there's my disclaimer. However, later on, after the new year, I will probably be paying my own way to NHMBS with my good buddy Nate from Monkey Wrench and Susan/Skip/Sam from Snappy Caps/War Axe. I've also paid my own way to QBP the past two years so I can see and hang out with my friends from Salsa and Surly because I dig what they do, and frankly QBP is one of the most legit companies out there. With that said, QBP and Trek are both privatly owned, operate in the midwest and have some of the coolest people in the world working them, I'd know, I've been working in this industry for 20 years.
So you see, I would hope that you would appreciate being able to talk to someone, face to face, who has scene (add homonym) the product themselves instead of taking some journalists word for it that you read on some website somewhere, who you have no connection to what so ever.
Maybe Sean can show us some of the bad ass stuff Specialized has in the works, or Kona for that matter. Those guys make some super sweet stuff.
mark, you still haven't addressed why you feel the need to advertise your company on this site.
but keep skirting the issue. having grown up in omaha, i have a vested interest in returning to a city that hasn't totally been fucked over by uncaring corporate interests like the ones you're promoting (whether you seem to see that or not).
i believe trekomaha.blogspot.com changed its name to "ride omaha" in an attempt to catch the hip wave of one eric brunt, why don't you just put this there? see, on that site you can get away with saying stuff like "custom frames used to mean a handmade frame by a small builder, but now just get this plastic trek" and moderate the comments.
Sorry for incorrectly bringing you up Scott. I didn't mean to haul you into this (if I did), and I really didn't need to drop any names with that.
MOD, I was only partly talking out of my ass. There was definitely another post by a Trek Store employee about another Trek bike on here earlier. That's all I was trying to say.
As far as the argument that the post shouldn't be viewed as an ad because it didn't mention the price or where to purchase it and didn't directly say "buy this," the vast majority of ads don't do those things. This post talks up how cool a few products are, and those products are available at only a couple locations in town. One location happens to be a spot where the poster works.
I'm not trying to paint you into a box, MOD. The chat we had after the Mayor's Ride was enjoyable, and I've been sending people to your shop like crazy lately because I think you guys are the nicest and most helpful people for a lot of things in the part of town where I live. My point was just that it might be a good idea for posts on this blog (that we are trying to get more people in Omaha to read) to avoid even apparent conflicts of interest, so people know they can trust the information. It'd be similar to me posting really good reviews of a coffee only available at the shop where I work. Would you question the nature my post? I think you'd be right to do so regardless of my own intentions.
I must admit that I feel a little insulted myself from some of the comments on here. I helped raise a legitimate concern about the nature of our blog. Why should that "reflect negatively" on me? Now the whole Trek commuter line has been insensitively dumped on the page in subsequent posts. This blog has never been about product in such an intense way. I vote no.
Steve,
I hope you join us Sunday for some riding I think some sun and some wind will do everyone some good :D
mark says "These are company paid trips for me"
so then when you come back you spam this blog with dozens of spam advertisements for TREK bikes? want one? come to your store which paid your fun trip in the first place, the TREK store.
can it be any more clear what's going on?
are you guys using computers to post? a broadband connection at your house.
my cable modem was built by children in substandard conditions in Asia, and I appreciate their effort. My connection screams!
A free trip to play with the latest toys and talk tech with engineers, sounds like a blast to me;-) May be your just jealous...
Steven, the original intent of my, as Scott assumed was to draw attention to some very cool bikes that Trek and Fisher have in the works. I'd planned to write up little bits, journalistically, about the various features and benefits. As I said before, if the info comes from someone you know the better. I am in a unique position where, regardless of my work affiliations, I have access to indepth information which I deamed useful to the readers of this blog because we all share a common interest.
If you check the mtb Omaha blog history from septembers past you'll see an unbiased attempt to showcase product from various manufacturers.
I will not however retract the images and words I've posted, the site admin can do that if they feel my intent was malicious. I feel that the vast majority of this blogs readership appreciates this content.
Fin
mark, stop dodging the question and admit what you're doing.
i'm not sure which is sadder, somebody who has no idea they're a whore to a destructive company, or someone who refuses to admit that they are paying back said whore for the free trip.
and before the next trek store employee gives a grammatically disastrous, irrelevant, illogical, and functionally flat "response" -- answer why this behavior is ok.
and why are you deleting people's legitimate objects to your propaganda spammed above mod?
people need to realize the malevolence of what is going on here.
i'm fighting the corporate power by using my companies bandwidth to research socially responsible consumer practices! haha!
i wish such self-righteous energy could be put to more useful ends. For the time spent writing on this blog, you could have volunteered for an hour at a soup kitchen.
Entertain nihilism for a moment, and none of this matters.
i believe deletions were made by people who wrote something on here cooled off and then deleted their comment.
regardless,
i don't think you should preach erik.
if you want to write op-ed please send it to bicycle time/ dirt rag whatever they love to hear from real riders and if its good it will be published who knows you might get some scratch for it.
now to important things like going and riding bikes...
If you ever comeback to Omaha leave comment maybe we all can go on joyous ride and realize that our outlook on the world is not that much different....
much love,
rd
A whore huh?
You want to make this personal with me?
I'll give you no such pleasure.
you should see MOD work that seat mast.
Oh, I worked that seat mast this morning, let me tell you.
well you sure cleaned up those objections to the frames you spammed in the above posts.
objections like steve's to your electric bike which is "the ticket" to getting omaha on bikes--it isn't allowed on trails here.
now, why would you do that unless you're directly concerned with your marketing agenda mark?
sad realization,
were all are addicted to intermuchine...
since I'm nice I'll give everyone a choice who we should schedule for our intervention
it's 80 degrees and no wind i'm going to ride...pick wisely
MOD, why delete the comments on the other bikes posted? Now it seems even more like an ad campaign. At least let us discuss the stuff you put up.
Conflict of interest is independent of intent.
Steve, if it's going to be an open discussion then let's have an open discussion. I won't however let an honest attempt at showcasing some gear to an interested group turn into a bash session of a company who has done more for Omaha's bike movement than any other business. I can appreciate your objections and the appearance that I am only out to be self serving, but frankly, I'm just a product guy who likes to see new stuff and fresh ideas on old dilemmas.
I will respond to your e-bike comment. The hills of omaha are a huge deterent to those wishing to commute by bicycle. The bike is useless on trails such as the papio, keystone or field club. They do however offer huge benefits to those crossing town east to west. If an e-bike gets people on two wheels, how can that be a negative?
Cheers,
...and by company I'm refering to Midwest Cycling, which is the local company that owns Trek Omaha and Highgear. We have no connection to Trek corporate, only that we sell there product, just like 2 other bike shops do in Omaha and Council Bluffs.
you're not a local bike shop, but you're pedaling your wares unethically on the local cycling blog.
so the recommendation? support bike shops which are based in omaha and truly support it!
all your regional/national/whatever conglomerate has done is suck dollars out of the pockets of honest businesses and promote cycling as a leisure activity for SUVs and bike trails. everything else was and is just talk.
there are plenty of good shops to chose from, let this bullshit be voted on with your dollar and keep places like bike masters, olympia, and the several others strong.
and mark, shame on you for deleting comments and marginalizing voices that have every right to object to what you're pandering.
i'd expect no less from trek/gary fisher, but i'd expect much more from somebody who is supposed to care.
now listen we need to pick an intervention person. they are all level II so they all should be pretty good.
I'm partial for the guy with a stache and no hair for obvious reasons. anyone anyone...
so olive branches don't work on you either hmmmm....weird
There you go buddy, have it at.
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