One of Trek’s first bikes, built by hand in a Wisconsin barn, this TX200 stands as a quintessential vintage Trek bike. It used Ishiwata steel tubing with Nikko lugs – the most affordable in a line-up that also featured Reynolds and Columbus steels. Every Trek frame at the time was a touring model, silver-brazed using European methods. With TX200, Trek began to prove that world-class craftsmanship could come from the American Midwest.
Built with Reynolds 531 steel and Nikko lugs, the TX700 carried forward Trek’s meticulous brazing and hand-finished detail while showing the brand’s growing skill and scale. The specific bike shown here was sold by Trek co-founder Bevil Hogg to Palmer Imports from the boot of his car.
A lighter touring bike frame that hinted at road-racing geometry, the 710 was built from Reynolds 531 tubing. The shortened chainstays quickened its handling; an early example of Trek’s gradual shift from long-distance comfort towards performance.
938 is a high-end steel frame touring bike that showcased Trek’s craftsmanship at its peak in steel. Premium tubing, elegant lug work and precise alignment reflected Trek’s mastery of the traditional methods that defined its early years.
A true touring workhorse that marked Trek’s move from being a small-scale builder to a fully fledged American bike manufacturer. With its long wheelbase and meticulous construction, the 412 showed that Trek could deliver handcrafted quality at production scale – a defining step in the brand’s evolution.
Built from Ishiwata “022” double-butted chromoly tubing, the 515 blended touring durability with road-bike agility. A key model in Trek’s evolution, it bridged the craftsmanship of the early years with the performance orientation that would follow.
The 957 demonstrated Trek’s ability to compete with elite European racing machines – precise, elegant and fast. It's a pure racing frame set built from Columbus tubing with Nikko seamless lugs and Campagnolo Super Record components.
Trek’s first mountain bike. Built for off-road adventure just as the sport was taking shape, the 850 brought Trek’s craftsmanship to the trail. It marked the brand's entry into a new world of riding and set the stage for decades of mountain innovation.
This edition of the 170 was Trek’s first professional team bike – raced by the 7-Eleven Women’s Team on national and international circuits. It marked Trek’s entry into top-level racing and the beginning of the company’s long connection to the sport’s highest stages.
First, there was steel. Then there was the 2000 This is Trek’s first bonded-aluminium frame. Over-sized alloy tubes joined with aircraft-grade adhesive marked a major shift in aesthetics and material science. The experiment paved the way for Trek’s mastery of cutting-edge materials and ushered the brand into a new era of innovation.
Trek’s first carbon road bike: three carbon main tubes bonded into aluminium lugs using aerospace adhesives. The mix of materials was radical for its time, combining the lightness of carbon composites with aluminium-bonding techniques.
A bonded-aluminium road bike that helped keep Trek moving through a tough chapter. Its light weight and “Thunder and Lightning” ad campaign (alongside the 7000 mountain bike) made it a sales hit – one of the bikes that carried the company through the late ’80s.
Trek’s first full-carbon-frame experiment. Built under strict secrecy, it exposed both the potential and the challenges of carbon composites – and drove Trek to bring carbon manufacturing in-house, eventually delivering OCLV carbon performance.
The final evolution of the carbon-aluminium series: carbon main tubes, aluminium lugs and stays, smoother ride characteristics and one model year only. It acted as the stepping stone between material experimentation and Trek’s true full-carbon production launch.
Trek's first mountain bike with front suspension. The 990 was built from True Temper steel with a racing geometry. The fork showed Trek’s growing seriousness about off-road riding just as mountain biking was finding its identity.
The first Trek built with OCLV carbon – Optimum Compaction, Low Void – a proprietary process developed in Waterloo. It was an enormous innovation in the world of materials, one that's still used in Trek's carbon production today. This bike belonged to Bob Read, who led engineering for Trek and pioneered OCLV Carbon.
A refinement of Trek’s OCLV Carbon design and the lightest production road frame of its time. At 1.1 kg, this model established the company as a serious player in pro-level performance.
Trek’s first full-suspension mountain bike design. This second-generation 9500 has both a carbon main frame and carbon swing arm (following the 1992 9500, which had an alloy swingarm). It represented an ambitious push into suspension technology and composite materials, a step that would reshape Trek’s mountain line-up for decades to come.
A bike that looked like nothing else on the trail – and rode like nothing else too. The Y33’s single-piece OCLV Carbon “Y-frame” was revolutionary: blending aerospace engineering with mountain-bike grit. It turned heads, won races and helped make Trek synonymous with innovation in carbon design. The one displayed here belonged to Robin Williams, a passionate rider and avid collector of unique bikes.
Built from OCLV Carbon and raced by Team Saturn, Trek’s first professional men’s road team. The partnership produced countless domestic wins and introduced Trek’s carbon technology to the top level of American road racing.
A limited-edition version of the Y-series mountain bike, dressed in a Hawaiian paint scheme with titanium hardware and Shimano XTR. It captured the wild spirit of the ’90s and showed just how iconic the Y-frame had become.
Decades ahead of its time, the ElecTrek was Trek's very first electric bike. It paired a Trek frame with Yamaha’s PAS motor system to create one of the first pedal-assist bicycles. It only went 20 miles per charge, but proved that Trek was already thinking about electric mobility.
A sculpted carbon aero road bike that pushed frame design to its aerodynamic extreme... just before the UCI banned shapes like it. The Y Foil was fast, fluid and futuristic, offering a glimpse of what race bikes might have become without the rulebook.
The debut of the Fuel platform marked a sea change in suspension design, signalling Trek’s shift from experimenting with suspension to mastering it. With its alloy frame, carbon seatstays and efficient 80 mm travel platform, it was the first full-suspension Trek bike that truly worked – responsive, controlled and ready for real trail riding. Though it was first introduced to consumers for model year 2001, it was previously raced at the Sydney Olympics by Travis Brown in 2000
Developed for the US Postal Service Team, this aerodynamic carbon frame was purpose-built for the race against the clock. After its success under the team, Trek produced a limited run of about 100 replicas for the public.
Trek’s earliest example of Project One, the custom-paint and spec programme that allowed riders to design their own dream bike. It signalled a new kind of relationship between rider and builder: personal, premium and uniquely Trek.
This 5900 SL was ridden by Lance Armstrong during the Tour de France. The bike on display here is the exact one from the reknowned crash that brought down Armstrong and Iban Mayo on the Luz Ariden, when Armstrong became entangled with a spectator. Despite cracking a chainstay in the fall, Armstrong finished and won the stage on this bike.
The debut of the Madone name, inspired by the Col de la Madone climb in France. With its aerodynamic carbon frame and integrated design, it replaced the 5900 as Trek’s flagship road bike and set the template for two decades of Madone evolution.
Trek’s first purpose-built freeride bike – and the moment the brand truly joined the big-mountain conversation. Born from the influence of Andrew Shandro and others who were instrumental in building Trek's mountain bike status, the Session’s aluminium frame and long-travel suspension gave riders the confidence to go bigger, faster and more creatively than ever before. It redefined what a Trek mountain bike could do, and what a mountain bike could look like. Looks like a Session. IYKYK.
An evolution of the race-dominating 5.9 SL platform, the SSLx used OCLV Carbon and a refined lay-up schedule to push the limits of lightweight design. It was one of the lightest road frames that Trek had ever built – a stepping stone towards the Émonda ethos that would follow.
The first Trek to debut Active Braking Pivot (ABP), a suspension design that let the rear shock keep working even under hard braking. By isolating braking forces from suspension movement, ABP finally made full suspension feel as controlled and confident as a hardtail. It marked a breakthrough in trail performance and a defining evolution in Trek’s suspension engineering.
A clean-slate redesign that reinvented Trek’s flagship. The Gen 2 introduced the integrated seat post, asymmetric chainstays and a sloping top tube – features that made the Madone lighter, stiffer and more aerodynamic. Raced by Alberto Contador to Tour de France victory.
The 2009 Top Fuel was one of the most radical looking cross-country bikes of its time. The integrated seat post, OCLV Carbon frame and ABP rear end made it a favourite on the race circuit.
The 6.9 Madone dropped below 900 grams – among the lightest production road frames in the world. Sleek, fast and built for the Tour de France, it carried Alberto Contador through mountain stages and cemented the Madone as the ultimate race bike of its time.
A radical rethink of aerodynamic design. The first Speed Concept introduced Kammtail Virtual Foil (KVF) tube shapes, internal storage and full integration – a wind-cheating system built as much in the tunnel as in the workshop. It became the benchmark for modern time-trial bikes.
Fabian Cancellara’s "Spartacus" Domane carried him to victories in both the Tour of Flanders and Paris–Roubaix in the same year. Its IsoSpeed decoupler redefined comfort and control for racing on cobblestones, proving that smoother could also mean faster.
This heavily modified Speed Concept was used by Jens Voigt to set the World Hour Record in September of 2014, reigniting the world's enthusiasm around the historic event. Its refined aerodynamics showed just how far Trek’s engineering could go in pursuit of pure speed. Shut up, record.
The fifth-generation Madone's integrated cockpit, hidden brakes and fully sculpted carbon frame combined aerodynamics, comfort from an innovative tube-in-tube IsoSpeed design and stiffness in a single platform. For the first time, Trek proved an aero bike could also deliver all-day comfort.
A complete redesign of the endurance platform introduced front IsoSpeed and adjustable rear compliance. This model, which Fabian Cancellara rode to his final Strade Bianche victory, showed that high-performance comfort wasn’t a contradiction. It was an advantage.
Trek’s vision of the e-bike as a genuine car replacement. With Bosch electric assist, integrated lights and bold urban styling, the Super Commuter+ brought Trek’s engineering know-how into daily transportation long before the e-bike boom.
Trek’s first purpose-built gravel bike. Wide tyre clearance, integrated storage and stable geometry made it ready for the fast-growing world of mixed-surface riding. It captured the spirit of adventure that had defined Trek from the start.
IsoSpeed refined, storage added and integration taken further. The third-generation Domane became Trek’s most versatile road platform ever – aerodynamic, stable and comfortable enough for everything from Paris–Roubaix to everyday miles.
A reimagined Émonda that finally brought aerodynamics to Trek’s climber’s bike. Using a new 800 Series OCLV Carbon lay-up, it delivered both lighter weight and lower drag. It was proof that even the lightest bike could get faster.
Refined for both aerodynamics and fit, the third-generation Speed Concept focused on total integration. Decades of aerodynamic learning condensed into one of the fastest triathlon bikes ever made.
An electric mountain bike designed to disappear beneath the rider. Its light assist and compact, near-silent motor delivered a natural pedalling feel, redefining what e-MTBs could be: powerful, but beautifully understated.
The lightest, most aerodynamic Madone yet. Its new IsoFlow frame architecture channels airflow through the seat cluster while reducing weight, creating a bike that looks unlike anything else and rides like the result of 50 years of learning and refinement.
More Trek history
We’ve combed the archive. These are the best of the best from the last 50 years.
See the PhotosFifty years ago, a small team in a Wisconsin barn set out to build beautiful bicycles. What followed is a story of bold innovations, hard lessons and big wins – and a growing conviction that bikes could serve a greater good.
See the timeline