50 years of Trek
Fifty 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.
50 iconic Trek photos | 50 years, 50 photographs
1976-1986
The formative years: craftsmen in a small red barn hand-building silver-brazed lugged bike frames and lighting the spark of what’s to come
1986-1996
A decade of material evolution, from steel to aluminium to carbon, which brought aerospace precision to the cycling world
1996-2006
Mountain biking explodes, Trek steps into advocacy and a hard-charging Texan storms the Tour de France and catapults the brand onto the world stage
2006-2016
A golden era of racing: Cancellara owns the Classics, Contador lights up Grand Tours and Rachel Atherton secures a perfect season
2016-2026
Trek steps into its global purpose, championing equal pay, elevating women’s racing and releasing an industry-first sustainability report
More Trek history
50 bikes that built Trek
From silver-brazed to moulded carbon, these are the bikes that defined Trek's first 50 years.