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
Photo credit: Trek Historical Archive, Mike Appel, and Chris Fiorini
1986-1996
A decade of material evolution, from steel to aluminum to carbon, which brought aerospace precision to the cycling world
Photo credit: Trek Historical Archive, John Laptad, Bruce B. Junek, Tass Thacker
1996-2006
Mountain biking explodes and a hard-charging Texan storms the Tour de France and catapults the brand onto the world stage
Photo credit: Trek Historical Archive, John Laptad, Tom Moran, Graham Watson, Sterling Lorence
2006-2016
A golden era of racing: Cancellara owns the Classics, Contador lights up Grand Tours, and Rachel Atherton secures a perfect season
Photo credit: Trek Historical Archive, John Laptad, Tom Moran, Graham Watson, Sterling Lorence, Emily Maye, Sven Martin, Todd Herbst, Jeff Kennel, Sam Needham, Ulf Schiller, Narayan Mahon
2016-2026
Trek steps into its global purpose, championing equal pay, elevating women’s racing, and releasing an industry-first sustainability report
Photo credit: Trek Historical Archive, Getty Images, Sterling Lorence, Kristof Ramon, Jeff Kennel, Twila Muzzi, Matthew DeLorme, SPRINT Cycling, Kerri Ann Isenstadt, Sam Needham, Zac Williams
More Trek history
50 bikes that built Trek
From silver-brazed to molded carbon, these are the bikes that defined Trek's first 50 years.