"Special Women's Section"

[lph]

Hopping into the discussion way late, of course. In most cases I applaud manufacturers of sports gear for making stuff for both genders. Even though wsd stuff may not fit me, it's nice that someone made the effort. We all know that the alternative is unisex, which means "for men, lucky you if it fits".

But the point of wsd is catering to both genders, not treating women as a small special subgroup. It's not like women just now are starting to discover bikes, we've been here for a long time. You wouldn't find a "special men's section" in a magazine or bike store, why for women?

[ny biker]

When I bought my second FX I wanted a high end model.
I need a WSD.

The top of the line for WSD is the 7.6 w/ Tiagra 9 speed.

The actual top of the line (meaning the reach would be too long for me) is 7.9 Ultegra 10 speed.

That chaps my arse.

Now that is ridiculous. I would write to Trek about that. I would also talk to the owner of my LBS about it. They should be able to build up a WSD with the same components as the men's.

[ZenSojourner]

Trek isn't made in the US anymore. I think my doesn't-quite-fit Trek of many moons ago was one of the last that was made here.

I don't think they're all that responsive on these issues. I know they weren't for me when I finally figured out what was wrong with my Trek, which had been "fitted" to me. (Basically I found out later that meant whatever we have in the store that's sorta close-ish)

And btw, since they've gone to China for manufacturing, the bikes cost a LOT more.

Figure that one out.

[SpeedDreamin]

Trek isn't made in the US anymore.

You might wanna check your facts. Trek makes all their OCLV carbon bikes in Wisconsin and also a handful of other models, like some of the aluminum full-suspensions.

Yeah, most of their bikes are made overseas, but they still make quite a few here.

[ZenSojourner]

Hey, all I can tell you is what Trek told me, oh, about 6 or 7 years ago.

Terry was making all their bikes overseas, they've switched back to US manufacture.

I suspect that a lot of manufacturing is gradually coming back stateside because of quality issues. Unfortunately we've dismantled so much of our manufacturing infrastructure that I'm not sure it isn't too little, too late.

[Skierchickie]

I think it was 2 years ago that the Trek WSD rep was explaining the difference between the 5000 and the Madone line. She said the 5000 was the TCT carbon, and made overseas because they wanted to be able to offer a carbon bike for $2000. That the Madones were still made in Wisconsin. I think the lower-end ones have been made elsewhere for quite a while, and my '07 520 has a sticker that says "Made in the USA of foreign and domestic parts".

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

It can be confusing these days, just like with "American made cars". For example, Rivendell makes their custom lugged steel bikes here in CA, using steel tubing made in Japan, i believe. Their lugged stock frames are now mostly completely made in Taiwan, then the frames are shipped to CA where Riv completes assembling the bikes. "Some" of Riv's frames are still being made in Japan, some still being made by Waterford in the US (not sure where the tubing is made on those though- Reynolds?). Brain hurting!

[VeloVT]

I think it was 2 years ago that the Trek WSD rep was explaining the difference between the 5000 and the Madone line. She said the 5000 was the TCT carbon, and made overseas because they wanted to be able to offer a carbon bike for $2000. That the Madones were still made in Wisconsin. I think the lower-end ones have been made elsewhere for quite a while, and my '07 520 has a sticker that says "Made in the USA of foreign and domestic parts".

BF has a 2007 OCLV Madone that has a huge "Made In the USA" decal the entire length of the drive-side chainstay. (He hates the decal actually). Now that the Madone range is enormous and includes some of their "lower end" carbon models (I think it subsumed the 5000/5200s), I wouldn't be surprised if some of the Madones are made in Asia, but certainly some of them are still made in WI.

[Heifzilla]

My issue came late in the mail too. I just ripped the package open last night. Thought the same thing... hmm, wonder if everyone gets this special gold sticker on the front. I just got as far as reading about the bikes. Close to my new ride is in there for review. I was doing ok on the article until the notion that "women have long legs and short torsos" came up. Umm, that would NOT be me (shorty legs, long torso--can fit unisex). Guess I'm technically built like a man then. OH... I kinda like the pink cuz it shows dirt really well when you mtb in it and play in the mud. I dunno why my mother stopped putting me in dresses as a young girl.

I'm a short legged, long torso'd, wiiiiiiiiiide hipped chick. So, what the heck does that make me?? I also love HOT pink. Not pastel. I mean screaming in your face HOT PINK

[ny biker]

BF has a 2007 OCLV Madone that has a huge "Made In the USA" decal the entire length of the drive-side chainstay. (He hates the decal actually). Now that the Madone range is enormous and includes some of their "lower end" carbon models (I think it subsumed the 5000/5200s), I wouldn't be surprised if some of the Madones are made in Asia, but certainly some of them are still made in WI.

I just had this conversation with the manager of my LBS. Although we didn't get into specific model names/numbers, he told me that the lower-end Madones are made in Taiwan but the higher end are still made in Wisconsin.

[SpeedDreamin]

Whether you like Trek or not, this is a pretty cool video. It's super cheesy at first, so I'd suggest skipping to about 7 minutes in or so. That's when they show all the stuff at the factory.

And those bikes are being made in Wisconsin.

http://technorati.com/videos/youtube...%3D2nVbmcnsXXs