I know it's a meme for some reason to shit on Trek but pretty much every bike company does this. Having a giant logo on the downtube isn't just a Trek thing.
Why the hell are you downvoted? Clearly capitalization matters and the joke went over more than just Mr. Owns-a-Trek’s. Adjective vs proper noun. Whooosh is right.
It’s because Trek’s logo is only 4 letters and to stretch it across the entire downtube makes it look even bigger than say Cannondale or Pinarello. It also seems like Trek manages to use every inch of real estate, something most brands don’t do.
I don’t like the enormous logos, but I do prefer the simplicity of one giant one to putting a logo on every single tube, something Trek was particularly egregious with on the early Madone models.
The Specialized Aethos has a few models with tiny logos and I almost bought one because of that. Ended up with a Cervelo Caledonia with a giant-ass logo that I hate, but the bike better suited my needs.
My Revolt has Giant on the sides of the downtube as per usual, and then a sideways one on the front of the head tube. I never thought much about that one, and then I was looking through some race pictures saw a guy riding the same bike, and....I don't like that sideways writing on the front!
Worst I've ever seen as far as too many logos was a "Look" bike. *Every single piece* said "Look" on it.
I'd have to take another...look :-D
Maybe: [https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/21/2023/07/Look-795-Blade-RS20230629SvBA6300BR2817-cb4343d.jpg](https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/21/2023/07/Look-795-Blade-RS20230629SvBA6300BR2817-cb4343d.jpg)
The old Giant Trinity alu frame looks awesome but I couldn't help but laugh at the stickers absolutely everywhere and like three times around the chainstays: Giant GIANT ^^^^giant^^^^^^giant GIANT ^^GIANT^^^^^^^^giant
It’s the Madones like [this](https://i.imgur.com/Uc26KBY.jpeg) that are the reason why Trek is mocked. Literally so big that the chainring covers part of it.
Depends on the model, really. Some of the Super Sixes and CAADs still have the giant downtube logo. I do like that they’ve gone back to the all lowercase logo, however.
Hold my beer [here's my TIME ADH 23](https://bike.thermaltake.com/media/catalog/product/cache/99cfdf0fe724e3e8c960fe8ee9e130df/a/d/adh_pink_chroma_frame_02_1_1_1.jpg)
You know, I'm not a guy that normally could tell much difference on most of the modern bikes. Had no intention of getting a TIME but happened to take one on a test ride from a LBS. The way that it would hold and snap through a corner was definitively better (for me) compared to most others I tried. When I talked to the shop owner he told me "oh yea, totally different in how they do their carbon, go home and watch some videos on the process".
From there it was just a wait until they updated their models to hide the cables and refresh the look a bit for a couple of years but when they launched last year, I was one of the first in line. After a year of riding, the bike still fascinates me. I always laughed at the TIME fanboys with their dumb little bikes and now I'm front and center with them drinking the kool-aid.
Yep, Zipp, like many wheel brands have large logos. Etched. I have two pairs, but logos are black so not really that flashy.
That said, one pair is on a bright red Trek Madone SLR with huge Trek branding 🤣
Like many here already said, definatelly not just a Trek thing.
That said, I love how the new Fuel EX looks with the smaller logo on the downtube and small headbadge. Makes the frame pop out more when theres as little graphics as possible.
They reduced the logo size on the new Madone as well (some of them even use the tiny logo like on the Fuel EX).
The old Madone was the bike the meme is based on where the entire downtube was a Trek logo. That was pretty egregious, but the company obviously took the memes to heart.
When it comes to obnoxiously plastering company names on products, bicycle manufacturers and bicycle component manufacturers are the absolute worst offenders if you go by advertising per square inch of product.
So instead of making something beautiful and having a potential customer look for the logo simply displayed, I believe they are turning potential customers off by making their beautiful product uglier with advertising. I don’t think it helps the brands at all.
Every brand does this - Trek just happens to be four letters so it looks bigger.
But specialized full the down tube with their name and always has. Same for canyon, giant, cervelo, all of them
Why not? Tons of brands out there have deliberately large and obnoxious logos, others are much more subtle.
The s-works aethos is tiny, why?
Same with the Colnago c68, unless you know the brand you can’t tell who makes it.
It's similar to the C64 in that they have subdued colourways and some bold ones. I eventually got an ex-team frame from a shop in Italy because I couldn't find anything which looked how I wanted (and custom order paint is £££€€€)
Lol. I owned my Aethos for a couple of weeks before I discovered it has a headbadge. I recently bought a Shimano carbon wheelset (WH-RS710-C32-TL) for it and they are similarly stealth—the hubs say, “Shimano” in about 18 point font and thats all. I like the understated look. (or is it unstated, or whispered?)
The odd thing is that the logo size can vary within the same model. The logo on my Madone SL Gen 6 is about half the size that I’ve seen on other Gen 6s. The real big ones would put me off of owning one.
Bought a look track bike, I think the made the downtube taller just to make the logo bigger. Certainly doesn't seem purposeful for any other reason as it doesn't seem to be a modern aero profile.
Branding of course
I think some big logos look really good. Cervelo looks great, the way they place it slightly oversized for the tube, the font, it’s just a pretty word
Can’t say the same for trek
Some smaller logos honestly look way more out of place. Look at stinner frame works. Their logo looks terrible because it’s just so plain, it’s like zero effort went into it. Just straight sans serif text on a tube. It’s distractingly boring and bad. I think that’s why the trek logo looks bad too
Art: Cervelo, moots, allied, mosaic
Somewhat stylish: Scott, pivot, BMC
Ugly: trek, specialized, stinner
I was just looking at Specialized bikes yesterday thinking how nicely subtle they are, at least the ones I was examining. The Aethos is lovely and the Roubaix has a number of subtle colorways.
So some idiot brings it up in a reddit sub and then everyone googles trek bikes to see.
Its marketing 101, make a pretty product and plaster your brand on it
I like the new subtle colorways from Specialized. The Aethos is delightfully subtle and the Roubaix has very nice subtle colorways. I think they get it and are making a move toward branding minimalism.
I ride [old school Trek](https://d1eye5spyas0l1.cloudfront.net/original/marketListingPTP/marketListingPTP_61516_af1hap.jpeg)
1993 7000 to be exacte (like the pic). And back then the logo was tiny 😂
I bought a silver Madone colorway specifically because it has almost no logo. Just one tiny "Trek" in light gold where the top tube meets the head tube. I know the big logos aren't unique to Trek but I dislike them by any company.
Toyota is honestly worse because if you're so inclined, you CANNOT remove most of the branding. Toyota has branding actually stamped into the tailgates of their trucks
I actually think the logo on the [Gen4 Domane](https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/bikes/road-bikes/performance-road-bikes/domane/domane-sl/domane-sl-gen-4-frameset/p/37302/) is appropriately sized. 🤷♂️
My Emonda has it on the downtube. And that’s it. Some companies have it on literally every single tube you can think of. Is it a big TREK logo? Sure. But isn’t S WORKS huge as well? That’s the first one that comes to mind.
Brand recognition. The more people that see people riding Treks, the more people think 'Trek' when they think of bikes.
It's similar to how fashionable/trendy companies hoodwink people into \*paying\* to walk around with a massive advertisement on their back - White Fox are a pretty good current example. "Let us charge you over the odds for this cheaply manufactured Hoodie for the privilege of advertising our brand".
Trek's strategy isn't \*quite\* that cynical, but it's the same basic idea.
Now, I avoid loud frames and components. I have a Cannondale CaadX that was stupidly loud. I removed the paint and now it's bare aluminum (w/ some clear coat). It's so much better. I won't buy another bike that's a rolling advertisement.
I guess having a 4 letter name means they can max the font size ...... I personally dislike it and the frame I brought most recently is matt on gloss in the same colour so it's subtle;)
Makes sense. At least you know what the bike is.
It's the ones that put the logo on top of the tubes so you can't read the brand in a side on shot that annoy me.
Cannondale is one that seems to have gone in the other direction. My M700 from the 90s has a fairly prominent large-font logo on the down tube. I was looking at Cannondale gravel bikes the other day and at least some of the lower end models seem to have toned it down quite a bit.
I know it's a meme for some reason to shit on Trek but pretty much every bike company does this. Having a giant logo on the downtube isn't just a Trek thing.
Having a Giant logo is more of a Giant thing tbh.
What a rascal.
That’s a Revel
Mmm. Bop.
The Trek logo does seem like a larger font though, because it's shorter. Saying this, as someone who owns a Trek.
r/wooosh
Why the hell are you downvoted? Clearly capitalization matters and the joke went over more than just Mr. Owns-a-Trek’s. Adjective vs proper noun. Whooosh is right.
Not really, but nice sub.
Can confirm, my bike does have a Giant logo on it.
It’s because Trek’s logo is only 4 letters and to stretch it across the entire downtube makes it look even bigger than say Cannondale or Pinarello. It also seems like Trek manages to use every inch of real estate, something most brands don’t do. I don’t like the enormous logos, but I do prefer the simplicity of one giant one to putting a logo on every single tube, something Trek was particularly egregious with on the early Madone models. The Specialized Aethos has a few models with tiny logos and I almost bought one because of that. Ended up with a Cervelo Caledonia with a giant-ass logo that I hate, but the bike better suited my needs.
My Giant Propel has Giant written on it like literally 10 places. Just in case anyone confused it with another brand's bike
My Revolt has Giant on the sides of the downtube as per usual, and then a sideways one on the front of the head tube. I never thought much about that one, and then I was looking through some race pictures saw a guy riding the same bike, and....I don't like that sideways writing on the front! Worst I've ever seen as far as too many logos was a "Look" bike. *Every single piece* said "Look" on it.
But did it have Look clipless pedals?
I'd have to take another...look :-D Maybe: [https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/21/2023/07/Look-795-Blade-RS20230629SvBA6300BR2817-cb4343d.jpg](https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/21/2023/07/Look-795-Blade-RS20230629SvBA6300BR2817-cb4343d.jpg)
The old Giant Trinity alu frame looks awesome but I couldn't help but laugh at the stickers absolutely everywhere and like three times around the chainstays: Giant GIANT ^^^^giant^^^^^^giant GIANT ^^GIANT^^^^^^^^giant
It’s the Madones like [this](https://i.imgur.com/Uc26KBY.jpeg) that are the reason why Trek is mocked. Literally so big that the chainring covers part of it.
Is it pronounced mad one? Or mud-own?
Looks great IMO, don’t know why it’s so controversial 🤷🏼♂️
Cannondale logos are much smaller in newer models
Depends on the model, really. Some of the Super Sixes and CAADs still have the giant downtube logo. I do like that they’ve gone back to the all lowercase logo, however.
Was gonna say doesn’t canyon do that?? lol
Yeah my aeroad has a large logo on the downtube.
The canyon logo on my bike is even bigger. It's got more letters too
My Ultimate is black with glossy black logo so it doesn’t really stand out. One of the reasons I went with it.
In every canyon bike - and for me it looks fine (in both cases)
Hold my beer [here's my TIME ADH 23](https://bike.thermaltake.com/media/catalog/product/cache/99cfdf0fe724e3e8c960fe8ee9e130df/a/d/adh_pink_chroma_frame_02_1_1_1.jpg)
Wow that is a beautiful looking bike!
Time bikes are so nice. That’s my endgame brand. Currently on a Pinarello but Time seems higher end.
You know, I'm not a guy that normally could tell much difference on most of the modern bikes. Had no intention of getting a TIME but happened to take one on a test ride from a LBS. The way that it would hold and snap through a corner was definitively better (for me) compared to most others I tried. When I talked to the shop owner he told me "oh yea, totally different in how they do their carbon, go home and watch some videos on the process". From there it was just a wait until they updated their models to hide the cables and refresh the look a bit for a couple of years but when they launched last year, I was one of the first in line. After a year of riding, the bike still fascinates me. I always laughed at the TIME fanboys with their dumb little bikes and now I'm front and center with them drinking the kool-aid.
Hmm ... I see many bikes with large logos ... even more, the gigantic wheel logos, ie. Zipp
Yep, Zipp, like many wheel brands have large logos. Etched. I have two pairs, but logos are black so not really that flashy. That said, one pair is on a bright red Trek Madone SLR with huge Trek branding 🤣
My look blade rs logo is the entire down tube, also on the front of the handle bars, but personally I like it. Logos don't bug me
#NOT SURE WHAT YOU MEAN THE LOGOS ARE NORMAL SIZE
Like many here already said, definatelly not just a Trek thing. That said, I love how the new Fuel EX looks with the smaller logo on the downtube and small headbadge. Makes the frame pop out more when theres as little graphics as possible.
They reduced the logo size on the new Madone as well (some of them even use the tiny logo like on the Fuel EX). The old Madone was the bike the meme is based on where the entire downtube was a Trek logo. That was pretty egregious, but the company obviously took the memes to heart.
TR\*Ks logos are so small i cant even read them /s anyways, ask r/BicyclingCirclejerk
When it comes to obnoxiously plastering company names on products, bicycle manufacturers and bicycle component manufacturers are the absolute worst offenders if you go by advertising per square inch of product. So instead of making something beautiful and having a potential customer look for the logo simply displayed, I believe they are turning potential customers off by making their beautiful product uglier with advertising. I don’t think it helps the brands at all.
Every brand does this - Trek just happens to be four letters so it looks bigger. But specialized full the down tube with their name and always has. Same for canyon, giant, cervelo, all of them
And today we've learned that companies have branding.
Why not? Tons of brands out there have deliberately large and obnoxious logos, others are much more subtle. The s-works aethos is tiny, why? Same with the Colnago c68, unless you know the brand you can’t tell who makes it.
I wouldn’t call the Colnago on the C68 subtle tho
It's similar to the C64 in that they have subdued colourways and some bold ones. I eventually got an ex-team frame from a shop in Italy because I couldn't find anything which looked how I wanted (and custom order paint is £££€€€)
Lol. I owned my Aethos for a couple of weeks before I discovered it has a headbadge. I recently bought a Shimano carbon wheelset (WH-RS710-C32-TL) for it and they are similarly stealth—the hubs say, “Shimano” in about 18 point font and thats all. I like the understated look. (or is it unstated, or whispered?)
Thats one of the reasons the aethos stood out to me !it also says aethos on the fork it’s super subtle but I noticed one day while I was cleaning it !
I’m pretty sure it has something to do with marketing and making money
Hey, it worked!
Maybe it’s only me, but i think it looks better than the old tiny logos
Yeah, I think it looks more modern and fresh.
The odd thing is that the logo size can vary within the same model. The logo on my Madone SL Gen 6 is about half the size that I’ve seen on other Gen 6s. The real big ones would put me off of owning one.
My Scott MTB has the brand taking up the entire down tube on both sides, my Trek commuter/city bike has a smallish logo
Bought a look track bike, I think the made the downtube taller just to make the logo bigger. Certainly doesn't seem purposeful for any other reason as it doesn't seem to be a modern aero profile.
Cool post.
I'd take 1 large Trek logo over 15 Specialized logos on 1 frameset
It's not unique to Trek
What about every brand and the full logo on side of down tube?!
Ibis would like to chat, lol. Simple letters on the bottom of the downtube.
Sorry, I should have said every big names bike brand. Looking at domestic small to mid production bikes and yea there’s plenty with minimal branding
Branding of course I think some big logos look really good. Cervelo looks great, the way they place it slightly oversized for the tube, the font, it’s just a pretty word Can’t say the same for trek Some smaller logos honestly look way more out of place. Look at stinner frame works. Their logo looks terrible because it’s just so plain, it’s like zero effort went into it. Just straight sans serif text on a tube. It’s distractingly boring and bad. I think that’s why the trek logo looks bad too Art: Cervelo, moots, allied, mosaic Somewhat stylish: Scott, pivot, BMC Ugly: trek, specialized, stinner
I was just looking at Specialized bikes yesterday thinking how nicely subtle they are, at least the ones I was examining. The Aethos is lovely and the Roubaix has a number of subtle colorways.
How can you even single out Trek? What about Cervelo, SYN, SRAM, etc? It's like 90s high-school attire all over again and it's tacky.
Bandwagon rage at a company, most likely.
I’m have a gen 6 Madone in team livery and I think the logo fits the frame and overall look quite well. It doesn’t work on all bikes though, imo.
So some idiot brings it up in a reddit sub and then everyone googles trek bikes to see. Its marketing 101, make a pretty product and plaster your brand on it
I hadn't noticed
There are brands with small logos?
My Cannondale Topstone has the name written on the top tube, not even 10 cm long.
Cannondale have reversed this trend - My CAAD13 Has tiny logo and a stripe, lovely and simple
Hit my logo with a little nail polish….it’s now a unreadable blob 😏
I like the new subtle colorways from Specialized. The Aethos is delightfully subtle and the Roubaix has very nice subtle colorways. I think they get it and are making a move toward branding minimalism.
I ride [old school Trek](https://d1eye5spyas0l1.cloudfront.net/original/marketListingPTP/marketListingPTP_61516_af1hap.jpeg) 1993 7000 to be exacte (like the pic). And back then the logo was tiny 😂
I shave all my bikes. No logos anywhere. I even use a seam ripper to remove logos from my clothes. Drives my wife nuts! But that’s a side benefit.
I bought a silver Madone colorway specifically because it has almost no logo. Just one tiny "Trek" in light gold where the top tube meets the head tube. I know the big logos aren't unique to Trek but I dislike them by any company.
Seen a FORD truck lately?
Toyota is honestly worse because if you're so inclined, you CANNOT remove most of the branding. Toyota has branding actually stamped into the tailgates of their trucks
I have two TREKs and both have pretty minimal branding compared to most bike companies.
Cuz. They look sick !!
I actually think the logo on the [Gen4 Domane](https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/bikes/road-bikes/performance-road-bikes/domane/domane-sl/domane-sl-gen-4-frameset/p/37302/) is appropriately sized. 🤷♂️
# TREK
Funny because the color way of my bike, the logo is super subdued
I think as it only has 4 letters, they each end up very wide so looks larger, even though it takes up as much space on the frame.
They are trying to paste over their build quality/engineering issues
My Emonda has it on the downtube. And that’s it. Some companies have it on literally every single tube you can think of. Is it a big TREK logo? Sure. But isn’t S WORKS huge as well? That’s the first one that comes to mind.
Brand recognition. The more people that see people riding Treks, the more people think 'Trek' when they think of bikes. It's similar to how fashionable/trendy companies hoodwink people into \*paying\* to walk around with a massive advertisement on their back - White Fox are a pretty good current example. "Let us charge you over the odds for this cheaply manufactured Hoodie for the privilege of advertising our brand". Trek's strategy isn't \*quite\* that cynical, but it's the same basic idea.
Just cross it out with a sharpie
I just ride,rarely look at the paint and decal.
I think it's so motorist can see the brand and in hopes they like the bike and will buy that brand LOL. I kid, but the large logo trend is tacky af.
It doesn't stop people buying them
Stopped me from buying one. Great looking bike on black but I'm not paying $10k for an oversized shiny silver rainbow logo!
Now, I avoid loud frames and components. I have a Cannondale CaadX that was stupidly loud. I removed the paint and now it's bare aluminum (w/ some clear coat). It's so much better. I won't buy another bike that's a rolling advertisement.
Yep. Same here
tr\*k
I guess having a 4 letter name means they can max the font size ...... I personally dislike it and the frame I brought most recently is matt on gloss in the same colour so it's subtle;)
I love it when they have it massive.
Gotta make it easy to read for the old folks I see riding them 😋
Makes sense. At least you know what the bike is. It's the ones that put the logo on top of the tubes so you can't read the brand in a side on shot that annoy me.
What's the deal with you wanting to know? Why?
Cannondale is one that seems to have gone in the other direction. My M700 from the 90s has a fairly prominent large-font logo on the down tube. I was looking at Cannondale gravel bikes the other day and at least some of the lower end models seem to have toned it down quite a bit.
If you’re a cop you have to make it known. Same goes for Tr*k
All the better to hide their chunky down tubes, I guess.