Trek Road Bicycle Reynolds 501 Construction

In the early 1990s Trek's director of technology, Bob Read, attended an aerospace industry trade show in Salt Lake City, Utah, eventually meeting up with a closed mold tooling company called Radius Engineering. That visit convinced Read that Trek's future success depended on building frames from carbon fiber, a material he envisioned could be used to make light, strong frames.
In 1993 Trek introduced its first OCLV Carbon mountain bike frame, the 9900, which at 2.84 lb (1.29 kg) was the world's lightest production mountain bike frame.

In 1993 Trek also acquired Gary Fisher Mountain Bikes, named after Gary Fisher, one of the inventors of the mountain bike and one of the most popular names in off-road cycling. Fisher had founded Gary Fisher Mountain Bikes in 1983 and sold his company in 1991 to Taiwan's Anlen company, remaining on as President. In 1992, Howie Cohen, who had previously imported Nishiki, Azuki and Kuwahara bicycles, assisted Gary Fisher with his brand[2] — 18 months later brokering the acquisition of Fisher by Trek (in 1993).[2]

In 1994 Trek entered the growing home fitness arena, introducing Trek Fitness Exercycles. In 1996 Trek discontinued the Exercycle line, spinning off its fitness division into an independently-owned company, renamed Vision Fitness.

In 1995, Trek introduced its full suspension Y bike, a departure from traditional bike design. The Y bike sold well, and won an "Outstanding Design and Engineering Award" from Popular Mechanics magazine. Also in 1995, Trek made a number of business moves in order to diversify its product offering and gain market share, acquiring Klein Bicycles, a Chehalis, WA, manufacturer of premium aluminum-framed bicycles, as well as Bontrager Cycles, a Santa Cruz, CA-based manufacturer of bicycle components and hand built steel frames. Trek also signed a long-term licensing agreement with Greg LeMond, the 3-time Tour de France champion and the first American to win the Tour—to design, build, and distribute LeMond Racing Cycles. 1995 was also the year Trek opened a state-of-the-art assembly facility in Whitewater, Wisconsin, leaving the Waterloo location free to focus solely on frame production.
1997-2005 The Armstrong Years And Further Expansion
Lance Armstrong in the prologue of the Tour de France in July 2004 in Liege, Belgium
A steel framed 2002 Trek 800 Sport mountain bike
A carbon fiber Y-foil from the late 1990s

In 1997, Trek helped sign former world road race champion (1993) Lance Armstrong to the Trek-sponsored United States Postal Service Pro Cycling Team. Armstrong won his first Tour de France in 1999 aboard a Trek 5500, becoming the first American to win the Tour on an American team riding an American made bicycle. Armstrong went on to win a record-setting seven-consecutive Tours de France, all of them aboard Trek bicycles. He did at some points ride a Litespeed bike, painted and badged as a Trek, due to Trek not having a suitable time trial bike available at the time[3].

Responding to the unique needs of female cyclists, in 2000 Trek introduced Women's Specific Design (WSD) bicycle and accessories. WSD products are designed to fit women riders, and feature sizing and proportions appropriate for women riders. In October 2001, Trek introduced a custom bike program named Project One, which gave customers the opportunity to customize their Trek bike by selecting the bike's paint scheme and component mix.[4]

Hoping to expand into a new market segment, Trek introduced Trek Travel in December 2002, a provider of luxury and performance cycling vacations in Europe and North America. Trek Travel operated as a wholly owned subsidiary of Trek Bicycle until January 2007, when Trek spun off its interests in the company. Despite the split, Trek and Trek Travel enjoy a close working relationship.

In 2003, Trek acquired Villiger, a Swiss bicycle company, and Diamant, the oldest bicycle company in Germany. The acquisition gave Trek a foothold in the Trekking bicycle market, an important segment in Europe. As part of the acquisition, Trek took over ownership of the Villiger-Diamant production facility in Hartmannsdorf, Germany. Trek's global expansion continued in 2005, when Trek expanded into the Chinese market by opening two stores in Beijing and signing deals with 20 Chinese distributors.

For the third time in its history, in 2005 Trek again expanded its worldwide headquarters in Waterloo, adding another 43,000 sq ft (4,000 m2) to house its burgeoning engineering, R&D, and marketing department.

In March 2008, after years of tensions between Greg LeMond and Trek, LeMond presented a draft of a summons against Trek, alleging breach of contract. In May 2008, Trek filed a motion in federal court to sever ties with LeMond, citing multiple contract breaches. The suit was settled out of court in 2010.

[grabba]

never liked treks or specialized but this one, wow, i like the style of all the 80s-90s twelve speeds. There are SO many good ones. Just because 80% of the bikes I see on the path are treks or specialized, I love to ride my 20 lb Masi speciale 2003. I love being the only one ever with a Masi, its cool. But i always had stuff that most people don't hve, This Trek is awesome, gotta say. 

[abiezz]

@jesuriah Any song suggestions? Thanks for the comment thought.

[daaam]

beautiful bike, but hate it already cause it has USA written on it!