The Radavist

Trek just teased this steel (and carbon) full suspension “PipeDream” prototype on its Instagram, designed by Trek employee and industrial designer Kyle Neuser and built in-house by Trek’s prototype lab. Inspired no doubt by the work and growing popularity of steel full suspension bikes from the likes of REEB, Cotic, Starling, Chromag, and more, Kyle was lured to experiment with the natural damping of steel with the geometry of the Trek Top Fuel.

This steel frame uses a carbon swingarm from a Top Fuel and rocker link, exposed cable routing, and bolt-on aluminum shock mounts. The PipeDream is finished with a paint scheme inspired by Trek’s steel bikes from the ‘80s and ‘90s. If Trek were to pony up and make a production run of these bikes, would it ignite a race for more metal full-suspension bikes? Hey, Specialized, you won’t! Let’s see it!

Read what our staff thinks of steel full suspensions below in our Related Archives!

Today, Trek introduced two new gravel bikes; The all-new Checkmate SLR is the brand’s first-ever gravel racing bike and the Checkpoint SL Gen 3 is for improves on the previous model with increased comfort and storage capacity, an improved fit, and all-around carbon performance for long gravel rides and overnighters.

While you’ve no doubt seen this information elsewhere on the web by now, the thing that caught our collective eyes, however, is the Raw Lithos Project One paint design, which is specific to the Checkmate SLR…

The internet can be a valuable tool for problem-solving vintage conversions. Its users have often figured out compatibility issues or clever hacks to get you to your desired goal. That’s the case with Daniel and his vintage Trek 830, that he converted to a drop bar gravel bike. Let’s check it out!

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again. Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t take a look around once in a while from atop a vintage mountain bike, you could miss it. Jerry’s got the right idea with his 1997 TREK Multitrack 700 Sport, so let’s check it out in this week’s Readers’ Rides!

Today, we’ve got a fine selection of used (and new) goods from the Rad Bazaar, our Group Ride subscribers‘ selling platform, featuring some unique offerings. Let’s check it all out!

There are some bikes that are forever bikes. For Thomas from The Bike Hub, that bike is his trusty Trek Sawyer that he converted to a Drop-Bar MTB. Let’s check it out below!

When someone says “hybrid bike,” chances are, old department store ATBs and comfort bikes with super high-rise stems come to mind. Yet, as Matt from St. Paul, Minnesota, shares with us in this edition of Readers’ Rides, they can be a lot more! Let’s check out his beautiful 1996 Trek Multitrack below…

There’s a theme often repeated in our Readers’ Rides segment and that’s adaptive reuse of older bikes. This week’s submission comes from Richmond, Virginia’s Wheel Simple Bicycle Repair. Read on below as Robbie walks us through his Trek commuter…

For this week’s Readers’ Rides, the vintage MTBs keep rolling in with Tom’s 1989 Trek Antelope 850 that he’s built up as an all-rounder. Let’s check it out below!

This Readers’ Rides comes from Olly who customized his Trek ProCaliber 9.8SL into a Monstercross. Let’s follow the process along with Olly below!

2021 was an exceptional year for our Readers’ Rides series, which we first began posting back in 2011. Last year’s readership-submitted bikes ran the gamut, much like our Top 10 Beautiful Bicycles, but Readers’ Rides is 100% audience-submitted. We love receiving submissions each week so if you were on the fence about submitting your ride, perhaps this list will motivate you to break out the camera. This list was compiled by web traffic and comments. Let’s check out the Top Ten Readers’ Rides of 2021 below, in no particular order…

You might want to put on some sunglasses to look at this week’s Readers’ Rides post from Wayne in Bristol. Read on below to find out what inspired this unique Trek 6000 build!

Bontrager has developed a line of bikepacking bags designed to specifically fit the Trek Checkpoint yet the three universal sizes will fit any number of other frames. These half-frame bags use water-resistant fabrics, easy-pull zippers, a bright fluoro interior, and use a soft strap that won’t marr your frame’s paint. Also included in this drop is a top tube bag. These bags are available at your local Trek dealer.

Let’s face it, there’s not a lot of head-turning tech coming from the world of frame design within the MTB industry. Longer, slacker, lower, new linkages, electronic shifting. We’ve seen that all coming from a mile away but the latest from TREK has my interest piqued. Especially for bikepacking or other long endurance rides where you don’t want to deal with a lot of bobbing from a long travel rear linkage. The Supercaliber does look fun! As for the video, kudos, team Trek.

It’s a busy week for bike companies to jettison their new and improved models into the consumer market. We reviewed the Trek Checkpoint last year and were amazed at how well this bike checked all the boxes. It really felt like Trek listened to its customers and made the most capable bike they could.

For 2020, the Checkpoint stays relatively the same, solidifying its place in the adventure/gravel/all-road space, yet the paint jobs are much flashier and now with AXS integration, the lines on the bike are even cleaner. Head to Trek to see more details!