Trek really needs to work on updating their paint jobs. The design aesthetic resembles a can of Mountain Dew more than anything. And my SC 7.0 has the brand Trek printed on the bike 18 times!!! It’s ugly and overly busy. It’s the design equivalent of a little kid screaming for attention. What’s the best way to cover it up? I have access to custom vinyl cutting, but am not sure how much weight that would add to the bike. I don’t really want to pay to have it stripped and repainted. Can the decals be removed in some non-destructive way? (I assume they’re under a layer of clear coat) Frankly, I can live with it, but wish it weren’t so ugly. For comparison, here are a few black and white bikes (they’re from lots of different price points… I’m just comparing the paint jobs):
One of the things that kept the Speed Concept off of my short list was the fact i says “TREK” 7 times PER SIDE of the bike. I’ve got no problem with people knowing who the manufacturer is but thats just stupid. Once, maybe twice AT MOST would be acceptable. The problems is that this leaves no room for nice paint, fancy graphics or cool colors.
Had you been just a tad smarter and done your reasearch before buying your speed concept you would have been aware that Trek’s Project One program would have allowed you to configure multiple (maybe over a hundred iterations) color configurations for your frame set. But you already have your frame and then decide to bitch about it. Kinda like putting the cart in front of the horse.
Lack of knowledge is not an excuse. Moreover, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I don’t find the Mona Lisa appealing under any angle but I’m not going to say it’s ugly just because i may think it is.
I personally like my Speed Concept and how it looks, I have the red and white one. I know I may be in the minority here about that but I think because its my TT/tri bike it already screams “look at me, look at me” and that is what we all try to do here with our bikes it have them be so sexy and stand out.
I am usually the guy who likes plain white or black or very subtle graphics and colors on things in the rest of my life, this is just one of those that it seems appropriate.
To each their own though. Don’t worry about the weight if you use vinyl to cover some of the logos, it won’t make any difference at all in terms of performance.
Had you been just a tad smarter and done your reasearch before buying your speed concept you would have been aware that Trek’s Project One program would have allowed you to configure multiple (maybe over a hundred iterations) color configurations for your frame set. But you already have your frame and then decide to bitch about it. Kinda like putting the cart in front of the horse.
Lack of knowledge is not an excuse. Moreover, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I don’t find the Mona Lisa appealing under any angle but I’m not going to say it’s ugly just because i may think it is.
Had you done YOUR research before jumping to be rude to the original poster you would have realized that Project 1 is only available for the 9 series, not the 7 series, which the OP has. Huge budget difference from the 7.0.
When did Project One become an option on a 7 series frame? I would have loved matte black paint on my SC but was not going to over my 3k budget to do so.
When did Project One become an option on a 7 series frame? I would have loved matte black paint on my SC but was not going to over my 3k budget to do so.
It’s not available for the 7 series. http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/collections/custom_project_one/models
Mr. Pax was just looking for an excuse to put someone down and showed his lack of knowledge in the process.
I’m pretty sure you have to get a 9 series for that, it costs WAY more when most people are already on a tight budget, and it doesn’t really change anything but each color. You still have Trek on there a million times in different colors.
Gotta start by saying I kind of agree with you, it is a bad paint job in comparison to the other companies.
With that said, I want to bash the state I personally grew up (Wisconsin). Those rednecks live on Mountain Dew and Pepsi products. When coming up with the paint scheme in Waterloo, they probably thought they had a winner. Had to say it. I still will ride Trek until I die. ON WISCONSIN!
Hey Paul, no need to be so rude. I did lots of research. I didn’t have a whole lot of money to play with and I got the 7.0 for well under retail price. I certainly couldn’t afford a 9 series Project One. I bought the bike knowing that I disliked the paint job, but I bought it for speed over my dislike of the paint job and hoped to eventually do something about the looks. I love the bike and with the mods I’ve made (new base bar, aerobar, center-pull front brake, racing wheels) think it competes with any bike within a few thousand dollars of it. But that doesn’t negate the fact that it says Trek on it 18 times. They even put it on the inside of the seat stays. I didn’t mean to come off as bitching about it, but if there’s an easy way to make it look better I’d love to do so. Beauty IS in the the eye of the beholder, but there are certain visual principles that make a design more likely to work. I guess my complaint is just that it’s so bombastic.
To the op, yeah, you nailed it. Exactly like a mountain dew can…never noticed before but thats why it looks so familiar lol.
I like our bikes look though the paint job is about the last thing I consider when picking a bike. A couple years ago that red and black scheme was in, now matte black is in (again) the soon well go back to bright solid colors and stupid graphics. Perhaps if speed concept wasn’t becoming one of the most common bikes in the racks it wouldn’t be so bad.
Someone should do their sc in that white matte vinyl wrap the cool kids are wrapping their r8s and lambos in. One letter on the on the down tube, mountain dew font capital “T”. Probably should be red 
Or if you really want to middle finger weight strip and plasti-dip it.
I hate to post a response that actually addresses the op’s question, but here goes:
There’s a company (in the UK I think) that makes a product for removing paint from carbon - carbolift. The website is http://www.carbolift.com/
Don’t have any experience with it personally, but there are videos on youtube. Might be worth exploring.
Carry on excoriating each other.
Unfortunately rudeness seems to be considered acceptable by many posters on this site. Gotta love it when rudeness is combined with misinformation.
A SC 7.0 with the upgrades you mention is possibly the best bang for the buck tri bike out there. That’s what I did as a present for my wife and she loves it. Luckily she’s never complained about the paint scheme, it’s not a good idea to count the number of times “Trek” appears if you know what’s good for you.
It may be possible to do something effective with vinyl if you’re handy and a bit creative. It will be quite a bit of work to do well and it will have a different finish from the clear coat, I’d just use it for accents that would cover up a lot of the Treks. It would add an insignificant amount of weight.
There are shops that would do a custom paint job but that will probably cost you a few hundred dollars.
Enjoy your bike!
I love that you just called home slice down for being a total dick… and wrong. Posts like that make my day.
The thought actually crossed my mind to have mine painted solid black. However, I don’t know anyone in the area to do it and from what I can tell, it’s a little more than I want to pay. I would drop 200 for a solid black but it’s not worth 500 to me.
Black stickers is an option i guess.
lol. a can of mountain dew. lol.
Alright then, I sincerely apologize for my frank and honest response. Not meant to be rude and I would not even edit my post so as everyone can still read what I wrote. Notice i don’t hide under an anonymous user name as well and my real name is out there for everyone to see.
The tone of my post, somehow only mirrored that of yours. You should read how the cervelo folks here defend their bikes when some call them fugly. Anyway, Didn’t mean to go overboard. Going in to my original point, we all have our options and decisions to make based on those options. We can’t have our cake and ask the baker to make it out of beer and burgers.
If there is one last thing I would like to say, is that your bike does not look ugly and I am sure many will agree with me on this.
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I think it looks cool. Agree it’s a bit over branded, but I wouldn’t say ugly.
Just go fast enough that the branding blurs.
Pax -
No harm done. I wasn’t meaning to pick a fight or bait somebody into reacting. I hadn’t thought through the fact that me calling my bike ugly was calling yours ugly too. I suppose my original post should have said that the design doesn’t fit what I want in a bike.
I know you’ve been really helpful on the owners’ thread and don’t have any beef with you personally. But can’t you get to work on a beer-burger cake?
-Collin Bradford
Alright then, I sincerely apologize for my frank and honest response. Not meant to be rude and I would not even edit my post so as everyone can still read what I wrote. Notice i don’t hide under an anonymous user name as well and my real name is out there for everyone to see.
The tone of my post, somehow only mirrored that of yours. You should read how the cervelo folks here defend their bikes when some call them fugly. Anyway, Didn’t mean to go overboard. Going in to my original point, we all have our options and decisions to make based on those options. We can’t have our cake and ask the baker to make it out of beer and burgers.
If there is one last thing I would like to say, is that your bike does not look ugly and I am sure many will agree with me on this.
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Ben Greenfield has a completely blacked out SC ask him where he got it done or if he has any suggestions.