Trek District

This District looks right at home in Portland Oregon. Here’s what Jason has to say about it.

I love my Trek District! I added the Shimano SPD road touring pedal, and I may upgrade the stem, handlebars, and seatpost. Overall the ride is very smooth, my last road bike was a Bianchi Allero, and so far the Trek District is way better. The gear ratio that Trek decided on is a good overall gear. Going uphills it is easy to stay in the saddle and climb. On the flats, it has been hard to out peddle the gear, or look for more speed. I am very surprised at how good overall this bike is!!! Jason Bike Town USA

Here is a great custom District from Rick in Florida.

I work at Sarasota cycle and fitness in Sarasota,Fl. When a couple of our employee’s returned from Trek world in the summer of 2008 the told me of this awesome bike they had seen called the District. I had been leaning towards a Soho until I saw this bike. I ordered mine in August of 2008, it arrive May 2009. This time only gave the boy’s in the shop more time to think of how we were to customize my bike. As I’m a huge Florida Gator fan, it was natural to turn this bike into a “Gator Bike”. Here is what we added to make this a one of a kind Gator District. The cable housing was changed to Blue Jagwire, the rear brake cable is teflon coated slick cable. The Chain ring bolts, bottle cage bolts and headset bolt are blue anodized from Purely Custom. The front wheel is button laced and front and rear wheels sport blue spoke nipples. The steer tube spacer is blue carbon fiber ingraved ” Go Gators” again from the good folks at Purely custom. The tires are Bontrager Race X lite AC 700×23 blue on one side only. I also removed the chain guard and added a Trek Angel bottle cage. Thanks to the boy’s at the shop Matt, LD, Jason and the biggest thanks to Dave!

Here is another great Alfine swap onto a District. Amazing looks and a very practical daily ride! Here’s what Plinio has to say;

Hello, as I live in the moutains it was hard with the single speed of my District. So I decided to mount a Shimano Alfine 8-Gear System. Now it’s perfect. The best bike I ever had. Looks good, and the Alfine works smooth and silent, just great…

Here is a little video I did for another project. It has some cool footage of my Trek District in it. Take a look and let me know what you think.

I’m back from a brief winter hiatus, and I have been collecting some great user submitted photos. We’ll start one off from Lancashire UK. Mark says;

Hi Three more mods to my district a Honey Brooks saddle i think i may trim the sides down,put a new stem on i think it looks a beter shape and some limeted edition orange and grey pro3 tyres only have one more mod then i will be happy

A couple weeks ago Eric Bjorling the “Lifestyle Marketing Guy” for Trek was kind enough to sit down with me and answer some questions the the District forum members and I had about the Trek District. He was also kind enough so share some unused photo’s of the District in it’s element that didn’t make the cut for this years catalogue.

TREKDISTRICT: The Trek District was obviously a revolutionary bike, it combined a vintage style with a state of the art belt drive. In my mind “District” was synonymous with “belt drive” and “vintage” but the new District line breaks both of those preconceived notions. Just what does make a bike worthy of the District Badge?

ERICBJORLING: For us, The District was a large progressive step in a direction we hadn’t ever gone before. Not just the belt drive aspect, but also the vibe and customer base we were trying to appeal to. When we went into the second year we wanted to keep pushing the design and options for the District’s audience. We knew we had to keep things fresh to keep us in the forefront of rider’s thoughts and passion and that meant something beyond a paint change. The decision was made that we’d offer several completely seperate schemes and vibes to ensure that we’re offering something for a wide range of tastes. It’s not that we’re obsoleting previous models, we’d just hate for you guys to get bored with us.

TD: Obviously Trek took a big gamble with the original District, it was completely unique and at a price point that attracted more serious bikers. Have sales performed as expected?

EB: We were all a little surprised by the initial response. The team knew that we had something special that we were enamored with but we had no clue as to the response it generated. We actually had to re-adjust the original forecast just based on the amount of hype and excitement that was generated around the bike. Sales have been remarkably positive and will hopefully continue that way.

TD: The new District line looks just as good as the original. Will there be a fixed gear option for the traditional chain drive bikes? When do you expect the models to be available for sale?

EB: Thanks! I’m not sure if i could ever accurately describe the amount of love, attention, and arguments go into creating those bikes. When you propose a bike with gold parts, people react. “I want this bike to swing from Kanye’s chain!” The hubs on the chain bikes are flip-flop free/fixed so that we’re offering the option that everybody can dig. The dropouts are the same as the belt drive models so that if anybody ever wants to upgrade to the belt, it’s an easy addition. Right now we’re looking at Christmas delivery for the new chain bikes but the original grey/orange is currently available.

TD: How about the District Carbon?

EB: As far as the carbon district goes, i saw a few of those in production while walking through the Waterloo factory a few days ago. We’re looking for Late October for retail delivery on those bad boys.

TD: You’re paving new ground with the whole belt drive system, and while the gearing is perfect for most people, there are others that want to change it. Is Trek planning selling different gearing options for the District, or will owners be left to experiment with parts directly from Gates?

EB: I can understand why people want to change the gearing. bikes, like life, are all about variety. The gear on there can do it all, climb, cruise, and coast. For now, as far as production is concerned, we’re happy with the gearing and don’t have plans to change it. Gates has some different configurations that are available through them so i guess for now, if you want to change up your district, you gotta hit them up.

TD: Speaking of changing the belt drive options, is there a fixed gear solution in the works? What are the biggest obstacles to overcome in designing a fixed gear belt drive?

EB: Let me dispel the rumorists and twitterati right here and now. Belt Drive fixed is possible. i know this because i have ridden it. The obstacle to overcome a fixed bike is not in the product development but rather in the bringing it to market. While we may love fixies, you immediately limit the amount of people that will buy the bike. the most viable option would be a flip-flop like you see on the chain drive bikes.

TD: It’s been interesting to see the line of belt drive bikes expand with the new Districts, and even a belt drive on the Bishop. Are belt drive bikes here to stay, and where are we likely to see them next?

EB: I think we have to look at the characteristics of lasting ideas to judge that. Belt Drive has a lot going for it in its simplicity, reliability, durability and it solves a problem. Belt Drive is here to stay as long as bike and belt manufacturers are dedicated to ensuring that it’s a quality benefit. The day that we attempt to cut corners is the day you can put belt drive in the rear-view. However, the development that is currently being undertaken will ensure that the number of applications for belt drive will increase in the near future. You can see other brands adopting belt drive onto more models which will increase our experience as a whole. The Bishop was a great project to undertake to see how far we could push it and the lessons learned will be applied to further research. What I can tell you is that what we’re responsible for here at Trek will always be produced with the highest standards of quality and authenticity.

A huge thanks to Eric at Trek for answering our questions and a to the crew on the forums for being such an avid group of District fans!

Just because it only has one gear doesn’t mean that the District isn’t good on the hills. Above is a picture sent in by Chris. He snapped it during his 3.3 mile climb up a 7% grade road.  

In the forums there has been some discussion about the grips on the original District not being as high quality as the rest of the components. It looks like Trek has heard our cries for a fix. I just got this in the email…

Beloved District Owners,

We heard from a few of you out there that the tape on your grip was coming a little loose. That sucks. We want you to enjoy riding your District as much as we enjoy designing them. If you’ve had issues with your District grips, send us a note at district@trekbikes.com. We’ll send you some new grips if you send us your name, address, email, and a picture of the offending grip. No spam, we totally pinkie swear. If you have any other feedback for the District team, that’s a great place to send it as well.                                                                                                                                                 

Your New BFF,

The District Team

The grips shown above were designed for the new family of District bikes and address the shortcomings of the old ones. I’m proud of Trek for stepping up and being so proactive in taking care of one of the biggest flaws in an otherwise amazing bike!

Here are some shots from Trek World 2010 of the District line of bikes. Think of it as a family photo….

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News is slowly filtering in from Trek World 2010 including some shots of a new District (1st District?). I’m wishing I was there. Luckily there is some live coverage on Twitter from @bikehugger and @Trekbike.