Availablility?
With all the buzz that is out there about the District, there seems to be a little discrepancy about the actual delivery date. At this point, there are just a handful in existence. I hope to be getting my hands on one soon for a little demo. Unfortunately when it comes to actually buying one, it doesn’t look like they are going to be available by November like some of the first reports state. With the new belt drive system, there are some extra details to work out to get the bike into full production. Some of the bike shops I have talked to lately say that they don’t expect it until February or March of 09. I did however have a chance to talk with Trek on the phone the other day, and they mentioned that they hoped to have the first ones coming out of production in December 08. They did mention that the numbers would be limited so many people wouldn’t see them in their LBS until early 09.
Trekworld 09
Trekworld 09 was the first big showcase for the Trek District, and it caused a lot of buzz too. Some of the best pictures available of the District at Trekworld come from Guitar Ted, who had a backstage pass and snapped some good photo’s. While the pictures can been seen all over the internet now, the ones here were originally posted over at Bicycle Design. If you are looking for more shots in high res, check out Richard Masoner’s Flickr photos.
Before Trekworld there was the 96er
While I obviously don’t have the whole inside story on the roots of the Trek District, we can pick up a couple of good hints from Treks blog “LIfe in the bike lane“. Just after Trekworld and the announcement of the new Trek District there was an interview with the designer of the District 96. While at first blush it looks like there isn’t a whole lot in common between the District and the 96er, there is probably more there than meets the eye. The 96er is a “full on concept bike” and as such we will probably never see it go into production. Probably a good thing too, because it’s not nearly as good looking as the District. The District 96 shows that Trek is thinking about “fashion” bikes for the urban hipster crowd. While it may be over the top, it is the forerunner to the more stylish, and much more practical District. Some of the obvious carryovers are the deep v rims and the track pedals. I’m just glad the production design turned out so much better than the concept.
More pics of the District 96 after the jump.
Why?
Why would anyone have a whole blog dedicated to one bike? Why not? I first heard about the Trek District a couple of weeks ago, when I saw it on Coolmaterial.com. My first reaction was that it was one fine looking SS, especially for one that was a production bike. When I noticed that it had a belt drive, instead of a chain drive, my obsession started. Since then I have been scouring the internet looking for more information about it. While the information about it is still somewhat limited, one thing is apparent, there is a lot of buzz about the bike. That’s when I got the crazy idea to start a one bike blog. I figured there were others out there like me who were looking for more information, so I thought I would do my best to gather it all in one place. With that, TrekDistrict.com was born. Think of it as the unofficial fan site of the Trek District bike.