Source: Venture State
Author Jinmei
edit | flat all
Source | Iconic Creativity
In the video, many people have painted the story of a top luxury car colliding with a homely Trek Madone bicycle. It is said that the price of this bicycle has reached an astonishing 32 million yuan, which really shocked many people's chins.
Although these funny jokes contain a strong sense of marketing, there is no doubt that Trek, who is known as the world's best bikes, does have an extraordinary position in the Jianghu.
Trek bicycle is known as "National Ritual Trek" in the United States, and many political leaders and celebrities are its users. Some people say that Trek records the changing history of the bicycle industry.
As the most popular bicycle brand in modern America, Trek accounts for 22.5% of the American bicycle market, while the second place of GIANT is only 10.5%. Undoubtedly, as a rising star, Trek has successfully seized a large market from the bicycle giants in Japan and Europe, and broken the centuries old tradition of making good bicycles in Europe.
From niche market to mainstream market, Trek surpasses the previous leader's counter attack, which is worth learning and learning from many Chinese enterprises.
A failed start
One day, Richard Burke came home from work and excitedly said to his 12-year-old son Dick Burke, "We need to buy two bicycles and then travel by bike!"
My son thought it was a happy weekend, but he didn't expect that it would become a career handed down from generation to generation in his family.
They bought two bicycles, some equipment and several maps, and began a beautiful two-day journey through the hills and valleys of Kettle Moraine at a speed of 70 miles a day. Finally, they ended this wonderful cycling time with a few beers in a bar.
Shortly after the ride, Richard Burke, the father of an accountant who has worked for 15 years in Rose Company, an emerging electrical appliance distributor, decided to invest in Stella bicycle store opened by Bevil Hogg, a South African cycling enthusiast, in Madison, Wisconsin, and conceived a grand blueprint for establishing a national bicycle chain store.
But the good times didn't last long. Although one of them knew business knowledge and the other knew bicycles, in the autumn of 1975, the store still lost money and closed down.
The two men realized that the bicycle products at that time were too homogeneous. The United States did not have really good bicycles, and the market was completely blank from the middle price to the top market. They had to rely on imported Japanese and European products.
"We should create our own brand to compete for the middle and high-end market dominated by models made in Japan and Italy". Excited, they began to build a new empire on the "ruins".
Fortunately, they were born in a good era. In the 1970s, there was a "bicycle boom" in the American energy crisis. Almost all the most popular American bicycle brands, such as Cannondale, Specialized and Trek, were founded at this time.
Richard Burke persuaded Rose to provide $100000 in seed funding, and Bevil Hogg provided insights into the bicycle industry. On a cold night in 1975, the two people were planning their future with a few beers in an affordable bar. They chose Kestrel (the agile raptor) and Trek (the arduous journey) as the company's name.
Because Trek has a special strength - the spirit of adventure, which is the core value of the company.
In the spring of 1976, in a barn in Waterloo, a town with convenient geographical location in southern Wisconsin, the visionary pair set out to build the highest quality and lightest bicycle in the world that could surpass Europe. The passionate bicycle race has lasted for more than 80 years in Waterloo Town. Trek's new headquarters is built opposite, almost doomed to the inseparable relationship between Trek and the race field.
In 1976, five employees of Trek spent one year handcrafting 904 travel frames, each priced at about $200. Trek's frames are all silver brazed. This process is more expensive and strict than using brass brazing rods, and the product strength is higher.
Every bend and weld of it has a purpose. They not only make bicycles, but also challenge the convention that "all great bicycles must come from Europe". This has established Trek's strict control over quality as always, and is also the reason for its bicycle frame lifetime warranty.
Challenging and lucky, Trek is about to face the worst technology explosion in the 400 year history of the world's bicycles.
From niche to mainstream market
To become a leader, we must invent and innovate.
"Innovation will only happen when people have the courage to ask tough questions and go to places that have never been before." This is the truth that Trek's leaders firmly believe.
In order to constantly challenge the ability limit, Trek constantly collects experts in the field of materials and design and provides them with all resources beyond imagination.
In addition to R&D, Trek also needs distribution channels to contact customers. In 1977, Richard Burke drove a rusty old car to meet the boss of Penn Cycle in Minnesota on a snowy, bleak February. Penn Cycle became the world's first Trek retailer.
Thanks to word-of-mouth communication and sales channels, Trek began to gain a firm foothold in the high-end market.
With Tom, Trek's most successful salesman, following his girlfriend to the western United States, Trek's sales also spread. In 1979, Trek's sales were close to 2 million dollars, and a superstar in the bicycle field was rising.
However, the limited production capacity kept Trek at a standstill. In 1980, Trek built a 2400 square meter new factory site in the suburb of Waterloo. The new automated production facilities and large-scale production space enable Trek to add assembly lines and paint factories, and have a full assembly line for the production of complete bicycles.
In 1981, Trek entered the steel road racing market based on his improved understanding of steel and launched the "Pro" series, including 750 and 950 models. Trek steel bicycles are numbered with three digits in the format of xx0. The first number represents the quality of the steel pipe, and the second number represents the geometry of the bicycle.
In order to improve sales, Trek hired the first group of real sales representatives, gave birth to the customer service foundation, and began to establish its enviable after-sales service system. Trek's sales doubled every year in the early 1980s. Due to the hot market demand, Trek signed a contract with a company in Taiwan, China, to help Trek with some OEM.
In 1983, an exciting mountain sport was emerging on the west coast, and Trek soon targeted this emerging niche market. In 1983, Trek released the first mountain bike 850, which was immediately transported to California to participate in the local bicycle race. With the popularity of mountain biking, Trek took off.
In 1985, Trek released the world's first aluminum alloy road bicycle, Trek 2000, by borrowing technology from the aerospace industry. Using aerospace technology for reference has also become a beacon for Trek's progress. Aluminum has surpassed iron and steel to become the leading edge of technology. Since then, Trek has spent more than a year to improve the manufacturing technology, and finally the aluminum bicycle became a commercial hot spot in the 1980s.
Apply the evolving aluminum technology to the field of mountain bikes, making Trek's mountain bike market invincible. With the support of new warehouses and distribution institutions, together with the constantly improved after-sales system, Trek's sales soared to $16 million in the next year, and it continued to add 7000 square meters of manufacturing space in Waterloo.
But Trek's research and development team did not stop there. They were looking for the possibility of making bicycles lighter and stronger.
In 1986, Trek began to set foot in the field of carbon fiber and launched their first molded carbon fiber frame bicycle, the Trek 5000, which is said to have a mass of only 1.5 kg. Unfortunately, the Trek 5000 encountered some problems and stopped production quickly.
However, the lessons learned from the Trek 5000 have pushed Trek to a peak in the field of carbon fiber that no one can reach several years later.
In the mid-1980s, Richard Burke began to find new ways to make money for Trek. Bevil Hogg and his differences were growing, and finally Bevil Hogg left Trek.
In 1988, Trek carried out a large number of income increasing methods, and launched a series of derivatives such as Matrix helmet, New Balance shoes and Trek Wear clothing. In order to obtain greater profits, Trek decided to launch the Jazz low-end brand in 1989, but the market was completely indifferent to Trek's low-end cars. Three years later, the Jazz brand disappeared.
Fortunately, Trek continues to attract attention due to its leading technology. In 1989, Trek's aluminum mountain bike had a shorter 16.9 inch bracket, and new forged head tubes, forged drop wires, tapered brackets, and investment cast lugs reduced the weight of the frame to 4.5 pounds. Their award-winning technology, Iso Speed, absorbs shocks on bumpy paths and makes riding more stable.
By 1990, mountain bikes accounted for nearly half of the bicycles sold in the United States, and Trek accounted for a large share of them, and began to produce the Trek baby bike series that children aspired to. Trek's sales increased from 45000 in 1984 to 350000 in 1990, and Trek began to stabilize the mainstream bicycle market.
But Trek did not stop looking for new materials to lighten the bike's frame.
At that time, the US government cut the funds for the defense industry, forcing the defense sector to seek cooperation with foreign countries. In 1990, Bob Read, the first technical director of Trek, met with Radius, a carbon fiber forming company, at the Aerospace Industry Exhibition in Salt Lake City, Utah, and changed Trek's technology forever.
Because of his careful thinking and extraordinary vision, Read, who was recruited by the founder, held a carbon fiber tennis racket and announced: "This is the future of bicycles." He imagined the lightest and strongest bicycle in the world.
In purchasing other people's carbon fiber raw materials and bearing the development cost of the carbon lug forming process of $1 million, Read chose the latter without hesitation. He knows that direct control of new technology is crucial to Trek's success. The 21st century is an era of knowledge economy, the actual function of products and the brand competition of science and technology.
When Trek released the first OCLV (abbreviation of Optimal Compaction Low Void) carbon fiber framework in 1992, Read's vision became a reality. Trek has the lightest road bicycle frame in the world. The Trek 5500 frame weighs only 2.44 pounds (1.11 kg).
The 5500 is the lightest frame in the world. It defines a new standard for bicycle performance in the United States and has changed the history of the Tour de France ever since. A ticket of Italian workshop steel frame was eliminated in the carbon age.
In 1993, Trek added OCLV all carbon bicycles to seven different bicycle families. The world's lightest mass production mountain bike frames OCLV 9800 and 9900 (weighing 2.84 pounds and 1.29 kilograms) came out, and the pending mountain bike market trend was determined from then on.
Compared with other materials, the advantage of carbon fiber is not only that it can greatly reduce the vehicle weight, but also that it can be made into any shape with a mold. In order to make room for OCLV manufacturing facilities, Trek once again expanded its Waterloo headquarters to a total area of 140000 square feet (13000 square meters).
Two years later, a car lost control on an icy road in Wisconsin, taking the life of Read, leaving the company endless regret. However, Trek took advantage of carbon fiber and rode the wave of mountain bikes forward rapidly. By 1996, mountain bikes accounted for 80% of the company's product line.
In the 1990s, Trek acquired many famous bicycle brands, including Gary Fisher, Bontramer and LeMond bicycles, and constantly strengthened its position as the king.
Leading technology
Trek, who has gained the first mover advantage, has invested a lot of money in research and design, hired the largest engineer team in the business, and further consolidated its technical advantages.
As the bicycle brand with the highest scientific and technological content in the world, it has accumulated 9 rocket experts, 11 composite material scientists, and more than 180 detection experts and R&D and design teams. Trek's carbon fiber product standards exceed 121 industry standards. It is the most sophisticated carbon fiber product of mankind, surpassing American spacecraft, and has 52 patents in total. It is the only company using US strategic carbon fiber.
In order to reach the peak in technology, Trek insists on racing, an expensive category full of opportunities for self-improvement. The professional team named by Trek, whether it is the Tour de France, the Tour de Italy or the Tour de Lakeside, has set a new standard for sports bicycles after passing the test of international top events. The seven Tour de France champions of the Post Office Team and Armstrong shine brilliantly, helping the brand and offline sales.
Having his own team means that Trek can get in touch with the riders at the peak of the race and the most prestigious events, push cycling to the limit, and thus feed back the design. It is said that Trek tests on the field and achieves quality.
In 1998, in order to continue to lead the material process and shock absorption technology, Trek established the Top Concept Group (ACG) to study new material process and shock absorption technology, so as to "march towards the Tour de France". After years of technical precipitation, Armstrong and the U.S. Postal Team sponsored by Trek almost dominated the Tour de France and won gold medals in Olympic Games and other events for many times.
Trek applied technology improvement to every detail. The steam coating system of Trek paint spraying robot can make the final weight of paint and surface treatment average 5 grams, which not only saves raw materials, but also further reduces the weight of the car body. Complex painting work is done by hand. Each booth has downward airflow, which can prevent tiny color drops from polluting other parts of the booth.
Trek's most proud quality assurance also comes from the blessing of technology. Trek has its own testing facilities, and even has developed a giant treadmill for mountain simulation, so that every part of the bike has been subjected to cruel pressure and pressure plans. The testing facilities are also designed to break through possible limits and see what can be done better.
Road cars, mountain bikes, women's cars, children's cars, racing cars, recreational vehicles, power cars, private customized cars... Trek is developing while expanding its territory through acquisition, improving its product structure, and also looking for new possibilities for the company.
With the expansion of the company, Trek's factory continues to expand, and its dealers are also gradually increasing. Trek has the largest dealer network in the world, and 5000 retailers in more than 90 countries can buy its products. Trek has adopted the digital solution of eSPC to conduct efficient quality management for its suppliers worldwide.
Trek also runs Trek University: training facilities for retailers and mechanics, including maintenance, product training, basic store management skills and bicycle accessories. Therefore, Trek's after-sales service is famous. The after-sales service of parts more than 20 years ago can also help you find them. They provide a unique 30 day guarantee. If you don't love your bike in the first month, the company will take back the original price.
Trek is not a transportation tool, but a playmate. Every Trek of Armstrong is worth more than 200000 dollars, and George W. Bush's Trek has reached 5000 dollars, and it is its technology premium that supports the high price. Burke said that Trek's goal is to make high-quality products, not just to make money for shareholders, so Trek insisted on not listing, and today the company is still a family business.
From scratch, Trek showed the world the relationship between bicycles and the United States, and indeed broke the status of high-end bicycles in Europe. Although many people know that Trek's products are just OEM and American assembly, its brand appeal and strict management of suppliers still make many people willing to pay product premiums.
China, as a major cycling country in the world, except Giant in Taiwan, China, the permanent and Phoenix bicycles that once swept the country did not take the lead in the world bicycle field. This is a pity and an opportunity. It is hoped that in the future, more Chinese enterprises, like Trek, will face difficulties and reach the peak of bicycle manufacturing in China.
