When the COVID-19 Pandemic hit we had no idea how it would affect our stores and customers.  We believe that bicycling is a healthy physical and mental activity, that doubles as a means of transportation. To that end we followed the CDC and local guidelines, limited the number of people in our stores, setup a disinfectant station, and did our best to serve our customers.
 
What we didn’t expect was an explosion of new sales with families flocking to cycling during this pandemic.
 
With school, gyms, pools and beach closures residents of South Florida instinctively turned to bicycling.  Fresh air, sun, and yes even social distancing!  I’d like to share a few inspiring stories of how our customers turned to bicycling to help cope with the Pandemic...
 
IronMom Training at Home:   Cailin is an Ironman Triathlete who lives in Naples and is the mother of three girls.  With school closures Cailin needed a way to stay at home with her kids and still workout.  The solution was a Cycleops M2 “smart trainer”.  By mounting her bike on this interactive trainer she can now virtually ride all over the world and even join virtual races with other cyclists and keep an eye on her girls.
 
Photographer Expands his Riding with an eBike:  Bill is a 71 year young photographer who had given up mountain biking until his purchase of a Trek Powerfly eBike.  The pedal assist electric motor helped him ride the trails again.  He is enjoying his new bike and reported “It feels like I am 20 years younger.  A true fountain of youth which I needed during this time of self-isolation.  Attached are a few shots with a gator and my magic bike!”
 
A Resurgence in Family Cycling:  It is really great to see whole families cycling together.  While cycling through the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge we met a family of 5 riding together on new Townie beach cruisers.  I explained I was Trek Florida’s Marketing Manager and asked if I could take their picture for our FaceBook page.  They agreed and told me they just bought the bikes from our Estero Store.  Yesterday in our Naples store we helped outfit a family of 6 with new bikes, and also twin brothers Max and Noah.
 
A Bike & Trainer Replaces a Diabetic’s Gym Routine:  Debbie and Heinz are 69 and 74 and live in Pelican Marsh in Naples.  With the gyms being closed they needed a way to exercise safely.  Heinz is a diabetic and stationary cycling is an essential part of his fitness routine.  Sue Fleming our Naples Store Manager came up with a solution.  She recommended a Townie 7 EQ in a step through frame to make it easy to mount and ride, and a Cycleops Trainer to convert the bike to an stationary exercise bike.  Debbie also rides the bike in her community and has earned the nick name “Mary Poppins” when she visits her friends on the bright yellow bike.  
 
The government (CISA) recently recognizes the importance of bicycles and has deemed bike shops and service an essential critical workforce.  And Florida's "Safer at Home Executive Order" allows cycling as an essential activity.  We are here to help with all of your cycling needs.  Don't hesitate to stop by or call our stores, visit our website, or email if we can be of assistance.
 
In these uncertain times cycling remains healthy, fundamental and timeless.

Wishing you health and safety,
 
Greg Pelican and the Trek Bicycle Stores of Florida Team

Having the proper gearing to match both your ability, the type of bike and where you ride it, is one of the most important factors of your bike setup.

For example if your gearing is too high (hard) and you have to do a lot of climbing, will force you to stand or use too low of a RPM.

Conversely if your gearing is too low or easy you will spin out and not be able to put out maximum wattage which will limit your performance.

This short video focuses on having the optimum chain ring size and also touches on the advantage of Rotor Oval Rings.

Anyone of our 9 stores can help you get the right gearing setup on your bike!  Don't hesitate to email if you have any questions or if your need help to determine the optimize chainrings for your riding.

Enjoy the video!

As Florida cyclists we are all very familiar with heat, sweat and humidity. But do you know what effect this can have on your bike?

Sweat and humidity leads to corrosion. And this can cause rust which will eventually lead to breakage or failure. This can not only rob your performance but can also cause an accident.

The trouble is that often you can't even see the problem unless the parts are inspected (which may require removing them). Here are two good examples of corrosion problems I ran into in our Naples store.

The picture on the left is under the aero-pad of an aerobar. The bolts are so corroded they are about to break, and can't be removed without destroying them further. If this cyclist was riding in the aero position and the bolt gave way he would have likely crashed.  Triathlon bikes have the added problem of a sports drink spilling there.

The picture on the right is of a headset bearing that is corroded and affecting the steering of the bike. This bearing is not dissimilar to a bottom bracket bearing. Imagine how much extra drag (cost in wattage) a corroded bottom bracket bearing causes!

Shift and brake cables also can rust and corrode which effects the shifting and breaking properties.

The bottom line is that for safety and optimum performance, any Florida cyclist should have your bolts and bearings inspected by a pro mechanic every 6 months.

Be safe out there, I hope to see you on the road!

Greg

Trek Bicycle Stores of Florida is a proud sponsor of the Segafredo-Trek Triathlon Team.  The team which is made up of athletes of all ages and abilities had a great season!  
This short 2019 highlight video showcases the passion and fun that the team embodies!

If you live in South Florida and want to join and race with the club,  ask to join our FaceBook User Group to learn more... https://www.facebook.com/groups/TrekTriFlorida/

Competing in an Ironman, riding a century or running a 100 miles is hard enough!
​
One of our customers, Charlie Catalano has done all of the above and has the added challenge of having Type 1 Diabetes.

Check out the inspirational video!

​Trek’s 2020 Domane has only been for sale since July 25th, but already it’s getting rave industry and customer reviews.   Bicycle Magazine said the new Domane is "one of the best road bikes you can buy now."

I hope this blog post captures what the all the buzz is about!
 
Just in case you missed this… there have been a few major trends and technologies have been converging over the past 5 years. 

• Gravel
• Aero
• Disc Brakes
• Wider Tires
• Comfort
• Design Feature Integration
• Electronic Shifting

Trek not only embraces these technologies, if anything their R&D has driven new technology forward and made it mainstream for cyclists.
 
Trek encapsulated all of the hot bike technologies into it's new Domane design.   The Domane has been Trek’s best-selling road bike so it had the daunting task of pushing the envelope but not alienating it’s fans.
 
If anything the end result is MORE DOMANE than ever.  Even plusher, more stable ride.  More versatility and more comfort.  The new disc brake only Domane accepts tires up to a massive 38mm!  With the right tires this makes it suitable for gravel adventures and Florida Levee riding!
 
It’s faster too!  The new frame not only looks better, picking up Madone design cues, it is more aero  with cleanly routed internal cables.  
 
There is a wide price range and spec starting with the $2399 SL4 to a totally tricked out custom Project One!  The SL frame is built with 500 Series carbon fiber.  The SLR frame upgrades to a lighter 700 series carbon fiber and has adjustable rear suspension.  Check out the wide range 12 speed, electronic shifting Sram AXS Force or Red configurations!  Or let us help you spec a custom Project One.
 
And on the subject of spec, I’d recommend getting tires and wheels optimized for most of the riding you plan to do.  If for example you do high speed Florida group rides, a 25 or 28mm tire with a Bontrager XXX Aeolus 6 is the hot setup.  Trek does spec some models with it’s super wide rim Pro3V wheelset and 32mm tires.  This wheelset is great if Levee riding is your gig, but won’t even accept a 25mm tire as it’s too narrow. 
 
The new frame design has a seat mast (similar to the Madone SLR) and has two seat post size options so a pre-bike purchase fitting is highly recommend.  We include a bike fitting at no charge with a bike purchase.

Our knowledgeable staff is here to help you find the perfect bike!  For more info or to schedule a bike fitting for a new bike, email gpelican@trekbikesflorida.com
 
Check out the new Domane you won’t be disappointed!  

​Trek’s exotic Madone SLR, the hot bike in the aero road sector, just got faster! 

The Madone SLR’s custom aerodynamic handlebar and stem offers lower drag and faster speed, but until now could not be used with a clip on aerobar.

Trek announced just announced and all new Madone configuration called the Madone SLR Disc Speed that integrates the aero road handlebar with the cleanly designed and proven Mono-Bar from Trek’s Speed Concept Triathlon bike.

The Madone Speed offers the ideal solution for anyone who wants to go even faster on a road bike, and for triathletes who want to train and race on one great bike! 

The aerobar is easily removable with just two bolts. This makes the Madone Speed an ideal solution for cyclists who compete in both mass start bike events (where aerobars are illegal) and non-draft legal triathlons where aerobars are the norm.

Existing Madone SLR owners will be able to upgrade their bikes to accept the Speed Concept Mono-Bar. And this option is available as an upgrade for future Madone SLR customers.  Contact us for more information or to schedule this upgrade.

Editorial by Greg Pelican
 
There was a period when racing a “state of the art” bike could be a scary experience because of the bike design!  

It’s interesting to look back at how much racing bikes have evolved and improved over the past 20 years.
 
During this period I was a competitive masters racer and worked in the bike industry, owning Bethel Cycle in New England and currently working for Trek Florida as our Marketing Manager.   I’ve been lucky to test, race and sell the best bikes in the world from Cannondale, Cervelo, Guru, Serotta, Seven, Look, Colnago, Pinarello and Trek.

Over the years some bikes stand out both good and bad.
 
There was a whole period from about 2000  to around 2012 when most of the brands sought to increase the stiffness or decrease weight resulting in a  bike that was either too harsh riding or too flexible descending.  It took a lot of nerve and skill to race these bikes at the limit.
 
I can remember descending on a Look carbon bike that had a fork with a  1 inch carbon steerer tube.  It was fine climbing but downright dangerous descending.  The bike was so flexible it couldn't hold a line cornering and was prone to high speed wobbles.  The contrast to this was Cannondale.  Owning a shop in their hometown of Bethel Connecticut,  I was intimately familiar with their oversized aluminum bikes.  Light, tough and great for sprinting but if the road was rough your wheels bounced off the ground.  
 
Back then the big brands put more of a priority to hyping stats such as the lightest weight or stiffness to weight ratio then they did to ride quality.  It is no wonder why custom brands like Serotta, and Seven flourished and were sought after.  The forgiving yet strong properties of steel or titanium matched with great design produced awesome riding bikes.
 
It’s fair to say that during the first decade of the 21 century bike manufacturers were learning how to work with carbon fiber.  The art was not totally refined and mistakes were made.  Several carbon fiber fork companies had design failures and didn’t survive.  I had a teammate who got badly injured when his carbon fork snapped.
 
All during this period Trek developed and refined the first mainstream full carbon bike, the  OCLV, which offered a nice balanced ride.  Early on Trek understood the need for oversized headset bearings and an oversized tapered steering tube for their carbon frames and forks.  Trek took a more conservative approach, focused on ride quality and as a side note won a lot of big races.
 
Fast forward to the current day… cycling research and technology has advanced nicely.  It is now common knowledge that good brakes allow you to race faster, wider rims – tires and lower air pressure help you corner faster and do not increase rolling resistance, and the right amount of suspension keeps your wheels safely planted on the ground.  All of these advances make you faster, but also have the really nice side benefit of making the bike more comfortable and easier to ride fast!
 
Trek’s aero Madone is now in it’s second generation.  Trek did an awesome job refining the already industry benchmark aero bike.  Trek’s excellent white paper explains their research and design objectives for the Madone SLR.

The new Madone SLR is the epitome of the evolution of the road racing bike!  Not only is it the fastest aero road bike, it is smooth and stable in all conditions.  Trek incorporated the following features into the design.

• Trek Iso Speed Rider Tunable Suspension
• Disc or Caliper Brake Options
• Clearance for 28mm tires
• Integrated light, sensor and speedometer mounts.
• Flexible aero front end setup, separate stem and bar.

 
In conclusion, the Madone SLR is like a well-balanced knife, very sharp but easy to control.  What blows me away is how easy and fun it is to ride fast! The Madone SLR takes the lead in ride quality and refinement of the current generation of racing road bikes.  And is light years ahead of the first generation carbon fiber bikes.

If you are riding a road bike more than 5 years old I highly recommend testing a Madone SLR and see for yourself!

Don't get me wrong, we are all about getting people riding bikes!  Peloton has done a great job marketing and getting people riding indoors on their spin bike.  But we would like to propose another option...

Did you know you can buy a real carbon fiber road bike, plus a smart trainer for less than the cost of a peloton?

Did you know Peloton's spin bike is "dumb" compared to a "smart trainer" like a Cycleops M2 or H2? 

Check out the following video for a full feature and cost comparison. 

Please share with anyone who is considering buying a peloton.  Why not be able to ride inside and out!  Click on the "Drop the Peloton Promotion" button if you want to order or learn more.