Trek Émonda 2018

[jino]

looking good

[TonyM]

I was also thinking about a 2018 Trek Émonda disc in a nice color. The project one is a very good option but unfortunately quite expensive at the end just to have a nice color.

[Dagger9903]

The nice thing about P1 (at least for some of the P1 options) is that the frame is made in the USA. Something about being more hand-crafted and produced on-shore is very appealing. Not quite back country artisan in a small Tuscany village, but you get my drift.

[TobinHatesYou]

I think the reality is you'll be hard-pressed to notice a difference between an Emonda laid up by a little old white lady from Wisconsin vs a Taiwanese girl in a Quest Composites factory. If you're talking about fair business practices and wages, I could see the point, though Taiwan isn't China and they don't have the same poverty issues. They're more like Japan in the sense that nobody wants to work in labor. Seems like you were angling toward the artisanal/QC merits of framebuilding places of origin though.

[Dagger9903]

Agree on the 'notice a difference' part, I'm sure both come out as 'perfect' frames. I think it's more of an emotion component.

I'd LIKE to think that folks in Waterloo have more passion about what they do and see their job more as a craft. I'm sure that's influenced by Trek's marketing and entire P1 strategy, but it also generally adds up when you think about opportunity and the ability for Trek to be selective in who they hire for their US build operations.

I bike because I love it. Nobody pays me for it and I'm not even that good at it. Given that, it's comforting / value-add to have conviction that the person(s) that built my frame also loved what they do. This combined with the R&D benefits of a huge company like Trek, and you start to get a good dynamic of tech + craftsmanship.

I don't doubt that you can find some passionate folks in off-shore factories as well, but if you're playing the probabilities, I'm guess it's lower.

I think the reality is you'll be hard-pressed to notice a difference between an Emonda laid up by a little old white lady from Wisconsin vs a Taiwanese girl in a Quest Composites factory. If you're talking about fair business practices and wages, I could see the point, though Taiwan isn't China and they don't have the same poverty issues. They're more like Japan in the sense that nobody wants to work in labor. Seems like you were angling toward the artisanal/QC merits of framebuilding places of origin though.

[Calnago]

I think it's more about a much smaller number of frames that are under closer scrutiny as far as quality control goes. Not so sure about the "passion" part in either location. And to make a frame as light as some of these SLR Emondas these days, requires a very intricate layup schedule I'm sure. Best to have close eyes on that sort of thing and they can probably do that better in Wisconsin than overseas.

[TobinHatesYou]

Hmm it looks like Quest is Taiwan owned, but the factories are in China, so my mistake.

One more turn as devil's advocate. Given the production scale differences, a Chinese factory making 400-500 (wild guess) carbon frames a day might identify problems in with tooling/hardware faster than the Waterloo factory which produces 25-30 frames a day.

Not gunna lie, I think it's pretty damn cool that my frame will be (has been) laid up, bonded and painted in Waterloo. It'll be a talking point with people I meet out on the road for sure.

[FIJIGabe]

The nice thing about P1 (at least for some of the P1 options) is that the frame is made in the USA. Something about being more hand-crafted and produced on-shore is very appealing. Not quite back country artisan in a small Tuscany village, but you get my drift.

SLR Emondas are made in the US, regardless of whether they're P1 or not (H1 & H2 frames). 700 series carbon is only available for manufacturing in the US. 600 and lower series carbon is used overseas, so all Domane's, Speed Concepts and Boone's are made overseas, along with H2 Madones (H1's are made in the US).

Painting may take place in the US for P1 bikes, however.

[spartan]

2018 emonda slr are NOT made in the USA. trek dropped the price to 3000 due to the cheaper manufacturing in china. btw the defense grade 700 carbon is complete BS. canyon produce a 650gm frame made in asia.

[kgt]

I may be wrong but it seems that not even the most expensive Trek frames are made in the US any more.

[WinterRider]

I am going to call Trek this morning and see for sure WHERE the frame is made. Live in Wisconsin... interested myself. I ride no carbon but referenced talking point works for me too.

Email chat:

Stephen
"Frame is designed in the US and manufactured overseas"

Apparently the frame rides the boat.

[Calnago]

That's interesting... I'd be interested in seeing what their "Made in ______" stickers on the frame say now. Of if they just say "Designed in Wisconsin". I know my Emonda SL had the "Designed in Wicsonsin" graphic on the seat stays but the sticker actually said "Made in Taiwan" so no misrepresentation there or anything. But they kind of made a big deal of the manufacturing of the SLR's being done in the US, so the change is noteworthy.

[TobinHatesYou]

Obviously P1s are still made in the US. I wonder if the Race Shop Limited versions are too since the demand is so low for H1 geometry. My local shop said they've had maybe three customers request H1 bikes through P1 in years.

[darnellrm]

"Obviously P1s are still made in the US"

How did you reach that conclusion? They could easily be made elsewhere and painted & assembled in USA

[FIJIGabe]

2018 emonda slr are NOT made in the USA. trek dropped the price to 3000 due to the cheaper manufacturing in china. btw the defense grade 700 carbon is complete BS. canyon produce a 650gm frame made in asia.

Just confirmed with the shop. H1 frames (700 series carbon) are still Made in the USA. Starting in 2018, H2 frames (600 series carbon), will be made overseas. Last generation H2 frames were also 700 series carbon.

BTW, P1 frames of lower-grade carbon may be finished in the US (paint-wise), but the manufacturing of the frame is overseas, with blanks shipped to Waterloo for painting.