Recently, a reporter visited TREK’s global headquarters in Waterloo, Wisconsin, bringing us some lesser-known glimpses from behind the gates—including details about their legendary Race Shop and information on the 29er downhill bike prototypes from their Advanced Concept Group.
Sharple’s Swiss cheese–designed frame
This VRX prototype was once used by Scott Sharples, a well-known figure in RaceBrain and columnist for our “Sharp As A Marble” series. The bike features a simple single-pivot swingarm paired with an early RockShox coil suspension. This retired old beast certainly had an interesting career, but it still leaves people curious—were the “speed holes” in the frame added after it was built, or were they part of the original design? The bike never achieved any major victories, and it was surprisingly heavy to assemble.