Wildly impractical, tantalisingly rare and defiantly weird.
These qualities make the long-discontinued Trek District Carbon one of my dream bikes, and I would argue the brand’s coolest bike ever.
The District Carbon was an ultra-premium, all-carbon, dedicated singlespeed belt-drive bike that absolutely nobody needed – and few could afford at £2,800. That was just £100 less than the broadly equivalent Ultegra-equipped Madone 5.9 of the time .
Even with today’s inflated prices , £2,800 is still an irrational price for a nominally simple singlespeed bike (let alone in 2009), but that was hardly the point.
While I need another daft fixie like a hole in the head, my eBay saved search will forever prowl classified listings waiting for the day I have a go-fast hole in my heart (and a suitably fat wallet). A short history of the District Carbon – the bike Trek didn’t need to build
The original Trek District was a dedicated singlespeed commuter.
Constructed from beefy alloy tubes and finished in a honkin’ grey and orange colour scheme, the bike was designed for day-to-day urban abuse.But based on a circa-2010 Madone , the District Carbon was an altogether different beast.At the time, the Madone was Trek’s all-rounder race bike (which bears more than a passing resemblance to the modern-day Emonda ).I would love to know what led Trek to think this would make a good basis for a singlespeed hack, but the cycling world is all the richer for this seemingly irrational whim.The District Carbon was available in two builds.The […]
Continue reading the original article at: www.bikeradar.com