Loft: Hans, it’s great to have you on the call. We really appreciate you taking the time today. How do you, as a leader in this industry, bring innovation to market? Life cycles of bikes can be very long, so from a design perspective, where do you feel design can have the biggest impact on driving better solutions for specific verticals? Bikes span sport, lifestyle, technology, and, for some people, transportation. There’s a wide variety of use cases. Do you think more in silos, like racing versus lifestyle versus mobility, or are general-purpose bikes also part of the strategy? The bike sector has also been in a bit of a funk over the past few years. First, due to COVID and the resulting overproduction. At first, people couldn’t get bikes; then warehouses were overflowing, but sales didn’t remain at pandemic levels. Whenever there’s a supply chain challenge, innovation tends to stall: new bikes may be ready, but getting them into the pipeline isn’t always easy.

‍

“Innovation is never easy! The best insights often come from observing riders, watching trends.”

‍

Hans Eckholm: Innovation is never easy! The best insights often come from observing riders, watching trends, and then adapting our next products to meet these emerging needs. Categories like racing are definitely some fenced-off categories, like race bikes that must comply with UCI rules or downhill mountain bikes; they’re very specific tools for specific purposes. But the reality is, many bikes get ridden in conditions we don’t plan for. That’s where the excitement in design comes in. For example, someone might ride a road bike on a gravel path, which creates a need for a gravel bike, or a mountain biker might go bike camping, creating an opportunity for a bike designed for that.

‍

Loft: Traditionally, bikes have been pretty low-tech. If you think about the basic form of transportation. Bike categories have evolved very much from the bottom up. Users started modifying bikes for different use cases. But the bike companies are usually fast to adapt to these trends and push the innovation to the next level.

‍

“The biggest opportunities often come from learning from riders, but innovations in technology and materials come from us”

Hans Eckholm: The biggest opportunities often come from learning from riders, but innovations in technology and materials come from us. For example, developing new motor systems comes from industry innovation, but the need for something like a throttle comes from riders. We’re not forcing it. It’s something they want, and we respond to that. This is how new categories are being created.

‍

Loft: Which kind of covers a little bit of my question that I wanted to bring up. There’s a gap between walking and driving cars, and as cars take up more space, communities, especially in Europe, are leveraging micromobility. Bikes help bridge that gap for short trips, commuting, or errands. There’s also a societal aspect, like safety systems. Roads are designed for cars, and some people are afraid to ride. Communities need to develop bike infrastructure, like bike paths. How do you see this evolution from a bike manufacturer’s perspective?

‍

Hans Eckholm: It has to be approached from multiple angles. One is working with communities—Trek, for instance, does lobbying, works with governments to build trails, implement rideshare programs, etc. We also address safety through technology, like our Car Back radar system that alerts cyclists of approaching vehicles. It really has to be a combination of infrastructure and product solutions. The U.S. is behind many European cities, but city density is increasing, and cars aren’t always the best solution. Often, it’s faster and cheaper to go by bike for short trips, like to the grocery store.

‍

Loft: And better for you too.

‍

“Bikes encourage social interaction and reduce noise, making neighborhoods more enjoyable.”

Hans Eckholm: Yes, better for health, the environment, and the community. Bikes encourage social interaction and reduce noise, making neighborhoods more enjoyable.

Loft: Interesting point; I hadn’t thought about the social aspect. You’re more likely to talk to someone on a bike than in a car.

“On a bike, you’re vulnerable, and there’s camaraderie with other riders”

‍

Hans Eckholm: Exactly. In a car, you’re in your “armored box,” often feeling like the king of the road. On a bike, you’re vulnerable, and there’s camaraderie with other riders, a sense of being part of the same school of fish, versus a car’s competitive mindset.

‍

Loft: I wanted to talk about a pretty new category of bikes—gravel bikes. They seem to have emerged as mountain bikes became more full-suspension and specialized, leaving a gap for simpler, versatile bikes. Now we see racing and community events. How do you see ultra-elite versus community racing shaping the industry?

‍

Hans Eckholm: Gravel is a cool category. People on gravel roads traditionally rode their road bikes on gravel, but traffic safety concerns have pushed more riders onto gravel. That drives demand for larger tires, robust frames, and comfort features. So the trend started with more people seeking low-traffic routes. Over time, the category has also begun to organize races. While elite road races focus on competition and performance, gravel racing has a broader appeal. Many riders participate not just to compete but to challenge themselves and enjoy the experience, a spirit that mountain biking also shares.

‍

Loft: It’s more about motivation and participation than winning.

‍

Hans Eckholm: Yes, and it’s fun - you can even have a beer during a gravel race, which you definitely can’t do in the Tour de France.

Loft: Any design cues from that? Like cup holders for beers?

‍

Hans Eckholm: Absolutely. We include practical features like storage for longer trips, robust components for dirt and vibration, and fun graphics and colors. Gravel bikes are designed for performance but also enjoyment. Riders are smiling while pushing themselves.

Loft: It’s also one of the fastest-growing bike categories.

‍

Hans Eckholm: Yes, it’s a blast.

‍

Loft: Designers create vision, CMF, and colorways, but also work with a fragmented supply chain; different companies make brakes, derailleurs, and saddles. Integrating all these, especially with tech like Bluetooth, is challenging. Do you see a Tesla-like model emerging, something like a vertically integrated, software-driven bike, or are legacy supply chains a bottleneck?

‍

“Companies like Tesla will push the industry to rethink integration. Balancing high-tech, feature-rich bikes with simpler mechanical bikes is also key”

‍

Hans Eckholm: Compatibility is challenging with so many technologies. There are advantages to vertical integration; you can control everything, but most bike companies, including Trek, are somewhere in between. We try to have one battery that powers everything, but it requires communication, wiring, and adapters. Companies like Tesla will push the industry to rethink integration. Balancing high-tech, feature-rich bikes with simpler mechanical bikes is also key.

‍

Loft: Fragmentation is everywhere. It’s interesting, because hardware and software integration is always a challenge.

‍

“With hardware, you ship when it’s finished; with software, you’re always iterating. Deciding when to launch is a challenge.”

‍

Hans Eckholm: It depends on your team. Traditional bike companies are hiring software engineers. There’s a back-and-forth between hardware expertise and software development. Hardware designers often forget software is never done. With hardware, you ship when it’s finished; with software, you’re always iterating. Deciding when to launch is a challenge.

‍

Loft: Ship too early and users reject it, ship too late and you never launch. Even hardware evolves once it ships, but implementing changes is harder. Let’s shift to design leadership. You run a global organization, and the bike market is fragmented. How do you balance global inspiration with local execution and keep your design team aligned and energized?

‍

Hans Eckholm: We have a process called “Ride the Ride Our Riders Ride”—travel, gain empathy, and uncover insights firsthand. Engineers, designers, product managers, and sometimes marketing join these experiences. This alignment helps us translate insights into a product plan.

‍

Loft: How do you manage such a large design team? Does everyone own their vertical, or is there overlap?

‍

“We’re small and agile enough to drive innovation across our product portfolio, yet large enough to respond effectively to a changing market.”

‍

Hans Eckholm: Trek organizes by category: road, mountain, gravel, etc. Teams have ownership, but overlaps or gaps occur. Gravel, for example, could be a beefed-up road bike or a toned-down mountain bike. Solutions are tested and sometimes produced to see how they perform. As design director, I focus on seeing the big picture, corralling the chaos, and maintaining brand language. We’re small and agile enough to drive innovation across our product portfolio, yet large enough to respond effectively to a changing market.

‍

Loft: Thank you, Hans. It was incredibly inspiring to lead this conversation with you. We look forward to the many innovations your team will bring to the world of bikes, micromobility, and transportation. This was truly helpful.

‍