Trek's long-running Project One custom program allows customers to choose from a wide variety of paint schemes, colors and build kits, but only through the online portal, unless you happen to be located near the company's headquarters in Waterloo, Wisconsin. That's set to change in 2013 with the launch of the Project One Mobile Experience – a massive rolling showcase that will provide potential customers with the chance to see, touch and feel the possibilities firsthand.
Housed in an enormous custom trailer and towed by a similarly gargantuan Freightliner truck, the entire side of the Project One Mobile Experience opens via hydraulic cylinders to reveal an inviting showroom. Visitors are first greeted with three frames-in-white to introduce the starting points – the Madone 7-Series, the Domane 6-Series and the Speed Concept.
Multiple stations allow riders to experiment with Project One's capabilities
Afterward, they can see nearly three dozen paint scheme and color combinations firsthand along with a few build kit options, and then finalize their selections and place their orders at the on-board computer workstations.
Trek road brand manager Michael Mayer says the Project One Mobile Experience is scheduled to visit 250 dealers and several key events in North America this year alone and the program will likely expand into Europe next year with a second rig (albeit on a smaller scale).
Mayer wouldn't commit to how the Project One program itself might evolve moving forward but given its success – not to mention the obvious resources Trek has dedicated to it here – but we can't help but wonder if an expansion into mountain bikes or other segments might come next. Stay tuned.
The blank canvasses. Trek offers custom paint on frames plus matching stickers for wheels