Trek Bicycle has marked its 50th anniversary with three limited-edition Madone Gen 8 models, available exclusively through a eight-week pre-order window that closes on April 13.
The Lidl-Trek WorldTour teams will race the flagship model at the 2026 Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes, continuing Trek's tradition of using custom paint schemes that add a dramatic flourish to the peloton.
The collection, announced February 12, comprises two top-tier ICON builds and one lower-priced Replica. Both ICON models, The First 50 and No. 76, are built on the Madone SLR 9 AXS with Trek's 900 Series OCLV carbon frameset and SRAM Red AXS groupsets, priced at $15,999.99 each. That represents a $2,500 premium over the standard Madone SLR 9 AXS Gen 8, which retails at $13,499.99.
The First 50 ICON features a visual timeline of company milestones across the frame, with numbered chainstays and limited-edition Aeolus RSL wheels. The No. 76 ICON uses heritage blue paint inspired by Trek's original hand-brazed touring bikes, brass-style head tube graphics and the company's 1976 block-letter logo.
The First 50 Replica brings the same visual timeline artwork to the mid-range Madone SL 7, built with 500 Series OCLV carbon and a Shimano Ultegra Di2 groupset at $6,599.99. It is the lowest-priced of the three anniversary models.
"There are surprises everywhere on the frame," said Micah Moran, Trek's art director and lead designer on the project. "Each graphic element represents something real that shaped Trek and shaped cycling. It's a bike you can ride, and a story you can explore."
Trek will not produce any of the anniversary models after the pre-order window closes, the company said. Consumer deliveries are scheduled from June 2026. The First 50 ICON will then appear at the Tour de France in July on bikes that can no longer be ordered.
Beyond the bikes, Trek is releasing limited-edition apparel, water bottles and a coffee table book decoding the frame iconography, due in June. A 50th-anniversary edition of the Trek 100 charity ride will take place at the company's Waterloo, Wisconsin headquarters on June 20.
Trek was founded in 1976 in a Wisconsin barn by Dick Burke and Bevil Hogg, starting with hand-brazed steel touring frames built to compete with European manufacturers.
Cover image credit: Trek Bikes
