For the low price of only TWENTY TWO THOUSAND AUSTRALIAN DOLLARS (that’s USD $16k) you can be the proud owner of what is arguably the ugliest bike that Trek has ever produced. Introducing the Trek 50th Anniversary ICON Edition Madone SLR 9 AXS Gen 8.

Designer: What colour palette would you like?
Trek: All of them.

It certainly stands out, I’ll give it that! Expect to see this paint scheme on the bikes ridden by Lidl-Trek at the Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes later this year. Thankfully the “First 50 ICON” is limited to a public run of only 50 bikes (although a slightly cheaper replica is available) so you’ll hopefully never have to burn your retinas seeing on one in real life.

To be fair to Trek, each of the little square logo designs that are haphazardly stuck all over the frame represent a part of the company’s history. From it’s founding partners, to the introduction of OCLV carbon, to the People For Bikes program. There’s even a subtle nod to the Lance Armstrong days, something that is mostly swept under the rug by Trek these days.

If you ask me (which of course, you did not) Trek frame and paint scheme aesthetics peaked some time in the early 2000’s with the truly iconic US POSTAL team bike designs on their 5200/5500 series of road bikes. 😉