I’m pretty sure that I am not the average athlete that Trek creates their amazing customized bicycles for. I use my bike to have fun, to take me to and from work and in most recent plans, I am using it to severely reduce my carbon footprint during my Big Green Road Trip scheduled for this summer.
My new bike is not only big enough for my tall frame, it is fast, smooth, and oh so beautiful. And the most wonderful part is that is it 100% recyclable. Can you believe that?
I am so thankful to the awesome team at Trek for building me such a sweet bike. Eric “Hootie” Bjorling, Marketing Director at Trek, was the communication behind the whole project. He saw the project beginning to end and coordinated all the spokes that completed the wheel. Michael Leighton is the man behind the bike, literally. He took the specifications of what I wanted in a bike, combined them with my long legs and came up with the original blueprint. He then put this into action and built the bike. The talented artist behind the custom paint job that represents my free and adventurous spirit is Stacey Carnell. She took my story of living life as a journey and captured it with thousands of little birdies.
I would also like to extend a HUGE thank you to my dear friend Steve Crandall who has been my biggest promoter since the beginning of 6footsix. Had it not been for him randomly conversing with Steve Baumann (chief designer at Trek) on an airplane, I would not have been presented with a wonderful custom bike from Trek.
I am so excited to go explore with my new bike. Never, as a full grown female, have I been so comfortable while riding a bike. In the past my legs were scrunched up for the entire ride or my seat was raised so high that my center of gravity drove the rest of my weight into my shoulders and wrists clutching handle bars much lower than my raised rear. Neither of these uncomfortable situations made for a pleasant ride. But as you can see, I never will have those worries again; and That’s Colleenification!
Get ready for my next video: High Fives on Bikes!
A bike frame for your 6'6"+ height and your 40" inseam! YES!
People who are very tall can now have safe, comfortable, and stable bikes! Trek and Colleen working together have made this possible.
Posted by: Sukie | February 20, 2010 at 06:07 PM
Jheri is in love!!! Your bike is soooo much more beautiful than anything I am showing this week.
What is her name?
We need to ride together!
Jheri out
Posted by: Jheri | February 20, 2010 at 07:21 PM
Her name....I am trying to come up with something extremely fierce, but Blue Flyer keeps sticking in my head. I had a blue bicycle when I was a kid with clouds all over it and called it Blue Flyer. This one is much cooler and needs a more bad ass name. Suggestions?
Posted by: Colleen | February 20, 2010 at 07:49 PM
OK, Jheri needs to think.
I have not seen avatar yet. What is the name of the super tall blue warriorchick?
My bike is Kirsebær, which is cherry in Danish. She is bright cherry red.
Posted by: Jheri | February 20, 2010 at 09:11 PM
I am 6' 8" tall and love the "Colleenification" concept. It is so familiar to the struggles that I have had getting things to fit.
You have such a wonderful blog. It is so good reading about someone who is so happy the way that they are, and seeks to share that happiness with others. The "High Five" video was just amazing.
I try to be exactly the same way. Smiling and happy and sharing that with everyone else.
I have had similar problems getting a bike that fits. I finally wound up with a modified Pashley Roadster Sovereign. The largest size of frame had a high enough seat and bottom bracket for me, but I had to get custom modifications for the handlebars. Here is a photo of my bike from the manufacturer's online catalogue. Mine is the one with the double top tube at:
http://www.pashley.co.uk/products/roadster-sovereign.html
Batavus also makes a bike with a 75 cm frame.
I live in Toronto, and my Pashley takes me to work and everywhere else I go. My job requires me to wear a suit and tie; I am a regular customer for my tailor. The Pashley also keeps my clothes nice and clean when the roads are wet.
I like my bike, and I love being so tall - that's good because I cannot do anything about it!
Posted by: Kevin Love | February 21, 2010 at 05:25 AM
This bike is so amazing and I am happy and proud to have been part of it. The folks at Trek did an amazing job.
For those of us who are of more average height it is still important to be fitted for a bike. Go to a good bike shop and find the type of bike you need and then have them find the right frame size and adjust it properly. You may have a long or short trunk, long or short arms, a bad back or any of a number of other issues and these can be taken into account by someone who knows what they are doing.
I'm probably getting a new bike this year and am inclined to a Trek given their support - as well as the fact they make a quality product and we have a good Trek dealer nearby.
Posted by: steve | February 21, 2010 at 05:44 AM
The bike looks great! Congratulations. If your summer road trip takes you as far as Wisconsin, visit the giant statue of a bicyclist in Sparta. Good photo op to raise awareness of bicycle sizes!
http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/17207
(and also stop in at the Deke Slayton Memorial Space and Bicycle Museum to check what you would weigh on the Moon).
http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/17016
Posted by: doug | February 21, 2010 at 07:06 AM
Few suggestions for you bike:
Blue wave
Sky bike
Tower bike
Leggy bike
Geetings from Italy
Silvano
Posted by: Silvano | February 22, 2010 at 04:08 AM
Steve mentioned naming...and I grabbed the opportunity for a play-break. Here are some ideas I came up with thinking "fierce" "Bird" and "Bike"
icarus - goddess- this story of human tech and hubris cracks me up.
jabberwocky - favorite poem, and sounds like a lovely bike name - My Trek Jabberwocky....
Okay, silliness over... some fierce bird names:
shrike - It rhymes with Bike!!! I am going out on my Shrike. :)
gyr - great way to say gyr -- grrr... or move the conversation to the gyre for our environmentalist friends.
peregrine - pair a grins. We should all have them. In pairs. Grins, that is.
tercel - just sounds like a bike name. I am on my Trek Tercel.
Posted by: jean russell | February 22, 2010 at 06:20 PM
ah! I want one too!!
I thought of it today when I biked from the office
how much pressure I get into my already too tense shoulders
by a posture that doesn't feel comfortable.
I will have Patrick make a photo so we can compare -
now when you write it - the solution must be to have
a bike which is made almost like yours -
after all I have giantly long legs too. (100cm inseam)
Posted by: Josephine | February 24, 2010 at 01:18 PM
Josephine, have your bike dealer get in touch with Trek. Since the frame design for tall people now exists the dealer can hunt down getting one for your own measurements that way. Since this is a new design it may be necessary for the dealer to ask several people there before finding out how to get one of the new tall bike designs.
I don't know if you will return to the comments section, so am just hoping that you will see this.
Posted by: Sukie | February 25, 2010 at 12:14 PM
I've been following your experiences with amazement ever since Steve Crandall told me about you. I think that in the world we live in 'big' is not considered as to be a problem. Everything we do, from they way we operate our business, to our economy, to how we live, to they way we abuse our climate: it is all aimed at more, more, more and bigger, bigger, bigger. Big equals good seems to be the message. And small is bad. But your experiences have shown me, that life can be a challenge when you're big as well, or simply 'not fitting' the standardization of our lives in general. It is such a good sign of our societies having become standardized, optimized and efficiently organized all aimed at (consuming) more. I think we as a species have to evolve and change our ways from efficiency to effectiveness. Our societies and interdependencies are simply to complex to still think of standards. In many area's, not just yours, we have to think differently to find (customized) solutions for the challenges we face. You just might show us the way there!
Posted by: Jörgen van der Sloot | February 27, 2010 at 06:16 AM
I heard about you also from Steve Crandell. It's great that you pushed back and eventually got Trek to address under-served potential buyers. Lot's of other things in this culture don't fit and work well - even for those of us who are only 5'10". My daughter is only 5'1" (on a good day); she has trouble reaching pedals on cars and a host of other maladaptations.
Keep at it....
Posted by: Rich Janow | March 04, 2010 at 07:09 PM
So when can the rest of us get a bike this size from trek? I'm 6'10" and currently I think I had one of the larger frames trek made and I love mountain biking!
Posted by: Shortchaz81 | May 10, 2010 at 02:24 PM
Ok, so I got ahead of myself and hadn't checked out the Trek website yet...Do you know if your bike is larger then the 25" frame model they offer in the atwood?
Posted by: Shortchaz81 | May 11, 2010 at 10:35 AM
It is definitely bigger than 25". I do not know the exact dimensions but it is huge! it is custom made which is an option for anyone. just contact Trek in Waterloo and speak to Michael Leighton, chief designer. His brother is tall like us and he will fit the frame for you. Good luck Short Chaz!
Posted by: Colleen | May 11, 2010 at 09:40 PM
And for those of you who are curious, I have finally found a name for my beautiful new bike: Indigo Blaze. My favorite vehicle is a 1970 era Blazer similar to the one shown in this photo: http://image.fourwheeler.com/f/10822551/129_0809_01_z+2008_toyota_tundra_crew_max_1972_chevrolet_blazer_readers_rides+1971_ford_bronco.jpg ideally in blue but my Trek might be the closest I get to it.
Posted by: Colleen | May 11, 2010 at 09:51 PM
That's amazing article. Nice bike and nice pics too..
Thanks for sharing with us.
Posted by: Used Bikes | March 04, 2011 at 12:45 AM