This thing stops everyone in the shop cold.
This is a 1997 Trek Y Five-O — Trek’s limited edition top-of-the-range Y-series, named after Hawaii Five-O, with the graphics inspired by the police drama. Trek ads literally featured this bike riding a wave.
The frame is Trek’s OCLV carbon — Optimum Compaction Low Void — their patented carbon fiber construction that was genuinely revolutionary for mountain biking in the mid 90s. This wasn’t cheap crabon either. Trek has been building with OCLV since 1992 out of Waterloo, Wisconsin, and the process was developed to deliver strength, stiffness, and comfort that aluminum simply couldn’t match.
The build:
• Full Shimano XTR — factory spec straight from Trek
• Manitou front fork in red
• Michelin tires with tan sidewalls
• URT (Unified Rear Triangle) rear suspension
• That iconic red/white/blue Hawaiian paint scheme — one year only
Trek described it as capturing “the wild spirit of the 90s” and it showed just how iconic the Y-frame had become.