trek is not really known to be a wallet/budget friendly brand. . . . I do like their bikes (i own 6 of them right now if you include my wifes wall ornament) but they aint cheap.
The Amusement Bike Park
- Thread starter TimBay
- Start date
TimBay
Well-Known Member
I dunno. I think their fuel line is spec'd pretty on point for the price. EX7 was definitely on my list. Though I'm leaning toward the Giant Trance line.
Paul H
Fearless OOS Poser
If Trek saying more travel.... kinda against what Giant is doing with the Trance 29er.
For a trail bike, Trance 29er has short travel at 115
TimBay
Well-Known Member
I meant more in the frame material and price point. I think the travel is to compete more with other brands and the crowd wanting 140 to 150 travel. I dunno. I got very limited details. But you know, some years they just change the paint, but this year he said theyre changing a lot. Who knows. Will have to wait and see. Maybe I can get a 2019 for Loonies on the dollar.
its nice to have, and helpfull in situations where you have to ratchet, but its not going to magically help. My suggestion is dont be rushing out to upgrade the engagement, your skills will be more helpfull than more engagement (that said i do LOVE my high engagement hubs)
i know trek just released a new design for the Domane and the top fuel went up in travel earlier this (calendar) year, so we will see where it goes.
I love my fuel ex8 and my Stache, but as i ride them i am seeing how they got the bikes out there at that price point. Fortunately alot of that savings was in the wheels so its easy to upgrade.
TimBay
Well-Known Member
The current fuel has the 54t. It's something I like about it...on paper. I'll be demoing stuff throughout the next year, but like window shopping online. I also like that trek has the in between medium/large size, which is where I'm at, I think.
fuel or fuel EX (and which level are you looking at) my 2018 ex8 27.5+ came with rebranded bontrager hubs and sunringle hoops, the engagement on the hubs leaves something to be desired. and the 8 is supposed to be the top spec alloy trim
would sure be nice if they put better wheels on it, but i havent looked recently, and my next one will be carbon
TimBay
Well-Known Member
2019 fuel ex7. 29erfuel or fuel EX (and which level are you looking at) my 2018 ex8 27.5+ came with rebranded bontrager hubs and sunringle hoops, the engagement on the hubs leaves something to be desired. and the 8 is supposed to be the top spec alloy trim
would sure be nice if they put better wheels on it, but i havent looked recently, and my next one will be carbon
https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/...-mountain-bikes/fuel-ex/fuel-ex-7-29/p/23590/
i see. i think those are the rebranded dtswiss hubs in those wheels, nice setup for sure.
Paul H
Fearless OOS Poser
If you want to get a 2019 MY leftover... you prolly want to start looking now because later on, they most likely be sold out of the size you want. Late in the season, they only have those unpopular sizes. M and L sells out first.... usually
TimBay
Well-Known Member
Honestly, Im trying to keep the price at around 3k, so really trying to figure out which sacrifices to make since there will be a lot lacking compared to a 4k or 5k bike. Surprisingly, bottle mounts and space is becoming a fair factor as I dont want to carry a pack. Lol
TimBay
Well-Known Member
Can't spend the funds now. Also want to suffer and build skill first. Who knows, maybe my budget gets higher next year. We shall see.
Paul H
Fearless OOS Poser
I don't own wheels with angry bees... only have mild mannered bees so I can speak to this
But I do know that high engagement usually means more friction which will kill coasting speed.
I think it was something from Onyx? that has almost no drag
Tim
aka sptimmy43
High engagement hubs are nice. As mentioned if you have a bike with a low BB which requires ratchet pedaling through obstacles it becomes really nice. Of course, higher engagement means more drag but I doubt it's enough to be noticeable. I'll take the benefits of high engagement hubs over the 2 watts I lose every day of the week. That said I wouldn't buy a bike based on the hubs or even the wheels. When you have some more money laying around in 6 months or a year wheels are a very worthy upgrade.
More travel is not necessarily better. I am stubborn as hell so I had to learn this the hard way but do a little research. The advice you will find time and time again is not to buy "too much bike." I would venture a guess that most people only need 120-130mm of travel based on their riding style and the trails they ride. I think you are right on in being interested in the Trance 29er. It has modern geometry (slack head angle, reduced offset fork, etc.) even though it only has 115mm of travel out back. I think that suits most of the riding we have in NJ pretty well. We all dream of hucking 6 foot drops and smashing huge doubles like a boss, but let's face it, that's just not the riding most of us are doing.
The thing that has me leery of bikes in the $3k price range are the drivetrains, specifically the cassettes. Not very long ago many of those bikes were speced with GX Eagle, which is solid. Now they seem to all have NX or even SX cassettes on them. Those things are heavy AF and on a part of the bike where you will feel it. The real problem is that those cassettes use a different freehub than GX and on a budget wheel the freehub may not be replaceable. This means a new rear wheel is a must or at least a new hub just to upgrade the cassette to something with a respectable weight. That can get pretty expensive real quick.
More travel is not necessarily better. I am stubborn as hell so I had to learn this the hard way but do a little research. The advice you will find time and time again is not to buy "too much bike." I would venture a guess that most people only need 120-130mm of travel based on their riding style and the trails they ride. I think you are right on in being interested in the Trance 29er. It has modern geometry (slack head angle, reduced offset fork, etc.) even though it only has 115mm of travel out back. I think that suits most of the riding we have in NJ pretty well. We all dream of hucking 6 foot drops and smashing huge doubles like a boss, but let's face it, that's just not the riding most of us are doing.
The thing that has me leery of bikes in the $3k price range are the drivetrains, specifically the cassettes. Not very long ago many of those bikes were speced with GX Eagle, which is solid. Now they seem to all have NX or even SX cassettes on them. Those things are heavy AF and on a part of the bike where you will feel it. The real problem is that those cassettes use a different freehub than GX and on a budget wheel the freehub may not be replaceable. This means a new rear wheel is a must or at least a new hub just to upgrade the cassette to something with a respectable weight. That can get pretty expensive real quick.
Tim
aka sptimmy43
I have i9 hubs on my bike. I suppose there is more friction/drag but it doesn't "kill coasting speed." I doubt the difference is perceptible.
TimBay
Well-Known Member
See, this is why I ask questions. I know a bit about the different forks and drivetrains, but not a whole lot. I didn't realize NX wasn't on the XD driver, which makes me think more now because I had figured I could just upgrade to GX, which can be done relatively cheap.
What about BB and Cranks? I don't know much about those except that PF can creak a bunch. Should I avoid PF? Just trying to figure out what I should stay away from vs what I can upgrade later. Just things I should consider while window shopping and figuring out the eventual purchase. Basically trying to make sure I buy a bike I'll dig for many many years.
