Impossible to make a bad choice out of those two.
That's what made it so difficult 😀
OK. Disclaimers: It's a lot dirtier now, the garden's a mess and will continue to be a mess for the forseeable. There was a ten day holiday in the middle of it when I couldn't ride but I've put a few more miles on it now.
I think I mentioned I like claiming and am rubbish at getting my wheels off the ground, and that led to some very good recommendations for more climby bikes. That would have made the thing I am goodish at easier and (potentially) the thing I am bad at harder. The Trek is a bit of a monster truck and is just so much fun up and down; it's a way better technical climber than the Kona was and is so composed downhill. I can pick lines, I'm not descending then recovering on climbs from being thrown around and so on. FWIW the Specialized would probably have done the same, but the absolute solidity of the front end, possibly because crabon and 36s is really good. Bearing in mind it's replacing 34s and an alloy frame, albeit with a sightly lower handlebar position, that's a positive, but there are likely lots of factors. I think (but haven't confirmed it by taking all the air out) that the forks are 150 not 140 - there's a smidge more than 150mm of stanchion on show.
Any descent on the more technical end of things where I'm not stuck behind someone slower is a PB, it seems - well, for now.
A couple of notes - supply chain still seems to be an issue:
- I went for Invisiframe and it was good - more for protecting something I'll probably run for a while than anything else, as I don't mind chips and scuffs. I can see the point, but I probably won't do it again. That's my personal preference, mind - I'd just rather have been getting my first ride in.
- Dropper was a 100mm, but the shop has said that was an error and have a 150 in from Trek - I queried it, they asked for a pic of the short post, Trek has shipped the right one, no questions asked. Top customer service.
I've got a 180 OneUp dropper in there at the moment, can fit in a 210 so will probably do that.
The brakes are the new SRAM DB8s rather than SLX 4 pots. I thought I'd give them a go before chucking my Guide REs on, and I'm glad I did. They're mineral oil rather than DOT, and feel a lot more Shimano-ey than the Guides - less modulation in a good way.
I suspect but am too lazy to confirm that there's a 150 air shaft in the forks, based on the amount of stanchion. Whatever - it steers well and rides over stuff like a monster truck, and that's more than enough at the moment.
Tyres are XR5 2.5" rather than 2.6 and they're actually good enough that I'm not rushing to replace them
Cranks are potentially quite chonky non-series ones, so I might swap to XTs at some point if I'm bothered enough
The Arvada saddle feels great for the first 40 minutes, but then my sit bones start to disagree. Jury's still out, but if it's not to be it'll be Spoon time
I wish I'd swapped my SPDs out for new ones earlier. I though they were fine as the bearings were still sweet after 10 years, four of which involved a daily commute, but the steel cages were actually really worn and no amount of new cleats would make them less shoogly. I've put three pairs in the recycling bin as a result.
Looks good! To be fair I thought the Trek Exs now did have 150mm forks, so maybe it’s right?
The Arvada saddle feels great for the first 40 minutes, but then my sit bones start to disagree.
I had exactly the same experience on an Arvada...gave it to my son who had the same reaction as well...
I got ridiculously excited by this as a Stumpy is always the answer to everything, started looking at my work’s C2W scheme for the figures, went back to the retailer website to check the price and make sure they accepted Halfords C2W vouchers – they do, still ridiculously excited, wondering how I break the news to Mrs Fazzini that I’ve bought a new bike without me suffering bodily harm, then checked the retailer’s C2W T&Cs…Full RRP only on C2W – no sale bikes – dammit
Worth asking the retailer - I have found a lot of places will allow it if you pay the 15% admin charge that Halfords charge. Depending how much of a discount they are offering, it can still be a good saving (and paid over 12 months).
I have also found that Balfes bikes will allow Halfords C2W vouchers on sale bikes with no added commission. That said, their sale prices are generally a bit more than other retailers but worth doing some sums.
Looks good! To be fair I thought the Trek Exs now did have 150mm forks, so maybe it’s right?
The Gen 6 ones do - they're a bit more Grrr as well, though. And several thousand quid dearer
Worth asking the retailer – I have found a lot of places will allow it if you pay the 15% admin charge that Halfords charge. Depending how much of a discount they are offering, it can still be a good saving (and paid over 12 months).
I was chatting to someone yesterday who said Halfords' cut is now 20%. With the level of discounting going on at the moment, that's pretty much the gross margin gone for a shop and they're shifting them for the cashflow. In one case, this person said the buyer got the name of the voucher scheme wrong, but they still honoured the price they'd negotiated and ended up making a loss. There's a reason a lot of shops are putting more emphasis on servicing and spares and why quite a few manufacturers are dabbling in direct sales.
I'm asking my employer to consider switching to CycleScheme or Cycleosolutions next year, as both, from what I've heard, are fairer on the shop. It'd be interesting to hear from people in the trade about this; I prefer buying local if I can, and I would have liked to have put what to me is a massive purchase through one of the shops I've been going into regularly for the last couple of decades where I know the staff by name.
I should say that, even though I'm not a regular customer at Balfe's, the customer service team on the phone and the peeps in branch were / are absolutely brilliant to deal with.
