Hi
I’m new to this site and am just about to buy a new xc bike, i have ordered the Trek cobia and was wondering if there is anything i should change on it from the off… i would be riding mostly forest trails and the likes, have been told that its best to kinda just ride the bike until something breaks then you upgrade when replacing it, this seems to be good advice but wonder what you guys think….

either until stuff breaks or you decide, actually wider bars/different saddle/etc might be better/different/worth a try and then change things but if you’re happy with it then just change stuff as it wears out or breaks.

Only exception might be tyres – you might want soemthing a little nobblier at this time of year compared with the summer.

In my oppininon if there are no parts that you are partcularly attached to from a previous bike then use it as is for a bit. When you figure out what bits you don’t like so much about the bike then change them.

wow, that was a quick reply, thanks for the advice, do you think the cobia will do for someone just getting back into biking, i was a very keen BMXer when a youth and have had a look around at bikes in my price range (don’t want to go over £1000 just now, may do in the future) and this one seemed to be of a good standard.. the dealer seems to think this is the one that’s suit me best and says i would get a good year maybe two (depending on how often i use it) out of it…

Looks like a decent bike to me.

The best advice I can give you is to just ride it. If you haven’t ridden for ages then I guarantee it’ll feel like the best bike ever and will thus boost your confidence no end.

When you’re at a stage where you feel comfortable with it then maybe a bar/stem/tyre swap might help you get the bike dialled in to whatever you want it to do, but in the meantime I hope you have an absolute blast!

If you come from a BMX background the cobia being a 29er may be less chuckable than you’re expecting. The cobia looks a bit of a racing bike too, may be too upright for your needs, maybe look at something with slightly slacker geometry.

If it was me i’d probably change the pedals as I like grippy flat ones, and stock pedals are generally poor, although I dont now which ones comes with the Trek. As above play around on it for a few weeks to see what you think you’d benefit from changing.

i’ve already purchased some flat pedals as that was always the case in BMX days do, the standard pedals where… well ‘standard’ so i’ve done things a bit back to front and bought pedals before i bought the bike.. lol

enfht… i know what you mean about not being able to throw the bike around as i’ve already had a go on a 29er (trek wahoo) and i did think that at first but then i had a look at my birth lines and i really shouldn’t be trying to throw bikes around at my age anyway (39) so i’m not too worried on that front, as long as i can hold my own on forest service roads and some single tracks i’ll be happy enough, if i feel i do need something a little more playable i can always go for it next year, this is really the year for me to find out how hard i want to push things and i’m kinda guessing cross country will suit me… thanks for all the advice you guys have given me and in such a short time too… i will now rest easy knowing that the cobia should suit my needs as none of you said NO!!!! DON’T GET IT…. so all is well

After buying a bike most people spend the next couple of years tweaking and upgrading rather than replacing the bike. You’re limiting the scope a bit going 29er imo, but thet’s just my opinion!

I also came from a BMX background and it wasn’t long before I was looking for jumps at every opportunity so bear this in mind 😀

i will keep that in mind.. 😀

my riding now tends to be more riding a few miles then locking my bike up and going for a run, back the bike then ride a little more, i’m traing for a duathlon so this is the reason i do this, i think if i wanted to go full on biking then perhaps you are right and i would then start looking at something more flexible to throw around a bit, if this becomes the case then i can consider having two bikes as unlike my BMX days i no longer have to ask mum to splash out the money… i can budget it out myself… (just don’t tell the wife 😉 )