Trek District/Soho

fatandwheezing

Starting to think about getting a specific commuter soon, as my MTB is big fat and heavy. Quite intrigued by the belt drive Treks, does anyone have one?

After a singlespeed - not fixed - or hub gears, to keep maintenance down, what else should I be looking at - budget of around 600-700. What are charge like?

Thanks

Bill

Aidy

I'm really not convinced by the lower maintenance claims for singlespeeds which only go on the road. How much maintenance do you really do on a road bike?

And certainly for a commuter, I think I'd be more concerned with being able to get the rear wheel out easily for punctures.

I like singlespeeds, I've got one. I just don't buy the lower maintenance argument in the commuting context (if your commute is off road, that's different).

thedemoncleaner

Take a look at this thread I started...looks like you're looking at similar bikes to me, people have made a few suggestions which might interest you too
http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12637758

fatandwheezing

Cheers for that - quite a few options I wasn't aware of.

Not sure about the maintenance thing myself - just going off what I've read.
I have fancied a new toy for a while, so getting something different really appeals - got a MTB and road bike - and C2W won't really allow me to get anything better than I have.

Got a couple of months till the scheme comes round again, so have plenty time to have a look around.

trekhead

Bill
I`ve had a District for about 3 weeks or so now. I can`t tell you how good it is.
I also have an EX8 and it`s nice to switch between the two bikes.
If you can, definatly try and have a ride on one, I`m sure you`ll love it. And check out this web site for info and opinions:
http://trekdistrict.com/

sarajoy

Sorry to pull this off-topic, but why do people flip the stem? For better aero-ness?

tailwindhome

@OP

What a stupid forum name

il_principe

sarajoy wrote:

Sorry to pull this off-topic, but why do people flip the stem? For better aero-ness?

To raise/lower the bars.

trekhead

yeah it does lower the bars a touch. But it also gives it a more aggresive look and feel. `edge` i believe it`s called. With some straight, flat, wider handlebars added it will certainly look better and hopefully feel better

biondino

Why do you want straight bars? Why do you want wide bars? Hand position's better on the ones supplied and as for width - do you have Parkinson's or something? Much as I loathe the tiny fakenger bars, you hardly need bars twice as wide as your shoulders for stability.

If you wanted flat, wide bars why on earth buy this bike.

il_principe

God I want to not hate Trek but the don't help themselves, that thing is an abomination!

trekhead

Intersting that you seem to know which hand position suits me better. I`m not talking about bars twice the width of my shoulders either. Why do some people want to change certain things? - well we just do. It`s so we can have things just the way we want them - no different to people who are into 4X4 off road vehicles, motorcycles or custom cars etc.

Having owned custom motorcycles for the best part of 30 years now, I`ve change many a thing on what were perfectly goood bikes to start with. But they weren`t exactly how I wanted them for me.

The OP expressed an interest in the District, having got one I simply told him what my thoughts were.
It`s not eveyone `cup of tea` and if you don`t like it - don`t look at it or read about it.

There`s quite a big clue in the title of this thread as to what it might be about!!!
Please - just get over it.

Now, just to annoy you, here`s a picture of other bike of mine.
Apart from engine, gearbox and frame, everything else has been changed - if thats OK with you. Now, I think I`ll go back to the Mountan Bike section - it`s a bit more civil.

fatandwheezing

Well I think the district looks ace, remarkably understated considering how much orange is on it.

Will have a wander down to the LBS to have a sit on one over the weekend - unfortunately I have to go through halfords though.

@WheezyMcChubby, it's completely different, and derived directly from my two main medical conditions - greed and laziness.

DonDaddyD

Understated.

Aren't opinons a wonderfl thing. Which, of course every individual is entitled to and other individuals are allowed to disagree with.

When you get it let us know how it rides, I'm curious about the belt drive from an engineering point of view.

amnezia

fatandwheezing wrote:

Well I think the district looks ace, remarkably understated considering how much orange is on it.

Will have a wander down to the LBS to have a sit on one over the weekend - unfortunately I have to go through halfords though.

@WheezyMcChubby, it's completely different, and derived directly from my two main medical conditions - greed and laziness.

understated :shock:..

it looks like an accident in a jaffa cake factory.

biondino

You're a bit oversensitive, fella! Also, if you're getting rid of the curvy bars, can I have them?

I did notice though that your motorbike has curvy, backward facing handlebars. Are you going to replace them with something straight and wide too?

trekhead

yeah I might put the straight bars back on my motor bike, it`s been ages since it had straights on it, and of course you can have the stock bars off the District.
My pleasure

biondino

trekhead wrote:

yeah I might put the straight bars back on my motor bike, it`s been ages since it had straights on it, and of course you can have the stock bars off the District.
My pleasure

LOL

fatblokefromwarwick

Hey bud,
When you change the bars on your FXR, can I have the apes for my Yeti?

trekhead

lol

Gilbie

Il Principe wrote:

God I want to not hate Trek but the don't help themselves, that thing is an abomination!

Heh, that twice you've called the District an abomination :P

pnhunt

fatandwheezing wrote:

Starting to think about getting a specific commuter soon, as my MTB is big fat and heavy. Quite intrigued by the belt drive Treks, does anyone have one?

After a singlespeed - not fixed - or hub gears, to keep maintenance down, what else should I be looking at - budget of around 600-700. What are charge like?

Thanks

Bill

At the risk of coming back to the original topic, I've been commuting on a Trek Soho with hub gears and belt drive for the past three weeks. My other bike is a Dawes Kalahari which I've been riding for a year, so my impressions are mainly comparing these two.

I live in Durham which is moderately hilly and have about an 8 mile round trip commute. The gear ratios on the Nexus are fine for all conditions I've encountered, the bottom gear is fine for the steepest hills and I've not found a place where the top gear is too low. The main difference with the belt drive is that it's almost completely silent; you will be needing to alert people that you're coming far more. It's a real plasure being able to select gears when stationary. As regards long term reliability I have no idea - hopefully should be good which is why I bought it. The nebula tyres should mean that punctures will be rare, but it would be a pain to change a tyre when it becomes necessary.

Paul

mrchrispy

I've tested both the geared soho and the district.
hated the soho, didnt like the nexus hub one bit and the bike was a very boring to ride (quiet though)
loved the district, smooth, fun, quiet and looks sexeh (IMO).

if i wasn't using the cycle2work scheme to buy a winter training bike and a bling set of wheels (that'll go on my current road bike), i'd be very tempted to get a district.

il_principe

Gilbie wrote:

Il Principe wrote:

God I want to not hate Trek but the don't help themselves, that thing is an abomination!

Heh, that twice you've called the District an abomination :P

Well sorry but it is!

IMHO.

fatandwheezing

Not managed to find one available for a test yet - C2W doesn't restart till October yet though.

I think by that time the District 2 might be out though...

Gilbie

fatandwheezing wrote:

I think by that time the District 2 might be out though...

There's lots of rumours about the District 2, anyone know if there will be 2010 version?