What happened to the District?

godzeus
godzeus Posts: 25
edited December 2012 in Road general
I'm a MTB guy who always had a soft spot for a District road bike. I'm still not sure if the idea of the road bike that attracts me or if it's just the stunning looks of the 2010 District models. Maybe both. Anyhoo i figured one day when I'm in a better financial position, I would get a District as a 2nd bike but now i'm not so sure. I just looked at the new models and they look awful. They dropped the carbon fork. leather seat and handlebar grips. Handlebar and steam are no longer in chrome. I fell in love with that retro city look and now it's all plasticy looking. Like a child designed it :?

Comments

  • Awwww, shame. Plenty of retro styled bikes floating around, I'm just not too sure what brands there are.
  • They stopped making the belt-drive orange and grey version which was a shame. A Trek guy I spoke to last year when in the USA saiid they just didn't prove popular. I bought mine in 2009 and its still a fantastic bike - done over 3,000 miles and the belt is still as good as new.
    Raymondo

    "Let's just all be really careful out there folks!"
  • That's the one. That's the looker. :D
    I would rather have a shifter on that thing. But damn it looks good!

    EDIT: Did u know u can retrofit a hub shifter on that thing. I personally don't like them. The one i tried, dude at the store told me i have to stop spinning in order to shift so i quoted Matt Berry by saying "well f*** that!" :D
  • andyrr
    andyrr Posts: 1,822
    I had a beige/orange/brown 2nd District from about November 2011 to October this year. Did sterling work as my commuting bike until a crack was spotted near the top and seat tube junctions. Trek were good enough to not argue about frame replacement but do a swap for a much dearer belt drive version. That was a flat-barred model and I wanted drop bars so I swapped the bars levers etc over and have now used it for around 500 miles. When running perfectly it's lovely and quiet, great to not to have to think about chain wear, lube or sprocket issues (the Shimano freewheels used to not last terribly long). I've recently had issues with transmission noise, probably a small misalignment with the belt bedding-in which sometimes drives me mad - like riding a buzz saw. and the supplying shop haven't yet been able to resolve it. If the belt and pulleys (trying to not to these as chainrings and sprockets !) do last the 10,000+ miles I've seen a mention of then I'll be impressed.