Trek Dual Sport Range - do it all bike choice
bsharp77
Posts: 533
Hi all,
Looking into getting a pair of bikes for myself and the wife that are do it all bikes - pop to the shops, child carrier for days away, able to take a bit of rough stuff on light trails, but still fast on the road for a few miles when I don't have my road bike handy. I also want to put mudguards and a rack on there, so dedicated mounts were an important choice (and ruled Canyon out, which was my first thought).
The Trek Dual Sport range seems to tick every box.
The Specialized Crosstrail was a close second, but the equipment spec for the price just doesn't seem as good.
I don't want to spend a fortune, trying to hit that sweet spot of good solid spec but not paying for unnecessary performance type features that we just won't see a benefit from.
I originally was looking at the DS4, the top of the range model - and as lovely as it seems, I can't justify the £300 price difference over the DS3.
And then when thinking about that....the DS3 is £125 dearer than the DS2. The only real difference I can see is the Shimano brakes on the DS3 vs Tektro on the DS2.
Has anyone any real world experience of any of these models (or even just the hardware)?
I'm guessing the sweet spot may be the DS3 with proper Shimano braking, however if the Tektro was good enough, providing adequate stopping power and minimal maintenance, then i'd be happy to go for the lower model.
Any help or advice would be much appreciated.
I'm well up on all the road bike equipment, but when it comes to hybrids and hydraulic discs etc, its a different world of specs and equipment!
Looking into getting a pair of bikes for myself and the wife that are do it all bikes - pop to the shops, child carrier for days away, able to take a bit of rough stuff on light trails, but still fast on the road for a few miles when I don't have my road bike handy. I also want to put mudguards and a rack on there, so dedicated mounts were an important choice (and ruled Canyon out, which was my first thought).
The Trek Dual Sport range seems to tick every box.
The Specialized Crosstrail was a close second, but the equipment spec for the price just doesn't seem as good.
I don't want to spend a fortune, trying to hit that sweet spot of good solid spec but not paying for unnecessary performance type features that we just won't see a benefit from.
I originally was looking at the DS4, the top of the range model - and as lovely as it seems, I can't justify the £300 price difference over the DS3.
And then when thinking about that....the DS3 is £125 dearer than the DS2. The only real difference I can see is the Shimano brakes on the DS3 vs Tektro on the DS2.
Has anyone any real world experience of any of these models (or even just the hardware)?
I'm guessing the sweet spot may be the DS3 with proper Shimano braking, however if the Tektro was good enough, providing adequate stopping power and minimal maintenance, then i'd be happy to go for the lower model.
Any help or advice would be much appreciated.
I'm well up on all the road bike equipment, but when it comes to hybrids and hydraulic discs etc, its a different world of specs and equipment!
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Comments
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They do look like a lot of bike for the money, but are you sure you want the weight and maintenance of suspension forks and hydraulic discs for the uses you envisage? Would a lighter, simpler rigid hybrid with V-brakes not do the job?
Suppose it depends on how light the trails are...0 -
keef66 wrote:They do look like a lot of bike for the money, but are you sure you want the weight and maintenance of suspension forks and hydraulic discs for the uses you envisage? Would a lighter, simpler rigid hybrid with V-brakes not do the job?
Suppose it depends on how light the trails are...
Hi keef,
Yeah, I was mulling it over and over whether to go for the suspension or a standard rigid bike and just put bigger tyres on there.
My reasoning was that we have a couple of great forest trails pretty close by, and I thought that in the winter I might be able to take the bike up and give the easier runs a try on days where its too nasty/icy to do my normal road riding.
It adds another use to the bike to make it a true all rounder.
I know what you're saying about weight and maintenance - weight is not a big issue for this bike. It is not performance based, so all about enjoyable cycling (no worrying about strava on this one!!!).
As far as maintenance goes, I guess thats whats making me think about the different spec levels. I know there will always be a certain level of maintenance required - especially with disks and hydraulic brakes, but I was thinking slightly higher grade components would give less hassle and require less fettling if you get my thinking - its just finding that sweet spot of getting what I need without spending a fortune.0 -
A bit late I know but...
My daughter loves her DS (she has the ladies version).
When she was 11 she did the 53 mile London to Southend on it (plus some training beforehand). She then went on to do a Norwich circular (57 miles) , London to Windsor (37 miles) and a 30 odd mile MTB charity course.
It really can do it all.
And more importantly, it has never suffered a single break down whilst cheaper brands fell apart around her.
It is now back out the shed for a tune up ready for her to do 3 months of 35 mile club rides for her Duke Of Edinburgh bronze.
Yeah, its a little bit slower than my CX bike, but only about a minute or two an hour. Well worth it for the versatility.0
