Price Paid:
$1300.00
at Marinette Cycle Cent Model Year:
2003 Bike Setup:
Stock '03 Navigator X600
Arkel Panniers & trunk bag
Flat handle bar
Pro Design F19 aero bars Summary:
A great design if you can find one...Bought this bike in '03 after looking through many catalogs for a bicycle that could take the place of my car for commuting. After reading up on many touring articles and commuting web-sites, I decided I required a good touring platform to start with. It took me over 3 months to hunt one down. Two and a half years later...this bike still amazes me with a smooth ride, handy features, and all the other bennfits that come from riding. It has the geometry of a touring bike (flat top tube, modest head angle, long chain stays), but is built with thick hydroformed aluminum tubing that rivals most burly DH's. The 700x38 Schwalbe Marathon Cross tires work great for commuting and mild off-road ventures. The cable disc brakes work great, they're linear, and take quite a bit of punishing before you can feel fading. In addition, the disc brakes allow the owner to swap to 26" wheels. Stock handlebar was too wide for my shoulders. In addition, the handlebar has a riser bend to it. That in combination with the adjustable steering head would allow the owner to sit bolt up-right, or canted forward. I wanted aero bars for cruising the highway to work, so I needed a flat handle bar to mount them to. I just cranked the rise on the stem full up and I have plenty of rise for riding around town, but I can still hunker down for cruising. All in all, this is a great bicycle. I get questions and comments about it where ever I go. I highly recommended it! A great asset for health and convenience. Strengths:
-Spread out, touring geometry
-Disc Brakes
-700c wheels, but enough room for fat 26" tires
-stout factory pannier racks & fenders
-Ready for commuting out the door
-Built in shackel lock (very convenient!) Weaknesses:
-Riser handle bar bend may not suit everyone
-Included tire pump is useless, IMHO
-Only made for two years (X500 same bike, slightly different components)
-Very difficult to find one
-Trek didn't really support this model in the U.S. as much as they should have.
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5 of 5
5 of 5
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