Trek Equinox 5

Price Paid:  $0.00

Model Year:
2007

Summary:
Just bought mine from Caps Bikes in Richmond for $999 (Cdn). It took me nearly two years to find a decent ride that fits a price I am willing to fork out as a beginner road rider. The E5-2007 I got is size 52.

My main ride for the last six years had been a trail-ready hard-tail with front suspension, so switching to a full road/tri bike is rather new to me. One thing I really need to get used to is the way the bike is shaped, where all the parts are located and how I'm positioned to it.

I took it out for a ride through some cobblestone, tar road, sandy road and over a few overpasses. The first thing I noticed is the stock seat is rather uncomfortable. Mind you, this could very well be the transition between my mountain bike cushion seat to the road bike seat.

The next thing I noticed is the shifting. It's not consistently smooth. Though it shifts all the way, at the lowest speed on the first gear or the highest speed on the second gear, the chain rubs up against the derailler. This could probably be fixed with some tuning.

Other than that, the bike is a lot lighter than my trail bike. Which is a relief since using my 32+ pound trail-ready bike on the road with 1.5in treads was really killing my stride.

I am too much of a road bike beginner to tell you whether this bike would be optimal for triathlons or just pure road racing, but so far, it's a pretty good ride for the price I got.

Strengths:
Nice looking bike, light weight

Weaknesses:
Mediocre shifting and uncomfortable seat.