ever ready

stock tires are c--p

After 2 years, a great value, constant enjoyement. Light, fast, supple, strong, tough, but replce the stock tires asap with continental gp 4000's.

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40 years of road bikes I. E. Specialized, Bianchi, Bottechia, etc.

very light
very smooth ride

pricey

YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR

This bike is an awesome ride. I've never had problems, so I've never had to deal with any issues regarding repairs. If you want a bike that you'll always be happy with, this seems to be a good fit...at least for me it is.

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I don't have much experience with other bikes.

Value

2 failures in 1 year and in 761 miles!!!!

Here's what I sent to Trek today and as you can see, I'm not happy w/ Trek. 2 failures in 761 miles and I'm only 185lbs and don't ride it that hard. I'll update this once I get a response from Trek. Right now I value it a 1.
---


To Whom It May Concern,

Last year (7/24/07) I purchased a Trek Madone Discovery 56cm, triple Ultegra bike. I have had many friends who have owned Trek carbon bicycles and while a fan of titanium, I decided to purchase a bike that was still made in the USA.

I am an avid bicycle rider but not a racer. I ride many centuries and long, multi-day rides; or at least that’s what I like to do.

This year, when I started training for a few of those rides, I had my first incident w/ the bike about 5/08. The non-drive train side, lug popped out of the carbon chainstay. I took it to my local shop (see below) and it was sent to Trek for replacement or repair. This happened just as the biking season began and the start of my training. The bike at the time had maybe 500 miles on it. A repair that I suspect took about 15 mins, took an entire month to get my bike back. It somehow got “lost” at the Trek return center. Today (7/20.08) I was breaking down a hill as I was making a turn and the other lug did the exact same thing. I now have a grand total of 761 miles on this bike and it has failed twice!

This is unacceptable! If this is what the term “Made in the USA” stands for and I should be ashamed. I am preparing for a 7 day ride in a few weeks and I can NOT be without my bike. I can NOT wait a month for a repair. You have the opportunity to restore a customer’s faith in a US company or to lose a customer for life. I hope that you are actual road riders like myself and understand that if you can’t trust your bicycle to remain intact during the most basic maneuvers how can you ever trust it and enjoy it?

I will return this bike to my local store tomorrow but I do not want it back “repaired” and I’m asking you for alternatives. I do not want another ‘repair’ since I can no longer trust that this bike will not destruct under even the most basic riding and if I were to get hurt with another failure the obvious liability would be on Trek.

I would like to hear what my options are as quickly as possible so that I can either purchase another manufactures bike or restore my faith in Trek and so that I continue to train for this 7 day charity ride which is in early Aug., 2008.

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Specialized, Airborne, Fuji, Litespeed.

Light weight. Smoothness of road feel and balance. Shifting and brakes.

Price of new model. I will revise my review if troubles show up, but so far so excellent.

I just stepped way up from my 30 year old Schwinn touring bike to the Madone with the lucky find of a good deal on a used model. After about 150 miles I am ecstatic. While I am still finding my groove and making adjustments I can confidently say that this unit is great. Road surface variation is soaked up by the carbon frame. The very light weight is a huge adjustment for me, but I love the acceleration and hill climbing feel. The Ultegra shifting and brakes are working great. This bike has the two chain rings in front, not three, but the derailleur indexes to all three positions, so I have to click thru the middle position depending on which rear wheel I am on. The bike came with the stock saddle, which is too squishy and has not center channel, so I intend to replace it. I am a short torsoed 6'-3", 165 pound guy, and bought the 62 cm frame. The frame is the right size with my 36.5" inseam, but I had to go to a shorter stem.

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None really

- Light
- Stiff
- Excellent components overall
- Absorbs vibrations
- Good geometry
- Quality

- Horrible saddle
- Stem and Seatpost could use an upgrade

I personally feel the the Madone SL 5.2 is the best bargain for the active cyclist. It has a full ultegra build kit, which has all the performance of dura-ace, but is much more reliable to cheaper to maintain.

The frame if excellent. It is stiff without being overly stiff, so it absorbs road vibrations well. It is light and excellent quality

The wheelset is a great training and everday use set. Not the lightest but very strong. For racedays a better wheelset would be a good idea.

The stem and seatpost are a bit on the chunky side and could use and upgrade. I am all legs and no upperbody, so I switched out my 250 Race X lite seatpost with a 330 Race XXX Lite. I also replaced the stock 120 Race Lite stem with a 100 Ritchey WCS. I loved the VR bend of the stock bars for I kept them.

As on all nearly all trek bikes the stock bontrager seat is aweful. I replaced it with a Selle San Marco Era Luxe, which works very well for me.

Overall this bike is everything 99% of riders will ever need, and comes nearly perfect from Trek.

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Trek 5400
Trek 2300

Light
Stiff
Carbon fiber claims for comfort prove to be true.

Stock wheelset
Disco graphics

I like it more with every ride.

Logged 3,500 miles this season, 1,00 miles at the end of last season on this bike, in every type of terrain, from the mountains of Georgia to the flats of New York City's West Side bike path, this bike seems to do everything well - climbing, cornering, descending, you name it. The drivetrain is brilliantly quiet, and the shifting is fast and flawless.

I've never had a bike that I wasn't griping about or looking to upgrade after a few months or a year. Not this time. The bike only grows on me.

In short, it was worth every penny.

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Trek 1500
Scott CR1
Cannondale Six13

Light bike
Great handling (tire change also helped)
Good deal for the money

Wheels and seat
Subtle appearance

I have had my SL5.2 for 2 years and can say that this bike is awesome! I kept my old Cannondale for recreational rides with the kids but use the Trek for century training and competitive rides with friends. This bike has made me a better rider because I like it so much I
ride a lot more. This year was my best century ever (been riding centuries for 10 years)
I agree with other reviews and have needed to change my wheels and seat. The stock wheels feel heavy. They needed to be trued 2 months after I bought the bike. My new E Orions are incredible.
I am 6' and 170 lbs - not a heavy rider. The stock seat was too narrow and uncomfortable during long rides.
The Ultegra components are smooth and shifting is effortless.
This bike does not have an eye catching look like others but then again I didn't purchase it to show off but to enjoy a fast bike.
Buy this bike if it is in your price range!

Very smooth, responsive, light. Nice wheels

None that I have found yet

LBS was moving these out to make way for the new Madone. Absolutely can not believe I got so much bike for so little $.

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Trek 1000, Trek 1500

Great frame and drivetrain components

Side clamping seatpost leaves something to be desired even though Bontrager claims this shouldn't be a problem. Also stock saddle is a bit on the low end side and the wheelset is probably built for a lighter rider.

This was a warranty replacement for my Trek 5000 where the bottom bracket sleeve broke loose from the frame and rendered it useless. Overall the ride is great. Seems a bit stiffer then the 5000 as well as lighter. Two nagging problems are a seat that keeps sliding back no matter how closely I torque the side clamping cradle bolt to Bontrager's specification. Also the Race X Lite wheelset is a little weak. I have had my back wheel trued 4x in about 1000 miles. The lower end Bontragers on my Trek 5000 lasted 4000 miles before I had to true them for the first time. The Dura-Ace RD is a nice touch and my triple shift very well. I am 6' 1" tall and 225 lbs but I mainly stay in the middle ring with a very high cadence so I wouldn't say I am harsh on bikes but clearly I am way heavier then the averge rider out there so take that into account. I have done several 4+ hour rides this year and the bike just absorbs the road for you and leaves you feeling fresh after 4 hours in the saddle.

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Trek 5000