Trek Pilot 5.2

Price Paid:  $2200.00 at scheller fitness

Model Year:
2005

Favorite Ride:
louisville bike club sunday ride

Bike Setup:
comfortable ride set-up

Summary:
this bike is primo.beautiful blue paint.tried and proven oclv 120 carbon hand built in usa.all ultregra components and lite bontrager wheels.triple chainring is nice feature.has a relaxed geometry for easy enjoyable riding.an excellent bike for almost anyone.not made for racing.smooth and a joy to ride.this is the 'gold standard'for all road bikes!!

Strengths:
excellent quality and beautiful.a real'bang for the buck'.

Weaknesses:
none that really matter

Similar Products Used:
old trek 2100 early carbon

Price Paid:  $2200.00 at wwbs.com

Model Year:
2007

Favorite Ride:
out the driveway

Bike Setup:
race lit wheelset
terry fly carbon saddle

Summary:
Traded my old SLX Cinelli for this bike after my wife got one. I can not describe how much more comfortable this bike is to ride. I'm 44 and finished a 70 mile event last weekend, then rode 25 miles the following day. Not bad considering I haven't riden a road bike SERIOUSLY for 10 years (since the birth of my first child). I upgraded the seat to the new Terry fly carbon and have the bontrager race lite wheel set. No mechanichal issues riding 15 to 25 miles a day 4 to 5 days a week. Needless to say, I have no regrets regarding this purchase. I also noticed that I can stay in the drops in headwinds...and more often in general, because of the bike geometry. I have no doubts that I am faster on this bike than I would be on a conventional race bike, because I can stay lower longer. I ride more often and longer because of this bikes attributes.

Strengths:
light, manuverable, comfortable

Weaknesses:
seat
machismo hit, it's not a madone

Similar Products Used:
1990'S Cinelli w/ shimao 600

Price Paid:  $3200.00 at LBS

Model Year:
2007

Favorite Ride:
Brevets

Bike Setup:
Pilot 5.2 with ultegra triple. Handbuilt 32 spoke wheels, Ritchey Logic bar, Chris King headset, Thomson masterpiece seatpost, my old broken in Brooks Team Pro Saddle. After checking on gear ratios I also replaced the 30 tooth chainring with a 28 and the shimano 12-25 cassette with a SRAM 11-26 to give me the widest gear range I could get. Still not sure why SHimano left the 30 tooth ring when they went to the 10-speed triple configuration, and I must admit that I haven't been in the 28 on a ride yet. Still....nice to know its there.

Summary:
Bought this bike to deal with the pain of doing long rides on a Klein aluminum/carbon frame. The Klein is an awesome bike, fast and very maneuverable, but the fatigue that one gets as you pedal past the century mark is well...painfull. I test rode a great many bikes with frames in titanium, steel, and carbon, and none felt as good as the Pilot 5.2. SO I bought one. I didn't care much for the Bonty parts that came with it since I had rapidly trashed the ones that came with the Klein (no more bonty stuff on that bike except the fork and stem - same for my pilot) so I opted for a custom spec. I've ridden about 1000 miles on it in the 2 months that I have it. I did have a bit of a painfull few weeks when I was still getting the fit right, but once dialed in the bike became a dream. I just logged my fastest 200K brevet yet and with no upper body pain at all. NONE! Amazing. I was able to sustain a much greater effort for a much longer time because of the comfort. What more to say? I can't wait for the longer rides to really put it to the test.

Strengths:
VERY comfortable especially noticable after 100 miles! versatile light weight frame.

Weaknesses:
I'm no fan of the bontrager parts package that comes with the stock model - especially their wheels and seatposts.

Price Paid:  $2699.00 at Bikeline

Model Year:
2005

Favorite Ride:
Rt 100 in PA/DE

Bike Setup:
Ultegra triple with a 12-25 cassette

Summary:
I've spent most of my ride time on a mountain bike. While I've owned road bikes off and on over the years, this was my first serious purchase of a higher end road bike. I wanted a US made carbon frame, and to keep the tab under $3K. I felt really comfortable on the more upright Pilot. Full race bikes just didn't seem to fit me as well. I ride about 70-100 miles a week. For the most part, the bike has been wonderful. I've lost a bunch of weight and really look forward to heading out on 2 hour+ rides. All that being said; there have been some growing pains. My rear hub failed after just a few weeks. Trek warranteed it, as they know they have a problem. Buyers should be aware that this is an issue. The fix is free but it is a headache. I replaced the stock seat almost immediately. The ultegra triple is a pain in the a** to keep running smoothly. If I had my choice, I go with a double. I may in fact convert the bike.

Strengths:
comfortable riding position
light and nimble
Nice frame construction

Weaknesses:
Race lite wheels tough to keep true (I'm 190-200 pounds)
Rear hub failed almost immediately
Stock seat

Similar Products Used:
Older aluminum trek
Santa Cruz Heckler and Chameleon

Price Paid:  $0.00

Model Year:
2005

Favorite Ride:
HBL Heavy Breathers

Bike Setup:
Shimano Ultegra Triple, Neuvation M28 wheels, Continental Gatorskin tires, Koobi PRS seat, Polar CS200cad

Summary:
I was riding on a 1993 Trek 1000 with an AL frame, and it was beating me up on these rough Hawaii roads. I wanted a more comfortable bike for centuries and group rides, and was not interested in the lightest/fastest/racer bike. I had settled on either the Specialized Roubaix Expert or Trek Pilot 5.2, and it was the Pilot that I got the best deal on first. Since then, I have ridden the Pilot 5.2 for 7 months and almost 2300 miles.

My first impression was amazing—there was such a massive difference from a modern carbon fiber frame and an older aluminum one. The Pilot felt very smooth and stable in comparison, just soaking up rough pavement almost like it had a limited travel suspension. It still had “road feel” and did not feel wooden, but it did absorb quite a lot of the road imperfections. The upright seating position was much more comfortable on my neck and back, and my arms were much less stretched out—I could actually bend them now. The lighter weight (relative) was VERY noticeable while accelerating, but not as obvious while climbing. The steering was more stable than my past bike, but still rather fast without being twitchy. When I stood in the pedals the bike was noticeably stiffer than my older aluminum Trek, and accelerated very quickly. The stock Bontraeger seat was frankly poor, and I replaced it with a Koobi PRS (which I like a lot). The combination makes for an easy, all-day comfortable bike. I can finish a half-century on our local group ride bouncing off of the bike feeling pretty good, while others in their ‘committed’ position bikes are limping around.

Over the last seven months of use, I got very used to the bike. With the initial ‘rosy’, new-bike stage faded, and a couple irritations cropped up. The first may very well have been my fault. I rode through a massive, break-your-bike large pothole at 22mph and did not find any damage afterwards. About a month later my rear wheel hub came loose internally and required replacement, which very well may have been due to the pothole incident. In any case, I replaced the wheels with Neuvation M28 Aero's. The second nit is the triple component group (Ultegra) which never seems to be happy with any middle chainring gear I put it into. The left STI lever often needs half-step adjustments to keep the rubbing to a minimum. Going from a double to a triple, I was not used to this, but I am told it is normal. On my next bike I will likely go for a compact double rather than a triple again.

All in all, I am very happy with the bike and would highly recommend it to anyone. I may get a stem that does not have quite as much rise, but that’s about the only mod I can think of at this time.

Strengths:
-Amazing ride quality
-All-day comfortable, no joke
-Quality CF frame from a very established company
-Compact geometry makes it easy to get fitted
-Vibration Control is not just a name; it works!
-Very strong frame, has the stiffness where it needs it
-Frame can take some punishment and not even blink

Weaknesses:
-Relatively expensive as compared to others; I got a special deal
-Stock seat was surprisingly cheap for a $3k bike
-Stock wheels did not hold true well and rear hub failed after 4 months
-Triple component group can be fussy (common problem from what I am told)

Similar Products Used:
Trek 1000