Love my bike!
Written: Feb 12 '02 (Updated Apr 14 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Fairly light, great value, can upgrade to keep up with you
Cons: Sometimes hard to shift
The Bottom Line: Great starter bike. Everything is put together well, and when you start to outgrow it you can upgrade, the frame will always keep up.
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| adam728's Full Review: Trek 4900 |
This was my first real mountain bike. I used to ride em all the time, but you know they kind when you were a kid, the $80 Kmart specials that fall apart after about 50 miles. Soon I got taken up in the motocross and BMX lifestyles, and forgot all about mountain bikes.
After rooming with a kid in college whose life seemed 90% dedicated to mountain biking (we'll just not mention what the other 10% was, ok?) I decided it was time to get one, since my old Schwinn High Plains was not cutting it. So off to the bike shop that my mountian-bike crazy friend works at, check book in hand. I walked out the door with a $540 piece of aluminum, chromoly, steel, plastic, and rubber. I still couldn't be happier :).
This bike is great, it's performance is on the level of bikes costing a few hundred dollars more, and if you want better, just upgrade away. The frame is the best component on it, so unless you want a full-suspension bike you'll never need to upgrade it.
I could go on and on all day about all the great things about this bike, but instead I'll list the bad things and let you figure the rest out.
Sometimes have trouble shifting. The bike doesn't like staying in the extreme gears, only in the middle. A quite adjustment and everything is perfect, for about another 4 or 5 hours of riding. It doesn't bother me, as it takes only a minute or two to adjust, but it is a flaw.
Also the tires are not the best. They seem to be designed to work well everywhere, which means they don't work to great anywhere. I notice in looser soil it washes out much easier than my friend's 2000 year Trek 6500, which is almost an identical bike (same frame exactly). Someday I will change them, but for now it doesn't bother me that badly.
There is also the lack of clipless pedals. I never liked em, so I stuck with the stock platform pedals. Now I am starting to see where they can come in real handy in rough and technical sections. Seems I spend half my time trying to get my feet back on the pedals while careening out of control. This spring I am going to purchase a good set of clipless pedals to fix this though.
Some people complain that the seat is very uncomfortable, but I have gone on 30+ mile road rides and it felt fine to me. Again I don't have a ton of experience, so maybe it is bad compared to what is available, but it doesn't bother me so I am sticking with it.
Other than that this bike is perfect right off the shelf. The components are quality, and I think the bike looks like a million bucks. Many of my friends think I upgraded everything on it due to the Bonterager components like bars, seat post, and wheels. They look very nice with the black finish and laser engraved name. They are light and strong as well.
APRIL 14th- UPDATE
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I now know why people complain about the seat on this bike. Yesterday was my first ride of the year, only went 8 miles. I don't know if my butt changed shape over winter or what, but that thing killed me! I rode the last 2 miles standing cause I couldn't take it anymore. Next payday I am buying a new seat so I can survive those longer rides.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
adam728
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 - Top 1000 |
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Location: Tucson, Arizona
Reviews written: 68
Trusted by: 7 members
About Me:
27 yr old engineer at a fuel system company.
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