Feedback on Trek Speed Concept
Hello Team,
I have an opportunity with LBS to get a Trek Speed Concept essentially at their cost. So I am wondering what people's experiences have been, both good and bad, with that bike.
- What do you like about it?
- What do you dislike about it?
- What would you do differently?
Thanks in advance,
Joe
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Comments
What I like: ride quality, fit, aerodynamics, looks, even price (had a Pinarello), integrated for long course tri w/ rear box and hard case Bento type box.
Dislikes: Having to adjust brakes each time I want to race. I do this on my own and takes maybe 15 minutes tops. Learned it myself after LBS started charging me to swap race wheels. That's about it.
What I'd do differently: Really, nothing.
Ask Bill Wiseman also as he just got one this year and is a fellow EN'er.
I had a Pinarello Montello FP8 which rode like a brick and only got me to 76-77 degrees even w/ forward seat post. Very disappointing bike for the price but looked great.
I had Todd Kenyon fit me on both bikes and the side by side comparison is impressive. Trek has me forward and my head down despite about same drop. I also set a PR at CMS 10 mile TT last month which was track M45-49 AG record and was not in very good shape. Went 20:45 @ only 304 watts and prior PR on Pinarello was 20:52 @ 343 watts. That is all aero fit as it was on same wheels, skinsuit, etc.
Good luck. Jeff
I want that bike so bad! I even gifted my wife some jewelry from Tiffany's to top off the SAU bank with this bike in mind (which she is aware of). If you get it, let us know how it is. It's a lot of money to spend on a bike
, but it's a bad motor scooter. I even already built my custom bike on their website which you can view here. I'm hoping I can afford to buy it this winter.
- They are almost always harder to work on. Simply things like re-cabling or taking apart for travel can be a pain
- Routine adjustments (i.e. brakes) can be a pain
- Typcially most parts are custom and therefore if you need a spare or replacement part it has to come from a trek dealer
- limited extension and stem options
As long as you are comfortable with those drawbacks then it is an awesome bike as it has some great features and can carry all the stuff a long course athlete needs.
I turned down a Ridley Dean at an amazing price and instead went with a Dean RS this year as I didn't want to have to cut the seat mast and have a brake under the chain stay by the chainring. Sure I got a slighly less aero bike but maintanance, travel, and resale will all be much better.
http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/road/triathlon/speed_concept_9_series/speed_concept_9_5_wsd/#
I would recommend it at retail, or close to it, so DEFINITELY get it if you get a deal !
FWIW, just set a PR in time trial at Lowes Motor Speedway, by ALOT, at almost 20 less watts...
@Matt - I especially appreciate you pointing out some of the disadvantages of this bike
@Matt & Jeff - how difficult is it to adjust the rear brakes? Do you have to take off pieces and parts just to get your wheel on and off? It seems that would make fixing a flat a difficult proposition on the race course.....
Thanks,
Joe
I have never adjusted the brakes so I'm not the one to comment on that. I haven't actually wrenched on a SC, only riden them and closely examined them a few times. However to your fixing a flat issue if you run 20 or 21mm tires with narrow rims or run wide rims (i.e. Firecrest, Hed Jet, Hed Stinger, etc.) then this is not an issue as the tire profile is the same or smaller than the brake track therefore allowing you to remove wheels with the pads in place.
The the trick is to remove and reinstall the wheel with the tire empty and put the air in with the wheel on.
IMO, the only drawback to the SC is how finicky setup, maintenance and wrenching can be. Otherwise, it's awesomely engineered and very triathlete user friendly. I pretty much put my SC together. Thankfully, the cabling was run so I didn't have to do that. I have wrenched every other part of the bike though -- and the brakes and cockpit area are by far the most difficult aspect of this bike. The front brakes aren't that bad as you can do much of the adjusting through the centering screws. The rear brakes require more work and creativity depending on what wheels you use. I run Hed Jet C2 wheels and I had to actually remove spacers from the inside of the brake pads to get everything to fit and work properly. There was a lot of trial and (mostly) error until I figured that out. Once I had it setup, I was fine. Wheels will just come on and off easily. My only issue is the downward rear dropout that makes wheel swaps a pain in the ass because the RD is in the way. I like how Felt has the track-style rear dropout. So much easier.
The cockpit area is like peeling an onion. There's three layers of bolts and parts in the headset area to possibly remove depending on what part you want to work on. I thought I had everything tightened up before I realized there was a steerer bolt down there somewhere that was loose. The aerobar assembly is rather straight forward.
Become intimately familar with this: http://www.trekbikes.com/pdf/2011/s...Manual.pdf
One of the biggest pains is getting this bike to sit properly on your trainer. Odds are the mount cups are going to hit your frame. I had to MacGuyver my way around that. It initially involved a lot of swearing and feelings of hopelessness. The solution is rubber washers. Let me know when you get your bike and I'll show you what I did.