Trek Belleville First Impressions
 

I just bought this:
http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes...gn/belleville/
First look:
This machine is beautiful and a lot of bike for the money. I rode mine home about 7 miles today and I love it. The drivetrain is smooth and so is the ride. I loaded the front rack with ~10 pounds to see how it felt and it was fine on the road. Rack capacities are stamped: 25 kilos rear, 9 kilos front. Trek should have used the anti-flop spring for the front rack like on the Gary Fisher Simple City(I think I can put something together here at home to remedy that). I also think they should have used the nice Pletscher dual kickstand the Simple sports(I put one on at the LBS and it is great on the Belleville).The lights are better than expected with the front actually providing some 'see the road' light and the rear staying lit well after stopping. Brakes,levers and pedals are nothing special. In keeping with the eco theme I put some led generater pedals on it and I'm thinking about inverse levers for the brakes anyway. Rims have a sticker: ETRO 622x19 6005A-T5. The frame welds look fine to me and the powder coating is really nice. 2 Eyelets front and rear, front fork rack braze ons and rear derailleur hanger make it fully customizable. I've heard the handlebar height can be adjusted but they could not see how at the dealer. One problem is the rear fender stays seem a bit too long; they are designed to be adjustable at the dropout bolts but in practice the rack mounts prevent adjusting forward. As a result the rear fender has way too much space in the back; a rock could get caught in there. I'm sure there is a solution... The seat seems comfortable so I'm going to give it a try for a few hundred miles...I think that covers it for a first glance; it's a heavy, wonderful,functional hunk of steel and if that's what you like you will love this bike.

I read you and will again. That model's captured the attention of quite a few and I look forward to reading you again in the future, very interesting indeed, thanks.

I am very curious about this bike. I wish it had been on sale in September as I just bought a new Salsa Casseroll Single for commuting in Los Angeles. I love riding my Casseroll but I am uncertain that it will handle well under the loads that I usually carry: groceries, library books, etc. And the included racks, fenders and lights make the Belleville a steal.

That front light next to the front wheel seems like an odd placement to me. Hard for anyone oncoming to your left to see it.

I've checked out that bike before on the site. Nice. I wonder what the 64" frame looks like.

The 64cm frame
 

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...ce576914e6.jpg

64cm Trek Belleville 2009

@bsurkan, nice bike. Did you notice this thread is 10 years old?

Is there a taboo to responding to old threads? I'm new and trying to find the balance between starting new threads and contributing to older ones. Is there a rule of thumb about how recent a thread needs to be to still be alive?

Nope, none at all. A mention that you realize it's a zombie thread would be helpful, as so many new members don't realize it. Perhaps talk about your bike too; we love to talk about our bikes, and your bikes, and everybody's bikes. :D

You can buy a wheel stabilizer spring! I have this on my bike. https://velo-orange.com/collections/...eel-stabilizer

@jade408 it's your turn to be suckered by a zombie thread. :D

I think it's a nice thing that you responded to the thread with a photo of your bike, especially since the original link to it on Trek's site is long gone. If anybody was searching for info on a 2009 Trek Belleville (as you may have been doing), they now have a better chance of getting an answer about it from an active member like yourself.

Welcome to bikeforums @bsurkan ...Contribute away!