vignesh_ce

Thanks good4u.

1. Helmet - I have one;
2. I got two water bottles carriers and water bottles - thanks
3. I have old pump and I think it will fit in.
4. Since I will ride it within the city limits and roads are fairly "ok", I never had a flat tyre in the past 5 years of my old cycle. I think it is not required at the moment.
5. I have old allen keys.

I did not buy the gel seat as the storekeeper suggested a bike shorts instead and I got one. But for shorter ride ( less than 2 km), do I need any bike short/gel seat? or is the stock saddle is fine?

good4u

I think any saddle and any shorts/pants are OK at that distance. Go for it.

fixie2work1

fixie2work1

I have a late model Trek DS 3 17" but would like to find out if there is a "Suspension Corrected" Carbon Fork I can use. Like to lighten the bike up a bit and use wider tires for comfort
Thanks

hokiefyd 

Look in the last few pages of the Specialized Crosstrail thread. I think there's a good example of a carbon fork in that thread.

BiciMan

For less than 2 km, you may not need a seat of any kind, although I would have advised a comfortable saddle over bike shorts for even full 2 km-rides. I still have the stock saddle on my 2013, although I did just order a Serfas RR-RX to try it out. Congrats and enjoy your new DS regardless! BTW, my 2013 8.5 has the 3 rings up front, and I would miss the third one with the DS4.

BiciMan

I don't know what "suspension-corrected" means, but I'd love to reduce the weight of mine as well. I do recall someone here converting their DS to a fixed-fork, less-DS bike. I still want some suspension fork on mine for the flexible utility this affords. As for tires, I replaced my original knobbier ones with a set of 45mm Schwalbe Marathon Plus a couple of years ago. Bigger and lower pressure are better for comfort, although bigger generally means heavier as well.

hokiefyd 

This generally refers to a rigid fork with abnormally long tubes, so as to be the same length as the suspension fork at full length. Installing a standard fork in place of a suspension fork will lower the front end of the bike by a few inches, and negatively impact the geometry. A suspension-corrected fork is longer than most forks, and maintains the frame geometry when replacing a suspension fork.

And in the case of Schwalbe Marathon tires in particular, and tires with flat protection in general, more (flat guard) material also means more weight, in addition to the larger size. Marathons are about as heavy as tires get when comparing like sizes, though the obvious benefit in return for that penalty is the flat protection they offer. For example, your Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires in 45mm are 1,100 grams each. My Schwalbe Hurricane tires, in 50mm (also labeled 29x2") are 725 grams each. Larger tires at a lighter weight. Of course, they don't offer the flat protection of the Marathon Plus tires. Tradeoffs.

LesG

After lurking for several months I joined this forum a few days ago and posted in the introductory section then. I ended up buying a DS3 and wanted to post how and why I came to make that choice... which I'll probably post later today or tomorrow when I have more time. Before that I wanted to get a few boring things out of the way as a backdrop to that post. I had been out of bicycling for many years but several things came together to bring me back in. First, I've got one problem knee (1.5 mm of cartilage after surgery years ago when there should be around 5mm). The Dr. suggested I do physical therapy to build muscle to help support the knee and stave of knee replacement. Although I'm very active and do some light exercising, structured exercising bores me to death so I don't stick with it and physical therapy would be no different. We vacationed out west this year (most of June) and so before going I wanted a cortisone injection in that knee for the day hikes I knew we would do. That trip ended at the Grand Canyon where we rented bikes and spent most of the day riding around the rim. That brought back great biking memories from long ago and I thoroughly enjoyed that bike ride (not just the spectacular views and there were a lot of those!). Anyway, decided biking had all the ingredients I wanted: great low impact leg exercise for my knee, great cardio exercise and to keep me doing it, it is just plain fun.

Here it is several months after the purchase of the DS3 (actually we now have 2 as my wife bought one). Over the past few months I've worked up to doing 15 mile rides, 3 or 4 days a week and throw in an occasional 20 mile with an average speed of around 11 mph. Not as long or as fast as many but, at 69 yrs. I'm happy with that because here in N. KY I've got a lot of long steep hills to deal with. On the plus side to all those hills, when we ride nearby (40 min. car ride) rails and trails in southern Ohio, those seem like the proverbial walk in a park because they're so flat. That and those hills really help with my goal of building leg muscle.

So that's the backdrop for my near future post which will have my 2C worth opinion of the DS3 and why I bought a hybrid and why that particular hybrid. Before that post, I'll say this now, nothing is perfect in this world and nothing is the best in this world but for me the DS3, after some changes I made to it, for me (emphasis "for me"), it worked out to be the best choice.

Also I tried to post this same thread but for some reason it didn't make it. So if a similar post to what I said above shows up from me here, I apologize.

hokiefyd 

Welcome to the forum! It's great to hear your story. Trek DS bikes are terrific bikes!

LesG

Thanks for the welcome hokiefyd. That was a shortened version of the how and why I got back into biking. As it turned out I'm glad the first attempt at posting didn't make it. I tend to get diarrhea of the mouth and my second attempt didn't have that or, at least, not as bad. Having said that, my 2C below is going to be long.

When we got back from vacation the hunt was on for a bicycle. Not having ridden in years it's overwhelming all that's out there. Immediately I ruled out road bikes. For one I wanted a more upright riding position but not comfort or dutch bike like. That pretty much took my research to hybrids. After hours and hours and then more hours of research I finally boiled it down to 3 bikes. In order of interest (at the time) one of the Cannondale CX models was at the top of the list, one of the Trek DS models came in 2nd, and a distant 3rd was one of the Trek FX models. All being wonderful bikes. I wish I could have had more time riding all of them before buying but brief rides in a parking lot was all I got. In the end the DS3 was my choice. It simply felt better than the others during those brief parking lot rides. With all of them I knew there were changes I wanted to make to make them even better for me.

So here it is a little over 600 miles later and I feel like I can give everyone a more informed 2C opinion about the DS3. I know everyone is different and what works for one person may not work for another so please keep that in mind when reading this. What I liked from the get go, hydraulic brakes. Even though it adds weight, I like the front suspension. The derailleurs, according to most, are pretty good but not the best but for me they shift smoothly and I'm still waiting for them to miss a shift (and with all these hills around here I shift a lot). I like that the rear brake and shifter lines run through the frame. It just makes a cleaner appearance. The tires are decent and a good compromise for road and gravel/dirt and the 700C size I think helps with rolling along a bit faster. What I didn't like: my first thought in the parking lot ride was, come on Trek, this is a hybrid, what's with the stem making that handle bar 1/2 mile away from me and why so low. OK, a slight exaggeration there. I simply wanted the stem maybe 10 mm shorter and a bit higher than the 7 degree rise it comes with. The pedals were OK but would have preferred something with slightly more "bite" to them. Finally the stock seat really sucks. All the negatives (negatives for me) were/are easily changed.

The brakes first. First time I ever rode a bike with hydraulic brakes. I won't go back. My only problem with them was at first they really squeaked a lot and loudly. I read somewhere to get the bike up to speed and slam on the brakes about a dozen times. Tried that and yep, problem solved. I've also read these are entry level brakes and not for, say, flying down a mountain side. I don't do that so they work great for me and the type of riding I do. Nice smooth one finger stopping power too. One minor complaint is Trek's website said (and still does) the brakes are Shimano MT 200 hydraulics. They're not but are Tektro's... same on my wife's DS3 which we bought a month or 6 weeks later.

The front suspension fork: just about every write up I read about hybrids said don't get that fork on your hybrid. The reasoning is they simply add weight, are lower end and offer little travel. Now that I've had them a while, I beg to differ. They may be lower end but for the type of riding I do, they're great. Sometimes I'm on uneven pavement, sometimes on packed gravel that's uneven, sometimes I simply want a smoother ride. And again, I'm not riding on rough dirt paths so longer travel means nothing to me. That 63 mm of travel really smooths things out. I have the tension set about 1/2 way. Having said all that, most of the time I have that suspension in the off position but nice to know it's there if I want it.

Derailleurs: my most used gear combinations are 3 on the front and 5, 6 or 7 on the rear. On a steep climb I'll go to a 2 on the front and a 5 or 6 on the rear, sometimes a 4. The shifting on this bike has been 100% reliable. I did tweak it a bit.

Tires: a good trade off for pavement or dirt. The range of inflation on the tire says 50 to 80 PSI. I keep the front at 60 and the rear at 65. When these wear out I'll probably replace them with Schwalbe Marathon Plus or Plus Tour.

Stem and Handlebars: like the handlebars, hated the stock stem. I wanted it a bit higher and a little closer in. Problem was I didn't know how much of each I wanted. So I ordered and installed a Ritchey 4 axis adjustable stem. The idea was to use it to figure out how high to go and then later get a solid one piece stem to match that. As it turns out I'm keeping the Ritchey. This is not your typical flimsy one screw adjustable stem. It's as close as you're going to get to a solid one piece stem and built like a tank and performs like a solid one piece. Two screws and lots of teeth for the adjusting part of it. The down side is adjusting it is not as simple as loosening one screw. You have to loosen all 4 screws and basically re-install the stem to adjust its height. The reward is a rock solid stem.

Pedals: stock ones were Ok but I wanted a wee bit more "bite" on my shoes. I installed Shimano PD-XM80 pedals. These come with a spacer installed on the studs which I left on. I didn't need the extra bite of a longer stud without the spacer... I just wanted a bit more bite than the stock pedals gave me. I like the Shimano pedals and as a sort of added bonus they're silver and black colors matches the silver color of my bike.

The Saddle/Seat: First off, the word comfortable and bicycle saddle shouldn't be used in the same sentence! Comfortable seating means my couch, my lazy boy, my car. With bike saddles it's more like finding what works best for you and is the least uncomfortable. The stock Trek saddle, for me, was horrible no matter how I adjusted it, lower nose, higher nose, more forward and so on. So I tried one of the ISM saddles and knew the first ride that wasn't for me. Then I tried one of the Selle gel ones. Not bad and a fairly comfortable saddle (there I go using comfortable and saddle in the same sentence). My biggest gripe and the reason I sent it back was I felt like I was riding on jello and "squishing" around while I rode. So I went back to my childhood when just about all bikes came with a leather saddle. I got a Brooks B17s. Yep, the ladies version with a shorter nose but slightly wider seat. The first couple of hundred miles was like seating on a hard flat rock but I knew it would break in eventually or at least I sure hoped it would. It did and it turned out to be about as comfortable as a bike saddle is going to get. Rode it on a 30 mile ride a few weeks ago without any kind of gel shorts/underwear and my butt was just fine thank you.

I tried attaching a couple of photos but apparently I need 10 posts before I can do that. So maybe a little later the photos will happen.

hokiefyd 

I'm with you on many accounts. I resisted disc brakes in general for the longest time. This past spring, we flew across the country to visit my parents and did a lot of bike riding. His bikes are the first bikes I rode with disc brakes at all, both of them being hydraulic in design (and one of them being a 2015 Trek 8.4 DS). I was an instant believer in hydraulic brakes. Compared with all of my other bikes with rim brakes (including road calipers, old school center pull calipers, center pull cantilevers, and V-brake/linear pull), the hydraulic discs were just at a completely different level. I needed hydraulic disc brakes like I need more horsepower in my car. Not necessary, but quite enjoyable to use. About a month after we got home from that trip, I bought a Giant Roam (it's Giant's equivalent of Trek's DS).

It is interesting to know that Trek is fitting Tektro brakes. They're probably something like the HD-M275 or HD-M285...which are good entry-level hydraulic brakes, about the same as the Shimano MT-200 or M315 brakes. Both of my dad's bikes have the Tekros and my Roam has the Shimano M315s. To me, they work about the same.

The topic of suspension forks in the hybrid forum is almost religious. Many either like them or they don't, and it's a topic that I usually don't participate in any more. I own bikes with both types (suspension and rigid) and I like each type of fork for different reasons. Each has pros and cons; I leave it at that. My Roam has pretty much the exact same Suntour NEX 63mm fork that your DS has. Yeah, it's heavier than a rigid fork. Yeah, it offers more comfort than a rigid fork. We each make our own choices in that regard.

For even more comfort, I've swapped the original 700x38 tires on my Roam to 29x2" Schwalbe Hurricanes. With the wider footprint and the side knobs, the bike seems much more planted on the loose surfaces on which I often find myself (gravel, dirt, etc).

Welcome to the board and thanks for your review.

LesG

I'll take your advice and tread lightly when talking about the suspension forks on many of the hybrids. Because of all negatives I had read in my research that was one of the reasons the Trek FX (among others) was on my list... doesn't have one.

As for the tires it looks like I'll get around 1000 or 1200 miles on the stock ones. I mentioned the Schwalbe Marathon Plus and Plus Tour ones (leaning toward the Plus Tour) as a replacement when the time comes due to puncture resistance. Yeah, I know, they're heavier, probably have more rolling resistance and maybe a bit harder to install due to the wire bead. A near incident a week or so ago brought those tires to mind. My usual exercise routes are pretty clean with little debris, that and I look ahead to avoid, as much as possible, what little there is. However, I had to cross a busy 4 lane the other day in order to get to a short section of very wide multi use type sidewalk (no bike lane on the road). So I scampered across and made the left turn onto the sidewalk and there it was, a bunch of glass from a broken beer bottle and I couldn't avoid it. Fortunately nothing happened and even if it did, I was only a about 400 yards from home. I carry a spare tube, a patch kit, C02 and a pump but that incident got me to thinking (dangerous when I think). Man, the last thing I want to do on a hot 90 degree humid day when I'm sweaty is work on a tire... or a 35 degree day for that matter. At the cost of weight and probably rolling resistance, the Schwalbe with their puncture resistance seem like one way to go. New tires are ways off so I'm still thinking about what the replacements will be but puncture resistance is in the equation. I'll keep your Hurricanes in mind. The current tires on the DS3 are 700 X 38 and I think the Plus Tour ones closest to that come in either 35 or 40 width. I'd go with the wider 40 width if I end up with those.

When we bought my wife's DS3 several weeks after mine, I mentioned to the Trek bike store guy about the Trek specs saying Shimano for the brakes but that they are really Tektros. His reply was (paraphrasing) "rather than shutdown production for lack of parts, they'll substitute an available equivalent part." True or not, I'm perfectly happy with the Tektros for the type of biking I do.

hokiefyd 

Having literally used both, I can't tell any functional difference between the Shimano and the Tektro brakes. They even use the same brake pad spec (the Shimano pads are 100% physically interchangeable with the Tektro pads). All Schwalbe tires are pretty durable in my experience, but the ones with more flat protection would certainly offer more...protection. One reason I chose the Hurricane is because they don't have the reflective stripe that most of the rest of Schwalbe's tires do. I like the larger block lettering they have, styled more like their mountain bike tires. I guess the Hurricane technically is from their MTB line, even though the tread is pretty smooth on it, with a 100% solid center section. Their casings are pretty thin, which is great for ride quality. If you prefer more of a "stout" tire, either in feel or function, then something from the Marathon line will likely suit you. Schwalbe tires are generally pretty true to size, so even a 38mm Schwalbe will likely be physically larger than your 38mm Bontrager, even if only by a few millimeters.

LesG

New tires are a ways off, probably late Spring or early Summer. I have done some, but not much, research about what I want. The Marathon Plus ones just sort of jumped out at me after my broken beer bottle incident, that and another biker on a Rails and Trails who had his bike upside down fixing a flat also added to my concern. I stopped to see if he had everything he needed for the repair, he did. He told me this was his second flat of the day, one for the front and one for the rear and he had just used his last spare tube. These particular trails are pretty much debris free so I don't know why two flats in the same day... pinched tubes, bad tubes, burr in the rim, just bad luck or ???

Thanks for the info about the Shimano and Tektro using the exact same pads. I don't need them yet but am thinking about ordering a pair just to have on hand for when I do. I've looked at the Shimano and Tektro pads online and thought they looked an awful lot alike but didn't know they are exactly the same. I did order a Tektro bleed kit and Tektro brake fluid (mineral oil) about the same time I bought the bike. I figured if anything at all might be needed with the bike's brand new brakes, it would probably be a bleed kit. I haven't needed the bleed kit but then I'm a "rather have it and not need it then to need it and not have it" kind of guy.

After not being around bikes for 20 or 25 years I've forgotten most of what I did know (which wasn't a whole lot to start with). Between lurking for the last several months and now joining the forum, I've gained a lot of valuable info that I didn't know at all or had simply forgotten. Thanks to everyone for that.

LesG

I said I'd post a couple of photos when I could so here they are. The first one was taken a month or so ago in the back yard. The second one a few days ago during one of my exercise / fitness rides. I did reduce the file sizes for posting, hope I didn't go too small.

hokiefyd 

It looks great!

(I, too, often carry a Gatorade with me on a ride!)

LesG

That second image was taken a few days ago on a cool mid/upper 50 degree day so only needed one Gatorade. On hot days I usually carry one water and one Gatorade in insulated 20 oz stainless Hydro Flask. Keeps things cold for 4 to 6 hours. Use the water not only to drink but pour a small amount on my wrists to help cool down... sometimes my neck too if I'm really hot. This is about the midway point of my 15 mile exercise / fitness rides and usually where I take 5 and then move on. Believe it or not, you might think I'm out in the country from the picture but that picture was taken in a large subdivision (500 or 600 houses) near where I live and is at the trailhead of a small county maintained park (100 acres or so). It only has about a mile of mostly wooded trails (out and back type) that end up at a creek... and usually no one or no more than a handful of people on them.

I try to keep things simple on the handlebar with about the only extra thing added being a phone mount and a bar end mirror. The smartphone serves as my computer with a bike type exercise app installed (distance, mph, calories burned, map, etc, etc.). You can't see the phone because, well, I'm taking a picture with it. I do keep a quick mount in the saddlebag to hold a 1000 lumen small led flashlight should I need it for use as a headlight.

LesG

My fromt suspension is most often in the off position but I've never had a suspension anything before so a question for you all about it. Have any of you adjusted the tension? I don't know if there's a "rule" about what it should be or do you just go by what feels good? I weigh 185 lbs. figuring if it "bottomed out" that wouldn't be a good thing (that's as much a question as it is a statement). So I figure rider weight would have something to do with the amount of tension to set it at. I set it 2/3 of the way to maximum. That was OK but after a few rides on uneven pavement and / or not so smooth gravel, I backed that off a bit to around 1/2 way. The only "for sure" thing I can say is that, with the suspension on, it rides a whole lot softer in the least tension amount compared to the most tension. As far as the "pogo stick" effect, I didn't notice that no matter where I set it.

subgrade

Do you actually feel any difference in how it rides from tweaking the preload adjuster? I have set mine all the way to the max, and didn't feel much difference if any. It makes sense too - preload doesn't change the stiffness of the coil spring, just adds initial tension - which decreases sag, i.e. the amount by which the coil is compressed from rider's weight. There should be difference in fork travel under same road/speed conditions, depending on preload setting, but I'd say the softer/harder ride seems rather imaginary.

LesG

I can feel a difference, particularly so when I set it at the two extremes, in other words when the screw is turned all the way to the left compared to all the way to the right. In between those extremes, depending on where the screw is set, a lesser amount as far as smoothing the road out. At the tightest possible setting (least amount of travel) I start to get a "pogo stick" effect. That started me looking for the Goldilocks setting, not too stiff along with the pogo stick effect and not too little where it bottoms out. I believe the term Sag fits here. I don't want to compare the low end, entry level front suspension on the DS3 to a higher end suspension on, say, a nice mountain bike but I'm thinking the "how to set the suspension" on the DS3 might be a similar process. From what I've read the rule of thumb there says the travel should be 20% of the total when you get on the bike. Since the DS3 has 63 mm of total travel, that would translate to 12 or 13 mm. However, most, if not all of us, aren't barreling down a rough mountain trail on our DS3 so I'm thinking more travel when you get on the bike is just fine but not so much that it would ever bottom out. Anyway, that 12 or 13 mm (20%) of travel happened for me when I had turned the screw 2/3 of the way to the right. Problem was at that 2/3 setting I was getting a slight "pogo stick" effect or perhaps describe it as a bouncy effect which started to happen as the suspension rebounded upward. That's not to say the front end was bouncing off the pavement / path, it wasn't. While that 2/3 setting was ok as far as smoothing out the road / path, I did dial it back to the 1/2 way point.. That, for me anyway, has turned out to be the Goldilocks setting. At that setting it smooths out the bumps and, I think because the rebound was slower due to less tension, the "pogo stick" effect is not noticed. I'm also not so concerned about it ever bottoming out.

I was mainly wondering how other DS owners were setting their's and if they were using some sort of criteria to set it or simply just going by feel. 90% of the time I don't use the suspension but I certainly like being able to reach down and turn it on when I want it.

hokiefyd 

Giant Roam owner here, but it has the same fork as the Trek DS. I have mine set just the way you do yours -- mine's set at about 30-40% sag at rest. I like the suspension action of the fork and I prefer the lower preload setting to give a softer ride. It has a lockout, so I keep it locked when I want that (on mostly smooth road), and I unlock the fork when on gravel or rougher road. It makes a difference for me, and I like the choice of "soft fork" or "locked fork".

LesG

Yeah, I do feel a difference at the two extremes of the settings. Having said that, when I was messing with the various settings of the fork, at the same time I was breaking in a new Brooks B17 saddle. When new the B17 was like riding on a not so comfortable smooth but very hard rock. That may have had something to do with me feeling more of a difference with where I had the suspension set. Much softer with the screw set all the way counterclockwise compared to all the way clockwise. I did notice a slight "pogo" effect all the way clockwise, not bad but it was there. Now that I've got 300 or 400 miles on the Brooks, it is a whole different critter and as comfortable as a saddle is going to get (for me anyway).

tlang

tlang