Relsek

[QUOTE=Nicktrek8.4;21578561]Also no issue fitting 29er tyres to 700c wheels, I’m still on standard Bontrager rims. Just a hint for fitting tyres tho, the crank brothers tyre tool is the nuts! Removing and fittings tyres has never been so easy! Strongly recommend!

Thanks for the list!!!
I've got a couple of those Crank Brothers levers and I definitely agree they're nicer than typical levers.
Might look for a 2.1 tire for the front since this setup will be somewhat trail-oriented.

Nicktrek8.4

[QUOTE=Relsek;21578797]i found the link to the bigger tyre I brought. I just this when doing cross country racing in slightly muddier conditions. I got the 2.2 version
https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/.../rp-prod170292

Relsek

[QUOTE=Nicktrek8.4;21579243]Interesting. I do like the idea of a bigger front tire. Good to know that one will fit.
Thanks again.

qrtzoj

I've ridden on couple gravel as well as dirt trails on my DS3 with stock tires, no issues.

shed

Was looking for a ds2 for my kid, since it works so well for other family members, but my LBS says November for when 2021s come in.

qrtzoj

Now that I've got enough posts I get to put up pictures! Just a stock 2020 DS3 in that Trek-Shrek lime green color. I added a Lezyne small frame air pump that works pretty well (once I got a handle on using Presta valves), a Zacro Gel Bike Seat Cover for my flat butt, a NDakter Bike Lock Cable, a Knog Plus Front Light, and a small frame bag. It's just enough stuff for my purposes as a casual trail rider. I've been on a few dozen rail trails and some gravel rides and it's a great bike, I love it.

Nicktrek8.4

I really like the colour! Did the kickstand come as standard? I’m looking at maybe getting a kicking. My centre centre stand is great but a little on the heavy side.

BiciMan

Really nice bike; congratulations on the purchase and your fresh posting status. Any reflectors on this bike are superfluous! Mine is 7 years old and I'm still thinking of getting a kickstand. Enjoy.

qrtzoj

Here's my kickstand story. Originally last year I was in the market for a Trek DS2 but because it was October it was getting difficult to find any in stock at any dealer or even the Trek store, but they checked around and found one in a store in Kentucky or someplace. It was packed and shipped to Lancaster but when it got here it was scratched in a few places. The Trek rep was very cool about it and offered to take money off but I was hesitant. In the end, he offered me new model DS3 for only a little more money and threw the kickstand in with the deal.

ACE91

Hola!

I currently own a '19 Trek DS 3 (stock - 700x38, 3x8) and I am looking for recommendations for upgrading this bike. I recently purchased it for relatively cheap and would like to keep the bike for the foreseeable future. I want to make it more tuned for off roading / mountain biking. I hit a local trail novice trail this weekend and I really enjoy it. I don't have room for another bike and would rather some money on my current bike since I like it's versatility on/off road.

So far into my research, I am thinking of an air suspension fork? (recs pls!) and knobbier tires? I also use it to commute on the road for less than 7 miles round trip and I plan on using it off road maybe once a week or maybe every other week (nothing technical, just for fitness and some light downhill rush). After hitting the trails this past weekend, I noticed that my tire was flat the next day so I decided that I should perhaps get wider tires? or maybe buy another wheelset just for mountain biking?

Any recs would be appreciated!!
Thanks

Nicktrek8.4

air shock definitely! I got a rockshok 30 rl gold! Brilliant shock! Choice is scarce because of the 1/1’8 head tube. 100mm travel I’ve found to be quite capable. I also had a second wheel set for mountain biking, works well but I didn’t have the storage for them, also I never brought a second set of discs so had to keep swapping the brakes which was really annoying. Now I just run Continental race kings. 29x2.0 big enough for a lot of off-roading and roll ok on road albeit noisy. My off road wheel set where made with xt hubs and DT SWISS xr331 rims, lightweight fairly strong and not to wide as the rear tyre clearance is not great ( on a 2016 DS )
The other upgrade that I have found to be brilliant when off-road (XC racing) is I change to an 1x11 drivetrain with again xt components​​​​​, The clutch in the mech and the rapid fire shifters work great! I don’t run a chain guide and have only had the chain come off when on road and jumped a speed bump. I don’t have the clutch on when riding on the road so the jump caused the chain to bounce and it came off. Lesson learned.

ACE91

hey, truly appreciate your response!

did you notice much of a difference converting to 100mm travel fork? I’m 5’8 and ride a large so I’m on the lowest end possible for the size of the frame. I’m afraid it may get even too high for me. I have no problem having a “bigger” bike for my size, would just like to know how much of an adjustment it was for you.

also, after some thought, I am looking to convert my bike to an XC rated bike rather than pure MTB and it seems like you have much experience with this so I appreciate all the info you provided.

silly question but I am new to the game, what made you change your drivetrain? Does it work well still for road commuting? (Will be using mine to roam around the city as well)

thanks!

Gangplank

Another option for the front is the Rockshox Paragon Gold. It’s travel and length is closer to the stock bike but it’s said to be a big improvement. That’s what I’m planning to get eventually. lighter & better action & control.

hokiefyd 

A 100mm fork will generally be about 37mm taller than a 63mm fork at full extension (with no weight on the bike). There will be some variance probably, but it's definitely a taller fork -- by about an inch and a half. A real quick test you can do yourself is to set the front tire of your bike on a block that's 1-2 inches thick to see if it raises the top tube enough to conflict with your inseam area. If you're already on the shorter end of your frame size, I wager it probably will.

And that's just the static change. A taller fork like that will also change the geometry of the bike. The head tube angle will slacken and mechanical trail (the distance on the ground between where the steering axis intersects the ground and your tire's contact patch) will increase. Neither of these changes are positive or negative on their own -- they factor in, together with the other attributes of the bike, to produce what you'd call the "feel" of the bike...how it rides. Just be aware that changing the fork will change the geometry and may change the way the bike feels to you. Some are probably more sensitive to it than others. Give two people the same change and one would probably say they love or hate the change and the other would say they can't feel a difference at all.

In general, most recommend keeping to the same fork size to preserve the way the bike rides and handles, especially if you're not one for experimentation. The aforementioned Paragon fork is an example of a high quality fork available in the factory size. It's designed for folks who want a nicer fork but don't want to change the bike's geometry.

travbikeman

To ACE91 and I agree with the others above. The Paragon is a great choice for these hybrid bikes and there are others that own the DS that have upgraded to this shock, just search for the images. I have set my bikes up with the Paragon and switched the Crosstrails wheels to mountain bike wheels, but image below shows the original tires since my son is using it on a mix pavement and trail at moment. My Scott bike in size large (please excuse the dirt from C&O canal) shows what the Paragon looks like on a large sized sport hybrid and I have a thinner mountain bike tire on it, think their 700x45. This bike can handle gravel, fireroads and light xc riding. If you expect it to do jumps or large rock climbing and riding, well...no.... and that's due to the geometry of these bikes. I tried, and wiping out too often kept me from trying again. As far as going to a 1x drivetrain...that really is personally preference. Can be easier to use, but it really depends if your willing to commit the money to this kind of drivetrain that "Might" not give you (depending how you ride) any benefits.

rbevansjr

I bought a 2020 DS3 in March of this year and have really gotten the riding bug since essentially not riding at all since college. I ride mostly on bike trails in and around the western/sw suburbs of Chicago. The longest rides I’ve done with the DS3 is about 28 miles. I’ve been thinking about increasing the length of some of my rides to around 40 or so miles. It got me thinking “would I enjoy these longer rides with a road bike“, something like the Domane. Would a true road bike allow me to shoot for even longer rides like 50-75 miles, especially if the rides contained some hills? For the folks on this board, is there a distance limit you have for your DS? Are the longer distances really only practical with a road bike or do folks go out on long rides with a hybrid? Are the long distances much more comfortable with a road bike? Thanks in advance.

fishman731

It depends. I switched from a road bike to a DS3 to get a more comfortable ride. The position of a drop bar bike is more aggressive and to some not as comfortable after a few miles. Take a road bike for a spin and see if you like it. You will probably get more speed on a road bike thus go farther in the same amount of time. Everybody is different so you may love the position on the bike and the extra speed. I'm old and enjoy the comfort and control the Hybrid gives me.

subgrade

Long distances are no problem at all on a DS type hybrid, given that the fit is right for you. However, bar ends (or "bar inners", i.e. bar ends positioned inboard the grips), or a handlebar that allows for multiple hand postions is a very good idea. Regarding hills, sure, a road bike is lighter and therefore better on the climbs, but if speed if no great importance, you can climb just about any hill on a hybrid too. DS type hybrids usually have lower gearing than road bikes, so that may help.

Longest ride I've done so far on my hybrid is 172km (107 miles), but I routinely do 60-100km rides; lately 60 km rides are done twice a week and I try to squeeze in at least one 100km a month.

ozzyski

So regarding some comments above, I too have a paragon gold on the bike and its a solid upgrade. Must have? Depends on the end user. I do not use the hybrid end of my bike at all, I ride 99,9% of the time on roads. My average ride is 25-40 miles depending on the time I have. I did also put on a xt drivetrain.. I had a scott addict 30 road bike which was a carbon frame and a tiagra drivetrain. Bike was super lightweight, but even in stock form, I preferred riding my ds2. Feel of the bike is the most important thing at the end of the day. Heres a pic of my ds 2 now.

linkeds2

definitely get wider tires. I off-road my 2020 DS2 and wider tires make the biggest difference.

you can 2.1 inch tires before you risk the rear tire knobs hitting the front derailleur cage in 1st gear.
I put specialized fastrak armadillo tires on my bike.

after that. A 750+mm handlebar helps with stability. A 50mm stem helps with manuevering.

only problem with this bike downhill is the super steep head angle. I’m scared af down the slightest grades

linkeds2

I would say it depends on 2 things.
- How comfortable your bike is
- how fast you can consistently ride

1st I would say that our bikes are comfortable and can be made more comfortable with a fitted saddle and ergonomic grips that’s not a problem.

the problem is how fast you can consistently ride to get 50-75 miles quicker. On a road bike you can average 18mph and pump out a 50 mile ride in 2 1/2 hours. On a dual sport the quickest I can ever get is 15mph if i push myself. So a 50 mile ride would take me 3+ hours of pushing myself

you can do those long rides but you can do them easier on a road bike

without touching weight. Getting Road tires that can handle 120 psi is probably the best rolling resistance reducer

linkeds2

I would say it depends on 2 things.
- How comfortable your bike is
- how fast you can consistently ride

1st I would say that our bikes are comfortable and can be made more comfortable with a fitted saddle and ergonomic grips that’s not a problem.

the problem is how fast you can consistently ride to get 50-75 miles quicker. On a road bike you can average 18mph and pump out a 50 mile ride in 2 1/2 hours. On a dual sport the quickest I can ever get is 15mph if i push myself. So a 50 mile ride would take me 3+ hours of pushing myself

you can do those long rides but you can do them easier on a road bike

without touching weight. Getting Road tires that can handle 120 psi is probably the best rolling resistance reducer

Durde_cecof

Same boat here. I'm in NW burbs and like to go on long rides. I mostly stick to roads, but some trails that are crushed limestone. I average around 14 mph, and get tired of all the road bikes passing me when I'm pumping as hard as I can! But I don't think my back could handle the drop down bars, so I stick to my DS3

subgrade

Look at the bright side - a DS hybrid is much more versatile than a road bike, so your rides don't have to be all on (good quality) pavement. Mine usually have 10-25% gravel/forest trails, sometimes as much as 50%. That way you have far more options when choosing a route and can go pretty much anywhere should you decide so.

Hornfan77

Has anyone been able to confirm the 2021 DS 4 actually has the Suntour NRX air suspension instead of the coil spring suspension? Trek's website for the bike states "SR Suntour NRX RL, remote lockout, preload, 100x5mm QR, 63mm travel" but there is no mention of air suspension. Suntour's website lists these two NRX models, NRX D RL DS 700 (coil spring) and NRX E RL AIR DS 700 (air spring).