slammer66

Since I started this bikers have been breezing by me like I'm parked, I've just gotten used to it no matter what bike I'm on. I did pass a granny once.

slammer66

Here is my 2021 DS1 on her maiden voyage of 25 miles in suburban Birmingham

travbikeman

I just online chatted with Trek and found this is coil. I had previously thought it was air from what I looked up, but it's not.

Rather disappointing for a bike that costs $1150.

Hornfan77

That is unfortunate. It seems that most people looking for an improved suspension on their Dual Sports have installed the Rockshox Paragon Gold RL fork. Are there other options? Has anyone installed the Rockshox Judy? Or is the Rockshox Paragon Gold RL the best bet?

travbikeman

The Judy is a mountain bike suspension. That potentially will ruin the geometry of the Dual Sport.

I and others like the Paragon. Scroll up and you will see several bikes with this upgrade.

Other options could be:

SR Suntour NRX-D Air - This is both a coil and air hybrid type of suspension.

SR Suntour NRX-E Air - Pure air like the Paragon and cost is close to the Paragon.

Both of the above Suntour's are used on Canyon Pathlite series Hybrid bikes if your curious as to what they look like on a bike.

Hornfan77

Thank you for the information!

Eezmob1374

I ride my stock 2019 88 miles last year from Philadelphia to Atlantic City New Jersey not a single issue. All the more expensive bikes I passed broke down on the road and a lot of flats. I did the ride in about 7 hours

ozzyski

just because your 100% comfortable doesn’t mean everyone else will be. I got 700mm bars and the best thing I did is leave my steerer 1/2” taller than oem. My general ride is about 40 miles. Can’t say I’ve ever seen more expensive bikes broken down. As for flats, I’ve seen all bikes get them along with mine 2018 ds 2

Durde_cecof

I too had to raise my bars a bit and it’s been so much better since. Not a fan of the look, but my back sure does thank me! Longest I’ve gone is 50 miles, I’d love to get up to 75 this season. I just don’t fuel myself properly for such a long ride. The bike does just fine!

fry45

Your back is a million times more important than the 'look'.....The older u will immensely thank u ...good for u taking the correct steps.

The Snowman

Since most of my rides are road or paved rail trail, I ended up going with 28mm Rubino road tires on my '18 DS3. The rolling resistance alone was worth it to me. I went from 15mph averages on the 38mm knobbies to 17mph+ with the same efforts on the skinnier road tires.

I also changed the ergonomics of the bike, since I have compressed cervical vertebrae. I bought 50mm riser bars, cut down from 800mm to 650mm and a shorter, higher stem. Lastly, I bought a Brooks Imperial Flyer (now called the Flyer Carved) and I can go all day now.

slammer66

I just ordered a riser for the bar, I have long legs relative to a short upper torso and arms so for me the "standard" ergonomics never fit.

Gangplank

I’ve been thinking about doing some “ergonomic” changes to the bike.

Actually I’m considering a rigid carbon fork & stem, swept back bars, fatter tires, new rear wheel w/ 3 speed internal hub, single gear up front, and a wider seat with swept back seat post.

Consider it a Cruiser build. Lol

or just trade it in on a light weight cruiser but the lightest I can find is 30 lbs. the DS-Cruiser would be sub 26 I bet... hmmm

Turtleneck

LOOOONG time lurker here. Just picked up a 2021 DS4. Love it so far. Am using it to commute to work. Which brings me here, can anyone recommend a set of full coverage fenders that will work particularly with the front fork?

My local Trek shop tried installing a set of Bontrager NCS and while they are wide enough, the front fender doesn't mount very well since the mounting point on the fork is further away than the NCS front fender mounting point allows for. They tried rigging something up where they created a spacer to put in between the fork screw hole and the mounting tab of the front fork (hope that makes sense) to make up the gap but once you hit a few big bumps, it goes all out of alignment.

I've looked at SKS, Velo's, but I'm worried they would all have the same issue.

Gotta love how the Trek site claims the DS is easy to accessorize like adding fenders - yet they don't state which ones are compatible!

Jaybert

Finally replacing my 20 year old Norco MTB and boy are bikes hard to find right now here in Canada. Most are saying April for stock Of any brand and can’t even say that for sure. Local Trek dealer had a limited number of DS coming in about 3 weeks. So I jumped on a DS 3 large in the grey colour. Man it looks sweet in the pictures and an upgrade has been so long coming I can’t wait. Hoping to be far more comfortable and efficient on rail trail rides, light off road, streets etc.

This has probably been covered but what are some “must have” upgrades or add ons I need to look at for rail trail rides etc. I have been so long out of the loop on new bikes and equipment it’s hard to know where to start. My researching led me to this forum so any info is appreciated. I really want to set this up to be comfortable, safe and prepared as I get more serious again about cycling. Thanks!

fords4life

New to riding. Picked up a 2020 DS1 as a starter bike. Never though I'd love it as much as I do. Going to work on cleaning up and getting my Dad's 1984 Raleigh Prestige back on the road for a road bike.

Brian44t

New Bike Day! Yesterday actually. I bought a 2021 Trek Dual Sport 2 in Gun Metal color. I bought this to use as my new daily rider fitness bike. The riding I am doing is mostly on paved trails that are very rough mixed in with some side walks end residential streets. I had been using a 2005 Trek 7500 FX for this but the roughness of the riding surfaces had been beating me up as well as breaking spokes and bending wheels as the 7500 FX has 32mm slick tires. The new bike has 40mm treaded tires and decent front suspension.

linkeds2

When I got the itch to trail ride my DS2, the stock tires wouldn’t cut it for hitting bumps and grip.

I was able to fit specialized fast trak armadillo 29x2.1” tires on my bike. But I think depending on what tire you go with, 2.0-2.1 inch tires is the max before you run against the front derailleur/chain stay.

mother things like a wider handlebar and shorter stem helped a bi with maneuvering. But the tires were the biggest bang for the buck for me.

Race face Chester pedals are a close 2nd for me. They grab my shoes much better

linkeds2

When I got the itch to trail ride my DS2, the stock tires wouldn’t cut it for hitting bumps and grip.

I was able to fit specialized fast trak armadillo 29x2.1” tires on my bike. But I think depending on what tire you go with, 2.0-2.1 inch tires is the max before you run against the front derailleur/chain stay.

mother things like a wider handlebar and shorter stem helped a bi with maneuvering. But the tires were the biggest bang for the buck for me.

Race face Chester pedals are a close 2nd for me. They grab my shoes much better

DougG

I'm thinking of replacing my '13 Crosstrail and since Specialized no longer has that model, I've been looking closely at the '21 DS 4, which is not in stock yet around here. One of my questions is how well the gearing on that 1x setup works. Any comments from those who have one? It does not have quite as max low a ratio as my CT with its 2x10 gearing, but it's close. Top end is not as big a deal since I use mine almost exclusively for casual riding on paved and unpaved rail-trails. I have other bikes if I'm looking for speed.

Hornfan77

For those that upgraded to the Rockshox Paragon Gold, did you also purchase the remote lockout kit? What remote kit was it? My LBS installed the Paragon Gold RL on my DS 4 but apparently it's not compatible with the Suntour remote lockout kit.

Hornfan77

Here's my 2021 DS 4 with the Rockshox Paragon Gold fork.

travbikeman

Nice Bike Hornfan77. I believe this is the remote upgrade for the Paragon:

RockShox Paragon Remote Upgrade

I didn't buy this for either of my bikes that I upgraded to the Paragon. Didn't feel that the slight ease of use was worth the amount of money to upgrade.

Hornfan77

Thanks for the link! I had been looking at the Rockshox catalog trying to figure out if the remote upgrade kit was the oneloc or turnkey version. I think I'll hold off on ordering the remote upgrade kit to see if it's really necessary. I am pleased to see an improvement of the ride with the paragon gold air spring compared to the original suntour coil spring.

Rubert Pupkin

Hornfan, is that the 65mm version? I'm considering getting this for my DS 3. Thanks in advance!