Trek Checkpoint SL: Is there a way to reduce flex in the isospeed decoupler?
11-08-18, 02:14 PM
#26
Chases Dogs for Sport
Thread Starter
That was never an issue. No deposit, no commitment, before or after he placed the frameset/components order. Granted that it's impossible to give a decent test ride to a gravel bike in the city, but once they built up the frameset, I bought the bike and I cannot turn back time.
After nearly 400 miles on the bike, I asked him if there was a way to stiffen the Isospeed. He talked with Trek and confirmed that there was no way to stiffen it. He realized that I didn't like the Isospeed and (without me asking or suggesting anything) offered a full credit for the frameset against a different frameset -- with de-build and re-build at no charge. And now he's got his distributor scanning the country for a frameset that the manufacturer doesn't have in stock (and that will be a zero profit deal for my LBS). I think that's extraordinarily generous. I have no complaints at all with my LBS. I send lots of customers his way and I will continue to do so.
11-08-18, 04:28 PM
#27
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Apologies to those who have already read this in previous posts:
That was never an issue. No deposit, no commitment, before or after he placed the frameset/components order. Granted that it's impossible to give a decent test ride to a gravel bike in the city, but once they built up the frameset, I bought the bike and I cannot turn back time.
After nearly 400 miles on the bike, I asked him if there was a way to stiffen the Isospeed. He talked with Trek and confirmed that there was no way to stiffen it. He realized that I didn't like the Isospeed and (without me asking or suggesting anything) offered a full credit for the frameset against a different frameset -- with de-build and re-build at no charge. And now he's got his distributor scanning the country for a frameset that the manufacturer doesn't have in stock (and that will be a zero profit deal for my LBS). I think that's extraordinarily generous. I have no complaints at all with my LBS. I send lots of customers his way and I will continue to do so.
That was never an issue. No deposit, no commitment, before or after he placed the frameset/components order. Granted that it's impossible to give a decent test ride to a gravel bike in the city, but once they built up the frameset, I bought the bike and I cannot turn back time.
After nearly 400 miles on the bike, I asked him if there was a way to stiffen the Isospeed. He talked with Trek and confirmed that there was no way to stiffen it. He realized that I didn't like the Isospeed and (without me asking or suggesting anything) offered a full credit for the frameset against a different frameset -- with de-build and re-build at no charge. And now he's got his distributor scanning the country for a frameset that the manufacturer doesn't have in stock (and that will be a zero profit deal for my LBS). I think that's extraordinarily generous. I have no complaints at all with my LBS. I send lots of customers his way and I will continue to do so.
Last edited by gus6464; 11-08-18 at 04:33 PM.
11-08-18, 11:07 PM
#28
Senior Member
I'm with you on not liking the bobbing feel of the Checkpoint isosped. Fortunately, I was able to find this on a test ride and it was a big reason why I bought a Warbird (V3) instead.
The Warbird is a bit racier than the Checkpoint but also lighter. The bike has seen very little pavement, mostly dirt roads and gravel trails and has been great over the 250 mils I've put on it.
The Warbird is a bit racier than the Checkpoint but also lighter. The bike has seen very little pavement, mostly dirt roads and gravel trails and has been great over the 250 mils I've put on it.
11-09-18, 12:49 PM
#30
Senior Member
Tried to learn more about this technology and I thought Trek literature made it a bit too difficult to get a real good understanding for the pieces and parts that went together to provide the desired effect--e.g., vibration-resistance, shock absorption/deflection... I loved the Trek CF bike I had years but always felt queasy, tightening down the seatpost clamp on the CF tube. It seemed to me the IsoSpeed technology might be a new and better method for providing seatpost adjustment on a CF frame but it was never positioned that way... Trek only seemed to talk about smoothing out the ride which is something I associate with CF to begin with and with the larger tires that are the latest get, I wasn't sure if it was solving problems I didn't have.
11-09-18, 02:21 PM
#31
Chases Dogs for Sport
Thread Starter
Essentially, Isospeed is an extended, flexible seat tube that passes through a gap in the top tube and extends about as high as a seat tube plus seat post, combined, normally would. An inverted cap attaches to the saddle and fits down over the extended seat tube in order to provide height adjustment. Where the seat tube passes through the gap in the top tube, a pivot is installed. It consists, basically, of a bolt passed horizontally, side-to-side, through two ball bearings. This pivot allows the extended seat tube to flex freely backward and forward without resistance from the top tube. When the saddle flexes forward, the lower section of the seat tube flexes backward, and vice versa. On the non-adjustable version (as on the Checkpoint), the amount of flex is determined by the layup / design of the carbon in the frame's seat tube. The entire seat tube is involved in the flex -- from the bottom bracket up to the saddle -- and the flex pivots on the two bearings in the decoupler.
Last edited by FlashBazbo; 11-09-18 at 02:25 PM.
