critchie92651
New Member
Wanted to give everyone my impression after having purchased the Trek XM700+ and ridden it for over 200 miles on San Francisco hills as a daily commuter. Put a quick video on Youtube:
Cons First (cause there aren't many!):
1) One of the reasons I chose this bike was for brand and service. Trek is one of the largest bike manf in the world but found out only a very limited number of authorized dealerships actually have the bike and can service it. An example is review on this site was done at one of the largest dealerships in So Cal, but only that specific store in the chain actually carries Trek eBikes. Same thing for Nor Cal. Couldn't find the bike available in the city (San Francisco), but largest Trek dealer in city had one location outside of city that got me the bike.
2) Availability - Good luck finding this one anytime soon! I ordered it in Feb and was told not to expect bike until July. Ouch! Local Trek dealer worked with the LBS to pull my size from another dealership in territory after I had paid in full. Had the bike a week later. That's service!
3) If you are using this as a commuter, you'll need to add lights and a Thudbuster type of seatpost. Integrated headlight is way underpowered for speed of bike and it does not include a tail light. Because of speed of bike, tires, and distance you can travel, my back took a beating so added the Thudbuster which made all the difference in comfort.
PROS (Too many to list!)
1) I put ~50 miles a week on this bike in rush hour traffic because I can! Routinely cruise at 30Mph on Embarcadero and keep up with traffic on streets including accelerating from stop at lights.
2) This bike is fast. In fact too fast for anything but open roads. You'll find yourself slowing down on bike paths because of other bikers/pedestrians and slowing down in traffic on roads because you'd be going much faster than most auto traffic on busy city streets.
3) No hill in San Francisco or headwind (think GoldenGate Bridge) is even a second thought to me now. This bike flattens them all.
4) I will never approach the range this bike offers in a single trip. The entire city is only 7X7 miles. Bike range goes forever.
5) Biggest pro of all - I left my car in So Cal because this bike is capable of being sole transportation.
I test rode a lot of eBikes before deciding on the Trek with the Bosch system and can say that it is by far the best of what I test rode. What's cool about the Trek offerings is that you can test both the Shimano and Bosch on their various offerings. Once you do though, you'll feel the difference and smoothness of the Bosch system. But of course, it's extra $$$s...
Cons First (cause there aren't many!):
1) One of the reasons I chose this bike was for brand and service. Trek is one of the largest bike manf in the world but found out only a very limited number of authorized dealerships actually have the bike and can service it. An example is review on this site was done at one of the largest dealerships in So Cal, but only that specific store in the chain actually carries Trek eBikes. Same thing for Nor Cal. Couldn't find the bike available in the city (San Francisco), but largest Trek dealer in city had one location outside of city that got me the bike.
2) Availability - Good luck finding this one anytime soon! I ordered it in Feb and was told not to expect bike until July. Ouch! Local Trek dealer worked with the LBS to pull my size from another dealership in territory after I had paid in full. Had the bike a week later. That's service!
3) If you are using this as a commuter, you'll need to add lights and a Thudbuster type of seatpost. Integrated headlight is way underpowered for speed of bike and it does not include a tail light. Because of speed of bike, tires, and distance you can travel, my back took a beating so added the Thudbuster which made all the difference in comfort.
PROS (Too many to list!)
1) I put ~50 miles a week on this bike in rush hour traffic because I can! Routinely cruise at 30Mph on Embarcadero and keep up with traffic on streets including accelerating from stop at lights.
2) This bike is fast. In fact too fast for anything but open roads. You'll find yourself slowing down on bike paths because of other bikers/pedestrians and slowing down in traffic on roads because you'd be going much faster than most auto traffic on busy city streets.
3) No hill in San Francisco or headwind (think GoldenGate Bridge) is even a second thought to me now. This bike flattens them all.
4) I will never approach the range this bike offers in a single trip. The entire city is only 7X7 miles. Bike range goes forever.
5) Biggest pro of all - I left my car in So Cal because this bike is capable of being sole transportation.
I test rode a lot of eBikes before deciding on the Trek with the Bosch system and can say that it is by far the best of what I test rode. What's cool about the Trek offerings is that you can test both the Shimano and Bosch on their various offerings. Once you do though, you'll feel the difference and smoothness of the Bosch system. But of course, it's extra $$$s...
