I defintiely agree
Bob. I agree. Trek certainly needs to address the 8S harshness. For smooth urban roads it is designed perfectly. However, on country roads which I am surrounded by, the 8S is not fun to ride. Bang Bang Bang.
Don't get me wrong but unfortunately the so called super commuter is fundamentally not the right design for high speed commuting and it is priced very high for what it is.
1. Even on uneven, broken urban roads one needs a front fork suspension + at least a suspension seatpost when cruising at high speeds. This bicycle has none.
2. Unfortunately at higher speeds the mid drives consume a lot of power and this bicycle does not have the frame to fit the Bosch dual battery setup.
3. Cruising at higher speeds puts a lot of stress on the chain hence it would have been great if this bike came with an igh , preferably Rohloff. It doesn't.
4. Carbon fork adds very little when you are already running 2.4 tires. If the whole frame was carbon that may have been a different story but just carbon fork is more like a gimmick.
5. Although you can fit a rear post suspension, a suspension fork will not be an easy fit because it will change the geometry and probably for the worse.
6. This bike is just as heavy as a 2k ebike. So acceleration/speed is similar to much cheaper alternatives.
7. For the price they could have at least added a DI2 shifter or stem suspension etc. Instead they put an overpriced $350 light.
Yes it looks very nice however this model is just a nice no suspension fitness bike(I actually felt like this one was like a top of the line FX bike with wide tires). Most people I see riding these bikes (where I live I actually see quite a few) are elderly people who probably just went in to a Trekshop and made the decision without thinking much about it. Trek is trying to capitalize on this naive audience.
And after all this venting I should add, I like Trek , I think they have some very good ebike offerings like Verve+, Powerfly, Crossrip + etc. however I also believe that they don't recognize that there are some segments that they can cater in a much better way.