Trek 2017 bikes

[Ravi Kempaiah]

The super commuter will reach the US sometime in June. Meanwhile, Pete at Electric Bike Report was able to shoot this video at Sea Otter Classic and I think Trek is doing a lot of things right.

The new Cross Rip+ looks great and very well priced as well.

 

[JRA]

I live in Portland and I would wager that 90% or more of the commuters ride drop bar bikes. It is hard enough to get them to think about e bikes but having to switch over to flat bar bikes is another issue and finally the manufacturers are getting with the program and offering drop bar e bikes. Raleigh also showed a drop bar bike at Sea Otter and Giant has one also, although the review I read indicated it was limited to 20 mph.

The only problem I am seeing is that it doesn't look like these bikes have high enough gearing to support effective human pedaling at the upper end. To pedal with resistance and maintain a reasonable cadence at 28mph you need at least a 130" gear and preferably more. My highest gear is 150" and I don't use it a lot but when I am going downhill with a tail wind it is there, but more importantly when I am feeling frisky and want to go fast I still have pedal enough to stay on top of the motor instead of vice versa which is important to me.

 

[pxpaulx]

Agreed on the cross rip price, extremely competitive especially for a speed pedelec! Only the bulls six fifty e2 street seems to be priced similarly.

 

[Over50]

Great to see Trek introducing some new models given they have the dealer network to really support e-bike customers. But I feel like I want to take several of their bikes and mash them together to build a more ideal commuter: love some of the features on the Cross Rip but for a 50 yr old guy like me in city traffic on really crappy roads I prefer the flat bar and some suspension; the Super Commuter looks like a commuting speedster but no suspension and no color options other than fire engine red? For me riding it into questionable areas and locking it up downtown on a public bike rack: give me something a little less attention grabbing like a matte black; the XM700+ is probably still a better commuter option for my needs but too wide of a gap in the sizing.

And Trek doesn't seem to be warming up to belt drive bikes with IGHs. Is that to keep costs down?

 

[J.R.]

Trek seems all in with ebikes, this could be a game changer for the US market. Trek is in both small and large markets here and hopefully will expose many more potential customers to ebikes.

I have 2 bike shops within a 20 mile radius, Specialized and Trek. The Specialized dealer told me in 2014 they didn't want to sell me a $4k bike, as long as it was "that kind of bike". They will not allow ebikes on any kind of sponsored ride, even casual family or pub rides. They still do not stock ebikes. I consider this dealer fairly high end, high volume and wealthy. I did purchase a bike there in 2013.

The Trek dealer is a family business, welcoming of all riders and is a People For Bikes supporting dealer. Nice people, always fun to just drop in. In 2015 I spoke to the owner about ebikes, as they do sell other brands. Their concerns were investing in ebikes and not selling them. I hope Trek supports their small market shops and encourages them to sell ebikes, without taking such a gamble.

Manufactures need to support their dealers with sales and service education. Dealers also need stock support, so they don't lose money when models don't sell. They also need to push their dealers off the cliff into the ebike world. I really like the Trek offerings, but they won't sell in rural America from a catalog or a one off manufacturer event. I have high hopes for Trek ebikes.

 

[Over50]

Recently my local Trek shop had an outdoor test ride day. I stopped by for another reason but just happened to notice that their e-bikes were attracting more attention and test riders than anything else. I think the shop sells IZip as well as Trek. Then on a follow-up trip about a week later I noticed one of the employees was delivering a new e-bike to a customer. I was also encouraged that they told me they recently sent a couple of their mechanics to Bosch certification training. So yes, at least my local Trek shop seems to be preparing itself to sell and support the products.

Back last year when I was doing my research, I thought I read that for Specialized you had to go to an e-bike certified Specialized dealer. My local Specialized shop (4 miles from my house) has no e-bikes and isn't listed as an e-bike shop on the Specialized website. And the only shop they listed in my metro area was something like 25 miles from my house. So perhaps this represents a difference in dealer strategy between Trek and Specialized wherein the latter is taking a much more select and cautious approach and perhaps not forecasting the growth of the segment to the extent that Trek is.

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

I live in Portland and I would wager that 90% or more of the commuters ride drop bar bikes. It is hard enough to get them to think about e bikes but having to switch over to flat bar bikes is another issue and finally the manufacturers are getting with the program and offering drop bar e bikes. Raleigh also showed a drop bar bike at Sea Otter and Giant has one also, although the review I read indicated it was limited to 20 mph.

The only problem I am seeing is that it doesn't look like these bikes have high enough gearing to support effective human pedaling at the upper end. To pedal with resistance and maintain a reasonable cadence at 28mph you need at least a 130" gear and preferably more. My highest gear is 150" and I don't use it a lot but when I am going downhill with a tail wind it is there, but more importantly when I am feeling frisky and want to go fast I still have pedal enough to stay on top of the motor instead of vice versa which is important to me.

@JRA and @JayVee ,

The gearing is not just external. For example, the BULLS Dail-E Grinder has a 22T front sprocket while the flat bar Six50 E2 Street has 15T front sprocket. Initially, I was surprised by the difference. When I was updating firmware on those bikes, I noticed an option for changing the internal gearing ratio in the Bosch diagnostic software and the ratios for those 2 bikes are different. It compensates for any changes in the external physical gearing difference.
Both have the same Bosch Speed motor. It's just a tad easier to maintain 26mph on the Grinder but changing to the sprocket to a bigger one and adjusting the internal gearing is not difficult at all.

 

[JRA]

@Ravi Kempaiah,

I do know that there are internal gear ratios and that ratio does account for the final drive ratio. One figure I have seen is 2.5:1 which using the Bulls with the 22t sprocket as an example gives a highest gear ratio of 140"es (22t x 2.5 ÷ 11t x 28") so they do get it. Using the same formula with the Six50 it has a 95" gear which clearly isn't enough for 28 mph but probably sufficient for 20 mph. I am not sure about how they work changing their internal gear ratio's via software unless they have some sort of a CVT inside however. And yes, changing sprockets is not a difficult task.

But.....now that they have enough gear ratio to compensate on the top end with only one range of gearing given a single sprocket on the front they have also dictated the lower gear ratio is now perhaps too high? The Bulls will now have a low gear of 55"es (22t x 2.5 ÷ 28t x 28") which is a pretty stiff gear for hills as most gear systems perform best with a more 1:1 ratio on the low end. Not too bad as long as there is power available but hard to get going without.

For me I don't see that mid drives are that important for road type bikes. A good direct drive hub is much simpler and the final drive is not as influenced by its operation so that one can use any type of gearing system they want or are used to.

 

[Luv2ride]

I ride a Trek XM 700 with groups of fast recreational riders.
The gearing is great for steep climbs and I can pedal at a pretty high cadence in my highest gear at 35 to 40 mph (my bike is tuned).

 

[Dunbar]

The Cross Rip+ looks interesting. I wonder what the maximum tire clearance will be as the stock tires look a bit skinny for comfortable high speed cruising.

 

[pxpaulx]

The Cross Rip+ looks interesting. I wonder what the maximum tire clearance will be as the stock tires look a bit skinny for comfortable high speed cruising.

Looks like maybe .2" on either side with those tires - pretty tight up front with the fork at least! Definitely aiming at the cyclocross segment with its overall setup - larger tires than a road bike, but mostly a road bike in overall setup.

 

[danno]

I ride a Trek XM 700 with groups of fast recreational riders.
The gearing is great for steep climbs and I can pedal at a pretty high cadence in my highest gear at 35 to 40 mph (my bike is tuned).

I recently bought an XM 700 which I'm loving so far. What do you mean by your bike is "tuned"?

 

[Luv2ride]

I recently bought an XM 700 which I'm loving so far. What do you mean by your bike is "tuned"?

I installed this and it removes the governed speed limit, the motor will continue to assist in any mode as long as you can pedal.
http://www.bikespeed.de/RS_en.html

 

[Larry Ganz]

I installed this and it removes the governed speed limit, the motor will continue to assist in any mode as long as you can pedal.
http://www.bikespeed.de/RS_en.html

I've read that those still have glitches and cause the speed to flick from accurate to wrong and back for brief periods, or might show you are moving when you are not, etc.

 

[Luv2ride]

I've read that those still have glitches and cause the speed to flick from accurate to wrong and back for brief periods, or might show you are moving when you are not, etc.

I have not had any problems and the speed reads correctly on the Intuvia.