Hi, looking to buy a bike to potentially bike pack. Any advice on this used Trek 520? They’re asking $500 and it appears to be in decent shape. Anything to look out for?
by Ok_Detail49
Hi, looking to buy a bike to potentially bike pack. Any advice on this used Trek 520? They’re asking $500 and it appears to be in decent shape. Anything to look out for?
by Ok_Detail49
3 Comments
Kind of depends on what you mean by bike packing? Are you looking at just using it as a road touring bike, then it should be great if it fits you. Are you looking to ride washboard dirt roads and single track trails? Then it probably won’t be the most comfortable but you could still make it work. Maybe spend some time looking online at other bikes people use to “bike pack” and you’ll get a better idea of what you should be looking for.
I think a trek 520 is a solid and very smart choice.
It’s a timeless frame.
Its also got a triple, so while it might not look like a “bike packing bike”, its going to be far more capable than any of the 1×10 offerings from Surly, just in terms of sheer gear range and climbing ability alone. Particularly when loaded.
The bar end shifters, which could be run in friction mode, will give you some latitude for in-the-field fixes due to not having to worry as much about a bent derailleur. So long as you learn how to setup and use friction shifting. But it’s easy and you can learn watching a you tube video.
40c tires are going to be a limitation. A lot of people think of 45-50 as being the gravel bike packing standard. But people were bikepacking on 38c gravel kings for the better part of the last 10 years and not having any issues.
I only recently switched from 38c to 47c, and while I do love 47c, I think back to some of the places 38c took me, and it really wasn’t as a big of a limitation as some people might think.
If $500 is your budget, I think this is a very smart way to go when you compare it other offerings, which in this price range will typically give you a 1×10 with a 430% gear range.
This triple likely has something more like a 580% + range which is going to really help you up a hill when fully loaded.
these 3×9 or 3×10 gears are the real deal in my opinion. you can do almost everything. with 1×12 i find the steps between gears often too large especially when loaded