I need someone to talk sense to me. I'm wanting to get back into riding after a ten year or so layoff and need some advice on whether or not to pull the trigger on a new ride.
My old MTB is built from a 1997 Trek OCLV 9800 carbon frame with a SRAM 9.0 8 speed drive train, Sun Ringle Wheelset and a Manitou SXr fork. I built it myself, upgrading components as they wore out and it still shifts clean and not so much as a creak out of the bottom bracket. I know carbon can be broken, but there are no noticeable imperfections to be seen and it still rides as smoothly as the day I bought it. The problem is, my riding these days tends to be about 75-25 road/gravel and even with semi slick trail tires, it feels slow on the road. The riding position is also fairly aggressive and at 55 yrs old, my back starts to ache after a short time in the saddle. Switching to more upright bars and a shorter stem may help this, but I haven't tried it because I'm considering the new bike
I've been test riding new bikes and really like the feel of the Trek Dual Sport 2 as far as riding position and handling over the Giant and Liv bikes I also tested. The 1×9 drive train is new to me, but the gear ratios seem to have everything you'd need. It's heavier than my MTB, but I don't know if that will take away from the experience when riding the hilly roads in my area (could only test it in the shop parking lot) . I'm thinking I may swap out the tires for something narrower as well if I buy it, but again…not really sure how the wider ones perform in real world conditions
Pros of MTB:
it's paid for
Still works great
nostalgia ( I've put 1000s of miles on this thing)
Cons:
Slow-ish on roads
Old tech (rim brakes, fork 3×8 gears)
Riding position
Pros of DS2
New and shiny = motivation to ride
Better riding postion
Hydraulic disc brakes
Cons
I'm out $900
Unsure if it's a true upgrade from what I have
I'm also open to suggestions of similar bikes in the $1000 price range to look at. Ive been watching Marketplace for used and there's a Gen 4 DS2 and a Giant Cypress 3 I might try to take a look at
thanks in advance for reading my rambling thoughts
by musicfan-1969
2 Comments
you deserve a new bike. Try the dual sport for 2 weeks and if you still feel like your old bike is sufficient you can return it.
The 2025 DualSport2 Gen5 is more than different enough from your other bike to justify it’s purchase.
Seems fine even compared to other flat bar Gravel bike options like — Salsa Journeyer, Surly Preamble, Surly Bridge Club, Marin DSX, Marin Muirwoods, State 4130 AllRoad, Specialized Sirrus X.