Trek Madone 5.9

Advantages: Good price, Good looking frame, Smooth disc brakes
Disadvantages: Front Suspension Fork is very poor, esp for off road use

...from mountaining biking for a long time, thinking they could hammer this offroad, no chance............ Everything else on the Trek is of good standard within this price range, it has a nice looking sliver/black frame, no fancy colours which I think looks silly on most bikes, the mechanical disc brakes are really smooth and easy to ajust, I ve had no problems in the time I ve had the bike, the only thing I changed right away on the bike was the pedals, I use click in pedals which require shoes, It adds to the smoothness of road use. If you really like the bike and are tending to use offroad quite a look, you ll need to change the front fork on purchasetrek dealer to do, its easier> the fork does not have enough travel and will break on even the smallest drops. Bike sizes come in 13, 16, 18, 19.5, 21" in the mens sizes and 16... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Good Price, Quality Groupset, Reliable
Disadvantages: Poor Fork

...I bought myself a brand spanking new Trek 4500 2004 edition as a foot into the door of mountain biking. Since purchasing the bike I been out on regular offroad expeditions (some of which have punished the bike quite hard, in the lakes & peaks) and my 4500 has stood up very nicely. The groupset is all good quality stuff, deore rear mech & shifters, Alivio front mech - all Mega 9 drivetrain (i.e. 27 gears). The brakes are competent, ok promax affairs however the real problem is the fork. The supplied ROCKSHOX Judy TT is a spring/elastomer fork and whilst its fine for tow path riding and light mountain-biking it really does lack on technical downhill sections. The pre-load adjuster does next to nothing and travel is sticky and unpredictable. However it is better than no fork at all and you can always upgrade! Pretty much all bikes... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Great Price, Great Components, Super Reliability
Disadvantages: None whatsoever

...After 3yrs and 9000 miles of loyal service my original Trek 1500 road bike gave up the ghost after coming off second best with a battered old Nissan Micra!! I guess that proves that steel is stronger than Aluminium!! My insurance company were great and sorted me out with a replacement within 2 weeks. I was delighted to find that the actual replacement was going to be the new 2006 model which features several improvements from the bike that I had previously. The price of the bike is £1300 fully delivered and set up, but upgrades to components such as saddle / wheels and pedals can bring the cost up if you want. I booked a day off work to receive delivery of my bike, which arrived as planned and only required adjustment to the handlebars, seat-post and saddle. Berkshire Cycle Company who were the approved insurance dealers set the bike... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful