Woods test -- TREK 4500 Lonerider special
Mood:  caffeinated
Topic: RIDE REPORT
8-12-05 -- the Trek 4500 performed admirably yesterday tho it is arguably heavier than my friend Patty's bike [I gave her my Cannondale].

This was only my second ride in the woods in a long time, but I started it by going full hog, trying a side of the river where there was no trail. She had some difficulty but the 4500's rapidfire gears excelled where the cannondale's gripshift was difficult to operate, so even tho her's was lighter and a better frame the 4500 was able to get through.
Perhaps i shall equip her bike with such gears?
Nevetheless, the 4500 proved an admirably bike for riding where there was no trail, until we came to a rather large ditch [more like a small ravine]. The seat height still is not perfect and it rides resultingly not as good as it could. Shortly after crossing it we turned back, then crossed the river and took the trail on the other side. This began as a deerpath years ago and has long since been ridden my mtb's; unfortunately, some moron from the government put bridges in over some of the dry streambeds/ravines so that you have to dismount and haul the bike up two steps(!). Why couldn't they leave my woods alone?!
Nevertheless, it was a proper mtb trail in terms of being narrow enuff at points to be called singletrack, and we followed the original trail route, also taking a detour to a lower part fo the woods, near the river, where someone had built a neat bmx berm. Hopping it on my mountainbike was probably a bad idea but it's all good as nothing broke.

BIKE: Trek 4500
HANDLING: The '45 handles clims good despite it's weight, probably cause of the short frame [for a mtb it's got a nice wheelbase] and the smaller gears up front. It descends easy enough as well with no fear of endo'ing, whether on grass, dirt or in between. Despite the somewhat hefty front-end weight the bike was able to make it over roots and logs as well, and steering was quick enough when that narrow turn between two close trees came up.
SHIFTING: The rapidfire shifters outperform grip shift every time, but shifting up into an easier gear isn't always smooth, sometimes it has to be shifted up and then backed down a notch to get the drivetrain to run smoothly. This may be something easily fixed by adjusting cabel tension; will have to see...
BRAKING: Brakes were more than adequate, and easily c ontrolled; no fear of skidding out here, despite the "v-brake"s unpleasant rep for excessive stopping power. Mostly no rim noise.
SHOCKS: Aside from the weight the Rock Shox JETT fork isn't horrible, and ate up roots and rocks with no noticeable theft of energy offroad, but it took a lot of tweakming with allen wrenches to get it stiff enough to ride, it was set cushy soft.

THING TO DO: install longer seatpost to obtain better leg extension; install extra water bottle.


-- Elvis