TREK BIKE SIZE CHART SERIES
Frame 100 Series Alpha aluminum w/rack + fender mounts.Namely, its mountain bike gearing, powerful brakes, decent tires, and strong racks will mean forgoing some common component swaps made to brand new touring bikes. The 920’s build, with a few exceptions, offers a build spec that will come as a breath of fresh air for cycle tourists: its components, for the most part, are exceedingly well-suited to the unique needs of pedaling a loaded bike.
As such, the stock parts spec will be important to most people looking at this bike. Though a frame will always be the heart of a bike, I’d guess that the 920 is the sort of bike that will almost always be purchased and ridden as a complete package. The aluminum material is exotic in itself for a touring bike, but it allows for a bike that weighs only 26lbs in size 58cm. That’s a total of six bottle mounts on the frame and fork. Its aluminum frame features thru-axles, internal cable-routing, a bent top tube that allows three bottle cages within the front triangle on sizes 56cm and up, braze-ons for front and rear racks (which come included), and bottle cage mounts on each fork leg and below the down tube. It’s rather confusing from a marketing perspective, so it’s perhaps understandable that the 920 would appear so category-confused.Īt its core, Trek’s 920 seems to aim to achieve the same thing as those rule-bound classic touring bikes, but freed the Luddite mentality that is becoming less and less necessary for international touring as bikes get more reliable, and a variety of parts more easily available around the world. The spirit of adventure never changed, but the old rule book – the one that required 26” wheels, Schwalbe solid rubber tires, rim brakes, drop bars, 36 spoke wheels, square-tapers, leather and steel – has been shown out the back door. Full-suspension mountain bike – adventure hardtail – definitely adventure cross bike – whiskey and adventure expensive road bike – hella adventurizing. Adventure biking is being used simultaneously as a category, and an all-encompassing activity. It’s the hottest thing in cycling, and everyone wants a slice. These days, adventure means, well, just about anything if you believe the marketing. Gone is the old singular meaning of adventure cycling, the one that meant loading up a small mountain of gear strapped to front and rear racks, just sort of suffering along whatever road, and praying that the equipment would hold up. One upside to the bike industry’s new love for the word “adventure” is that it has provided an opportunity for bike manufacturers to break some of the old rules of touring bikes. Running the stock Bontrager XR1 tires, which measure 29×2.0” (or 700Cx51 if you prefer), there is even space for fenders. The 920 comes set up with Bontrager Duster Elite 29er wheels, and clearance for up to about 29×2.25” (untested, so this might depend on the tire). But, those bikes are adapted cyclocross or road designs and can usually fit 700x40c tires or more voluminous, but smaller diameter 27.5×2.1” (650Bx53) mountain bike tires. In a world where the word adventure has been appropriated by urban dog-walkers and picnickers, my challenge in reviewing Trek’s answer to the “adventure bike” was to figure out what the hell this bike was for.įrom afar, the Trek 920 looks a lot like many of this year’s new breed of gravel or randonneur bikes. While I’ll concede that I don’t think it really matters what particular narrow niche a bike is labeled under, I do think that knowing what a bike does best is extremely useful when shopping. What does that even mean? How does the curious mating of spec and geometry often found in this newly-minted category play out on planet Earth? Is it a drop-bar 29er? A touring bike? A monster-cross or all-road thing? Several companies are calling similar machines “adventure bicycles”.
It’s clear on paper that the Trek 920 is a category-confused bike.
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