Mountain Biking - Y 26...again!!!

Hi, all...I'm a newb!! I found this forum, which looks like a great one, by doing a search on the infamous Trek Y 26. The thread I found was sort of heated, and I understand why.

I am not totally new to the sport of mtn biking...I've had a KHS Montana Descent for about 11 years now...ridden some of the best trails in SE Florida, Oleta, Markham, and even done some riding up in some mountains around Chattanooga on that bike. It is tired, old, and non-upgradable, due to a one inch steerer tube, which has had RST forks in place for some time....better than nothing, believe me!!! It also has Deore LX components, but it was time to make a change.

I was given a Trek Y 26 by the good folks at Scion, in appreciation for my having purchased a new vehicle from them...pretty damn nice gesture on their part. So, it got me stoked to think about what this bike is like, and what I might get with a hardtail in about the same price range. So, local Sports Authority supplied me with a GT Avalanche 3.0 Disc. It only took one ride of both steeds to decide to not look a gift horse in the mouth...I promptly returned the GT and hung on to my freebie Trek.

I realize I'm not in the majority here....most would choose the hard tail over the cheap full suspension. My thoughts on that...and in a side by side, the componentry was virtually identical, with the only real exceptions being that the GT has an eight gear cassette as opposed to the Trek's seven. Big deal...I've dealt with seven x three for years and did just fine. The Trek is two pounds heavier....again, who cares...I ain't racin' and I live in Florida....where's the mountains?!?! :eek: Also, the Trek has v-brakes as opposed to GT's disc...ANYTHING'S better than my KHS's cantilevers!!! Note...the Trek is disc-ready, if I ever decided to go that route, but I doubt I will. That'll be a future bike altogether.

Now, here comes the fun part ;)....I'm dismanteling my KHS and robbing some parts from it to accessorize the Trek. I now have two wheel sets :) ...had to change out the cogset on the old KHS, since it's lowest gear was a 28 tooth....and the smallest was 10...that bike was meant to go DOWNHILL only!!! So, I now have two wheel sets....and I'm going to clean up the LX rear derailleur and try it out....not to mention the use of some much better "goin' dirty" tires than the Bontragers that came with the Trek.

I totally see the benefits of hard tail vs full suspension at $350. However....when a bike is free, it's free. I've seen people on this board bash low cost FS bikes, but I've also seen just as many, if not more, praise them. As I've witnessed from years of motorcycle riding, the real riders are those who appreciate those that RIDE, regardless of their pony. Same seems to hold true in the bicycle world.

All that being said, I think it's only fair to say that I'm a 45 year old fart who just loves the outdoors...and biking is a great way to get deep into the woods or the prarie. I will never be one to bound off a 12 meter drop, or race slalom, or try to keep up with Tinker Juarez...although he isn't far from my age, so there's hope!!! However....I primarily ride dirt roads, dirt track, maybe some minor technical riding, but nothing too freaky...I'm too old for that!!! :rolleyes:

One day I hope to have a bike that is 20 lbs, cost as much as my new car, and makes me about 25 years younger...until that time, I'll enjoy the ride with whatever I can afford....and hope to meet some of y'all along the way.

happy riding there inrharmony, it's all good

I'd try the kenda nevegal stick-e tire for the rear, great traction, not sure how it does in the sandy florida stuff though, if that's where your at...

They would have to pay me to ride a trek, but that is me in general. In general the Y 26 isn't worth the money that it's being offered at, but since you got it for free, ride it until you can afford a high level bike.

Bikes fine, it's what you get out of it.
I ride an old bike, and I ride it really well and often.

Good enough for me. $crew opinions.

Hi, all...I'm a newb!! I found this forum, which looks like a great one, by doing a search on the infamous Trek Y 26. The thread I found was sort of heated, and I understand why.

I am not totally new to the sport of mtn biking...I've had a KHS Montana Descent for about 11 years now...ridden some of the best trails in SE Florida, Oleta, Markham, and even done some riding up in some mountains around Chattanooga on that bike. It is tired, old, and non-upgradable, due to a one inch steerer tube, which has had RST forks in place for some time....better than nothing, believe me!!! It also has Deore LX components, but it was time to make a change.So you have a fair idea of what a LBS bike is like then


I was given a Trek Y 26 by the good folks at Scion, in appreciation for my having purchased a new vehicle from them...pretty damn nice gesture on their part. A nice gesture would have been free gas for a year along with tires and some oil changes.
So, it got me stoked to think about what this bike is like, and what I might get with a hardtail in about the same price range. At a bike shoip you could get a fairly decent hardtail for that kind of coin
So, local Sports Authority supplied me with a GT Avalanche 3.0 Disc. That was your first mistake Sports Authority is NOT a BIKE SHOP. Those bozo's wouldn't know a quality bike if it walked up and introduced itself
It only took one ride of both steeds to decide to not look a gift horse in the mouth...I promptly returned the GT and hung on to my freebie Trek. Getting rid of the GT was a good move


I realize I'm not in the majority here....most would choose the hard tail over the cheap full suspension. My thoughts on that...and in a side by side, the componentry was virtually identical,Because you got it at Sports Authority. $400 at a bikes shop (especially at year end) will get you a lot more than that turd
with the only real exceptions being that the GT has an eight gear cassette as opposed to the Trek's seven. Big deal...I've dealt with seven x three for years and did just fine. Nevermind the fact that decent 7 speed parts are drying up and the fact that you'd have to replace the the free hub and shifters at a minimum to upgrade even to 8
The Trek is two pounds heavier....again, who cares...I ain't racin' and I live in Florida....where's the mountains?!?! Nevermind that the piss poor suspension system is just about the most ineffiecent thing on the planet. You'd be better off with a suspension seatpost and I HATE those
:eek: Also, the Trek has v-brakes as opposed to GT's disc...ANYTHING'S better than my KHS's cantilevers!!!The GT's discs are nothing to write home about in the first place not withstanding the fact that they were most likely setup by someone who had NO idea what they were doing
Note...the Trek is disc-ready, if I ever decided to go that route, but I doubt I will. That'll be a future bike altogether.

I totally see the benefits of hard tail vs full suspension at $350. However....when a bike is free, it's free. True and I have to keep telling me that you didn't purchase this bike
I've seen people on this board bash low cost FS bikes,With good reason
but I've also seen just as many, if not more, praise them. Those that praise them don't know what they're talking about. Check their information. Nine times out of ten they just started riding and haven't gained any real world experience yet
As I've witnessed from years of motorcycle riding, the real riders are those who appreciate those that RIDE, regardless of their pony.All imagined snobbiness aside, you can't compare a Vespa to a Ducati. Yeah they get you from point A to point B and have two wheels and a motor, but that's basically where the similarities end

However....I primarily ride dirt roads, dirt track, maybe some minor technical riding, but nothing too freaky...I'm too old for that!!! :rolleyes: Well that would be the full capability of the Trek

I'll enjoy the ride with whatever I can afford....and hope to meet some of y'all along the way.
I have to keep reminding myself that this bike was "free" (Trust me you paid for it somewhere car dealers don't give "gifts") If you wanted to purchase a bike you could have done MUCH better than the Y-26

Thanks for the tire tip....I've got a Kenda 'something' on the rear now....so that's gotta be an upgrade!!!

I sorta agree....I wouldn't have bought this bike if it weren't offered to me out of the blue, but it's a good sight better than what I was riding before....which, on top of being old, was way too big for me (bought it on sale with no knowledge of bike fit at the time). That sucked when I went down....ouch.

Hehehe...I see I've already stirred up an opinion or two....who cares....I certainly don't make purchases to elevate myself to other people's standards...lordy, if I did that over the past few years, I'd have a couple Road Kings, a 23 room mansion, a 40 ft yacht,...you get the picture...not to mention a $5000 Kona!!!