[swalburn]

I'm getting ready to pick up my first cross bike. I've been starting to race a little bit, and have been doing it on my mountain bike. I'm getting ready to get my first cross bike and I've narrowed it down to these two bikes. I can get the 2008 model of each one for 1300 bucks. I'm looking for the pros and cons of each bike. They are spec'ed very similar, and I really don't have an attachment to either bike.

Someone said that the Trek doesn't have replaceable derailleur hanger, but I haven't been able to confirm that. Additionally, even if that is true I'm not sure how big of a deal it is. Anyways, I would appreciate any opinions or comments from people with either bike.

The alternative is I may wait, and eventually get a Redline Conquest Pro, but it is a little more money.

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[Milice]

I just went and looked at my xo1 and it has a replaceable derailleur hanger. I cant think of a cross bike that dosent have one.

[dirtyphotons]

if the xo1 pictured on trek's website is the one you'd be getting, it does indeed have a removable derailleur hanger. it's not shiny, but you can see the bolt in the blown up view.

i've ridden both, owned neither. they both have noncrap components, i really doubt you can go wrong.

the trek has bontrager race wheels which are paired/low spoke/radial. they may be a bit faster but i bet the kona's stock wheels will stand up to a little more abuse, with deore/105 hubs, open sport rims and two or three cross patterns.

i know several guys who speak really highly of their konas. don't see a lot of treks at the races but i've not had an eye out for them either. to me it'd come down to the little stuff like if i like the shop or if i like the stock gearing/saddle/tires/whatever. the less you replace, the better deal you got.

[flargle]

The shape of the Trek top tube is not ideal for portaging.

[mosovich]

I'd definately ck out alot of other frames before I'd go to the redline. Felt, Kona, Empella... The Kona for sure would be the way to go I think..

[xthugmurderx]

just letting you know that my ALAN unicross doesn't have a replaceable dropout...hope that doesn't come back to bite me in the ass.

[sfcrossrider]

I'd get the Kona. I've never been a fan of Trek cx bikes. I don't think they're bad, but for 1,300 you could do a lot better.

[Milice]

I have been told that Trek changed the geometry on their cross bikes this year. Getting away from the road bikeish feel that the older ones had. That said I have a 2005 and it seved as a good race bike for the first couple of years. this year I switched to a Bianchi axis, but kept my trek as a backup.

[swalburn]

I didn't see many treks at the race I raced in on Saturday. I saw a few Kona's and a ton of redlines and ton of other bikes, but not many Treks. I really like the spec of the Trek as it very comparable to the Kona. Additionally, Trek has great warranty and customer service. I like the look of the Kona better but I need to test them out and see which geometry I like better. The 56 Kona is bigger than the 56 Trek that I'm looking at.