GearsForFears

Also posted this in the MTB forum - my significant other just won a new Trek 3900 donated by Trek in a charity auction. He paid $320 for it plus a health club membership. He mainly wanted to support the charity and was planning to turn around and sell the bike to someone for a discount to list price and recapture part or all of his donation. However he has taken the bike for a few spins in the neighborhood and kind of likes it. He has been getting around town on an old Gitane road bike and needs more of an urban warrior for the terrible roads in our city; he has been thinking about a cross bike like mine but this feels like it might fill the bill at least for a while. Does anyone here commute on a 3900 or similar? Is this a decent bike for urban riding (in a place where the crumbling streets are bumpier than most mountain trails)? Will the components hold up? He's particularly skeptical of the suspension fork holding up over time. Any thoughts appreciated.

CCrew

I have a Gary Fisher Tarpon, which is essentially the same bike just in Treks GF line.. He's right about the suspension fork being junk, but I swapped mine for a Surly Instigator rigid fork and in all honesty the bike is now the perfect urban bomber. Cost to me was $75.

-R

TSK

This bike is not so fragile. I use mine to do a 20 miles round trip once or twice a week.

GearsForFears

(cross posted in MTB forum) - We took the 3900 out for a spin around the city this morning, trading it and my Surly Cross-Check back and forth. It was kind of a revelation for us both. The 3900 was a lot faster than we imagined it would be on the road with those thick, heavy, knobby tires; we thought it would be a total chore to push around and it wasn't. And of course the ride was just amazingly smooth over worse pavement than you can imagine - Milwaukee fixes a street only when it becomes essentially impassible. It was as if the whole city road system had been magically fixed. Not only is my partner now seriously considering keeping the 3900 as an urban bomber; I'm thinking about a similar bike for myself, perhaps something a little sexier. (I'm a single-speed lover and my LBS has an amazing looking SS thing called a Bianchi Sok that has been calling to me for a while now despite my total mtb ignorance.)

Anyway I think I get the whole mountain-bike-as-commuter thing now. I always thought it was just a fad for prissy urbanites who wanted to look like mountain bikers.

Sirrus Rider

Uh no.. Sometimes it's just a case of using a bike designed for the rough to smooth out really bad and neglected roads. Not to mention using what has already been paid for..

jaxgtr

My son uses his 3900 to ride to work and back. I put some cruiser tires on it and tightened up the movement on the fork a little and it has worked quite well for him.

lshobo

the best urban commuter i have is an 03/04 gary fisher tassajara.

over time, i swapped out the front fork for a kona p2 rigid fork. put 1.5" armadillos on it. made it a 1x8 with a 105 rear derailleur/12-25 ultegra cassette in the rear and a 34t surly stainless steel single speed chainring in front. it's pretty aggressive and definitely urban tough. we're talking san francisco hills and streets here.

also was able to put a rear rack and fenders on for the wet seasons. it is definitely my go-to bike when i want to ride without worries in the city.

i think your SO could do well with the 3900. a rigid fork and some mid-pressure street tires would make it fly!