Krispy

Thanks to all who gave me advice while I was considering what touring bike to purchase. I finally decided on the Trek 520. Although I had been considering the Bruce Gordon BLT, as well as a few other reputable online dealers the determining factor ended up being the fit of the bike. After a phone conversation with Bruce Gordon left me feeling a little uneasy about his recommendation of frame size I decided that I was going to find a shop that had bikes in stock that I could be fitted to and also give a test ride.

The local Trek dealers don't stock the 520 because it's not a fast selling item. When I'd try to discuss doing a proper fitting so I could order one they either weren't interested in spending the time or simply asked me what size pants I wore and looked at the chart and recommended a size! To make matters worse the last LBS I went to looked at me and said "You want to buy a touring bike???..... Why???" I guess with the local Trek dealers if it isn't a racing bike or a full suspension mountain bike they don't want to mess with it. (Funny thing is this is the second bike that I've driven out of town to buy!)


Last week I drove 200 miles to a dealer in Texas who keeps the full range of sizes of the 520 in stock. They also knew what they were doing when it came to fitting people and bikes. It was no surprise that the frame size that the LBS had recommended was way too small. The size that the online frame builders were recommending would have been too small also. Even the size that I was sure to be the right fit turned out to be wrong. The size I ended up with was based on the fact that my femurs were somewhat longer than average for my height. The size that I purchased has the right top tube length and even with the largest tires I still have an inch of stand over height. It also worked out that with the uncut steerer tube I was able to get the handlebars level with the saddle.

The bike fits comfortably and rides great. I've had it a week now but due to bad weather I've only been able to put 75 miles on it. Although it's considerably heavier than my Litespeed it has a very comfortable ride. I don't regret my decision to buy it and I can't wait for the weather to get warmer so that I can start taking some short trips.
My next objective is to choose some panniers. For the rear I'm considering the Jandd Large Mountain pannier or the Ortlieb Back Roller Clasic as well as some lesser known /cheaper bags i've seen.


2004 Trek 520.
XT crankset
Speedplay Frog pedals
Continental Top Touring 2000 700x28 tires
Terry Fly (Gelissima) saddle.
Specialized Turbo Pro computer
Jandd Expedition rear rack (not installed yet)

froze

Congratulations on your new bike, it looks nice. I have heard that the Trek 520 is the best touring bike for the money, so you should be enjoying this for years to come. The bike would have to be heavier due to the thicker and stronger steel tubes so it can handle heavy loads as well as rough roads while weighted down.

DeafLamb

Nice. I'm looking into the 520 also. Like you I want to ride the size I'm going to buy and be completely happy with the fit before I buy it. (plan on going cross country with it). But I'm holding off right now. I got a bike that can do some light tours this spring and summer and need the money for my skydiving training

Have fun with the new ride.

Ray

The Rob

The 520 is a beauty. I always wander over to look at one when in the shop. Good on ya, enjoy it!

late

Hi,
nice bike. I do have one thought....I have never ridden a gel saddle that didn't hurt after 20 or 30 miles. YMMV... but if it doesn't, that may be why. I am currently breaking in a green Brooks B17. That would look nice on your bike as well as prob being more comfy.

Krispy

I'm worried about that myself. Due to circumstances (weather etc.) the longest ride I've been able to do so far is 30 miles. I'll find out how it does the first time I do a half to a full day ride.

I was considering the Brooks but the guy at the bike shop was telling me that he just replaced his Brooks B17 with a saddle with the center cutout. The reasons were numbness and prostate issues. Although I'm hearing mostly good about the Brooks I occasionally hear about some folks having those issues as well.

Keep me posted as to how yours does once you get it broken in.

late

Yeah,
what will work for you is anybody's guess. The B17 Champion Special is one of the most comfortable saddles ever made. It is the only saddle that seemed to disappear.
I think that salesman was lying to you. Leather gives, numbness is a problem you get with hard saddles. If he had one of the narrow Brooks saddles that would be different. But based on what he said, I don't think he was telling you the truth. Some people give up and return them before they break in. That's how I got my first one. So some shops don't want the hassle. This is my 2nd Brooks. But the saddle is designed for touring and casual riders. If you have an aggresive riding position; it prob won't work for you. My other saddle is a Selle Italia Trans Am XLP.
It has a shock absorber built into it. I like it a lot. The Brooks will be more comfy once I get it broke in. But the Trans Am really soaks up the bumps. The Trans Am is also half the price. I like them both. On my commuter that I ride most days I want the comfort. But on my speedy bike I need the shock absorbers.

Urbanmonk

Great choice with the 520! Tell me, I know they list for $1099, but will they negociate, even if it's a special order due to size? I logged about 2800 miles on my commuter last year, and this is a hybrid. I have a roadster/cyclo for the spring and summer months, but I am thinking of buying a 520 for commuting and touring. What was the best price you found?

Cheers,

Urbanmonk

Krispy

I don't know about special order pricing. Most dealers will negotiate on last years model. At the shop where I bought it the price was $999 for the 2004 model.

After they spent 14 hours working with me on trying different frames and fit as well as other stuff I felt guilty for asking them to come off the price so I wasn't as agressive at negotiating as I usually am. I did end up getting 15% off of all my other stuff including new shoes, bottle cages, saddle, frame pump, extra tubes, etc. Normally their discount on accessories for new bike buyers is only 10%. In addition to that they will give me 15% off any other stuff I buy in the next 60 days.

I have delt with other shops before and have been able to negotiate much better discounts on different brands of bikes but in the case of buying the 520 their service was so far superior to the others that I felt I was already getting a good deal.

It all depends on the dealer too. I bought a mountain bike a few years ago and negotiated $1000.00 off the list price! It would have been a really good deal had it not been for the fact that at the time I didn't know beans about how a bike should fit me. Unfortunatly the shop I bought it from didn't either! I rode the bike for two years anyway but ended up selling the frame a few months ago and buying one that fits.

When I bought my Litespeed the dealer would not budge a penny on the price of the bike because it had already been discounted by the manufacturer but he did throw in a $150.00 pair of shoes and a set of Speedplay pedals. It turned out that his service after the sale was the worse I've ever encounterd while the shop where I got the huge discount on the mountian bike has always given me the best mecanical service after the sale. So go figure!

Keeping in mind that the best deal isn't always the one with the cheapest price it never hurts to ask for a better deal.

supcom

Krispy, what bike shop did you use? I live in the Dallas area and would be interested in an LBS that provides good support for touring.

Krispy

Richardson Bike Mart at 1451 W. Campbell Road in Richardson. Carroll Mayhew is the guy who went out of his way to help me. I was there on a Friday and we ran out of time. He came in on Saturday which was his day off just to continue helping me. He knew his stuff about bike fit although he has only done supported tours himself there were two other salesmen there who had a lot of experience with loaded touring and they happily gave their advice as well.

If you go there and talk to him tell him the guy who drove from Oklahoma City to buy the 520 recommended him. I don't get anything out of it if you do but I would like him to know that I'm recommending him because of the great sevice they gave me. PM me and I'll give you my name if you like.

tom cotter

I too just purchased a new 520. The bike had to be ordered as the shop didn't have it in stock. I called seven Trek dealers to get their best price on the bike. Of the seven two wouldn't go lower than the suggested retail price of $999.00. One told me he was discounting the bike at that price because the actual list price is $1099.00. This turns out to be partially true. Trek's advertised list price is $1099. Their suggested list price is $999.00. Five of the shops quoted prices below $999. The best price for an 04 was $875 tax included. That puts the price at about $825. One shop was at $875 plus tax, two quoted $900 plus tax and the the last shop was at $949 plus tax.
I decided to use one of the shops quoting me $900. This was based on my comfort level with the person I dealt with. The bike is ordered and should be in any day now. As an interesting note the only reason I'm in the market for a new bike is that my current 520 is too small. The shop that sold me that bike is one of the shops that refused to go below suggested list. They wouldn't budge, not even to help a customer that they had misfit on a bike they sold. Nice huh!
I would suggest you call as many dealers as possible and ask for their best price. Let them make the business decision on what to do. Be nice and just ask what's their best price or if they can do better. I buy almost everything this way and it works. The dealer I'm buying my bike from will get alot more business from me in high markup accessories.

Krispy

He could have been lying but I tend to think that he wasn't in this case. He described that it was very comfortable where his sit bones contacted the saddle but as he put more miles on the saddle the sitbone area continued to sink in more causing the center and front part to create pressure on the perennial nerve. After reading some other posts about the Brooks saddles it sounds like it may have been broken in wrong or maybe wasn't taken care of properly. On the other hand it may just not have been the best saddle for him.

I put 3000 miles on a Fizik Aliante saddle on my Litespeed including two century rides. When I describe to other Aliante fans that it still causes me to have some numbness they just can't believe me. The saddle has a really good 4.63 out of 5 rating but I am still having some issues with it. I'm tempted to try the Brooks but I think I'm still going to do some more research first. My handle bars are currently at saddle height so I guess it would be a tossup between a sprung and an unsprung saddle.