Originally Posted by
Squeezebox
Report: Well I rode the LHT and the Trek 920 today.
The LHT was much better than I expected. It is not a dept store bicycle in any way. Stable handling and response, nice wide handle bar helping with control esp. low speed. sluggish but it's a bike for heavy touring. good braking and shifting, 30 speed, but I still don't like bar end shifters, this ride reminded me why. I kinda doubt it could be converted to brifters. I can see why it's probably the most popular touring bicycle. Price and stability are good. not as responsive as the 920.
The Trek 920: Luckily the customer had it modified to brifters and 35 mm tires, & fenders. I will do the same but probably 32 mm. I fell for it at 1st sight. This bicycle screams at you "hop on, or get the F--- out of the way" Dave show me how sram shifters work. I felt the 920 to be a bit more stable and a bit better handling, slightly more responsive. Even though the geometry is almost identical. The Al frame may cause a increase in crispness. pounds lighter. A good rear rack, a monster front rack. Very comfy ride, nothing harsh. I appreciate the person who said a few weeks ago that he locks his up even inside the house because he's afraid that when he's not home it will take off on it's own and hunt zombies. Thus my bicycle will be named Zombie Killer.
So let me get this straight. All this time you've been bashing a bike you've never even tried before this? You do realize that this wipes off even the smallest credibility you might have had. It's like a MTB'er that has never tried a road bike bashing road bikes. Priceless
On other news. If you do end up getting the 920, you need to swap the wheels asap. I trust the wheels in my GF's 520 because they have 36 spokes and she's really lightweight. But considering how cruddy bontrager wheel components are in general (rims are wonky, spokes are just weird, nipples are also a bit weird) those things aren't going to last any kind of touring at all if you're more than yourself. It's also quite overpriced for what it is, especially when you need to swap the seat asap (Bontrager stock seats are the worst stock seats I've ever tried). And it has some thru axles, which is a beautiful thought, but in reality can make things difficult if you need spares on the road.
And as the rear rack is probably bontrager, I wouldn't trust it too much. Tubus is the way to go there.