A little bit of a thread revival, but I thought it would be helpful. I bought the newest Lync 5 back when it first came out. I was the first one to order it in the southeast as far as my retailer could tell. Here I am, 6 months later and still STOKED about this bike. For starters, I bought this as my daily commuter since I'm moving to a big city and getting rid of my car. I ride it at least 5 times a week about 10-15 miles a day depending on where I'm going. I am normally insanely detail-oriented when it comes to maintenance for all of my bikes. Aside from adding air to the tires and wiping off the frame every once in awhile, I have done NOTHING. The bike still performs like the day I got it, and I have no regrets with my purchase at all. I took the fenders off about a month ago because I hardly ever ride in the rain, and I managed to ding them up quite a bit riding around town, so I pulled them off to preserve them a little longer. I didn't notice any weight change or performance change after I pulled them off. I usually just throw a backpack on and ride up to the grocery store for a small load, so I didn't have any storage on the bike anyways. I charge the battery about once every 10 days, depending on how much I use it. I don't often ride at night, maybe 30-45 minutes some days on my way back from the store or something, but I've never had it die on me and I feel like it's a reasonable charging interval.
The ride is pretty smooth, my only complaint is that for this price, I feel like they could've thrown on a carbon fork in the front, not a major dealbreaker but it would have been nice.
Overall, of the ten or so Trek's I have owned, BY FAR, this is my favorite. It's the perfect commuter, no maintenance, highly visible, awesome components, lightweight enough to lug around wherever you need to go, and overall just incredible. The belt drive is silent and shifting is smooth. I was a little concerned about it only being an 8-speed, but I never use either the high end or low end so it's been more than adequate enough for me.