Originally Posted by
DekeDaSilva
Hello - Just finished all 58 pages of this thread and had a few questions from you aficionados. Forgive me if I seem like an idiot. I'm looking to get back into biking and getting in shape,late 40's, too much beer and pizza,etc. I've been really going haywire with research and I think I'm leaning towards a DS by Trek. Last bike-for a short time- was a 2005 Trek 4300 MB which I loved but sold when I bought a classic Corvette. I plan on doing 70 pct road and 30 pct trail/off road. As of now I'm interested in a DS 1 or DS 2. Although I learned the difference btwn a 3 and 4, I'm not sure how much difference there is regarding the 1 and 2. And then there is the interest in a MB. Even though I'm not into scaling mountains, I loved the whole set up of my previous bike,esp the knobby tires and the freedom to get dirty and nasty off road. I basically would like to know the big difference between the dual and mountain bikes generally speaking from people with experience and the DS 1 vs DS 2 comparison specifically. Also I am 6'2" 208lbs. I Would like to keep the budget to 500 or so. I want to thank you in advance. I really enjoyed reading all these posts from page 1.
Welcome to the forum and glad you enjoyed the read. I have the DS4 but I can share with you what I saw in the DS1 & 2 when I was looking into the DS line. I too came from mountain biking and XC riding but with age and injury so comes the life changes. The real differences of the DS2 that I compared were the lockout fork, the 8 speed drivetrain and hydraulic brakes. Other than that there no meaningful differences. So with that if you're considering one of the two I would suggest the DS2 for those features. Mechanical brakes work just fine but when riding on paved trails you really want to lockout that fork. Most of the other stuff, like pedals and the seat, you would probably want to change no matter what version of the bike you get. As far as the bikes capabilities I can tell you that I ride trails in the desert that range from paved to mild single track and I have not had one single issue with the bike performing nor its ability to handle the ride. And although I got the DS4 I still made significant changes to the components mostly because I already had the parts but its much more tailored to me now and I cant imagine riding anything else for the foreseeable future. I hope this helps some.