i think with a steel frame, i'd want to stick with a steel fork. (of course i'm biased, i mount steel forks on my alu frame bikes.) as to the drift away from water bottles, they seem to have additional mounts on the forks for more bottles or salsa cages. if designed as a loaded touring bike, i'd expect a good portion of the riders would want undertube bosses - either for water or fuel, or as i use for repair kit bottle. for a $700 frame, i'd expect a better offering. thinking trek didn't actually design this bike, more like they took whatever the taiwan factory was pumping out at $20 a piece wholesale, and rebadged. not sure about eu/usa, but i haven't seen a frame fit pump in well over a decade. just checked nashbar; they no have. nor do the few local shops here.



my suggestion....24 spokes....was a reference to the infamous 920. the article claims the racks (front at least) is/are bespoke. not necessary of course, but i'd like to see more attention to detail in the struts....just personal preference.


about the thruskewthang... i don't like that it's a proprietary thingamabob.....from online comments it appears you can't use any old skewer, so if something breaks (regardless how improbable)....do you buy a new fork and continue your tour?