I finally got the bike I put on back order a week ago and put on accessories to give it the look I wanted. Thanks again for opinions on some of those! It’s a bit much for a commuter, and it’s most of the riding I do these days. Luckily I’m not worried at work, bike theft isn’t big here, and I carry a substantial lock.
This is a primarily commuter and all around build and the first road bike I’ve bought or built in about 10 years. I checked out all the local bike shops and brands they carried. Then, I went looking through catalogs and figured these new gravel bikes had what I wanted in an all around commuter. The mix of price, components, and color got me to order the Trek, and it’s the first of their bikes that I’ve owned. Others I saw had a bit small of a large chainring for my purposes and tended to go kinda cheaper on the crank but for little to no difference in price. Others also didn’t have hydraulic disc, which I fell in love with after riding around on a bike with them in Germany. I think my other consideration was a Specialized Sequoia, and I shied away from the weight before accessories. I still have to ride this thing up the foothills. The color immediately gave me ideas on what to put on it, and I like the way they change the look.
Bike specs:
Trek Checkpoint ALR 5 gravel bike in British Racing Green
Shimano 11-speed 105 group with hydraulic disc brakes
Compact double front and 11-34T rear
Swapped saddle for a Brooks B17 with the fancy copper rails and rivets
Swapped bar tape for Leh Cycles leather bar tape. The Brooks tape just didn’t look like great quality.
Swapped gravel tires for 700x35c Schwalbe Marathon Supreme touring tires
Installed Handsome Cycles hammered copper anodized aluminum fenders
Installed copper bottle cages
Installed Axiom rear rack I already had
Installed Crankbros Candy 3 pedals
The only other thing I’ll be doing here is using one of the Bontrager Blendr stem mounts for a GoPro and a Cygolite GoPro adapter to mount the headlight on the bottom (or top) of the stem.
Here she is together on the first commuting ride.
