Trek Belleville 2010
 

3spd IGH, steel, fenders, chain guard, dynamo light, front + rear racks, mixte and regular frames...for $599? http://nccyclery.wordpress.com/2009/...rek-trek-trek/

I think its more if you want an 8 spd IGH. Trek seems to be catching on with demand for a Raleigh Sports type classic utility bike.

The Belleville looks interesting and stylish as anything, I dig the retro appeal! I'm willing to overlook the weird dropped top tube on the "men's" model (it's not as aesthetically unpleasing to my eye as some funky hybrid top tube arrangements) but the geometry looks like my old Schwinn cruiser. Way too "feet-forward" for my liking...

http://nccyclery.files.wordpress.com...8/tw09-009.jpg

Forget the new 6.9 Madone, the carbon Fisher Cronus (with stealth fender mounts!), the District Carbon, and even the new Ride+ electric bikes, this bike was the star of Trek World for me. Dynamo front hub with lights front and rear, front and rear racks, full metal fenders... yum. Exactly the bike I was hoping for.

Wish it had the 8sp hub, but that's an easy swap. Not sure about the handlebar/stem setup--looks great, but if you don't like it, you'll need a new stem to go with the new bars. Love the fact that it's powder coated. I also think they went a little overboard with the Eco stuff by spec'ing steel seatpost and pedals. Also, I'm not sold on the saddle being held together with zip-ties, will have to get and extended ride on it before passing judgement, same with the plasticky, albeit recycled material, grips. Good that they're doing it, but I'm not sure they needed to focus on end-of-life recycling matters as much as they did, since typically bikes are reused rather than discarded. The women's mixte version is fantastic as well.

The real "Woah!" moment was when I saw the price. Dang. We're gonna sell plenty of these suckers.

If the Belleville is a homage to a porteur bike, swap out the levers for some reverse levers... and voila - you have a poor man's Rene Herse! :innocent:


It really needs a 650B wheelset and some Panaracer Col Del La Vie's to be period correct... but that's easily remedied by one's LBS :)

Ooooohhhh! That is pretty! Me likey!
Before I get too excited, let's remember the Gary Fisher Simple City, also from Trek. The first models (in late '07) were steel with an intricately detailed front basket. Once it finally appeared in stores (10 months after announcing it), it had morphed into a mint colored aluminum hybrid with mass made basket.
Duppie

Here is the mixte version.

The blue fenders and racks look dumb on the white frame. They should have spent the time to paint them separately for this frame. White or silver would of looked good.

http://cdn.mos.bikeradar.com/images/...l9g-798-75.jpg

Its the pre-production version. A Trek-produced porteur bike is not going to approach the hand-built quality of the French original. If money were no object, a Rene Herse or Alex Singer would be the only porteur bike collectors find desirable.

I do like the way they went retro with the seatpost decals.

I certainly hope they have better porteur geometry than the Gary Fisher Simple City.

please trek build a 62cm mixte

Hey, everybody's got their own aesthetic and that's cool. To me the Belleville men's frame looks...awkward.

tcs

I love the look of it.:love:

I wonder what it weighs. It is made of steel, I assume. Aluminum might be better at that price point, but it would be rather out of place. I'd rather have a significantly lighter bike over the ride of cheap steel.

Well neither are really porteur bikes. Maybe they should be, but my guess is that the front rack is just a decoration for most of the buyers.


Sadly, yet another bike that looks like in the "womens" version, but the mens falls short. Oh well. The market wants huge top tube clearances, the manufacturers want a limited number of sizes (often just one in these kinds of bikes), and threadless stems prevent frames from being designed the way they used to be, meaning you end up with a really high-set head tube. Personally, I think they'd be better to put a threaded headset on it.

I don't see how it would be significantly lighter. My steel Surly frame weighs about 4 1/2 lbs. A nice carbon frame can weigh 2 lbs. The extra 2 1/2 lbs aren't going to be noticed on a bike designed for cargo carrying. Maybe the Trek frame is heavier, cheaper steel and weighs 8 lbs, but again, the target market isn't going to notice the weight. I'll bet it weighs under 40 lbs which is fine for a bike of this type at this price point.

I've ridden bikes with front racks that weren't designed for them and must say at low speeds it can be a little nerve racking. So for those that understand front end geometry better than myself, does trek's 69 degree head tube angle and 8.1cm of trail make sense for a front load?

Even though I kind of despise Trek if the front end is right I believe trek has got a sale with me.

,Will

beyond that, I think they brought back the old school head badge.
http://www.vintage-trek.com/images/t.../headbadge.jpg
that makes me happy

Cromoly frame, gas pipe forks.

tcs

Strangely, no. Trail on traditional randoneur bikes with the front racks was I believe 3.5-4.5cm. The Belleville's at 8.1 cm is greater than the road bike average of 5-6cm. I'm not an expert either so maybe someone else here can explain this.

I want to like this bike as it appears to have been named after the city I live in.

The Belleville's front end geometry is within millimeters of the Gary Fisher Simple City bikes, which used as a starting point the classic Schwinn Suburban*, and subsequently tweeked in by having some groups of target users ride prototypes with two bags of groceries in the front basket.

Because Trek came up with something other than the fashionable answer du jour, I've seen these bikes critized by a number of folks that admitted to not having ridden them. That said, I don't know if they ride and handle well with a front load or not.

tcs

*Actually, neither a randonneur nor porteur bike. Nor for that matter, a Dutch city bike or traditional British three-speed.

Did they steal that frame from the Brazilians?

Barraforte

**** you Trek. Now I need that bike. I NEED that bike.

I just asked about having the LBS order one of these for me and got a Trek proposed shipping date of Dec. 22. Looks like no fall rides on a new bike this year.....here's to spring.

,Will

Apparently they already raised the price too as the web site now shows an MSRP of $659.99.

I note that the large Mixte frame is listed as 50cm but the effective top tube length is listed as 57.5cm. That sounds long for such a small frame though I am not familiar with Mixte frame sizing.

http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes...bellevillewsd/