Bill G

I just picked up a new Giant Roam 0 Hybrid a few days ago. I fine tuned it to my liking, got the fit correct for me, changed out the saddle installed my seat bag tools and spare tube, slapped on a set of more road friendly 700x35 Vittoria Hyper foldable tires and removed the 700x40 semi nobby tires that came on it. I road it the first time out about 30 miles and another 35 or so miles with the wife today. The bike rode well it responded good to the road and bike trail. The hydrolic lock out on the fork is very nice and easy to use. The Scram X5 componets are nice and perform very well after tuneing them correctly. The Avid hydrolic disk brakes perform very well and have a nice over all feel to them very smooth great modulation. It's a sweet little Hybrid ride I like the 700C wheelset & disk brakes and I like the mountain bike gearing, climbs well with the 9 spd 11-34 rear cassette & 26,36,48 chain rings up front. I paid $760.00 for mine I think retail is $820.00. I did look at the Trek models as well both the Giant & the Trek Hybrids are nice if you like the mountain bike style Hybids. I decided on the Giant after looking at at both model lines I think it had a little more bang over all for the buck comparing apples to apples as much as possible considering local pricing on both bikes between two diffrent bike shops.

Ride Safe All,
Bill G

RedMocking

Love it! Haven't gotten it broken in all the way yet. But so far smooth shifting, quick ride, comfy position.

Bill G

Sweet ride, enjoy...

Ride Safe,
Bill G

derf36

I see you've found an appropriate place to park it. Enjoy the ride

dgraham2038

really like the bike...i have a giant defy road bike so I ride this bike when I want a change of pace. Its quiet, smooth and deceptively fast for a bike with this type of geometry. most importantly I ride this bike with a tremendous amount of confidence (not sure if the wider tires and flat bar deep down make me more comfortable)

jsdavis

Marin Muirwoods 29er rigid bike as my commuter. If I really want to, I'm told I can fit up to 700x53 tires for off-roading 80-90s rigid mountain bike style.

cs1

I don't have one but was looking at the 8.5 DS as a replacement. I have way too many bikes and not enough time to ride them all. How does the Suntour fork work on the 8.5? I hear mixed reviews on Suntour forks. I'm sure a lot of it has to do with the snob factor. For right around a grand the 8.5 DS seems like a bargain.

ColinL

maybe some of it is snobbish, but a lot depends on what you ride and how much you weigh.the suntour fork really is inadequate for serious singletrack use. I'm talking about roots, drops, large rocks. But then again, it wasn't meant for that-- trek would have you buy a 29er MTB instead.so I think the suntour fork is fine for the DS series. if you need more fork, you need more bike.

zerogravity

Honestly for light trails the Suntur is fine. Like ColinL said, if you plan on doing some harder riding(roots, drops, large rocks, Jumps) more than street use, a 29er MTB will be better suited for your needs. A Trek Mamba is under a grand and has a 100mm Rockshox fork. 40mm more travel than that DS. It really isn't a snobby thing, i have put the fork through a beating. The travel is just too short for high drops and highspeed downhills. When it bottoms out, your wrists just take such a beating. Here is what it says on the fork.

fisherdavy

Just Got My New 2013 8.6 DS So Fast and easy to ride

jbooker82

2013 Trek D.S. 8.3 in True Blue here. My wife has a 2012 Trek D.S. 8.2. Both have about 150 miles on them and so far so good. I like the ride and they really suit our riding style. We ride paved bike trails, crushed lime stone trais, and gravel roads. These are our first real bikes and they work / ride really well.

namtnulb

I bought my 2012 8.5 DS late last year. Loved it then and love it even more after some upgrades this year!

blue_cheese

'12 DS 8.4 here, have it for about 3 weeks and it has about 200Km on it. So far I love it. I loved it on first sight from bunch i tried (all dual sport type of things).

I am very happy with the braking and the gearing for being able to tow a kid trailer with 2 kids, on a variety of inclines and terrains. I am surprised how comfortable it is for me (21.5" frame and I am 6'2).

I find the drivetrain a bit noisy and had the chain slip off a couple of times, that is the only thing that irks me, but the store has free tune-ups for a year so I will take it back to them to adjust the deraileurs more to my liking. (right after the I am done riding over the long weekend )

I don't get why these types of bikes appear to get shunned on, they seem excellent general purpose bikes.

bgraham111

I got a 2013 Trek 8.4 DS and so far it's great.

I'm still "fitting" it to myself, and determining what other stuff I want to add to it, but it's going good so far.

I like being able to take it over rocks, gravel, and over rough road without thinking about it. But if I want to do any real mountain biking I still have my Specialized Hardrock. I have no need for a road bike - but maybe a recumbent at some point would be fun....

Troy Winter

'13 DS8.3
I've had it about a month and have just over 200 miles on it. I love it. It replaces my Gary Fisher Wahoo that was stolen. For my purposes the DS is better. I don't do any serious mb trails so I don't really need a mb. What I found myself wanting a little more of with my Wahoo was speed on the road which the DS gives me. I ride gravel ,rough old country roads/highway and occasionally in town and the DS does great at all those.

bikingds

I just picked up my 2013 Trek 8.6 DS.

Must say, it's a beautiful bike and looking forward to riding later today. Change the Peddles to a removable pin platform. OEM peddles are to small and cheap. At first I had a 2013 Trek 7.6 FX but had to many problems with it and got rid of it.
I just joined the forum today and wanted to say hello.

GeorgeBMac

I got a 2012 Trek DS 8.5 about 10 days ago and have a little more than 200 miles on it. And I LOVE it! It is more than I had hoped or expected... Smooth, stable, fast and it stops and shifts like a dream. Better than I could have ever asked for.

My only complaint are the cheap tires (Bontrager LT3). They are only 30tpi with no flat protection. So, I was back in the LBS within a week with a flat (I had managed to keep it pumped enough to get back to my car). They installed "Spin Skins" in the tires. Hopefully that helps. (BTW, the LBS advised against going to hardcase tires party because of the expense but mostly because they are hard to change -- as ColinL pointed out.)

I'm riding it on crushed limesone Rails-to-trails and it does well there...

I also ride a drop bar road bike on those same trails and it does well but it doesn't like soft stuff or ruts. Also, it is limited in what you can do with it. So, basically it is the little sports car you take out on sunny days.

So I got the DS not to replace the road bike but to compliment it. I look at the quick little road bike like my fun little sports car and the DS as my day-to-day SUV...

So, the DS is becoming my "Go Anywhere, anytime" bike: I've added:
-- seat bag with extra tube, tire irons and portabe hex wrench set
-- nice pump on the front mount
-- 2 water bottles on the inside mounts
-- rear rack with a trunk with fold-out panniers where I keep a rain jacket
-- headlight and computer
-- fenders
Well, actually the fenders are in process: when the LBS tried to mount the rear fender the front top-pull Deore derailer was in the way so I am going to swap that for a bottom pull SLR next week...

At that point, I will be ready for whatever comes: rain, darkness, rough trails, whatever....

The only limitations will be the engine (which needs an overhaul) otherwise I could just ride and ride forever...

GeorgeBMac

Hello to you and welcome.
I hope that you enjoy your new bike and the forum...

I don' know what your experience level is but this forum has some very knowledgeable (and good!) people. I'm sure you will find it helpful.

zerogravity

Welcome! Please tell us about your 8.6..i'd love to know more about it form your experience.

Since im upgrading my Rumblefish with XT components, the my 8.4 will be inheriting my 10sp SLX system. Although, i pretty much stopped using my 8.4 on the dirt and put the road tires on. Actually thinking about getting the rigit carbon fork on it now that it may be my dedicated road bike.

bikingds

Thanks for the welcome,

First Ride, I have only ridden 15 miles today ( Hot Weather ) but so far I'm very impressed with the Trek 8.6 and really like the remote Lock-out fork.
The most important thing for me was shifting and braking, The shifting on this 8.6 was smooth as butter, perfect, I was surprised at how well it shifted though all the gears, I reached speeds of 23.5 MPH on a flat straight road. Wow .

The disc brakes were very good , but I think will improve as they break-in. So far I give the Trek 8.6 a 9 out of 10.

I should also give credit to the tech who put it together at the LBS, he has 30+ years experience and it shows.

Thanks for reading. More updates and photos as I continue the updates on the bike.

jimbo007

HEllo Zerogravity,
What will the 10 speed SLX system give to your Trek 8.4? I ask because I have the Trek 8.2 and was thinking of what to upgraade on it. The gears are too low on mine for street riding.

jimbo007

Hello bgraham,
How do you like the Hardrock. I was thinking of getting the entry level Hardrock and putting street slick tires on it and using it as a beefed up dual sport bike. I broke a rear spoke on my Trek 8.2. I jump curbs alot. Plus a 29er Hardrock seems like it would ride easier on the street along with the lockout fork. Do you think the Hardrock would work well this way? I ride 40 miles street with curbs and some hard packed trails and grass.

jimbo007

Bikingds,
How do you like the removable pin pedals? I have a DS 8.2 and would like to get a better made alloy pedal
for regular street shoes like trail runners.

no1mad 

Care to elucidate? If you're in stop and go conditions, your gearing should be fine.

My top gear is 42x11 and according to online gear calulators, I still haven't gotten in good enough shape to reach the max possible speed on the flats yet. At one point, I was lusting after a bike that had a road triple, but realized that type of gearing is meant for either really strong legs or 'attacking' while going downhill- neither of which would describe me.

You might be able to swap out your cassette for one that has a bit higher gear for cheap if you really wanted to; converting to 8spd shouldn't cost that much either (I think most 7spd systems can be interchanged for 8spd rather easily), but going 9spd or more will get pricey in a hurry- especially if you rely on the LBS for the labor.

jimbo007

I max out at 12-15 mph on a flat street. It seems two more high gears would get me up to 20 mph. I could loose the granny gear and not worry too much. I would like to change the cassette to a 9 speed and see how it works. What else needs to be changed?