2023 Trek District 4 Equipped Stagger

[PedallingNowhereSlowly]

Can the gear ratios be changed easily to help with climbing?
And how does it feel when dancing on the pedals on hills? As some bikes just feel wrong in my experience.

In theory yes - I'm still researching this. Shimano in the dealer manual recommend certain chaing ring and cog combinations - which I think is down to limiting the torque supplied to the rear hub. IIRC the District has a 46T chainring and a 22T cassette - which isn't one of Shimano's recommended combinations - but is probably broadly equivalent:

If I were to try different sprocket / chainring sizes, I would have to do some maths in order to make sure there is a replacement Gates CDX belt that fits.

I've found all the climbs I do on my regular route I can do seated without my cadence dropping too much below 60. The bike actually does climb okay out of the saddle, despite the back swept handle bars. It's not like my Ribble CGR but the belt drive means the bike should have a lot of stiffness to stop chainset / cog moving out of alignment as that can cause the belt to come off. I would say that the frame is amply stiff in the BB / chain stay areas.

I got this bike just to do a regular daily 'faux commute' with minimal fuss and effort, and take the odd trip into town - I don't really need see a need to change the gearing for that when it's working well enough. If I need more gears, I've got other bikes. I'm using it to build up my base level of fitness and also for recovery rides so generally it's for zone 2 and zone 3 work. And it works - it doesn't urge me to go faster like the other bikes

 

[biggs682]

In theory yes - I'm still researching this. Shimano in the dealer manual recommend certain chaing ring and cog combinations - which I think is down to limiting the torque supplied to the rear hub. IIRC the District has a 46T chainring and a 22T cassette - which isn't one of Shimano's recommended combinations - but is probably broadly equivalent:

View attachment 733778
If I were to try different sprocket / chainring sizes, I would have to do some maths in order to make sure there is a replacement Gates CDX belt that fits.

I've found all the climbs I do on my regular route I can do seated without my cadence dropping too much below 60. The bike actually does climb okay out of the saddle, despite the back swept handle bars. It's not like my Ribble CGR but the belt drive means the bike should have a lot of stiffness to stop chainset / cog moving out of alignment as that can cause the belt to come off. I would say that the frame is amply stiff in the BB / chain stay areas.

I got this bike just to do a regular daily 'faux commute' with minimal fuss and effort, and take the odd trip into town - I don't really need see a need to change the gearing for that when it's working well enough. If I need more gears, I've got other bikes. I'm using it to build up my base level of fitness and also for recovery rides so generally it's for zone 2 and zone 3 work. And it works - it doesn't urge me to go faster like the other bikes

Must admit I hadn't thought about having to get a belt of the correct length to suit gears .

Sounds like you are enjoying it and that is the main thing.

 

[PedallingNowhereSlowly]

Contact points.
The provided pedals are terrible; they are still tight on the bearings after 300 km.
Sans cycling shorts and padding, the supplied saddle is okay for regular 10 mile rides, but for anything more than that, is not recommended.
Replacements should be arriving soon.

Climbing.
I need to plan my routes better. Yesterday I wound up climbing Weston Bank (A518 between Weston and Stafford). It has an average gradient of 9.8%, peaking at 17.1%

At my slowest I was doing 6.2 km/h at a cadence of 46 RPM - seated.

Doable, but not recommended !

 

[PedallingNowhereSlowly]

We've now hit 400 km. I'm starting to think ahead to the first service. The oil maintenance kit looks hard to obtain, although it's available on eBay for a princely sum.

I've not heard the bottom bracket clicking so much - it is still reproducible with a hard mash on the pedals - but as already touched on, it's probably best avoided anyway.

No other issues, save for the saddle. The replacement should hopefully arrive tomorrow. Looking forward to fitting that and the new pedals.

Still very much enjoying this bike. It's probably time to address the question of whether it was worth its £1300 price, let alone the recommended retail price of £1750.

Honestly, for most people, I don't think it is.

• The bike is not particularly light (15.5kg), especially compared to the Canyon Commuter 7 mid-step which for the same outlay manages to be a couple of Kg lighter - albeit with less load carrying capacity (max gross weight of 136kg as opposed to 120kg for the Canyon)
• The Alfine hub's service intervals, combined with the more involved servicing, slightly awkward gear spacing and narrower range do somewhat negate the advantages of an internal geared hub - although keeping it clean is much less of a concern
• The belt drive again has it's virtues - it is almost silent and it does keep itself fairly clean. The chain on the other hybrid gets gunked up quite quickly thanks to the gravel paths I frequently ride on and that warrants giving the drive train a clean/relube every 250km or so. I don't see myself doing any cleaning of this drive train until I'm ready to service it in 600km time. That said, it's an expensive option. A replacement belt (said to last 16,000km) looks to be ~£90 which ultimately doesn't make it cheaper than periodically replacing chains.

In summary, I do like the bike. It fits my use case quite well as a 'jump on and go' bike and whilst it is not low (as in almost no) maintenance, it is definitely less involved most of the time if you cound cleaning as maintenance. Yes, I probably would buy it again with the same discount. But I wouldn't blindly recommend it to anyone unless, like me, they are inclined to get obsessive with keeping drive trains clean and in good order!

It's also worth noting the 2024 model now seems to be available and features a couple of changes:

• Straight handlebars instead of the backswept flavour on the 2023 model
• A front dynamo powered light with 200 lumens output, instead of the 180 lumens of the 2023 model

I think the deletion of the backswept bars is a shame as they suit both the asthetic and character of the bike.

 

[PedallingNowhereSlowly]

About time I added a photo to show what the bike looks like.

I've changed the pedals for some metal bodied Welgo ones - on account they were cheap and should hopefully be better than the plastic originals.

I've swapped out the original saddle for a Selle Italia ST7 Vision Superflow.

I've mixed feelings about it so far, but a brief ride suggests it's going to be more comfortable than the stock saddle. I hope that bears out. The finish on most the saddle seems fairly good, but around the integrated rear LED light, it's not very uniform. That rear light requires two AAA batteries, which slot into a compartment under the saddle. It looks like it is just possible to change them with the saddle in situ, but requires a screwdriver. The compartment looks well sealed, but it seems as fiddly as hell to get the batteries out without damaging them. Thankfully, the battery life is reportedly 150 hours, so I hopefully won't be changing them too often.

The light comprises 4 LEDs. There is no on/off switch, it is motion activated and so will be on day or night. They are not very bright, so next to useless during the day. At night they should offer some supplementary lighting. Thankfully the saddle sits just high enough above the trunk bag to be seen.

That trunk bag is a cheap RockBros one which I've screwed an MIK adapter too. I think I should have positioned the MIK adapter a bit futher back, as the rear of the bag sags down a bit and slightly obscures the rear dynamo light. I might address this, but it means make four more holes in the bag. Alternatively, I might try and source an MIK compatible trunk bag instead.

As you can see, I've added a CatEye bracket attached to the rear-most rack stay in which I can mount a Viz 300 (good old snap system). Not officially listed as compatible, but it bloomin' well is.

The 'seat stay clamp' used is the Cateye BS-3 and the 'bracket support' (the bit the bolts onto the clamp and holds the light) is a 544-0980, both sourced from St. John's Street (SJS) Cycles. I've actually put a pair of these on, one each side - but I've not yet sourced another light for the near side.

I've got a Topeak HeadLux DUAL USB front/rear light to affix atop the helmet, so there will be no excuse for not seeing me when the nights draw in.

 

[PedallingNowhereSlowly]

Close up of the integral (4 LED) light in the Selle Italia ST7 Vision Superflow saddle

 

[PedallingNowhereSlowly]

View of the current lighting setup from the rear. The rack mount light is run off the dynamo.

 

[PedallingNowhereSlowly]

Top view of that saddle

A view of the bike from the other side

 

[PedallingNowhereSlowly]

The next thing I'll change is the bell; I ride around a few blind corners on my regular morning loop for which a bell is useful - but the bright 'ting ting ting' of this bell tends to startle people. I've got a traditional bell on order that should be arriving soon.

That bell also likes to unscrew itself, which I could admittedly fix with some threadlock. But I also find the trigger part of it quite stiff so when I need it, I often misfire.

I might add some reflective Raw Flap mudflaps to the mudguards. And in addition to that, at some point, probably a front basket - although that will probably interfere with the current mounting position of the front dynamo light, which would mean a bracket to move it forwards and a re-wire.

 

[PedallingNowhereSlowly]

The Trek has hit the 1,000 km mark.

I took it for a scenic 100 km ride yesterday through South Staffordshire and West Shropshire - with 750 meters of climbing. It's not really the kind of use the bike was designed for - it's upright seating position, whilst great for relaxed shorter rides and taking in the scenary - means on longer rides that too much weight is distributed on your back side. After 70km my bottom was quite numb. I suspected as much before I set off, but I was curious as to whether it would be a problem (it most definitely is) and I'm a glutton for punishment.

The tail end of the ride was in total darkness. On dry unlit country lanes, that front LED light was more than sufficient - both handle bar lights I kept in daytime flashing mode as I didn't need to supplement it with any more lumens. Yet to find out what it is really like in wet conditions on similar roads.

Towards the end of the ride, I was remarking to myself that the 1,000 km has been covered with no issues. I spoke too soon, I realised when I got home that the rear dynamo light had stopped working. A quick look at it in the daylight today quickly revealed the problem. The negative cable had broken just under where it enters the light fitting. The cable is routed through the frame, and then on the underside of the mudguard emerging just under where the light is mounted on the rack. Whilst this is neat, I question the practicality of it. I'm guessing the mudguard flexing over ruts, potholes and bumps is what caused the cable to break. I've stripped and re-connected it and reinforced it with some electrical tape. Unfortunately the cable isn't quite long enough to do anything else with it. If it breaks again, I'll have to look at re-routing it.

I've also today serviced the rear hub. This is quite involved and comes closer to car maintenance. Whilst I was there, I changed the rear tube. I think that slow leak was the valve core - I couldn't find any evidence of air leaking from the tube itself, but whan I put it under water the valve core shot straight out.

Re-fitting the wheel - despite taking care to tension the belt exactly as it was and adjust the sliding drop out mechanism so the wheel was in the exact same place relative to the chain/seat stays, mean re-tensioning the gear cable. It was no where near when I first re-fitted it and put everything back together. I then also had the joy of re-centering the brake caillipers - the allen bolts being difficult to access with the rack legs in the way.

I was hoping, that once I'd worked out how to remove and re-fit the rear wheel, I'd be more confident of changing a rear tube out on the road - but that's going to be a right faff once the eventuality arises.

I also noted that after washing the bike - and not with a pressure washer, I might add, both front and rear lights had a bit of condensation in them - so they are perhaps not the most watertight.

Clean bike. I've re-positioned the trunk bag on the MIK adapter as the rear end had drooped and was covering the dynamo light.

Cockpit. The remote control on the right is for saving video segments and taking still images on the helmet camera

Rear view. Now two Cateye Viz 300 lights to accompany the other blinkies.

Overall, still very much enjoying the bike. And I do especially like the back swept handle bars.

 

[AndyRM]

Enjoyed reading through this thread and I really like that saddle. I haven't seen one like it before.

 

[PedallingNowhereSlowly]

Enjoyed reading through this thread and I really like that saddle. I haven't seen one like it before.

Thanks! I think I've probably gone into way, way too much detail.

Anyway, the saddle. I'm not over the moon with it - it's certainly not the last word in comfort. It's better than the stock saddle.
The inbuilt light - I did a battery change before the last ride. Changing the batteries is as fiddly as hell. It's almost impossible to get the first one out. And after I'd replaced them, the LED would not function until I bent out one of the battery contacts.

The runtime is good. And it looks like the battery compartment is well sealed against the elements. I am not sure though, how many times I'm going to be able to change the batteries before the self-tapping screw used to secure the battery compartment door starts falling out of it's own accord. There should really be a threaded insert there.

 

[AndyRM]

Thanks! I think I've probably gone into way, way too much detail.

Anyway, the saddle. I'm not over the moon with it - it's certainly not the last word in comfort. It's better than the stock saddle.
The inbuilt light - I did a battery change before the last ride. Changing the batteries is as fiddly as hell. It's almost impossible to get the first one out. And after I'd replaced them, the LED would not function until I bent out one of the battery contacts.

The runtime is good. And it looks like the battery compartment is well sealed against the elements. I am not sure though, how many times I'm going to be able to change the batteries before the self-tapping screw used to secure the battery compartment door starts falling out of it's own accord. There should really be a threaded insert there.

Not at all, it's an interesting read.

Must admit I had my doubts about the comfort of the saddle (based on looks alone) and it has design flaws because it's a great idea.

Pricey too.

 

[PedallingNowhereSlowly]

As the days have shortened, I've been finding less time for regular shorter rides. Other demands placed on my time haven't helped much either.
And, the arrival of the Felt Broam has also meant I'm using this bike a bit less.

The Broam, has provided a useful point of comparison. It currently sports upper-mid-range 35mm tyres (run at 50 PSI) and a carbon fork.
The District, has it's factory supplied 40mm tyres (run at 40 PSI) and an aluminium fork.

I've done two 30km rides this week over similar routes, one on the Broam and one on the District.

The Broam soaks up lumpy/broken asphalt more than the District. It isn't night and day difference, but it's noticeable.
There's a temptation now to try a half decent and possibly wider (still) tyre on the District - IRCC it has clearance for tyres up to 50mm, but I'm not sure how much the fitted mudguards eat into that.

I think it is a shame Trek didn't specify a chromoly front fork for this bike. If I ever get the recently acquired 7.2FX into rideable condition, that will also provide another point of comparison, because that does have a chromoly front fork.