NBD - Bye, Bye Whyte hello Trek

[crust]

Following the garage break in and my bikes being stolen, there’s been a lot of discussion and thought as to what to get next. I loved the Whyte T130 and it had a lot of upgrades to make it a lovely trail bike, We had bonded well as it was well suited to the local trails.

The insurance co agreed a reasonable payout figure and the debate hotted up between Weeksy and myself with suggestions coming thick and fast.
We narrowed it down to two, a long travel trail bike and a shorter travel bike. Arrangements were made to see them both after work, the first being the shorter travel bike.

Blokey pulled up in a shiny BMW X5 and took out the bike, honestly apart from a slight scuff on the swinging arm it looked brand new. A very quick pedal around the car park and that was it, deal done (a huge thanks to my bank manager ), no need to see the other bike. This bike was mint.
So here we have it – a 2020 Trek Fuel EX8.

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[Crosshair]

Lovely
Onwards to some better luck

[Mr Moofo]

Sorry to hear that you had your bikes nicked.
Seems to be a lot of it about - esp at the higher end of bikes.

Happy new bike day - you'll love pedalling that uphill at the Surrey Hills

[crust]

First ride on bike yesterday, beautifully prepped by Weeksy suspension services. Had to be a gentle one as the collarbone is not signed off yet.

First impressions, rides like a brand new bike, gears are instantaneous, suspension very supple, I'm unfit

After a hydration break...

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The bike has a Mino link flip chip to raise or lower the bike in the rear stays, it was set on 'Low' so we thought we'd give 'High' a go on the way back. Ugh, not good, only a small change - 10mm-ish but huge change in feel. Seems to tip the bike forward a lot, so back to 'Low'.

Only 25 miles of road, gravel but thoroughly enjoyed it. So good to get back out in the fresh air.

Cheers for looking after the bike, mate.

[weeksy]

Aye, it's a cracking bike. Was interesting to compare weights and sizing. I guess I've ridden it on arguably more tech terrain than you lol. But it rides really nicely.

Gears are sharper than mine which prompts me to throw a new gear cable in mine this week.

[crust]

Was just getting ready for a zwift ride when a little lightbulb came on in my head - "why not go for a real ride - outside on your manuak bike

So I did, and very lovely it was. Huffed and puffed my way up to the top of Sulham woods, rode around a bit then down to Purley

20230822_193413 by crust, on Flickr

Sat at the lights in Purley I heard another bike pull up behind me. Green and woah, an old boy on a hybrid overtook me going hard, game on, I got on his back wheeel and we went for it. Next thing his wife (assumption) did us both and cleared off. Luckily they went left at the next roundabout as I was running out of puff.

Need more manual rides, get some speed/power back.

[weeksy]

Was just getting ready for a zwift ride when a little lightbulb came on in my head - "why not go for a real ride - outside on your manuak bike

So I did, and very lovely it was. Huffed and puffed my way up to the top of Sulham woods, rode around a bit then down to Purley

20230822_193413 by crust, on Flickr

Sat at the lights in Purley I heard another bike pull up behind me. Green and woah, an old boy on a hybrid overtook me going hard, game on, I got on his back wheeel and we went for it. Next thing his wife (assumption) did us both and cleared off. Luckily they went left at the next roundabout as I was running out of puff.

Need more manual rides, get some speed/power back.

now we're talking