'08 Trek XO1 Review

My new bike review ... better late then never.


So as soon as I'd heard that Trek we issuing new cx bikes this season, I knew that I wanted the XO1. It looked like it was going to fit my needs nicely.

The first problem with this bike was availability. My first race was 9/29 so I started asking around about this bike in early Sept. My buddy is a trek employee and told me that there was little chance of getting once in time. Every shop I went to told me that they were unavailable for order, even another buddy at another shop couldn't get get me a bro-deal even to order one. Whats up with this, don't you think Trek would have new products available for their season? I think it's a negative for people looking at this bike ... who is going to wait until half the season is order to buy a bike?

One a whim one night I stopped in at Wheel & Sprocket to warm up on a cold night. I asked the guy if they had any in stock and he looked at his computer and said the warehouse had 1. So I ordered that baby up real quick and had it the following day. I guess it pays to shop at Trek's larges retailer.

So now the bike. Its real sharp. It has a flat paint job, silvery with a touch of copper in it. Carbon fork and seat post. Its not light, at least not compared to my Madone, but it is light enough. It is extraordinarily comfortable to ride ... I chalk that up to tires that are much larger and lower psi than I am used to. On the dirt and single track it's chittery (?) I think a lot of that is due to the aluminum frame and obviously the rough riding surface. Since I'm injured and won't be riding for awhile, I think I may take it back in and have then add a second layer of bar tape to it. The biggest problem I had was bar vibration at higher speeds.

I don't know which seat it has off the top of my head, but its real comfortable. The carbon seat post is nice, but I worry that its going to snap when remounting at times. The bike comes standard with bontrager race wheels and bontrager tires.

I had the brakes cabled euro style ... right brake is rear wheel, left brake is front. It makes sense from a dismount point. Since I don't remember much of my crash, I won't consider that I panicked and hit the front brake accidentally sending me over the bars. I honestly don't think this was an issue.

I have two complaints. First, I hit the back wheel on a barrier one of my first times out and it knocked the rear wheel out of true by about half an inch. I did hit the barrier ... but not that hard, and was disappointed to see it lose its shape so easily. Second, the front brake squeals like a banshee. I have toed in the brakes, sanded the brakes, cleaned the rim surface and it still wails. Not too happy about that, hopefully over time it will wear in a do well.

One last concern has to due with the geometry of the bike. The toe of my shoes and the front will conflict with each other during sharp turns. I don't think its a major problem, but on real tight turns at slow speeds I do get a little concerned about hitting. I am riding a bike a size smaller than usual ... a 52 instead of a 54 ... so this may be part of the problem.

Overall, VERY happy with the bike. It seems rugged and has held up relatively well. After I crashed out with broken boned the bike was unscathed. I look forward to using it as a commuter bike some this winter and giving cx another whirl next fall.