Skip to main content

2011 Trek 4300 Mountain Bike


After one solid year of being without a Mountain Bike, I was starting to lose my mind. Granted I have been shredding on two wheels but it was on a much smaller 20" BMX. Don't get me wrong I love BMX racing and while it does fulfill my desire for competition, it doesn't help my desire for exploration.

So, with little money but great desire I searched every corner of the internet for a good deal. When my lovely wife suggested I grab a cheap Walmart bike I could feel the hairs stand up on the back of my neck, there are some lines one never crosses.


My brother Kevin made the same suggestion but only after a friend of his had a minor breakthrough. The friend had bought a Genesis 29er for about $200. at Walmart. He then changed the fork for a Rock Shox and had a bike shop fine tune it. He had since survived several rocky rides in Massasoit State Park in Taunton, Massachusetts. 

I studied the Genesis 29er carefully. I hunted it down, sat on one in the store, played with the gears and really considered the possibility. I would be able to do local off road rides and long street rides but the sheer weight of the bike (38 pounds) would make it a tank on climbs. This was clearly the best that Walmart had to offer but I just couldn't do it.


My desire is to keep up with the crowd in group rides, climb without getting a hernia and change gears without swearing. I guess trust is the real issue. Either that or I'm trying to convince my readers that I'm not a bike snob. Anyways, the search is over I bought a Mountain Bike.

I had tested a Specialized HardRock and a Giant Talon 29er but they were both heavy with slacker geometry, just not the ride I was looking for. That's when I met my new friends at Sarasota Cycle gave me a great deal on a Trek 4300. The most important aspects were fulfilled and first among them was affordability.


The Trek 4300 is reasonable all around: Spinner fork with 100mm travel, Shimano derailleurs with Bontrager wheels, tires and handlebars. The Tektro V-Brakes would have been a NO GO if I were still riding in New England but here in Florida it is flatter and there is a little less trail trash so I can probably get away with it.

Thus my prohibition of Walmart bikes continues. Even in a moment of financial weakness I could not, would not contribute to the evil empire. Just kidding but seriously I'm glad my money went to a real bike shop. Now, if I can just stop staring at the bike long enough to take it off the roof of my car. After all, it's so pretty.


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

CST Patrol MTB Tire Review

I've always been a sucker for cheap tires. In part because I'm a starving artist but also because riders tend to pay too much when it comes to upgrading their bikes. For example: How often have you seen a recreational rider purchase top of the line tires because they save him a few grams in weight? In most cases, if you really want to cut a few grams put down the cheeseburger. When it comes to mountain bike tires my measurement of quality sits at the apex between cost and consistency. For this reason I'm a huge fan of Schwalbe's Rapid Rob tires ( Read that review here ). While I'm still running a Rapid Rob on the front of my bike, I decided to try something new on the rear. Something even cheaper. Introducing the CST Patrol. For about $26. the 26" by 2.25" version of the CST Patrol is uber cheap. You get a wire bead, a weight of 780 grams with a single rubber compound but no EPS (Exceptional Puncture Safety) which can be found on other ve
Post a Comment
Read more

Schwalbe Rapid Rob MTB Tire Review

Schwalbe has an excellent reputation for putting out stellar, high quality MTB tires. The up side has been their grip and superior compounds, the down side has been their prices, that is until now. The New Rapid Rob follows a long tradition of tires named with the alliterative double R, like Racing Ralph and Rocket Ron. Not a bad tradition to be a part of. So, what is different with the Rapid Rob that we haven't seen before? I bought a pair of 26 by 2.10 and put them on my bike to find out.
Post a Comment
Read more

Bike Review: 2014 Raleigh Talus 29er

I have only ever tested a handful of 29ers. I generally found them to be more stable, aggressive on technical downhills with laid out geometry that felt race focused. While that sense of balance and control left a positive impression, I have never been able to afford such a beast. However, I will get to race one. Bicycles International of Venice and Luksha Reconstruction noticed my recent boost in name recognition, mostly due to the popularity of my book Twisted Trails . Then I told them about my ambitious racing schedule so they decided to sponsor me for the 2015 season. What I needed most was a bike good enough for cross country racing and gravel grinders. It didn't have to be a world beater but it had to stand a step above my now beat up Trek Four Series. Admittedly, that would be an easy task. "What kind of bikes do you see at the races?" asked Jason Luksha, owner of Luksha Reconstruction. While the trends have been fluctuating over the years between 26, 27
Post a Comment
Read more