# Trek 520 touring bike



## dancemartin (Sep 16, 2005)

this is my first post. I just got back from a European tour from Naples across Italy to Croatia to italy again through Switzerland France, Belgium, Holland, Germany and Denmark, ending in Copenhagen and i wanted to share some of my experience with my Trek 520.

All in all the bicycle performed ok although I would not say excellent. I have a 520 built in 2004 but it was recently purchased so it was essentially new when I started the tour. I initally started the tour pulling a Burly Nomad trailer hauling about 60 pounds of gear. This was actually not to bad as long as the land was flat and as long as I did not try to taks any trains. I ended the tour with front and rear paniers.

The 520 has several issues. The Gearing was too high. On some of the hills in Tuscany I was wishing for a lower gear especially when I hit 15% grades. I found myself zigzaging across the road to try to flatten it out. I am sure that without weight the gearing would be fine but most folks have extra weight when they are on tour. I never really needed my highest gears although I did get into them a few times on long downhills.

The 520 comes with a relatively thin tire which I thought would be just fine but that was before I got introduced to European roads with the cobblestones and the way they do their road repairs which leaves you riding on dirt or sand for long streaches. The thin wheel was not optimal. Also after the roads in Belgium my wheels were bent I had to try to adjust them myself because the bicycle shops were all busy in Rotterdam and they could not get me in for a week. I managed to make the adjustments but for a rookie it was unnerving. To to it again I would try to find a bike with a 28 inch wheel. I think the Trek would be fine if it had a 28 inch wheel. This would help the gearing problem as well as the wheel issue. Does anyone out there know if a 28 inch wheel can be put on the Trek?

The third problem I had with the bike was that the cheap rack that came stock was not strong enough for the weight of the Paniers. The metal worried and was about to break so I had to replace them in Rotterdam. I put on a Blackburn rack which I do not have enough miles on to comment on yet. 

The tires held up great. only one flat and that was due to the heat build up from the rim brakes as I was coming down a 20% grade in Croatia with a loaded bike. The tube inside got so hot that it failed. I had to wait to let the rim cool down before I could touch it to change the tube.

The brakes work out very quickly. I was glad that I took an extra pair. The brakes would have been nearly impossible to find without severly impacting my trip.

I did develop a click on the down stroke of the right petal, but I never found what caused it and without weight on the bike it has disappeared.

I encountered a lot of rain and it was no issue for the Bicycle. I had some rust but only where the paint had been scraped away.

Some things that would make the bike better.
I added fenders to keep the splash down in the rain. I don't remember the brand I got but next time I will try the Zeffel fenders. 
I added a bell to warn folks walking that I was coming
I wish I could have added a plate to keep the chain wheel from constantly greasing up my leg.
It would be nice to have a place to install a safety flag both going up and out to the side. I found that cars gave me a little more room when I was flying the flags. Yes it does slow you down but there is not rush on tour.
I added a front rack but to do it again I would shop to find one that fits better. Trek should recommend a rack if they don't provide one.

Well that is the short story of how the bicycle performed I hope this is a form where the information will get distributed. I tried to contact Trek but their website has not contact information.


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## Dark Arrow (Oct 8, 2004)

Hi Dancemartin

Sounds like you had a awesome experiance all the same. I flirted with buying a 520 (older model) several years ago. I just didn't hve the resources to move it with me when I moved Downunder so I didn't buy it. At anyrate I enjoyed your post.

Cheers

Chris


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