# Trek Lime



## karen3301 (May 5, 2006)

Has anyone bought a Trek Lime bike yet? I am really curious about the "computerized" internal hub that shifts automatically. Does it really work? Seems like it would be a great "fun" type bike to have. I would appreciate feedback from anyone who has it!


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## fcchambers (Mar 3, 2007)

You just *know* at least a few folks lurking around here have tried one at their LBS... and are just too cool to admit it! 

I'm not too proud - saw one - it looked cool (for a cruiser  )... *wanted* to try it, but was in a hurry and didn't have time


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## surly357 (Jan 1, 1970)

*it's a godsend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*



karen3301 said:


> Has anyone bought a Trek Lime bike yet? I am really curious about the "computerized" internal hub that shifts automatically. Does it really work? Seems like it would be a great "fun" type bike to have. I would appreciate feedback from anyone who has it!



FINALLY someone has taken the mind boggling complexity out of shifting a nexus 3 speed hub!!!! 
Seriously, we got a few in the shop this week & we're evenly divided on their merits. some folks like the 'neat' factor of anything new, some like anything electronic, but those of us with more than a couple years in the industry (viewed as stubborn luddites by our trek rep) have our reservations..... for our 'average' customer the shift points don't come early enough (even on the highest setting), most non-cyclists (the claimed target market) would find themselves riding at an uncomfortably high cadence before it shifts to a higher gear. there are only 3 speeds, who can't shift 3 gears? hell, if you don't count the one you're already in there are really only 2 other choices!! even the much maligned 'autobike' of infomercial fame had a reasonably wide spaced gear range! the rear hub isn't really anything special- the speed sensor is in the front hub, a wire runs to the bb (through the frame to the most neglected, grimiest part of any bike) to the rather bulky actual control unit, and a wire then runs to a solenoid that shifts the rear hub. gee, what could possibly go wrong.....? oh yeah, after your test ride ask the salesman to show you how to fix a flat rear tire. please note that these reservations aren't based on an elitist 'i only ride campy' mentality (i have weird old schwinns, an atlantis, a ss, fixie, etc just for fun). but rather they come from 20+ years in family oriented shops, helping customers both before AND after the sale! well that's my rambling two cents.....


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## Cory (Jan 29, 2004)

*Is there any hope for people who can't learn to shift?*

I haven't ridden one, but I'm sort of with Surly on this--it seems like an answer to a question nobody's asked. If people can't figure out how to shift a Sturmey Archer three-speed, maybe they're just not ever going to become cyclists. I have a fairly wide circle of friends in their 50s or so who used to be runners, from casual joggers to ultramarathons, and nearly all have abandoned that because of knee problems. They really want some other form of aero activity, mainly to burn calories so they can continue to eat the way they want to. I've tried to interest them in cycling, and most have at least tried it, but only about a third of them will stick with it until they get good enough to enjoy it. The main reason they bail is, "the shifting is confusing." I'm not a lot of help teaching them, either, because I can't understand how you can NOT learn to do it in about a 15-minute ride.


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## fcchambers (Mar 3, 2007)

surly357 said:


> FINALLY someone has taken the mind boggling complexity out of shifting a nexus 3 speed hub!!!!
> .....



Well... When you put it that way... [said sheepishly, while looking at shoes, kicking the dirt... somewhat embarassed for having thought it might be kinda cool]

...The "you only have two other choices" kinda drove the point home.


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## nhmtns (May 23, 2006)

The shop where I work in the summer while on "break" from teaching used to sell some shaft drive hybrid bikes (3 or 7 speed). We were also divided on their usefulness, but one thing we all agreed on was that no one bought them.


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## brianmcg (Oct 12, 2002)

Cory said:


> The main reason they bail is, "the shifting is confusing." I'm not a lot of help teaching them, either, because I can't understand how you can NOT learn to do it in about a 15-minute ride.


I had this problem with my wife. She even had some easy to read thumb shifters that told her what gear she was in. She finally got it after about a month with the bike on the trainer this winter. 

Me trying to explain it to her was hilarious. I would say "As you shift with your right hand like this, the pedaling will get harder, but you go faster." She would answer, "I don't want the pedaling to be harder, so I won't shift that one." :mad2: 

I finally just left her to figure it out for herself. I think it saved our marriage.

Maybe if you got your friends on to a fixed gear or single speed, that would be something they could relate to better coming from a running background. You never know.


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## karen3301 (May 5, 2006)

Thanks, all for the input. I did not think of some of the potential mechanical problems this bike might have. A single speed might make a better cruiser. I would not want to be one of the first to buy a lemon, er, lime.


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## Kerry Irons (Feb 25, 2002)

*Not the target audience*



 surly357 said:


> FINALLY someone has taken the mind boggling complexity out of shifting a nexus 3 speed hub!!!!


Shimano would tell you that their audience is people who never ride bikes, but think that it might be fun. With this in mind, they attempted to make riding a mindless experience. The hope is that some of those mindless purchasers become actual cyclists. How they will ever get those people into a bike shop and get them to part with $300+ is a mystery to me. Those folks tend to gravitate to the $100 bikes at the local XXXMart. The other thing that Shimano found in their research is that people are intimidated by bike shop employee attitude. That explains why they spent all that money on the coasting bikes and nothing on retraining those arrogant, ignorant, jerks that everyone complains about who work at their local bike shop


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## coinstar2k (Apr 17, 2007)

I ride all sorts of high end bikes, but I am buying a lime. It is just for fun. It is a cool bike to ride slow through the neighborhoods with the family. I love it. Do you remember that bike on TV that shifted automatically using cintrifigul force of weights on the spokes? They sold a ton of those things. There is definitely a market for these if Trek gets the word out. The viral ad campaign isn't going to get the job done. Trek is notoriously bad at marketing.

Cool article on the lime at theroadbike.com


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## rochrunner (Jul 11, 2006)

My wife was nervous about going from her trusty old Sears 3-speed coaster-brake cruiser bike to the Trek Navigator "comfort bike" that I bought her with the hand brakes and 3x6-speed shifting. It took a while, but once she caught onto the shifting & braking and felt the much lighter weight and learned how to select the right gear for the conditions, she has really "seen the light" and is cycling way farther than she ever imagined.

But I agree that a 3-speed coaster-brake bike is so basic to operate (most people have a bike like this when they're about 8 years old) that I don't really see the attraction of automatic shifting. Now if they figured out how to automatically shift a 24-speed derailleur bike, that would be more of an accomplishment!


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## largegiant04 (Jun 23, 2004)

We just got in 2 at the shop I work at. Changing a flat in the rear would be a pain. On the left rear there is a 10mm allen t-nut to hold on a plastic cover, and then under that the axel nut. This is the first trek that I have seen that come with slime tubes from the factory, now I know why. It is a neat idea, and fun to ride around in the parking lot. --Andrew


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## ms.hypatia (Jun 16, 2008)

*interesting for those with hand problems*

as someone with moderate to serious hand & wrist problems (depending on the day) due to arthritis, this may be the answer to my needs: very little pressure on the wrists due to the high position, no worry about whether my fingers have the strength to shift up or down. so far, breaking has not been an issue in any of my test rides of different bikes.

i'm looking forward to trying this bike out this week.


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