Grows Better With Age
Written: Jul 11 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Good componentry for price, Good fork, Good frame for market
Cons: Bad brakes, not extremely light. Cranks?
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| aliasfox's Full Review: Trek 6500 (1999) |
Why would I say that this bike grows better with age? Because other companies have stopped seriously focusing on the semipro, semi racer segment. Raleigh's M600 has Dia Tech disk brakes. That'll keep the bike's weight under 30lbs (right...) Specialized puts Manitou Magnum Rs on it's Rockhoppers. Under speced, maybe? The 6000, even though it's made by Trek (I think Trek is kinda souless, and makes bikes like GM makes cars), is a good contender at this price.
Frame
Seven hundred dollars is the beginning of the no compromise zone. I know many rich bike enthusiasts will disagree with me, but at this level, you find frames that are not that far off from frames of bikes that are thousands of dollars. This frame is stiff under power, but then I'm not one of those people who are 200+lbs who can easily tell those things. I figure it out by how much I'm thrown around when I'm accelerating through a rock segment of singletrack.
One word of note, before I go on. I rated the Trek 7000, which has the same frame, with a three star rating. This bike deserves a four. Why? This is because of the price difference and how Trek is trying to market these two bikes. Trek is marketing the 6500 as an entry level rig but it is marketing the 7000 as a privateer racer. This frame does not have the geometry to race. Learn more at my review of the 7000, "Jack of All Trails, Master of None."
Components
All in all, a very good component selection. And green, Deore is not a low level group. This bike shifts well for it's class, and the only upgrade on the drivetrain that i can think of might be the crank, which is no where near the level of 2000 Shimano Hollowtech (stiffness, weight). The wheels will last a while, they are evenly matched with the rest of the bike. The fork, even though it is heavy, is smooth, and can be set up to run with 80 mm (why doesn't Trek do that in the first place?)
The downside: the brakes are awful. They have good gripping power, but that's about all. They are basically an on off switch: They're either on or off. The lever's have good feel, though. Some ProMax or Tektro or (gasp!) maybe even some Avids would have been nice (I have had bad experiences with Shimano brakes...)
The Ride
It's a hardtail, and its aluminum. The stiff frame makes climbing easier, and the smooth fork makes downhill easy. e weight, though not pigish (28.5lbs-ish) could have been alleviated with a different fork, but then, we wouldn't have the smoothness of the Judy, would we? Twisty singletrack suffers a bit from lack of a good geometry, but, most riders won't notice. In fact, to some, the mellow steering is what they want.
The Verdict?
Good enough ride, good enough componentry, great fork. For $700, you may have some money left over to upgrade the brakes...
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
aliasfox
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Location: Arlington, VA
Reviews written: 80
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