I’m looking at the Trek E7 and was wondering about any pros / cons from those that may have ridden or are riding now. Thanks for the comments…Steve
My first tri bike was an E-7. I got it in 2006 when I didn’t want to spend a ton of money on a bike before I knew if I was going to stick with it. Rode it for 4 halfs and a full IM over the last year and a half or more and had no complaints. Other than the all aluminum frame being a little rough on you for longer rides it was a fine bike. I just recently upgraded and am selling my E-7 frameset on the classifieds.
I think in looking at it and comparing it to other manufacturers, its definately one of the best Aluminum tri framesets around. The 2005-2006 models were a little sloppy(no offense bax) but they’ve really cleaned things up. It’s the only Aluminum tri frame I know of that really mimics the higher end carbon bikes made(internal cables, aero shaped headtube, bladed seatstays, large cutout). The geometry is a little confusing across sizes. The small AL Treks are a little longer than their carbon counterparts, as are the 58 and 60. However, the 54cm and 56cm E7s are slightly shorter. Wierd.
However, I would also recommend you wait for some of the ‘09 models to sneak onto dealer floors. Quintana Roo’s Seduza will be close in price point to the 09 Trek E7; the fit on the two brands’ bikes is very different(the QRoos are anywhere from 1 cm longer to 3.5cm longer in comparable stack heights) and would be a chance for you try to 76STA bike versus a 78. A good inbetween geometry wise will be the Felt S22, which I think is not quite on the same level as the other two but offers race worthy 40mm deep wheels.
have a 9.9 and love it and although it is carbon it is very similar in shape, Trek customer service has also been excellent
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The con is that its not a Cervelo. Lets get real, nobody is giving away Treks. If you’re going to spend a bunch of money on a tri bike you might as well just go ahead and buy the fastest one. Tim
Thanks for all the great detail info, Trek is one of a few I’m considering, mainly because I have a road bike by them and love it even though its 20 yers old, it still runs great for me…I’m, also going to compare FELT, QR & Cerevelo, I really appreciate the feedback.
Tim…from my research and talking with folks, yes the Cervelo is a great ride, best Tri bike out there, however I dont think I can afford one in the 1500 - 2000 price range, which is about all I have to spend, if I’m wrong could you please make a suggestion so I can look at it, thanks for the imput…Steve
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The Cervelo P1 (P2 sl) fits your price range, but I would call it slightly behind in many aspects to the E7’s frame. No aero headtube(the P1 is narrow but isn’t smoothed out like the trek), only one bottle mount, round seatstays, routing on sides of the downtube instead of behind the stem, the faired fork crown/downtube, and a shallower seattube/post.
The Cervelo has a few things about it that it offers over the Trek, it’s a little bit narrower, has horizontal dropouts, probably a little lighter and Ultegra components in the comparably priced version. Most importantly it’s a steeper, lower, long bike. If you fit the trek you probably won’t fit the Cervelo without an aerobar with some stack.
However, if any of the above comparisons are going to affect speed(after which ever one you fit on best), it will be the aerodynamic qualities not the weight or the component spec.
Hey Steve. After a lot of looking, my wife ended up getting a 2008 Equinox 7 WSD (Women’s Specific) on clearance for $1400. We’ve only had it a few weeks, but so far so good. Now, the reason we got this bike was the fit. It fits her perfectly, both in stack and reach. She also wanted a 700C wheel versus a 650C, which they would have been on a 48 Cervelo (which also fit her decently).
As someone else already said, the frame has some nice shapes and details that I didn’t really expect on an aluminum bike. The front and rear deraillers are Shimano 105, which is fine. The cassette is 105, and the crank was a bontrager, which we swapped out with an Ultegra that we had. The aerobars that came on the 2008 were the Profile Design Aerolite, which while highly adjustable aren’t overly sexy. However, they work. Keep in mind, we got a 2008 model. I believe the 2009 Equinox 7 comes with a Shimano 105 crank and a nicer set of clip-on aerobars.
She says the Equinox definitely feels nice and aggressive (obviously due to the positioning). The bike is very stiff and will take off when you hammer it. She finds that it is very, very stable and tracks on a straight line with no twitchiness at all.
All in all, the bike is extremely nice. As I mentioned, we changed out a few things, like the crank and aerobars. It is not the lightest bike in the world, I think in part because of the wheelset, which is a Bontrager Select Aero. They seem like they’ll be ok for training, but are fairly heavy.
If I were you, I would seriously consider the bike, as long as it fits you well. You may want to see if you can get a 2008 on clearance - that will save you some money. Then, take some of the saved money and see if the dealer will swap out/exchange the stock wheelset with something a bit nicer. You’d still be well within your $1500 - $2000 budget and would have a real nice bike.
I hope this helped! Let me know if you have any questions.
This race season I rode on 2007 Equinox 9 which is the same framset as Equinox 7. The difference is in wheelset and components. E9 comes with Bontrager Race Lite Aero wheelset, all Ultegra components. In 2007 this was the best bang for the buck in Trek’s line up when it came down to entry to mid level tri bike. There are other good choices from Cervelo and Felt.
I love the E9. Very aero frame, excellent components that can take abuse of daily training and racing. As far as comfort, I am no judge as this is all I have ever ridden till now. I did not feel it rough during long rides, but again I can only comapre it to my new Argon18 E112 and it is not much of a difference.
During the race season I managed to post the fastest bike split twice on two olympic distance triathlons. I am not a speed demon, but ok rider. E9 is a very nice top end aluminum frame capable of riding fast if the rider has the engine. If it fits you well, I would recommend going for it. I would check Cervelo and Felt in the same price range of aluminum frames.
My E9 is for sale. If you are interested, you can pm me.
PJS…thanks for the info, I was thinking of stopping in at my Trek dealer next week that did my tri fit for my 20yr old road bike, guy was great and very knowledgeable and suggested that I come back when the time was right, maybe they have a few of last years models for sale and like you said I could upgrade the components. Thanks again for taking the time to help me out…Steve
Steve
You have probably have heard that the P4 has been introduced and what that means is that a bunch of people with P2Cs and P3Cs will be upgrading their ride and putting their slightly used Cervelos on the market. Spend some time looking into the Time Trial crowd (like the West River Time Trial website and bullinten board). Those guys are speed freaks and are always getting the newest and fasted toys and selling last years hot stuff at fire sale prices. $2K will not buy you much speed in the new market place, but could accelerate your tri experience on the used market. Tim
Tim
Thanks for the suggestion. I will definately check out that website and see what I can find, I have started to do a little of that on ebay, graigslist etc. Basically I just want to get a newer bike over my old faithful and whether its brand new or slightly used is not my major concern, I do these races for fun and to push myself personally and really dont have an interest in being the best AGer, those days are long gone. But a newer bike will hopefully make me a little quicker, we’ll see.
Thanks again…Steve
The cassette is 105, and the crank was a bontrager, which we swapped out with an Ultegra that we had. The aerobars that came on the 2008 were the Profile Design Aerolite, which while highly adjustable aren’t overly sexy. However, they work. Keep in mind, we got a 2008 model.
I hope this helped! Let me know if you have any questions.
I have a 2007 E9 with a Bontrager crank. Did the Ultegra crank fit the stock bottom bracket? I am having a tough time finding the BB size on my E9.
The equinox has a standard English Threaded 68mm shell I believe. I have no idea what BB the Bontrager brank has, but it is easy to swap it out for an Ultegra BB.
Get this in British/English threaded.
http://www.probikekit.com/us/shimano-ultegra-sm-bb6700-bicycle-bottom-bracket.html
This would imply that the Bontrager cranksets were based on a GXP bottom bracket. Definitely not compatible with Shimano’s HollowtechII.
http://www.roadbikereview.com/cat/drivetrain/cranksets/bontrager/race-lite-gxp/prd_367196_2491crx.aspx
A SRAM GXP based crank would fit you current bottom bracket. Any of the Shimano cranks will require a Shimano HollowtechII bottom bracket like the one i posted above. It is an easy swap if you have the tool.
Thank you! I am putting on a 11/28 cassette (to replace the 11/23 OEM) and if that doesn’t give me enough gears I might go compact crank.
Watch the classifieds. I bet you could find a SRAM Apex compact crank for pretty cheap. Trek puts this on the majority of their lower end bikes (Speed Concept 7 for sure) and lots of people seem to replace them with either a standard crank, or a crank based powermeter (or both).