I never noticed it in a negative way climbing or descending.
On Griffin switchbacks, for example, I would just crank the fork against the steerer stop and lean the bike enough to cut the radius of my turns. Sure, it's a bit like riding a dual crown... but a really wide dual crown like a Fox 40.
It would have no bearing on my bicycle purchasing decision (take it or leave it).
On a positive note since your bars can't spin you can trim all your cables/housing so they're super clean looking without worrying about tearing out a brake line.
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The only thing that really irks me is the proprietary stem. The workaround is Trek's locking Knock Block Spacer, which is a replacement for a 1cm spacer. I would prefer if the bikes included the spacer but then it's not possible for folks to slam their stem if they're trying to get their stack height down (not an issue for me).
The Bontrager stems are of course totally fine, but I'd prefer to combine the 1cm locking spacer with my choice of rudder.
If you do decide to go that route I'd highly recommend having some spare pants nearby by when you drop-in, call-up, or read the e-mail response inquiring about the price of said locking spacer.
April 30, 2018, 11 p.m. - Andrew Major
I never noticed it in a negative way climbing or descending. On Griffin switchbacks, for example, I would just crank the fork against the steerer stop and lean the bike enough to cut the radius of my turns. Sure, it's a bit like riding a dual crown... but a really wide dual crown like a Fox 40. It would have no bearing on my bicycle purchasing decision (take it or leave it). On a positive note since your bars can't spin you can trim all your cables/housing so they're super clean looking without worrying about tearing out a brake line. . The only thing that really irks me is the proprietary stem. The workaround is Trek's locking Knock Block Spacer, which is a replacement for a 1cm spacer. I would prefer if the bikes included the spacer but then it's not possible for folks to slam their stem if they're trying to get their stack height down (not an issue for me). The Bontrager stems are of course totally fine, but I'd prefer to combine the 1cm locking spacer with my choice of rudder. If you do decide to go that route I'd highly recommend having some spare pants nearby by when you drop-in, call-up, or read the e-mail response inquiring about the price of said locking spacer.