“Whoa! What bike is that?”

That’s a typical reaction when folks see a Trek Soho S for the first time. The bicycle’s logo and graphics are nearly missed upon first glance as they blend into the matte black frame. The net result of this design creates a feeling that the bicycle may be employing some form of top-secret, stealth technology – and the bike IS stealthy. As a single-speed bicycle, there is none of the clicking and clacking associated with gear changes. If you want to go fast, pedal harder. If you need to go up a big hill, get out of the saddle. If you’re going down a big hill, sit back and enjoy the ride.

Warning! The simplicity of this ride experience can be addictive.

Without the additional hardware associated with a multi-speed bicycle, the Soho S is just over 20lbs in weight. It feels lightweight and nimble.  Trek’s choice of a 44/17 gear suits the bicycle quite well.  You get impressive acceleration from a full-stop by hopping out of the saddle or you can start off normally and with minimal effort reach a comfortable cruising speed. The gear spins out only on big descents and is a low enough gear to make surviving big hills a real possibility.

If you can’t tell already, I really like this bike. Here are a few insights I’ve gathered after 9 months of ownership.

Highlights

Lowlights

There’s not much to dislike about the Soho S but as I continue to ride the bicycle, I will keep you posted on any new discoveries. In the meantime, enjoy this growing gallery of photos that do a decent job of communicating the bicycle’s versatility…

As your body attempts to cool you in high temperature, high humidity situations the egregious amounts of sweat and salt you exude result in yet another transformation – you become a stink monster.

Enter WIN Detergent.  WIN is specially formulated to remove embedded sweat odor from clothes using a “super oxygenated” detergent.  ”Super oxygenated” = lots of dirt & sweat fighting bubbles.  If you need proof, keep the lid open on your top loading washing machine and take a look at all those bubbles when the washing machine gets started (ok, that’s fun for about 5 seconds but still).

In my experience, this detergent is the real deal and certainly earns my strong recommendation.  My stinky cycling clothes emerge from the washer clean and bright with a nice fresh scent that is noticeable but not overwhelming.

So give it a shot – let me know what you think!

If the first 350 miles are any indication, my selection of Schwalbe’s Marathon Supreme tire appears to be a wise one.

Let’s take a look at these tires in more detail:

• Weight : At 375 grams, the Marathon Supreme’s are about 50 grams lighter than the stock Bontrager tires they replaced.  Considering 50 grams is less than a 1/4 of a pound, the difference is not significant but I’ll take any weight reduction I can get (since I’m typically in the mode of adding weight to this bike in the form of accessories, etc.)
• Reflective Sidewall: A strip of reflective material on each side of the tire goes a long way in increasing your side visibility when you’re on the road in low-light conditions.
• Tread: The tread pattern on the Marathon Supreme seems to be a nice balance between providing excellent traction on wet pavement with a minimal price in rolling resistance.  In my experience, I’ve noticed a slight reduction in top speed compared to the slick (and higher pressure) Bontrager tires but a noticeable increase in wet-weather traction.  That’s a trade-off I’m more than willing to make on a bicycle dedicated to commuting & touring.
• Road Feel: This is perhaps the most impressive improvement I’ve experienced since switching to the Marathon Supreme – ride quality is definitely improved.  Hitting bumps, uneven pavement and the like is now a noticeably less jarring experience.  This is both a result of great tire construction and the fact that the tire has a lower maximum pressure of 85-95 psi.  Fully loaded with touring gear, the ride quality improves even more – providing miles and miles of comfortable riding — a testament to its roots as a bicycle touring tire.
• Price: No doubt about it, these tires are not cheap.  I purchased mine for around $60-70 a tire from Amazon.com.  Do I regret this investment?  Not for a second.

As I continue to experience these tires, I will post another update once I cross the 1,000-1,500 mile mark.  At the moment, I have to give the tire a highly recommended rating based on my experiences with it so far.

As I put the Trolleytote through its paces for a full review, here are some first impressions I’d like to share based on my first trip to the grocery store:

1. The design of the Trolleytote is pretty impressive.  Unassembled it can be stored with a minimal space requirement.  When you’re ready for that grocery store visit, the assembly process really shows the thought that went into the design.  I got the sense I was a kid again playing with a transformer toy – here’s a video to see what I mean!  This video will also give you a sense of some of its key features.
2. During my 5-mile roundtrip ride to the grocery store the Trolleytote stayed secure to my bike both with a load and without.  I liked having the weight distributed down the centerline of the bike (versus the balancing required when loading up left and right panniers).

So far, I’m pretty impressed.  I’ll be keeping a close eye on how well the Trolleytote can hold up to repeated use.

CatEye TL-LD1100

The TL-LD1100 is Cateye’s top-of-the-line bicycle tail light with 10 super bright LEDs – six that point rearward (aligned in two rows of three) and two on each side.

What I like: Each row of three LEDs that face to the rear can be toggled through several settings like a) constantly on, b) flash, c) cylon mode (side-to-side display) and d) random. Choosing a different flash pattern for the top and the bottom row can yield a very eye-catching overall pattern that is sure to be noticed by motorists.

What I don’t like: This is a big damn light. I find this to be a minor drawback since this light fits perfectly on the end of my bicycle rack. That said, I could how this light might be unwieldy for someone clipping it to a backpack, clothing, etc.

NiteRider CherryBomb

The CherryBomb features a half-watt LED powered by two AAA batteries.

What I like: The flash pattern is noticeable and a variation of the popular PlanetBike Superflash design where two smaller LEDs fire before the brightest LED fires. In this case the two smaller LEDs fire from top and bottom while the more powerful LED fires immediately afterwards in the middle. In addition, this middle LED has a lens covering that tends to diffuse the light not just rearward but also to the side. I also like that this light has a reflector built-in so that if your batteries die, the reflector built-in will be picked up by headlights and still offer some visibility.

What I don’t like: At least for me, the default clip for this light had far too much of a gap for it to hook on my Topeak bicycle bags in the designated place on the rear of the bag. I solved this problem by wrapping some duct tape around the clip to “bulk it up” enough to close that gap to keep the light from flying off the bag at the first big bump.
Here is a shot of the Cateye light on the back of my Topeak Explorer bicycle rack:

The Trek Soho S is a single-speed bicycle which shares an almost identical frame to the Valencia – this means you’re getting a stable ride and a more relaxed, upright position – but the similarities end there.  Without components

I joined my Dad for our typical “Sunday Morning Ride” for breakfast and took the Soho.  My first experience on a single-speed bicycle.

But wait.  I’m lying.  This wasn’t my first ride on a single-speed bicycle and after just a few pedal strokes this reality came back to my mind quickly.  My first single-speed bicycle was that bike I rode when I was a kid.  You know, the one with the coaster brakes.  There weren’t any “speeds” on that bike – you just hopped on it and started pedaling – you experienced simplicity.

When you encountered an incline or hill, you pedaled harder and you were out of the saddle if you really wanted to speed things up or if that hill was really big.

This little flashback reminded me that you can have quite an enjoyable ride experience without shifting a dozen different gears along the way.

The bike ride to breakfast proved to be much easier than I’d imagined and quite enjoyable!

I’m looking forward to spending some quality time with the new bicycle so look for that detailed review soon!

Merry Christmas!

That was my sentiment today as I stared up at the overcast sky and felt a light mist fall on my face.

I’d just arrived at nearby Bullis Park and was going on a bike ride despite Mother Nature’s prescription of drizzle with temps in the mid-50’s.

My road bike is quite familiar with Bullis Park as this picturesque location is a popular starting point for a variety of fast routes characterized by rolling hills and scenes of farm animals grazing peacefully in wide-open fields.

But staring up at me this afternoon was not my Felt F75 but my Trek Valencia.  I chose the Valencia because the wider tires, disc brakes, full mirror and stable handling would be perfect assets to deal with the unsavory weather.

I also made a decision to liven things up by forcing myself to do the entire ride in the big chainring. 

So off I went…and wow was I impressed.

This was probably my first true “fitness ride” on the Valencia and it passed with flying colors.  It was a nice change to be spinning along having a new experience on a very familiar route.

I took a quick break in “downtown” Bulverde where I find a colorful building to snap a photo or two as an interesting back drop.

Instead of feeling slow and cumbersome (the Valencia is a good 10-15lbs heavier than my road bike) on this ride, I felt comfortable and in full control.  I kept my heart rate solidly in the “target zone” and 58 minutes later finished up the ride feeling energized.

Mission Accomplished!