Chinese Carbon MTB > 29+ & 27+

Trek Stache 7 First Ride

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Carbon_Dude:
Picked up my 29er+ bike yesterday.  I came close to purchasing a Workswell WCB-M-078 Chinese carbon frame, which is a close copy of the Stache, but in the end decided to give the Trek a chance.  Since I was able to do some demo rides at the trails before purchasing, I was able to know how the bike rides before shelling out the cash for another bike.  I wouldn't think the Workswell bike would be very much different, but not having the opportunity to ride one, I stuck with what I knew.  When looking at the purchase from a cost value point of view, the Stache 7 hit a pretty good sweet spot, after the discount the purchase price was $2,160.  I could not build a Workswell bike for that, and I liked that I could get the bike quicker and start riding it this week.

Ride Report
As I have discussed in other posts, the ride a 29+ bike offers is not like anything else.  The bike rolls super smooth and when it comes to rooty, rocky sections of the trail, you just pick a straight line and roll over anything in your path.  Unlike my "skinny" tire bikes, rolling over roots and rocks just doesn't slow you down much at all.  I don't find myself weaving around on the trail dodging obstacles because I don't need to.

Another noticeable difference with the big tires is over loose downhill gravel road sections.  Where my 2.4" tires would slide around and not give me much confidence that I wouldn't wash out and have a bad day, the big plus tires grip the loose stuff and allow me to go faster with no nervousness.  Truly confidence inspiring.

In tight sections, the Stache felt great, very maneuverable in the tight bends and around trees.  I just can't find much fault with this new big tire size.  No tire squirm like on a fat bike.

Towards the end of the ride I met up with two guys, one on a 29er full suspension, he's 15 years younger than me and in much better shape.  I not only caught him on a long uphill gravel climb, when the trail turned and got really fast, I stayed right with him.  I had no room to pass so I stayed close behind until I just plain ran out of breath keeping up with him.  I think the bike, with it's immense amount of grip, allowed me to carry speed into corners that he couldn't.  It was a blast following someone else on this bike through fast trail sections, knowing I had so much more grip than he did.  Again, very confidence inspiring.  All I can say is if anyone has the opportunity to ride one of these, give it a try, you may end up liking it as much as I do.

I need to get the tubes out, the bike shop said they would have done it for me but the new Chupacabra tires can be difficult to air up tubeless until they have had a few rides on them.  The Sun Ringle Mulefut rims come tubeless ready with valve stems.  Each tube weighs like a pound so that will help get the bike down to 28 lbs easily.

I've talked with Peter about getting some 50mm carbon 29er wheels with DT Swiss hubs but am undecided if I want to spend the money right now or consider getting a set of 40mm x 27.5" wheels to try with some 2.8" tires like Patrick and Sportinggoods have done.

I'm off now to take the Stache on a second ride this afternoon.  So far, I'm lovin' this bike.  Here are a few pics from yesterday:

The big tires barely fit on my bike rack.  I can barely close the hold down straps around each of the tires.


On the trail.

Sitar_Ned:
Thanks for sharing CD, glad you're enjoying your new ride. Just in time for the spring weather.. Love this time of year.

You mind taking a pic with it next to your bike that you have the Saguaro tyres on? Since I have those same tyres, that'll give me a really good comparison to what I'm riding on. See exactly how much bigger they are.

Carbon_Dude:
Measured sizes are 57.5mm for the Saguaro tire on a 35mm wide rim, 76mm for the Chupacabra on a 50mm wide rim.  By the numbers that's about 1/3rd more tire on the 29+ wheel, however with the lower pressure of 12-14 psi, the tire conforms to the the trail so much better than a typical 29er tire.  There is much more air volume on a 29+, the overall diameter of the Chupacabra tire is approx. 29.5" vs 29" on the Saguaro.  So the side wall is about 0.25" more.

Pictures don't even do the tires justice, you look at the two tires and would swear the plus tire is like two times bigger.  I guess it's deceptively wider when looking at the tires in person.  Here is a picture:

Carbon_Dude:
Update after 6 rides.  I'm really liking the new bike, it's just such a trial monster.  I decided to take out my FS IP-036 Chiner after work this evening.  The "skinny" tire bike felt completely different again, it took about 2-3 miles of riding before I felt comfortable on the old bike.  I found myself wanting wider tires, I missed the smoothness of high volume 29+ tires.

I did like the lighter feeling of my full carbon 29er, how well it still climbed, and how quickly it gets going.  However, I am starting to think the perfect bike for me might be a carbon 29+, maybe even with 80-100mm of rear suspension travel.

The Stache is getting some upgrades so the next ride will be on Friday after work.  I will post an update this weekend.

Carbon_Dude:
I now have a hundred miles on the Stache.  I've installed a set of the new XT (M-8000) brakes and rotors, to me a very noticeable improvement over the SRAM DB5's that came on the bike.  I also installed a Salsa Liplock seat clamp as the Bontrager quick release clamp was not doing a great job of holding the seat post at a constant height.

After three weeks of riding, I'm still totally smitten with this bike. The geometry provides the most comfortable seating position out of any of my bikes.  I like the 68.5 deg head tube angle, the low rise bars, the Bontrager seat isn't bad, and I am enjoying the Bontrager Ergo Comfort grips I put on in place of the basic grips that came on the bike.

I'm starting to wonder if I will even bother riding my two Chiner bikes now that I have the Stache.

My complaints with the Stache are small, I've already taken care of the brakes and the seat post clamp, however unlike my carbon bikes, I still get a few creaks now and again which I'm guessing is some metal-to-metal contact somewhere in the rear end of the bike.  I have already taken apart the stem and greased everything there, as well as re-greased the cassette.  Maybe the derailleur hanger needs some grease.

The only other thing missing on the Stache is a carbon frame along with some other weight saving components.  There are already 3 or 4 Chinese Carbon frames that are similar to the Stache.  The extra weight is not a huge disadvantage but it would be nice to have a 25lb bike under me rather than a 29lb-30lb bike, more so when climbing than going downhill.  The Stache is super stable when the trail turns downhill or when going fast on tight curving sections.

I get a lot of comments on the trail, mostly people asking me how it rides.  All I tell them is they need to experience a Stache for themselves.

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