Every time I use my Garmin GPS, I hate it more, braced for the next thing to go wrong with it. Every time I ride my Trek Liquid 20, I like it more. I'm wielding it better every ride.
So after six weeks, what comments do I have?
Tires
If you are going to mountain bike in Singapore, you must like riding in mud. I've never gone on a ride here where I didn't cover myself in it. Last week it was a long stretch of sewage-stained clay mud near Seletar. This week was mud puddles at times as deep as my hubs in Ponggol.
The stock IRC Trailbear 26x2.25K tires have been great for these conditions. They seem to shed the sticky clay quickly. They've got phenomenal grip around the at-speed trails at Bukit Timah. Finally, they are knobby enough to find good purchase climbing rough, rocky hills. (But, like any mtb tire, watch out for wet pavement.)
Paint
In the showroom, the bike looked very cool--high tech suspension system and a very sharp blue paint scheme.
Well, after six weeks the bike still looks very cool--high tech suspension system and a paint job that looks like I recently completed the Paris-Dakar Rally.
I truly have no idea why the paint finish is so soft, but there are huge patches, totally denuded of paint, where my foot rubs while pedalling. Seemingly everywhere else are scores of scratches and abrasions. I don't know if it was a bad paint formula, or the frame's exotic alloy is particularly hard to bind to. My brother-in-law's Trek 850 doesn't show the same high speed wear. I don't mind, but I can imagine others might not like it.
Maintenance
After my early experiences with the brakes, and a 'Chainsuck Event' on an early ride, I realized that this bike is too high-performance to neglect like I've done with my previous bikes.
Consequently I've been cleaning and lubricating the chain weekly, and keeping the shocks wiped clean.
Since I like to keep the tires at relatively low pressure (and they seem to bleed a bit anyway), I bought a proper floor pump. Using the shitty little micropump on the presta valves is an infuriating and exasperating experience.
Others
Several of the fingers which hold the little plastic guard that separates the rear chain/sprocket from the spokes/hug have snapped off, allowing the plastic disc to orbit around bizarrely. It would be a giant job to replace it. I think the solution will be to zip tie it to the spokes
Conclusion
I'm very happy with the bike, and am hoping that I can figure out some way to bring it with me on our trip to Outback Australia this year.
It was funny... after I drafted this entry, I looked around for some links to include. Google's current 'Trek Liquid 20' favorite is a blog by another guy who has documented very nearly the same opinions as me. Sounds like he has much more severe chain/transmission problems than I do. I've only been struck once, and it wasn't very bad. Also, it sounds like he tunes his suspension more than I do. Mine is basically set on the equivalent of 'medium' most of the time. I haven't ridden Moab-quality terrain yet, so I'll save the ultra-sorb for that...