Fresh new goods

Our friends at Trek have kicked it up a few notches this year with some sweet new bikes. Check these out:
This is the 'district'. It's a hot looking, single speed, deep-dish-wheeled, BELT DRIVEN ride. What's cool about the belt drive? Well, there are no moving parts like in a standard chain which means it's very low maintenance and quiet. It's a relatively new technology that started down the road in Golden CO with the folks at Spot. Brian Smith, on the Trek team, rode one on our recent White Rim trip and said it was a killer technology - and silent.
Here's another cool one - the SoHo. Also a belt drive - BUT with an internal shifting hub! These are sweet b/c there's little maintenance and a wide gear range. Another cool feature I just noticed is the roller brake up front with a stylee high-flange hub. Trek is breaking the mold with these bikes. Hopefully we'll have a ride review soon. I even like the bike description. They call it an "Urban Assault Vehicle". Oh yeah - it looks comes with a insulated coffee cup too. AND there's a spare cage mount for one of these.
On the MTB side of things, here's a cool one. It's a cross-country full-squish called the EX9. Why do I like this when there are lighter carbon models? Well - I guess when it comes to MTBs, I'm akin to Aluminum. Aluminum is a light, shapable (check out how cool the top tube looks) material that works very well with a full suspension design. And Trek has tweaked this material over the years to get the best performance out of it. This is a mid-range model - and I like it! What do I like you ask? I like the frame design, solid component spec, and the style is top notch. Note how the headset spacers and seat collar match the fork's tubes. In your best Borat voice....Very Nice! I also dig the custom shocks that Fox made for Trek - both front and rear. I have yet to throw a leg over one, but I can bet it'd be a sweet ride around Colorado. With 130mm up front (read 5+") and 120mm in the rear, it would be sweet for an efficient climbing bike - with a not-too-much-travel-but-plenty-to-bomb-the-downhill fork.

All this bike talk...it makes me want to ride. It's time to hit the road - it's almost above the freezing mark here in Colorado!