Trek Soho
While we’re looking at Alfine-equipped city bikes, here’s the Trek Soho. Aluminum frame and fork, Alfine IGH with Gates belt drive, chain guard, painted fenders. List price $1149.99.
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19 Responses to “Trek Soho”
Damn that looks nice. I love the subtle chain guard.
Got a co-worker riding one of these (though I swear it’s got a Nexus hub, not Alfine). It sure rides smooth and quiet.
I wish other makers would copy the Soho’s non-slip, scratch-proof rubber strip along the top of the top tube. It’s a great idea. Come to think of it, it’s probably patented.
correction: I meant to say “the rubber strip on the *side* of the top tube.”
That’s a yummy bike!
I’ve been looking at this, but they really raised the price from last year
Soo, I see a front dynamo hub but no light, is it setup to add your own light or what?
@Red Cyclist
I saw one of these at my LBS. I glanced at the front wheel quickly and asked if it had a dynamo hub. He looked at my funny and said nope. I don’t know what it looks so big for. One person said it could have been for looks to match the big girth of the rear IGH. I don’t know. Seems kind of odd to me.
@Red Cyclists
I just looked at a different picture. I remember now it is a sort of drum brake in the front or mechanical disc type brake. It just looks really big.
That’s a Shimano BR-IM50-F roller brake. The front roller brake hasn’t gotten great reviews (the rear is supposedly better) – hopefully it’s improved for 2010…
Alan
I’m not too crazy ’bout the gray. If I were to purchase a street/urban bike my personal preference would tilt toward the Portland or the 520. I like Treks, though and I could get infatuated with any of them, if I look at it enough.
1 on the rubber strip along the top tube. It is an inspired idea to protect the paint when locking to a post.
That was ” 1″. Oh well.
The fenders, they’re so short :(
Shame they have never brought these bikes into NZ, although I can’t complain about my ’09 Soho S, although I haven’t found a perfect solution for it in terms of full length fenders. If I had the dollars and it existed I think my perfect bike would be a Civia Hyland alfine with a belt drive… wonder how much the Bryant alfine belt option will be…
As for fenders, you can always put on longer ones, like the Honjos. They are paintable, as well. I had a frame, set of Honjos and a chainguard all powder-coated at once and they look fabulous. Not sure if you could exactly match the color, though. The powder coating place I went to did have lots of dull beige and grey paints because they’d paint file cabinets and cubical bits, so maybe you could get a match.
Is that a coffee bottle? Does it come with the bike?
Good idea, botched details: in addition to the short fenders, and the lousy roller brake, there’s the straight fork which gives a rough ride.
It is a Nexus hub, Standard.
http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/urban/soho/soho/
It’s not as smooth as the Nexus hub, Premium version, such as the one in Breezer Uptown 8.
I have owned this bike since September 2009 and have put about 600 miles on it in that time. The bike I have is actually a 2009 version, and I got it for $899 instead of the MSRP of $1149 for the 2010 model. I have to say that all around it is a very nice bike, with just one major complaint: the roller brakes. I like the fact that they work the same in all conditions since they are sealed. But what I don’t like is the “spongy” feel to them, which is very different than any other type of brake I’ve used. The stopping power is still there, but I just don’t have the confidence like I do with disc or even V-brakes. I would have gladly paid an extra $150-200 for disc brakes, even mechanical.
Other than that issue, the bike is very nice to ride and works perfectly as a commuter. Not surprising, as Trek isn’t new to this game and the bike is designed specifically for commuting. The belt drive and IGH is very smooth and silent, and needs almost no adjustment compared to a chain. There is no belt stretch, and no adjustment to do on the IGH except to keep the cable tension correct. After the first tune up, there is really nothing to do as far as maintenance except to keep air in the tires. All I’ve added was a Topeak MTX rack and trunk bag, a computer, and some lights for riding at night.