A Tale of Two Bicycles
I spent two weeks in Eugene, Oregon, this summer and rented a Trek Domane bicycle from a shop there. I really enjoyed riding it.
I preferred the rental bike better than mine, and I started seriously thinking about buying a new bike for my upcoming races. I am of two minds when it comes to buying something new:
Do I really need it? I have enough stuff. It’s wasteful to buy items that are luxuries. Shouldn’t I buy secondhand rather than new?
I want it, and I can afford it. It will make good use of it, not just store it in a closet or a garage. Why should I deny myself? Besides, I can find ways to justify the purchase.
Here’s how the battle of the minds played out regarding the bike.
Comparing the Bicycles
I started with the facts. I bought my Liv Avail road bike in 2016 when I got back into triathlons. That was my first year competing in triathlons since 2009, when I finished my first race on a mountain bike. The Liv was in decent condition but in need of repair. One of the shifters had gotten bent in a fall (it was minor, and I wasn’t hurt beyond a scraped knee). If I wanted to keep riding the bike, I needed to replace the shifter.
The Trek came with hydraulic disc brakes, which I immediately appreciated. They were so much more responsive than my cable disc brakes. Also, the shape of the brake levers meant my small hands could more easily grasp them to control braking. Compared to my Liv, shifting and braking felt effortless. That’s a huge bonus for both comfort and safety. It also felt much easier to hold a pace that was slightly faster than my usual over 20-40 miles.
I have two races coming up. I’m not worried about the sprint triathlon in August. It’s the September race that’s a step up for me. I’m participating in a relay where I’m the cyclist for an Ironman 70.3 (aka half Ironman). The bike leg is 56 hilly miles, and there’s a time limit. That makes a faster bike quite compelling for someone who’s slow among the field of people who register for a half-Ironman race.
Research Time
It was time to visit the Trek website. I had two takeaways. First, Trek offers the Domane and several other models with a bewildering number of options. What about upgrading to something faster that’s intended for racing? Second, Trek is doing something about sustainability.
I downloaded Trek’s 2023 Sustainability Report and discovered that the company has committed to science-based targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Its targets cover scopes 1, 2, and 3. Scope 3 is indirect emissions, those associated with the supply chain. That includes emissions from purchased goods (materials and components), which are 65% of Trek’s total emissions.
I love the page in the report titled “Why not zero emissions?” because it explains Trek’s answer. As they note, “The materials we must use to reach net zero aren’t ready.” The company wants to reduce its impact rather than buy carbon offsets. It is investing in changes that reduce plastic packaging, incorporate recycled materials, and refurbish used bikes for resale.
There are far more stories in Trek’s sustainability report than I can mention in this blog post. Suffice it to say, I’m impressed with Trek.
Liv Cycling doesn’t share an environmental message. Instead, it focuses on supporting women cyclists from casual riders to professional athletes. The company has a female founder, and all its bikes are designed for women. While I applaud and appreciate the inclusion message, Trek’s story feels more relevant to me.
The Decision
In late July, I joined some friends for a hilly ride in Seattle. On a steep descent, I learned about the limitations of my brakes as I gripped the levers in an effort to control my pace down the curvy, unfamiliar hill. It was a bit frightening.
That experience strengthened my desire for a new bike. Still, I figured I ought to get the broken shift lever replaced. The repair person from Velofix who arrived at my home inspected the bike. In addition to the shifter issue, the brake pads were rusted. That explained the squeaking I had ignored.
“Unless you’re going to buy a new bike tomorrow, you need to replace the brake pads,” the repair person told me.
I smiled. “Actually, a local bike shop is assembling a Trek Domane in my size that’s going to be ready for me to try out tomorrow.”
Now I had another decision to make: get all the repairs or forget it and buy the Trek. Maybe I could do both.
If I only wanted to ride the Avail on my trainer in the garage, it didn’t need functioning brakes. But with the full repairs, it could also become my errand bike. I could make the rack on the back that holds the two panniers I bought last year a permanent fixture.
The Trek Sustainability Report asserts that riding a bike for 430 miles on trips that you would otherwise make by car offsets the carbon emissions of manufacturing the bike. Since I drive an electric car, the math is different, but still.
How Everything Turned Out
On my next group ride in Seattle, I rode the Domane from home to the meeting spot 13 miles away. It took me about the same amount of time as driving there, and I enjoyed zipping by cars while riding in the protected bike/pedestrian lane on the 4-mile bridge across Lake Washington. It was a gorgeous day to ride, and the Domane performed nicely on the hills.
Yesterday, I put the panniers on my Avail and rode 1.5 miles to the grocery store. The bike doesn’t handle quite as easily with 18 pounds of groceries on the back, but the shifters and brakes work just fine. Looks like I have the best of both worlds. And now I can say I own twice as many bicycles as cars.