Submitted by
j
a Downhiller
from linkin orgeaon US
Date Reviewed: June 20, 2008
Strengths: grips, cranks and brakes but only for the frst couple times s h i t t y ness.
Weaknesses: lets start on the entire thing. it sucks ass. i got the bike thinkin i would be able to ride with my friend who has a session and boy was i wrong. the bike can hardly handle x factor ramps. the shock bottoms out so so easy and when you put a stronger shock on it snaps frame.
Bottom Line:
trek is an awsome company but when they designed this bike they either were drunk or accidentally hired a retard.
Similar Products Used: none, the only thing i cam compare this to is a s h i t i took 2 hours ago
Bike Setup: horrible. the way the suspension is set up sucks, when you petal standing up with force you feel a bobbing motion, it is very awakard and does not allow you to wheelie, petal hard or do anything that requires true biking.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Pat Mitchell
a Downhiller
from Jamestown New York USA
Date Reviewed: May 25, 2007
Strengths: fork, rims, handle bars,
Weaknesses: rear shock, snapped the frake hitting dh trails, blew out back shock by hittting 8 foot drop
Bottom Line:
if you want a fast dh bike then get this bike, but if you plan to hit some freeridin trails dont get this bike. the frame snapped for me. The bike setup sucks but the bike has good geometry. Rear shock bottems out like nothin. Setup of bike snapes derailers very easily, snapped 4 of them. When the rear suspention compresses it pulles the crank away from the back tire.
Bike Setup: i use to have a scott comp racing and i snapped the frame on that so then i managed to get a bruiser frame and i have judy sl front forks, fox back shok, jons ac tyres, x lite assasain handlebars, dmr v8's, raceface crank and xt setup, bout to get a new stem
Strengths: Frame, crank, saddle, tires front shock,shifters handle well, handlebars are really nice, and it makes you feel like your on a stong bike and not a flimsy one.
Weaknesses: Chain, cassette, rear shock bottoms out for me so swtich to something else (don't bother with adding a heavier spring), for the brakes...please switch to something like avid juicy 5/7!!
Bottom Line:
Nice, stong, cool looking bike. Fun to ride and stong. Glad I got it. Change the tubes/tires though. Ive heard that the Earls pinch flat a lot. I however got 3. Very good buy!
Bike Setup: Now switched to an XT rear derail-LX front, maxxis hansventure tire, and an 850 cassette. Earls mostly everything else.
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Submitted by
Mitch Gainford
a Weekend Warrior
from Brockville
Date Reviewed: November 6, 2005
Strengths: 150 mm front fork , cranks ,pedals , the brakes are fine not the greatest but they work well. rims dont bend easy.
Weaknesses: rst rear suspension is horrible? tred on the tires wear really fast , the gears
Bottom Line:
if u like to freeride , i wouldnt buy this bike the back suspension is realy poor , if u try to do a cat walk it feels like the bike is going to bend in half. the front suspension is nice. overall i wouldnt never buy a trek again
Submitted by
matt scott
a Weekend Warrior
from Holliston, Ma, US
Date Reviewed: September 28, 2005
Strengths: none
Weaknesses: Frame (mainly below pivot point), Stock Shock bolts snapped the first day I had the bike, stock fork springs, rear shock is soft even on a 1500lb spring, and the swing arm has too much leverage, and I also figured out that when the swingarm goes up, it pulls the frame upwards, which is why I think It broke.
Bottom Line:
I had the bike for 1 month and snapped the frame on a small drop, and because of the warentee, I got another one and broke that in a month on a trail where I wasn't even hard on it, and decided just to get a new bike, (gary fisher GED. The bottom line is not to get this bike if you like free riding and like to do jumps and drops, your better off getting a hard tail at the same price, of spend more on a different full suspention bike.
Bike Setup: manitou stance flow, Bontrager big earl crank, and the rest was mostly bontrager earl
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
ben
a Weekend Warrior
from savannah, GA, us
Date Reviewed: August 11, 2005
Strengths: front fork is ok, cranks are good, wheels and tires are awesome, hayes disks are nice
Weaknesses: everything else, especially the frame and rear shock
Bottom Line:
I have had this bike for six months and have already broken two frames. If you are seriosly looking for a good bike for freeriding don't buy this bike. It looks like a tank but it is certainly not built like one.
Strengths: I really like rear shock set-up, although I plan to swap it for a 20,000lb spring.
Weaknesses: Usually what bugs me is that when I race with Lance he beats me up at the end of the ride. Yelling "hey you guy, pick up the pace a bit" While he wraps livestrong bracelets around my neck.
Bottom Line:
Since I started this review my buddy Lance came by, he wants to type so here he is. Hello everyone in the world, you might have heard my name before. I would like to thank god and George Bush Jr. for me being the best. Also I just took a ride on a Bruiser and it rules, its a Trek after all. Since I ride for Trek everything is awesome. Screw retiring, this is the bike I'm going to be racing DH with next year, with of course a GravityDropper seatpost. Enough about me, wait no, me and my wife are gonna do the nasty on a pile of Bruisers one night. Yah, I'm gonna go smoke a dooby with my buddy now.
Strengths: The Frames looks cool. Its really sturdy. Works great for mountain and urban areas. I was riding it in a half pipe, and dropping loading docks. This is the kind of bike to buy if you go to the mountain but live in a city. So you can ride anywhere. And the people up above rode the bike when it had the 650lb spring(and that rode like crap while i had it) but just wait till you get the 1500lb spring
Weaknesses: Weight, Rear Shock(This is before you get the 1500lb spring, and I got mine a week after I purchased the bike.) after i got the spring the bike worked perfect
Bottom Line:
This bike is good for a person that rides everywhere (urban and mountain). I would have sex with this bike if I could. But when you buy this make sure you buy a lizard skin and put it on the rear were the chain clanks against the frame. It makes the noise when bombing it down stairs go down a lot. Those are like 12$
Weaknesses: Doesn't seem like the tires have much traction on dirt. Better get a big earl!
Bottom Line:
First of all it's a great price for what it is. Second the suspension is excellent! Front is amazing, and the REAR is EXCELLENT, not bad;). Mine is pefect and it taked bumps amazingly. It also depends on how the buidler builds it at the store you bought it from. One problem though; when ever I go about 20+mph theres this ringing somewhere near the font wheel base. And if I make a slight turn it gets really bad! It could be something with the disk braked(which work great) , but I don't know. lol and I get alot of stares at it when i'm out...great showoff bike lol
It has been two months since I bought the bruiser 3 and after a few emails and phone calls trek has not solve the rear shock problem, the bike is completely useless the way is set up with the RST rear shock and a 650 lbs rate spring they claim it needs a 1500 lbs spring but my trek dealer has not receive it yet. No other rear shock fits or works on this frame because of the high leverage set up, I spend $300.00 trying to solve the problem on my own but nothing works and no one sells a 1500lbs spring. Please test ride the bike before you buy it don’t make the same mistake I did. I order the bike from a local dealer and now two months later I am stock with it. And as far as trek I will never buy one of their products again their customer service just plain sucks
Hi
I think I am one of the only people who have bought this bike, so I hope someone can help me.
I want to replace the rear shock from the RST 22A that came stock.
I would re Read More »
see for yourself:
[img]http://www.trekbikes.com/images/bikes/2003/mountain/medium/dieselfreeride.jpg[/img]
vs
[img]http://www2.trekbikes.com/Assets/Bikes/Mountain/Bruiser/Brui Read More »
well heres the story, i can obtain a 2005 trek bruiser 3 for relatively cheap but i dont know much about it, other than most of the reviews here say the frame fails and cracks/snap Read More »
