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Submitted by
Mark Huppertz
a Weekend Warrior
from Tijeras, NM USA
Date Reviewed: May 7, 2006 | | Favorite Trail: | Tablazon Canyon | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Purchased At: | Gift as a basketcase | | Strengths: | Very light, strong, and compliant. Can't find a worthy replacement for under 4K. | | Weaknesses: | Rear aluminun swingarm cracked under extreme abuse. Factory pivot wears out, replaced with oilite bronze which tightened it up very well. | | Similar Products Used: | This is my first REAL bike, and I have ridden it hard for about 4 years, average 2 times a week (once a week in winter, two to three times a week summer). | | Bike Setup: | Replaced nearly every component. It was a basketcase when I got it. Manitu oil damped front fork, v brake conversion, Mavic wheelset, carbon riser bar, carbon/titanium rail seat, XT components. | | Bottom Line: | I have bombed on this bike ruthlessly. The terrain here is some of the best anyware, and provides everything from terrifying unridable downhill to smooth gradual stuff. I weigh 185 and with he exception of a newly discovered stress crack in the rear swingarm that bike has taked everything I have thrown at it. I'm going to tig weld the frame and use the thing as long as I can. This bike has spoiled me to the point that I won't be happy with anything less than a $5,000 Kestrel carbon fiber FSB, and that ain't going to happen any time soon! | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Mark Huppertz
a Weekend Warrior
from Tijeras, NM USA
Date Reviewed: May 7, 2006 | | Favorite Trail: | Tablazon Canyon | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Purchased At: | Gift as a basketcase | | Strengths: | Very light, strong, and compliant. Can't find a worthy replacement for under 4K. | | Weaknesses: | Rear aluminun swingarm cracked under extreme abuse. Factory pivot wears out, replaced with oilite bronze which tightened it up very well. | | Similar Products Used: | This is my first REAL bike, and I have ridden it hard for about 4 years, average 2 times a week (once a week in winter, two to three times a week summer). | | Bike Setup: | Replaced nearly every component. It was a basketcase when I got it. Manitu oil damped front fork, v brake conversion, Mavic wheelset, carbon riser bar, carbon/titanium rail seat, XT components. | | Bottom Line: | I have bombed on this bike ruthlessly. The terrain here is some of the best anyware, and provides everything from terrifying unridable downhill to smooth gradual stuff. I weigh 185 and with he exception of a newly discovered stress crack in the rear swingarm that bike has taked everything I have thrown at it. I'm going to tig weld the frame and use the thing as long as I can. This bike has spoiled me to the point that I won't be happy with anything less than a $5,000 Kestrel carbon fiber FSB, and that ain't going to happen any time soon! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Trekrider
a Weekend Warrior
from Australia
Date Reviewed: March 27, 2006 | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Purchased At: | ebay | | Strengths: | Light weight, simplicity of design, a known bike with parts still around, and of course, the look! | | Weaknesses: | Haven't found any yet. | | Similar Products Used: | Previously a Malvern Star Outlaw FS...one wonders if a Trek Y3 had been borrowed by their designers. | | Bike Setup: | 1997 Y5, 1998 Y33, 1998 YSL200, and a concocted Y22 with 96-98 parts. Yes, I collect Trek Y bikes. | | Bottom Line: | Well if there was ever a perfect mountain bike, the Y bike is it. Bio pacing is a non issue: 1)use a lockout shock, or 2)don't sit on the saddle when ascending, or 3)set up the shocks right.
Lightness puts most current duallies to shame. These bikes fly. As I don't have a death wish when I go riding, frame breakage, or anything breaking for that matter is also a non issue. Why do people complain about the frame noise? It's just there to remind you that you're riding the best bike design ever invented. And that look! I really need to frame one on the wall. Ultimately, it has got to be the most sensibly designed frame I can think of...so simple and yet works so well. Just a word of warning; the Y3 and Y1 are heavier bikes (chromoly URT) and are getting up to 14kg.
| | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Philippe
a Weekend Warrior
from Quebec, Canada
Date Reviewed: April 21, 2005 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Purchased At: | used | | Bike Setup: | 1998 Y33 | | Bottom Line: | I have one to sell. This is an amazing bike. Logical and Experienced bikers, not racers, should buy it. The key is to upgrade it correctly and avoid unbalacing it. If you're not stupid, you can own one. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Dave
a Cross Country Rider
from Jax, FL
Date Reviewed: December 5, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | razzorbak, Jons Gap, NC | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Price Paid: |
$800.00 | | Purchased At: | Bicycle Ect. (LBS) | | Strengths: | Carbon,Carbon, Carbon...very lite and fast.Very plush ride!!! | | Weaknesses: | they don't make it any more. | | Similar Products Used: | trek 9.8 (my other bike) also rode fuel 100 very fast but not near as plush Kinda in the middle (9.8 & y-33) | | Bike Setup: | 95' Y-33, Full 2003 xt, 2002 Rock shox Sid race (carbon Crown), fox AVA Float RL, Easton Carbon bars,seatpost,stem,Sette Italia SLR Gel Flo Saddle, Bontragger xxx race wheelset, Panaracer Fire XC tires, shimano PD=M959 pedals, Yette grips, I've Got the new shimano FC-M760 Crankset on order Merry X-MAS!!! | | Bottom Line: | This Bike Rocks!!!! It may not be a fast race bike By todays standards, But thats what the 9.8 is for. If your going for a all day ride on the trail this is the bike for you. this bike climbs great and decendes just as well. the extrem lite weight (23.2 LBS) makes it a dream to take on long rides. the plush shox take out all the bumps, small & large. I've done 5' drops with no proublem. The fox shox w/pro pedal and rock shox sid take almost all the pedal bob out!!! It only bobs when standing in the pedals and then its very little. all in all this is the best cross country bike I've ever ridden. I love this bike, too bad Trek dont still make them. i think they are the plushest biks ever made!!!! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Endo Boy
a Downhiller
from San Diego, CA USA
Date Reviewed: October 4, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | Noble Canyon | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Price Paid: |
$1000.00 | | Purchased At: | Cycle Centre | | Strengths: | Simple bike design which is easy to maintain. The life time frame warranty has come in handy twice. Xlnt customer service for frame warranty replacement. The URT works good for most terrain and the component group is a good selection for this type of bike. TREK was trying to hit the Freeride market with Cannondale in 1998 and the Y-Glide Deluxe was a great bike at that time. The Manitou triple clamp X-Vert and the FOX Vanilla RC were a good choice for shocks. The Hayes Hydraulic front and rear 6" disks were the perfect choice for brakes. Tires were the IRC Missles 2.25 which were and still one of my favorite tires. Overall the bike had a good component groupo other than the H-bar and stem which is a easy swap. | | Weaknesses: | Again some of the components were not really suited for freeriding, but what the hell was freeriding in 1998. I really like my Y-Glide Deluxe, But I really did not like the stick on raised TREK letters on the top tube of the frame. Either the letters were peeling off or my shorts would get caught on a corner of a letter and put a hole on my inner thigh of my shorts. | | Similar Products Used: | I now ride a Intense Uzzi DH and a Specialized Big Hit Pro. The only similarities in product design is that they are all bikes. The Uzzi is set up for DH and the Big Hit is set up for Freeriding! | | Bike Setup: | My TREK Y-Glide Deluxe is all stock other than the H-bar and stem. I now use the IRC KUJO DH 2.35 front and rear. Thats all I have changed out since I purchased the bike in 1998! Oh ya, I also changed the brake pads a few times. | | Bottom Line: | Even though I ride an Intense Uzzi DH and Specialized Big Hit Pro I still really like riding my TREK Y-Bike. I plan to keep the bike and just get the frame replaced every time I bend the top tube. Some riders laugh, make K-Mart comments and some friends tease my Y-bike, but I just laugh with them and tease my friends back. The main point to my riding is spending time riding with my kids and friends, exercising, meeting new friends, sharing bike stories and just getting my butt outside and enjoy life!! Thats the bottom line!! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Daniel Rispolie
a Cross Country Rider
from Toronto,Ontario,Canada
Date Reviewed: August 9, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | All | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$750.00 | | Purchased At: | Canadian Cyclist | | Strengths: | Light,nimble,quick handling,fast,cross country plush,reliable, just plain fun.
| | Weaknesses: | I do not know if this is considered a weakness but with the URT design you must set up the suspension according to your weight.If you set it up properly with the right amount of sag,preload, compression, rebound,etc. the ride quality is quite plush with little bobbing.I think the complaints about URT bobbing is due to improper suspension set up.A 4 bar linkage can feel really harsh if not set up properly.
So what I am saying is suspension set up based on your body weight is the key.Also ensuring that you have a balanced suspension(your front shock is the same as the rear)meaning if you set up your rear shock with too much rebound damping with your front with no rebound damping it causes your bicycle to react poorly.A balanced suspension is the key to a great ride. | | Similar Products Used: | gt hardtail
gt hardtail | | Bike Setup: | carbon y33, XT/XTR, Mavic, Raceface, Manitou, Stratos. | | Bottom Line: | The bicycle really is designed for xc and will ride very plush if one learns how to set up a balanced suspension.
| | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Christian
a Cross Country Rider
from Toronto
Date Reviewed: June 12, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | Bruce Trail from the Beaver Valley North | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Price Paid: |
$2900.00 | | Purchased At: | Sport Swap | | Strengths: | It is light and nimble. Climbs over rocks and roots comfortably and quick. Came stock with top components (XTR gruppo), Titanium bolt kit and seat post, OCLV carbon fibre bar ends etc.
The bike has been easy to sevice, and has proven very durable. It also happens to be they best looking FS bike ever made. Don't argue or deny it. | | Weaknesses: | The Matrix Voodoo rims (A Trek brand I think). I pretzled the front wheel within two months. The back wheel hub is a bugger to service. The rear derailleur hanger is not replaceable. One of the rails on the Vetta saddle broke when the bike and I became seperated by gravity. | | Similar Products Used: | Rocky Mountain Blizzard, Bontrager, Merlin Titanium. | | Bike Setup: | Stock (XTR)throughout, except replaced front wheel with Mavic/Chris King rim/hub combo. Titanium bolt kit, Carbon fibre bar ends, Titanium post, Dia-Compe headset, Shimano 747 pedals, Judy SL front, Fox Alps4 rear shock, Selle Italia Flight Ti saddle, Vetta C-500 wireless computer. Also added a seatpost mounted waterbottle cage. Continental Goliath tires which are good on and off road. I avoid riding (damaging) wet, muddy trails, so I don't need a full knobby on the rims. | | Bottom Line: | I like this ride. I bought the first Y-33 available in Canada, a few weeks after I saw it in the 1995 Toronto MTB show. At the time it was way ahead of other FS bike designs. I think people are forgetting how far things have come since then. I consider the Trek Y frames raised the bar with this bike back then, as is evidenced by the widespread adaptation of the fundamental Y design by other manufactuers proves. The first model year was a beautifully laquered deep Indigo Blue. Yellow Judys and decals and completely chrome rear triangle, fork crown, headset/stem etc. make this a real eye catcher.
Climbing characteristics are superb. I also think it descends well (but does require a little more finesse and rhythm at high speed to tame the rear if you are out of the saddle skimming over bumpy stuff). But I still feel more confident on technical terrain than any of my hardtail buddys. They seem to think I attack descents with aplomb and marvel at the fact I rarely go off course. I think its a combination of riding technique and good hardware. The Y-frame is best suited to experienced, smooth spinning and mid-size riders.
I was a hardcore road racer for years before going mtb, and I think that has helped my peddling style on a FS bike. I never experience Pogo effect, unless I'm hammering recklessly out of the saddle with too little preload. I like a fairly stiff ride, so I set the preload to between 210-215 psi. I'm 5'10' 165-170lbs. Pogo isn't a problem 'cause I pedal in complete revolutions, using hams and calves to assist and smooth out each stroke. I can sprint out of the saddle on pavement with the proload pumped to 220, and hard slicks on the rims with only the very slightest loss of power (while in a big gear at low rpm). But once I get the cadence up, it is a great accelerating and fast bike !! Rhythm and Cadence are the keys to getting the most out of my Y-33.
If you can't ride this way you will not fall in love with a Y-frame, and you should probably stick to a hardtail anyways.
With regard to the noisy frame issue, i've never noticed it in seven years of riding. You nit-pickers should be listening to your drivetrains, respiratory breathing rhythm and other environmental feedback anyways !! lol:) And as for frames busting, I've had my share of hard knocks, and the frame has proven worthy of the punishment. Seemingly, I'm more likely to break myself into pieces than the frame.
Bottom line:
220 lb newbies and hacks stay away!
Mid-weight spinners with finesse looking for a plush,light,quick and hot looking ride should search for a used Y33 (or Y22, Y50), cause I think they are under valued right now.
Happy trails everyone.
| | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Camouflage
a Weekend Warrior
from Germany
Date Reviewed: May 4, 2002 | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Price Paid: |
$1600.00 | | Strengths: | I liked the bike for its great design and the lightweight construction. Suspension performed well. I had no problems with the bob but I usually stay seated on uphills. At the time I bought it, the suspension characteristics were good compared to other bikes, but is not competitive anymore today. And the component mix is good value for money (if it works and does not brake). | | Weaknesses: | Many unreliable components:
- The oil cartridge of the RS Judy XC fork broke twice. Damping characteristics got worse in the time despite regular maintenance.
- I had to replace the bearing in the front hub soon.
- Front rim (Bontrager/Matrix) bent.
- Original cantilever brakes were without braking power so I had to upgrade to V-brakes.
Frame:
- Acts like a loudspeaker. It is difficult to figure out where the noise actually comes from.
- No proper place for water bottle.
- Rear triangle very flexible which makes the bike feel unstable especially on downhills or fast corners. Even with V-brake and brakebooster it is difficult to bring power to the rear brake.
- Frame broke (see below) | | Similar Products Used: | Specialized FSR
Trek Fuel 90 | | Bike Setup: | Y 22 year 96; XT-V brakes and shifters, Syncros seatpost, longer stem, small crankring (20), Mavic 517 rims, Michelin Wildgripper tires, Shimano SPD 545 pedals, Biogrips | | Bottom Line: | I rode Y 22 for almost 5 years and was happy with it most of the time.
I bought the bike for a discount price but had to invest a lot of money to upgrade or replace broken components.
Afterall I lost my faith in carbon. The frame broke, but Trek did not accept this as a warranty case. They said the damage was caused by improper use. However they did send me a used ´97 Y22 frame in size M which did not fit because the original frame was XL. After negotiations with Trek and my local dealer I got the Fuel 90 with a major discount.
2 Chilis in value rating due to the many broken components in this bike. I hope other ones had more luck! | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Nick Pappas
a Cross Country Rider
from Randolph
Date Reviewed: March 25, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | Gas Can, No Fat Chicks, Super Highway, High Roller, and more if you know where! | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Price Paid: |
$1200.00 | | Purchased At: | used | | Strengths: | All around great. Especially if the front and year shox are dialed in for downhill, the bike just grabs the ground at high speeds. But dont think you'll do 90mph, ya fool. | | Weaknesses: | The factory rear Fox Air Shock doesn't hold air well and thats why in my case you experience the bobbing motion like on an excersize machine. I believe a new shock that can be stiffened to the hilt or locked out would make any carbon fiber bike by trek #1 in my book. | | Similar Products Used: | None | | Bike Setup: | XT-brakes, shifters, derailluers, new (but original to the bike) Judy fork, Chris King headset(everyone should have one), Continental tires, and more! | | Bottom Line: | Best money besides my trek 8900 SL or my original trek 8000 (ever made), I think. Money and value when buying a high end trek can take you a long way! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Yale Tankus
a Weekend Warrior
from Brookeville, MD, USA
Date Reviewed: August 15, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | Patapsco - Waterton FS CO, Schaffer Farm | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Strengths: | Y50 purchased in 97. Light, quick handling, good climbing and predictable.
The bike just flys over every thing!
Actually looking for a replacement Y50 - | | Weaknesses: | The frame (after thousands of miles & 4 + years of hard riding) has a major squeak (I suspect there is finally a crack someplace, I just can't find it).
The only chronic problem is the cable routing on the side. It could be solved with a front fender though. About every month or so there is enough gunk accumulated in the housings that the shifter and rear brakes don't easily work. Cleaning them out helps, but replacing the cable and housing is the best way to fix it.
| | Bike Setup: | SRAM 9.0 rear derailer & shifters, 517 rims, xtr hubs & brakes, xt crank & cassette, chris king head set, strata lock out rear shock, manitu si front shock, salsa riser bar, speedplay pedals. | | Bottom Line: | I need a new frame! Too dialed in to what I really like (Y50) to wander. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Santino
a Cross Country Rider
from San Jose, California
Date Reviewed: August 10, 2000 | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Strengths: | lightweight, stiff, the frame itself absorbs shock, simple low maintenance design, and of course goods looks | | Weaknesses: | none encountered; of course I only use the bike for cross-country riding | | Similar Products Used: | GT STS; Cannondale Raven & Jekyll; Intense Tracer; Klein Mantra | | Bike Setup: | Trek Y50, Easton CT2 Monkeylite bar/seat post, Chris King headset, Race Face LP cranks, full Shimano XTR brakes/drivetrain, Rockshox SID 100, & Spin wheelset | | Bottom Line: | For my riding style, this was the best bike to get. If you enjoy cross-country riding through beautiful scenic trails, than this is the bike for you. Recently, I thought about buying another frameset because I felt my Trek was outdated. I tested the Raven which rides similar to my Trek except that the cockpit felt tight. The Jekyll for some reason, feels like a hardtail. The price and the looks kept me from buying it either one. GT's carbon frame was pretty smooth but I always felt that when I pedal hard on a climb with the i-drive, the bike is slow to respond. The Intense Tracer was a great test ride but it lacked the vibration absorption that carbon fiber offers. In the future, I may purchase the Klein Mantra Race if they can fix the single pivot problem with the swingarm. As of now, I am completely satisfied with my Y50. The ride is plush and the on-the-fly lockout really assists you when climbing. The one thing I'd like to change is my wheelset. Yes, the Spins are low maintenance, but they're heavy as hell. They also hop when I ride on the road. What is that about? I could probably get my bike below 24 lbs with a pro quality wheelset. Then, I may even consider racing over at Big Bear. If you can find a Trek Y in excellent condition and at a great price, give it a shot. If you're a dual-slalom or downhill rider, stick with an aluminum design. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Robert Dennis
a Cross Country Rider
from Starkville, MS, USA
Date Reviewed: August 6, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | Chewacla Nat. Park | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Strengths: | Light, fast, very responsive. | | Weaknesses: | Small amounts of bobbing, but hey it's a full suspension bike. | | Similar Products Used: | Cannondale F2000SL, Specialized Enduro Pro | | Bike Setup: | Full XTR, Mavic Crossmax UST, Bontrager 2000 (Ti) saddle | | Bottom Line: | It's a great bike from the flats to all out climbing. I don't have any problems with the design. Everyone I have ever talked to has really been negative about the Y-series design. I agree it's a simple design, but simplicity is the key. If we continue to become more complex with the full suspension design more problem will occur and people will back away from the full suspension bike. I think Trek has done a great job with the bike and I hope to see future designs based off this bike. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Wyatt LeCadre
a Cross Country Rider
from Brooklyn, New York
Date Reviewed: July 23, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | Anything, Anywhere | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Strengths: | Versatile, Flexible, Light, Simple design | | Weaknesses: | None yet | | Similar Products Used: | Gary Fischer XO | | Bike Setup: | Easton CT2 seatpost & CT2 Monkeylite handle bar
ONZA H.O. brakes
SRAM ESP 9.0SL brake levers, shifters, rear derailuer
RaceFace SYStem, Team SL headset, Taperlock Ti BB, Next LPs crankset
Shimano XTR front derailuer, Carbon V brake booster | | Bottom Line: | After about 4 and half years and more than 5000 miles later I have never had a problem. I have no original parts mainly because I like new stuff and change it when I get my moneys worth. Excellent design, form and function as it should be. It does what I need it do and goes where I want it. An all around great bike.
As with any bike design anyone can nitpik just to prove their point. If the Y-bike design was as horrible as some people say it is, then so many manufactures wouldn't copy it. Just look around and you will see variations of the Y-bike design everywhere (Cannondale RAVEN, Specialized FSR and Gary Fischer Joshua to name a few). The TREK Y series is flexible enough that I even run slicks to do tours that run through city streets. It is even light enough and fast enough to hit a 40 mph run and better if you set it up right and tough enough for the roughest of trails.
As far as suspension goes anyone complaining about bobbing is probably running the suspension to soft or doesn't know how to set it up properly. Plush doesn't mean bouncing up and down at every little twig on the trail or crack in the street. Equipped with 4 inches of rear travel this is not a downhill bike but will take some pretty good drops and jumps. Suspension lockout during braking...? I don't know where that one came from and I have never experienced it.
Resinating sounds are slightly amplified but certainly not deafing. It may be a slight annoyance for a moment but if you are out enjoying the trails with fiends, noise will be the last thing on your mind.
Different bikes are made for different rides. So get what fits your ride style and chose for yourself. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Joe Cannon
a Weekend Warrior
from Indianapolis. IN, USofA
Date Reviewed: July 15, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | Anything technical | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Strengths: | 98 Y22 is an all around good bike if you want full time full suspension. | | Weaknesses: | none so far | | Bike Setup: | original except for m747 spd and XTR rear hub upgrades. | | Bottom Line: | This bike is great for just about any type of trail. It's frame is very solid, yet light for FS. The bike will bob if you get out of the saddle, but that is a very small problem given that the suspension is active even when pedaling very hard. This problem is solved in most part by spinning or locking out the rear suspension with the remote dampening adjuster. Full time suspension is the biggest benefit to the Unified Rear Triangle design. Unlike other designs, that lock out the rear suspension when pedaling. I can't agree with other reviews that state that the rear suspension locks up under breaking. I have not had any problems with the suspension locking up. The only thing I see happening is that your weight gets transferred forward and this unloads the rear wheel causing a loss of activity. I have also read other reviews that say that the rear suspension is less active when you are out of the saddle. I imagine that this is true with all FS bikes sense you shift your weight forward when you get out of the saddle which also unloads the rear wheel. I would have to say that the 98 Y22 was and is the best deal for a FS bike. It has very good components for the price and the strongest long travel FS carbon frame that Trek ever made. I would recommend this bike to those who like rough XC rides and are tired of having the trail beat them into submission. I wouldn't recommend this bike to any hard core down hill rider, for the suspension probably isn't going to be tunable enough or have long enough travel for them. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Gary Ferrell
a Cross Country Rider
from Victorville Ca. U.S.A.
Date Reviewed: June 14, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | anything with a downhill | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Strengths: | Low maintenance,bullet proof frame,good components | | Weaknesses: | does not really excel in any area,WTB headset is a piece of crap | | Similar Products Used: | was first FS bike but now I own a Specialized FSR Enduro | | Bike Setup: | Hayes hydraulic disc brakes,statos helix pro rear shock,titec hellbent bars,Raceface realseal headset,and a icon onyx stem,shimano 636 pedals | | Bottom Line: | The first time I rode the bike on the trail I thought it was great,but after endoing a few times when riding rough downhills due to lack of damping in the rear.Once someone informed me of how to adjust the rear shock I really didnt like the bike.In the 2 years that I owned it I could not find a setting for all around riding conditions even after upgrades.Either I could set the damping to take the big hit and get rattled to death on the small stuff or glide over the small stuff and get bucked off on the big hits,but never a medium between the two.On the other hand depite god knows how many crashes over a two year period I just could not break the damn thing and believe me I tried hoping that I would get a new VRX from the warranty.I finally just set it up as close as I could to what I wanted and just rode the thing.I had alot of fun on it after all it was slightly better than my hardtail.I guess what I am trying to say is that it's not a bad bike I just expected more out of a bike with full suspension I just recently bought a specialized enduro FSR and had it set up in about five rides perfectly. This bike also has it's flaws but delivers exactly what I want in just about every ride characteristic. No FS bike is perfect,you just have to do some research ride it and ask around because you don't want to be stuck with something you just laid $2,000 or better for and not be totally satified when you could have gotten a better bike to suit your needs for the same money. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Tom
a Weekend Warrior
from Watertown, SD
Date Reviewed: May 20, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | the farm | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Bottom Line: | Unfortunately I do not have the time to write a multi-page review, however, the Y-bike is not a good design for a mountain bike. I've owned a Y-3 and ridden Gary Fisher Joshas. The URT bikes suck as full suspension bikes! Jubbi mentioned the BB to seat distance changing, it's true. Go hop off some curbs and pay attention to what the suspension is doing. Definitly not as smooth as when you are in the seat. It is hard to be smooth when your legs are trying to soak up the jumps at the same time the rear suspension is compressing and forcing your legs to move along with it. True FS bikes like the linkage types don't make you do anything weird. As far as performance goes this bike takes it away from you in the form of bobbing. Brian wrote a short novel trying to reason this away but unless you're 50 yrs old and only ride the bike path you will notice it and it will drive you crazy. The bobbing can't be cured as it is inherent in the design. You can try and up your preload or air pressure to eliminate it, but then you end up with a stiff riding bike that acts as a pseudo hardtail and defeats the purpose of a FS bike.
Oh, by the way Brian, with all the advice you dispense in your review and the claims you make dismissing all legitimate, negative reviews you may want to take a little time and get your facts straight.
1. Let's see, Judy forks don't use air they have always been a coil/MCU-oil or coil/oil design.
2. Who are you to determine what sound levels are acceptable to the mountain biking world?
3. We shall all have to forget about all the reviews about those who have experienced broken carbon fiber frames and assume they were all beget from abuse and not poor design.
4. Everyone on this site, all 352 reviewers, are just like you and they should love this bike since it works great for you to ride back and forth to class on. I don't think so!
The Y-bike concept was an ingenious marketing ploy that many people, including myself fell for. As the years went by the design could not compete with the mainstream, linkage type, FS bikes all the good manufacturers offered. Look in your 2000 Trek catalog and try to find a Y-bike. The only thing you will find is the bargain priced Y-3. Even Trek realized this "Y" design was a joke and could no longer compete with the other manufacturers' performance models. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jubbi
a Weekend Warrior
from America
Date Reviewed: May 19, 2000 | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Bottom Line: | Brian below gives a long review. Great. But he did forget to mention that the reason Y frame is more susceptible to bob complaints is because of the URT design. The bottom bracket is suspended with the rear. This changes the seat to pedal length when the rider is in the saddle (which is basically when the rear suspension is active--out of saddle suspension is minimal to the point that it is like a glorified suspension seatpost). That is why people feel "bob" not because there really is more. If the rear moves properly (not bobs) on a hit, the saddle to pedal distance changes and it still feels like bob to most. And I admit, it's really a pain to have that change--hard to pedal, hard on the knees and give nothing to me when I am going down a steep hill behind the saddle.
That is why Y frames that suspen the BB get such a bad rep. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Brian Dolezalek
a Weekend Warrior
from Aurora CO USA
Date Reviewed: May 18, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | Waterton Canyon | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Strengths: | Light weight, plush ride, simple design, double-takes from other riders! | | Weaknesses: | Judy shocks suck, noodles on rear brake calipers too far out, long wheelbase makes for lots of work in the tight stuff | | Similar Products Used: | Gary Fisher Mamba | | Bike Setup: | Marzocchi Z2 Atom 80 front shocks
Speedplay Frog pedals (trust me on this one!!)
Cheap ($50) Specialized helmet
Specialized Team or Comp shoes, gloves
Specialized/Mountain Dew jersey (OK, that's solely a matter of opinion I admit!)
Jando front and read bags depending on how much you take with you
WTB weels, Conti tires | | Bottom Line: | The following is a review of the '96 Trek Y-22 mountain bike. It is a real-world review; that is, a review by someone for whom there's more to life than mountain-biking!
The Trek Y-22, and really the entire Y-series, is overall an excellent series of bikes; the bikes are solid, lightweight, and are excellent attention-getters! But for me to simply write a good review of these bikes seems a touch pointless; if you want that, you can draw from the literally hundreds of good reviews about this series. So instead, I will try to focus on the points made by the people who've written bad reviews of these bikes. Hopefully, that will work towards saving you the trouble of having to sift through all the bad reviews of this series as I had to back in January when I first bought my Y-22 used for $700.
The biggest complaint about the Trek Y-series that I have seen centers around the phenomenon of rear-end bobbing, whereby a portion of the energy exerted with each pedal stroke goes toward extending the rear suspension instead of toward powering the bicycle as it should. Now you can read and memorize every such complaint about the Y-series that you want to, but in the end, the simple fact is that the majority of the riders that this bike caters to probably will not experience this phenomenon in any measurable way. Indeed, if they experience rear end bobbing at all (and I have not experienced any rear in bobbing as yet), at most it will manifest itself as an annoyance, nothing more. The Y-series employees a full URT suspension; most writers of reviews on this web page, even good reviews, seem to be under the impression that a full URT suspension is more susceptible to rear end bobbing then just about any other suspension type. I believe this is probably true, but for the kind of riding you're going to be doing on a Y-bike (namely cross-country), you simply aren't going to encounter the rear-end bobbing effect to the extent that it is in any way debilitating, or in any way detracts from the overall ride. Furthermore, if you really think it's necessary to take active steps to negate the rear-end bobbing effect, then you can always a) pump more air into the rear shock absorber; or b) buy a better rear shock absorber for the bike. This bike is flexible enough to take just about any component you would ever want to throw at it; more on that later.
Probably the second biggest complaint I see here at MTBR.COM centers around how noisy the frame it is. The frame on the Y-22 is made of carbon fiber, not aluminum or any other alloy. It is physically a rather large frame compared to your standard mountain bike frame, so there is a larger volume of air inside the frame than there is in most bikes. This, combined with the propensity of carbon fiber to resonate sound in general, causes any impact the bike should encounter to produce a sound. I can't really describe the sound; all I can say is that it's the sound you'd hear inside a carbon fiber enclosure upon impact. I finally noticed this sound after about three months of riding the bike, only because of the negative reviews I had read here at MTBR.COM concerning the Y-series' propensity to produce the sound. But to hear people talk, you'd think this sound was deafening, so loud you could barely hear yourself think. Nothing could be further from the truth; the sound is at most slightly annoying, certainly not debilitating in any way, and certainly not of a sufficient sound pressure level to take away from the overall ride.
Finally, I hear a lot about how the carbon fiber frames on the Y-series sometimes break. As most people can pretty much figure out, a broken carbon fiber frame is pretty much ready for the junk keep (it can't even be used as a boat anchor because it's too light!), whereas an aluminum frame could conceivably be repaired (although I doubt it would be worth it in the end to try and do so). Carbon fiber is just that -- a series of fibers, and any break anywhere in those fibers is disastrous. Even a crack is usually fatal in the long run. There are many claims of carbon fiber frame breakage for the Y-series here at MTBR.COM; it's up to the reader to determine from each such review whether the fault lies with the rider or with the bike. But in the real world, the simple fact is that it would take a fairly distant drop -- probably six feet or more--to put enough stress on the frame to even come close to causing breakage. In the real world, cross country doesn't normally involve such drops; any sane rider would do their best to avoid them, even if it meant walking the bike. Downhillers experience such drops all the time, of course, but anyone silly enough to downhill with the Y-22 (even after having slapped a pair of Boxxers or bigass Zokes on the bike) is putting the frame at serious risk of breakage associated simply with the downhill riding style. Are you going to be doing this? Probably not. Normal use begets normal wear, pure and simple, and real-world riders probably won't have a problem.
That pretty much covers the (mostly) bogus complaints about the Y-22; now let's go over some legitimate complaints. The Y-shaped frame makes access to the water cage problematic at best; you probably won't be taking a drink while in motion. Answer: a Hydra pack. Pretty simple math. The rear brake caliper on these damnable Shimano V-brakes employs an aluminum noodle at the point where the cable curves into the caliper, and your bike shoe will brush against this noodle pretty much every time unless your foot is 100 percent parallel with the frame. This is definitely a problem, albeit a minor one, and a friend of mine has pointed out that it can probably be corrected by installing a curveless, or noodleless, rear brake caliper. Cane Creek makes such a caliper, and I'm going to order one when I finish this review. The Rock Shox Judy front shocks are woefully inadequate for most cross-country riding, even easy riding. In addition, the Judys of that year were prone to some leakage of air, and were generally of questionable quality at best. A bike of this caliber should have been equipped with something better, to be sure, but it is a simple and relatively inexpensive matter to have the front shocks replaced with something of better quality. I had a pair of Marzocchi Z2 Atom 80s put on, and I love them, but even a set of 2000 Judys would work fine.
Whether bogus or legit, complaints about a bike like this constitute nit-picking, nothing more. The Trek Y-series is probably the single biggest leap forward in mountain bike design and construction ever to hit the industry. Trek Y-bikes are not the best, and they're certainly not the most expensive, but I defy any real-world rider to quantify the difference in ride quality between my $700 Trek Y-22 and a Year 2000 carbon fiber bike of any manufacture (say, a top-of-the-line Trek or Cannondale of today). The Y-22 is incredibly lightweight (rear shock and all); you can easily heft this thing anywhere you need to put it, on the trail or on your car. Furthermore, the plushness and luxury of the bike's ride, even in the rough stuff, is something you simply have to ride to appreciate. Normal downhilling is a blast; the rear wheel holds in almost all situations. The bike's geometry is simply ideal for cross-country, although the long wheelbase makes the really tight stuff rather interesting at times. Said long wheelbase also makes replacing the stock Judys a very good idea, and your tires should be pretty much top-notch if possible. I've got a set of Continentals that work beautifully. The other componentry is of fair to excellent quality, and replacement will most likely be necessitated only by age.
What blows me (and others) away about the bike is the incredible flexibility offered by the bike. You can literally convert this bike into any type of bike you want; you could make a downhiller, a racer, even a road bike (with the proper tires) out of this thing with no problem whatsoever. The sheer simplicity of the design is what makes this possible; a great many of the full suspension bikes I've seen on the market appear to be some kind of variant on the basic Trek Y-series design, for obvious reasons. There are better designs out there, to be sure, ones that counteract rear-end bob better, ones that provide more rigidity, certainly ones that are lighter. Specialized and Giant are two brands, in particular, whose high-end products will give the Trek Y-series a serious run for its money just about every time. But between Specialized, Giant, and Trek, you pretty much can't go wrong; and it's going to take more than nit-picking by the so-called experts to take the Y-series out of contention with anything anywhere near its price range. I was lucky to find a '96 for only $700, but knowing what I know now, I would've paid $1000 with no problem whatsoever. That's the kind of ride you'll get out of a Y-series IMHO. But to make that determination involves test rides of bikes from many different brands and designs, and only a real-time, real-world test ride on your part will allow you to determine whether a Y-bike is right for you. But whatever you do, don't believe the hype generated by all the bad reviews of this bike that you'll find here in MTBR.COM; if you buy a Y-bike, you'll get a quality product no matter what, whether or not it delivers the kind of ride that you're looking for.
Another thing: be prepared for a few double takes when you ride a Y-series! A bike like this draws attention among other bikes the way a Porsche or Ferrari would draw attention among other cars. Consider yourself a rebel if you ride a Y-bike, in the city or on the trail. There's nothing more satisfying for me than locking up my bike in front of a bike store and having people pay more attention to my bike than to the bikes in the store window!
Recommended components/equipment:
Marzocchi Z2 Atom 80 front shocks
Speedplay Frog pedals (trust me on this one!!)
Cheap ($50) Specialized helmet
Specialized Team or Comp shoes, gloves
Specialized/Mountain Dew jersey (OK, that's solely a matter of opinion I admit!)
Jando front and/or rear bags depending on how much you take with you
WTB weels, Conti tires
| | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
LOCAL
a Weekend Warrior
from Homer
Date Reviewed: April 26, 2000 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Weaknesses: | The URT concept | | Similar Products Used: | GT LTS, FSR, Cannondale | | Bike Setup: | Trek Y-3 | | Bottom Line: | These bikes exhibit every bad symptom pointed out in this rewiew column. The guy below me does not understand full suspension designs and then has the gall to call another reviewer a moron! Have you ever heard of the term "fully active" Racer? It is obvious that you haven't or you would have not given your absurd expanation of the suspension lockout during braking. With an FSR the suspension is not effected by pedaling or braking forces. The Y-bike URT is. I can give testiment to this since my Y-3's rear suspension would lock out under braking and not soak up small bumps and rocks. This would make for a scary decent since the rear end would hop and skid all over the place! This doesn't happen on my FSR. Y bikes are a sad example of full suspension. This is why Trek no longer sells them in any high performance application. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Bike Master Mike
a Racer
from Canton, MI
Date Reviewed: April 12, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | Island Lake | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Strengths: | Somewhat Light
Looks Great
Suspension Works Good (yeah ut does, for you boubting idiots, try actually riding a Y rather than | | Weaknesses: | Lots of lateral flex | | Bike Setup: | OCLV frame w/ XT/XTR and Race Face components, Manitou XVert DC fork | | Bottom Line: | Whats with the moron that says braking will lock out the suspension? How is that going to happen when the freakin brakes are mounted to the swingarm? The suspension action will be lessened due to the shift in the center of gravity as the fork compresses from braking. That takes weight off the rear wheel causing the suspension to be less active since there will be less force on it from the rider. Simple physics and it happens on ANY bike.
My Y rocks! It has 5150 miles and its amazing that it hasnt broken yet. I do urban stuff like jumping off large ledges (5+ feet), stairs, dirt jumps, some trials and XC riding. While is doesnt work as good as a specific freeride or XC trail bike, it does all of those well ona whole. How many bikes can you use for a huge variety of things?
The bike is on its fourth fork. Started with an Indy SL, then a Manitou FS, Rock Shox Judy XL (pile of crap) and now Im on a 2000 Manitou Xvert DC. Never buy Rock Shox. Work at a shop and you'll learn why...the customer service is horrible, and you need it since their forks dont last long. After 260 miles, my Judy XL had no oil in the damper. Try compressing a 4" travel fork and let it rebound with no rebound damping and you'll learn how scary a bike can be. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Adam
a Cross Country Rider
from Jax, FL
Date Reviewed: February 14, 2000 | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Strengths: | Handling, comfort, looks | | Weaknesses: | none for my riding situations | | Similar Products Used: | I've tried everything | | Bike Setup: | VW team issue Y-33 | | Bottom Line: | I've been riding Y bikes since they first came out, for the type of riding I do, I have not found a better riding bike (single track (mostly flat woods), heavy roots, logs, etc.)
I've tried so many different types of full suspension bikes, but nothing works better for me than my Y.
If your a serious hammer head, downhiller, or have to be the fastest on the trail freak, this is not the bike for you, but if your looking for a plush ride on rough flat terrain, find one of these babies used some where, you won't regret it. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Ron Barr
a Weekend Warrior
from Ron BARR COUNTRY
Date Reviewed: February 4, 2000 | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Strengths: | No maintenance. Good for dummies. | | Weaknesses: | Ah, maybe like no performance! | | Similar Products Used: | GT LTS, I-Drive, Cannondale Freeride, Specialized FSR, Toocrappy Trek and Gary Fisher Y bike styles, yeah they suck. | | Bike Setup: | FSR, stock components, hydracoil fork, 626 pedels | | Bottom Line: | Y bikes are lame. Do I really need to say more. The only people who think these bikes are cool are middle age riders with families. Y bikes bob, suck power and lock out when you are on the brakes. I know, I used to own a Y-3. Let me ask you, how can you believe that a carbon "Y" would offer better performance? These bikes suck even more because their frames crack. I am not making this stuff up or telling lies. Read the reviews! People who give these bikes good reviews are old and blowing smoke up your ___. "Y" don't they make them anymore if they are so wonderful. Oh.. the next time you are on a hill with bumps compare how well your suspension works while hitting the brakes as compared to how it works without brakes. I'm sorry but that is the big difference between active and non-active (Trek) suspension. It is sad that you have to get the facts at this site but Trek has been lying for years about this design. Y bikes are lame and don't perform as advertised. This review is especally pointed at Don Thervault and Mike Nadel who misled hundreds of people with their biased and dishonest reviews. Heck... one guy was even a salesmen! To any future buyers... fortunately Trek does not offer these bikes for sale anymore which is a good thing. The new VRX LINKAGE ( Hey! Mike Nadel please give us somemore ill conceived reviews with no points or facts!) designs are much better. Do me a favor and let the two knobs I mentioned know about how much better the bikes are.
| | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
tony laibach
a Weekend Warrior
from hong kong
Date Reviewed: January 12, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | tai mo shan | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Strengths: | weight, looks, fox vanilla lock-out feature, accepts ridiculous upgrades and works wonders, almost bomb-proof OCLV frame | | Weaknesses: | noisy, expensive at the time, must use chain guard on rocky terrain, at least 1 spoke on cane creek rims breaks after 2-3 rides | | Similar Products Used: | specialized stumpjumper. santa cruz bullit. | | Bike Setup: | rock shox judy XL ('98), fox vanilla rc (float 2000), irc kujo 2.25 (F) 2.35 (R), synchros hinged stem, synchros riser bar, mavic D521 ceramic rims, ODI lock grips, XTR everything: hubs, brakes, derailleur, etc. | | Bottom Line: | Can't believe my grey '98 Y33 ($3,450) allows me turn it into an extreme XC / pusedo DH bike with no complaint after more than a hundred wipe outs and carrying more than 50 deep scars on the frame.
The double crown 4" XL fork though not recommended by Trek works great. Fox offered to trade in the piggy back vanilla with a brand new float 2000 at just $100 which further improves the ride.
All these upgrades plus the Mavic downhill rims make this the lightest downhillable bike on the trail.
I don't recommed others to do the same because after all this is an XC bike.
I'm doing this only to see how far I could go before something gives. But so far it holds up great. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Stumaster
a Cross-Country Rider
from Columbia KY
Date Reviewed: December 8, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
Anwhere, I love new places | | Duration Product Used: |
3 months | | Strengths: |
Great bike, Light, looks great. | | Weaknesses: |
Price, Paint job! | | Similar Products Used: |
GT bikes, Cannondale | | Bike Setup: |
Trek Y22, 98, Full suspension, Manitou and Fox RC air shocks | | Bottom Line: | This bike is a real looker! Great on any trail, but due to full suspension, a little slower then a normal hardtail. Paint sux though, it can scratch with ease! Light, fast, and Sweeeet if I may. Worth every penny! | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Patrick Villaverde
a Racer
from Knoxville, TN
Date Reviewed: November 10, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
Norris | | Duration Product Used: |
2 Years | | Strengths: |
Fast, cadillac ride | | Weaknesses: |
Not made for peddal pumpers. This is full suspention...it's supposed to bob. Thus you must spin. | | Similar Products Used: |
Proflex, Cannondale, Schwinn, Gary Fisher, Klein | | Bike Setup: |
'98 Y-33 frame(team yellow), XTR drivetrane, Crossmax wheelset, Panaracer tires, Icon components...24.5 lbs. | | Bottom Line: | Yeah, it bobs. Oh! It's full suspention! Well, that changes things. If you're a peddal pumper, you'll eat my dust on the same bike. I'll spin like the wind as I pass you by and watch your face say...damn...that's fast. Coordination is the key on this bike. I don't care if you have been ridin' for 10 years longer than me...if you got somthin bad to say about the Y, I ain't feelin sorry for ya, or listening to what you have to say. 5 hot ones on this bike. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
matt pasquier
a Racer
from washington
Date Reviewed: October 22, 1999 | | Duration Product Used: |
1 Year | | Strengths: |
awsome all arond bike and very reliable | | Weaknesses: |
none | | Bike Setup: |
stock | | Bottom Line: | this is an awsome bike I have won many races with this bike and the frame is a really stiff and strong build | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
joe richardson
a Cross-Country Rider
from salem, or
Date Reviewed: October 12, 1999 | | Duration Product Used: |
3 months | | Strengths: |
The bike looks great | | Weaknesses: |
FRAME IS WEAK AND PRONE TO CRACKS | | Bike Setup: |
stock setup | | Bottom Line: | THIS IS THE WORST BICYCLE IN THE WORLD. I WEIGH ONLY 150 POUNDS AND THIS FRAME SNAPPED IN TWO WHEN I HIT A BUMP. THE PEOPLE AT TREK CLAIM THAT I MUST HAVE DONE SOMETHING WRONG AND THAT THE BIKE WAS NOT DEFECTIVE. SO, IF THERE IS NO DEFECT THE FRAME IS OBVIOUSLY FLAWED IF SOMEONE THAT WEIGHS SO LITTLE BREAKS ONE ON A BUMP THAT WASN'T EVEN THAT BIG. AND I AM NOT THE ONLY PERSON. I TALKED TO A TREK DEALER WHO SAID THAT HE HAS PERSONALLY SEEM MANY FRAMES THAT HE SOLD COME BACK BROKED IN HALF. BOTTOM LINE, TREK HAS SOME MAJOR QUALITY ISSUES AND YOU SHOULD NEVER BUY A TREK CARBON FIBER BIKE CAUSE THEY SUCK. AND TREK SUCKS FOR NOT TAKING RESPONSIBILITY AND REPLACING/REFUNDING MONEY FOR THESE PIECE OF CRAP BIKES | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Andrejs
a Cross-Country Rider
from Waterloo, ON
Date Reviewed: September 20, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
Waterloo Hydro Cut!!! | | Duration Product Used: |
3 months | | Strengths: |
Handling | | Weaknesses: |
it's a 97 Y22 and not a 99 YSL 300 | | Similar Products Used: |
96 FSR Xtreme
97 Y-Glide
whole wack of Rockhoppers (not similar but they are xc bikes) | | Bike Setup: |
Trek Y22 with Judy SL, Fox Alps 5, XTR everything cept for front XT derailleur, Race Face crankset, Wildgripper Lites | | Bottom Line: | The bottom line is that this bike is totally smokin' for technical cross country trails if you like going fast. I would like to denounce the seatpost suspension crap floating around, as I find this bike does soak up hits while I stand, but not as much as sitting... this is little consideration considering I'm used to using my legs to absorb shock,... this bike is so fast, tracks the terrain nicely, keeps you on the ground when you need to be-letting you keep spinning, and flies with little prompting... | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Gump
a Cross-Country Rider
from Boulder,CO
Date Reviewed: August 4, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
tight, technical singletrack | | Duration Product Used: |
2 Years | | Strengths: |
URT-low maintenance, no biopace, pedal feedback, or fast-wearing cogs+chain; good balance of performance; strong frame; good MFG | | Weaknesses: |
URT-not the most plush; (pre'98)rear shock mount. | | Similar Products Used: |
Klein Mantra | | Bike Setup: |
'97 Y50(on-the-fly adjust/lockout rear shock); bomberZ2; gripshift; 36-hole mavic 121 with velociraptor front; mustang with conti xc rear; rock ring; XTR Vbrakes | | Bottom Line: | This bike is (typically) not the best for any of the strictly specialized riding categories (ie xc,dh) because it makes compromises that enable a broader range of use. XC performance suffers because of weight (lighter hardtails go faster) and DH performance suffers because of the URT (versus more active design). The bike kind of fits between the two (and fits well), which is perfect for me.
I do more XC 'type' of riding than DH, but I lean towards the rocky, loggy, bust-your-Tgene-butt singletrack which many XCers find harsh with hardtails. And I love speed. I can't climb fast anyway, so this bike does just fine. I don't notice any bobbing, but I usually don't jump on the pedals when climbing. If I must, the lockout shock really works. Downhill? These never last long enough! This is the part where I will catch you, on my Y50. I'd hesitate to do some 60mph/5mile DH fireroad, but I've done the Winter Park (CO) rides and some vicious fast N.CA trails and the bike does quite nicely. The URT, with the low pivot, keeps my drivetrain from flailing too much and wearing too quickly, while still offering cush when I stand. The Mantra, with its higher pivot, lost all rear suspension when I stood (read:just when you need it most). Try staying seated over a boulder field or doing 35-40 down a rocky, jumpy singletrack! The Y works for this, and lets me continue on the trail as it levels or turns upward. The Y also felt much better in the tight turns than the Mantra, to me. I raced a little XC with it in Texas (local series) in the expert class, with a couple other guys riding Y's. I was outconditioned, and the other guys eventually went to hardtails. I was just out to have fun, these guys are out to finish a race course first. I kept my Y. The rear shock mount (pre'98) was bonded on and seems to eventually and gradually break the bond. Trek fixes (or reglues) it. The later models don't have that problem but they also have a slightly different geometry (lower BB height, longer toptube). I like the 97 version for the more technical stuff. I hear the CA DH boys knocking this bike, and I'll agree that there are better bikes for long, fast DH fireroads or specialty courses, but I haven't seen a bike that does better for the between-extremes riding. Actually, I've never noticed this bike diminishing my fun-factor at all. I listen (and look for) the criticisms, but where are the ones that make a difference? Yeah, and then there's the MTB mag's 'big' whine...not enough water bottle mounts. Camelbaks/etc make much more sense now and have for quite some time. That's like saying they lack pedal-grip for my tennis shoes, or the grips chafe my palms. The URT is sturdy, low maintenance, effective, relatively light. The carbon frame is strong and well built. The pivot is in the right spot. The bike doesn't bruise your banana like a hardtail, or freeze up like a sweet spot, or require a lift to get uphill. It eats bumps well, and gives your butt, back, and knees the relief they need to keep riding. I beefed up the front end because I am rough on 'em. I continually bent XC wheels and a manitou fork. My front end setup adds substantial weight, but it lasts. And don't give me any of that whimpy XC hardtail if you rode correctly, you wouldn't have that problem advice. That advice is for air-hating smooth-trackers. Mine's a bit heavier than the lighter ones, but sturdier, and it still does well. I'll hold just short of a 5 chilli display because of the rear shock mount. Rear travel performance could be improved, but at the price of complexity probably weight, so this is not a concern. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Gary Bitters
a Weekend Warrior
from Ft. Eustis, Va.
Date Reviewed: July 27, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
Hardwood Mills Newport News Va. | | Duration Product Used: |
less than 1 month | | Strengths: |
Looks
Light weight
Soaks up all the trails have to give! | | Weaknesses: |
Frame resinates to the sound of the trail. And Fox Air Shock is loud even when seviced. | | Similar Products Used: |
1999 Cannondale Supper V 400, and Supper V 500
1999 Gary Fisher Joshua4 | | Bike Setup: |
Stock! | | Bottom Line: | This bike is a quick handler. I was going to buy a hard tale but a buddy was selling this 98 Y-11 for $700, he paid $1,800 a year ago. All of the other FS bikes felt so sluggish. This bike bunny hops like a jack rabbit! I road this bike down a long section of log steps and never touched the brakes once! It is a wonderfull bike, and makes riding fun again!Happy Trails, Gary Bitters | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Chris Burns
a Weekend Warrior
from Mountain View, CA
Date Reviewed: July 6, 1999 | | Duration Product Used: |
2 Years | | Strengths: |
impressive looks
lockout rear shock
light | | Weaknesses: |
noisy
flexes
poorly backed by Trek's warranty | | Similar Products Used: |
Lightspeed Obed
Klien Mantra
GT RTS-2
Trek 970
Specialized Stumpjumper | | Bike Setup: |
Y-50 (limited edition)
*titanium everything
*carbon fiber
everything else!
Judy SL
Spinergys and Hugi/Mavic 217s
many different tires | | Bottom Line: | My Y is the older style, but my greatest complaint comes from the company, not the model year. After having the bike for about 6 months (about 1200 miles) the carbon started to de-laminte around the seatpost. There is an obvious gap in material that goes 40% around the seatpost. The rest of the bike didnt even have a scratch on it yet. Trek's response was to not replace it until it broke. I am not sure if a broken seatpost mount would cause me to wreck bad? But this is an obvious material defect and I dont even think it could result from an accident yet they still refused to cover it. I probably rode the bike for a few more months until I decided it wasnt worth it. It now makes a nice home for many spiders in my garage because I would never sell it to anyone else in that condition. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Mike Leonard
a Cross-Country Rider
from Connor Maine
Date Reviewed: June 27, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
the ones right behind my house | | Duration Product Used: |
6 months | | Strengths: |
Good value for the price. Feels more expensive than it is. | | Weaknesses: |
Jett C | | Bottom Line: | Great bike for the money. With a few upgrades will be a sweet ride. New front shock will make a great deal of difference. It doesn't look cheap which I have noticed that allot of other bikes in this price range do look cheap. It might not be for someone who is going to ride down mountains at warp speed, or a cross country racer, but I don't think Trek intended it to be bought by racers. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Crash
a Cross-Country Rider
from Radford, VA
Date Reviewed: June 21, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
Brush | | Duration Product Used: |
1 Year | | Strengths: |
Good handling, cosmetic appeal, simple suspension design | | Weaknesses: |
A little noisy on the trail | | Similar Products Used: |
Hardtails, Proflex Beast, Schwinn S-20,K2 F/S rig | | Bike Setup: |
(98)Y-33SL, (99)Manitou FS-Ti, Alps4 rear, XT/XTR mix w/ Bonty Wheels | | Bottom Line: | 1st off I origionally had a 95 Y-22, which had a cramped cockpit and a few handling quirks, but the design was pretty solid and work for an entry class racer. Unfortunately, during a race the frame broke on the swingarm, and some two and a hlaf months later after much haggling Trek finally sent me out a 98 Y-33SL. (Same frame dynamics as the YSL) The new frame has a longer top tube, steerer tube, and reworked suspension design. It does tend to bob a bit more than the old frame, but I'm guessing the aging Alps 4 may be the cause for that. The URT makes a great suspension design, if for no other reason than the few pivots. If you're over here on the east coast, and are familiar with noreasters then you know how muddy it can get. Mud+Pivots>dried grit into pivots=$$$&more maintanance. Overall I don't think you can go wrong with the design, and even if trek is abandoning the design from the looks of things, If you look at other companies they are still making great use of the single pivot URT y-style bike. (Ie cannondale, Fisher, etc.) As for you downhillers complaining about the Y, xTry setting up the bike differently. There's a Y-Glide owner here in radford who is sponsered by Fox to downhill his rig. As for the y-11 and up, it's a true to life XC rig that can offer a lot to a rider who pays attention to what he/she's doing, and takes the time to set up their bike. The bike climbs well, decends nicely, and corners hairpins better than any hardtail I've been on, as well as most other FS rigs. My only complaints are that Trek takes too long with customer service, and The new carbon fiber thinks it's a damn loudspeaker! One of the best lookin bikes out there! | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
MCA
a Weekend Warrior
from Clarkston, MI
Date Reviewed: June 1, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
Pontiac Lake | | Duration Product Used: |
2 Years | | Strengths: |
Rides striaght and true Has held up from the biggest hits and crashes. It's almost bombproof. | | Weaknesses: |
Could be sized a bit better. I'm 6' 1 1/2 and it's a bit difficult to get a proper riding position. But that's o.k. because it's worth it. | | Bike Setup: |
Added Mavic crosslinks, Ritchey Pro Logic pedals, Manitou SXR, Speed spring for the rear shock and a few other things. | | Bottom Line: | This bike is Awesome. You can tell by the hundreds of people who have take the time to write aobut it. I only wish It'd have a higher overall score. Some of the people that bought it shouldn't have because it was for the wrong type of riding etc. Well, they'll live and learn. Other than that I can't see myself owning anythin but this bike for a long, long time. I'll just keep updating components etc.5 chillies for sure. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Paul Ehnert
a Weekend Warrior
from Yorba Linda, C.A.
Date Reviewed: May 18, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
The next one. | | Duration Product Used: |
2 Years | | Strengths: |
My review is for the 97 Y 5,
It's US made by people who care about quality.
It came with a sensible mix of components...highest quality where it would do the most for the bike and saving on parts that make less difference.
The bike works well for many types of riding from street to Fro-riding.
And the fact that it looks high tech doesn't hurt. | | Weaknesses: |
I broke my pivot bolt after two years of turning ultra tight radi, which for some reason I like to do.
It was warrantied by Trek and I also got a spare out of the deal. | | Similar Products Used: |
Gary Fisher...Almost the same.
Cannondale and Mountain Cycle's San Andreas. | | Bike Setup: |
I have upgraded the components and it's shaping up to be a really trick unit.
Precision Billet is well represented on this bike. | | Bottom Line: | I would buy this bike all over again if I could do it over. The Company is big and has absorbed alot of smaller companies and alienated some riders. People tend to love or hate this bike I happen to fall into the latter catagory.
One question though... why is this guy yelling down below me? | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
NIGEL WHITE
a Downhiller
from FAIRFAX, CA
Date Reviewed: May 9, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
PARADIGHM | | Duration Product Used: |
more than 3 years | | Strengths: |
NICE TO JUST LOOK AT | | Weaknesses: |
OUT DATED, WEEK,FLAWED DESIGN | | Similar Products Used: |
SCHWIN HOMEGROWN | | Bike Setup: |
FOX AIR | | Bottom Line: | IVE HAD MY Y-22 FOR FOUR YEARS, ITS NOT A GREAT DOWN HILL BIKE, NOR A GOOD UP HILL BIKE, AS A MATTER OF FACT ITS ONLY A GOOD CONCEPTUAL BIKE THAT SHOULD HAVE NEVER GOTTEN OFF PAPER. ITS LIKE RIDDING A COW IN THE CORNERS AND LIKES TO ENDO OVER THE BIG HITS. PLUS, THE BIKE IS NOISY, AKA BANJO BIKE. THE REAR BRAKES STAYS FLEX EVEN WITH A BOOSTER. BUT EVEN WITH ALL THE FLAWS, IT BEATS RIDDING A HARD TAIL. BUT I DO HAVE TO ADMIT THAT IM WAITING FOR THE THING TO BREAK SOMEWHERE SO I CAN GET A NEW FRAME SO I CAN SELL IT......BY THE WAY,AND THIS HOLDS TRUE ESPECIALLY IN MARIN, DONT YOU HATE IT WHEN A YOUNG PUNK, <15 YEARS OLD, IS RIDING A 5K SCHWINN STRAIGHT8 OR MERT OR WHAT EVER AND IS COMPLAINING THAT THEY NEED EVEN MORE SUSPENSION, WHAT DICKS, AND WHILE IM AT IT, GET THE HELL OUT OF MY WAY WHEN YOUR ON ELDRIDGE, JUST LISTEN FOR A BANJO COMING ROUND THE MOUNTAIN. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Scott
a Weekend Warrior
from Mansfield, Oh
Date Reviewed: May 8, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
Hueston Woods | | Duration Product Used: |
less than 1 month | | Strengths: |
Full Suspension, Price | | Weaknesses: |
front fork | | Similar Products Used: |
OLD Giant Rincon | | Bike Setup: |
Stock y3, indy C upfront fox vanilla in rear | | Bottom Line: | I paid 500 for this about a month ago. That is pretty much the going rate for these at mtbr, dont pay much more than that though. The bike is great, it instantly gives much more confidence on ALL terrain. I have not noticed any biopacing, so never let that discourage you from purchasing a full suspenion bike, its horseshit(at lease for my trek y3). The componets are good, i have not had any problems thus far, even with a ton of mud. The front fork pretty much sucks. It is a little to flexy and soft. (It might be b/c of my weight. If you buy one without clipless pedals, DEFINETLY ADD SOME ON, they are the best way to improve your riding. I added wellgos at first, and broke them the first ride, bikerbob(at bikerbob.com) instantly took the wellgos off and gave me some VP's i have had no probem with those thus far, seem better than the wellgos. Overall, this is a great, affordable, bike you will NOT be dissappointed with. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Kapuahi
a Cross-Country Rider
from Denver, CO
Date Reviewed: May 6, 1999 | | Duration Product Used: |
more than 3 years | | Strengths: |
Weight, Frame material | | Weaknesses: |
Cockpit kinda cramped (I am 5'9' & ride a Medium) | | Similar Products Used: |
Voodo Canzo, Schwinn S20 | | Bike Setup: |
Manitou X-Vert R front, Fox Alps 4 rear. XT/XTR. | | Bottom Line: | I bought my 95 Y22 in late 96 and have ridden it hard over every type of terrain imaginable. I have never had a single problem with it and I've loved how it's enabled me to remain seated on all but the steepest of climbs (with little or no perceptible bobbing), and over downhill sections where I previously had to stand with my hard tail. I've gotten extremely good results in terms of shock absorption and stability descending at speed (40+mph - Good tires are key here). The bike has not lessened my ability to negotiate tricky technical sections in any way vs a hard tail. The URT design certainly has it's detractors, but proper set up and spinning technique will solve a lot of the bobbing issues. Besides, notice how many reviews there are above 3 chilies in this section... hard to believe we're all wrong. Ultimately, your choice depends on what YOU think. Don't go emptying your wallet on a rig based on what someone else thinks. Give your prospective purchase a thorough demo, and then, if it feels good, GO FOR IT!! 5 flamin' chili-turds!! | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Eric
a Weekend Warrior
from Enfield, ct
Date Reviewed: May 3, 1999 | | Duration Product Used: |
2 Years | | Strengths: |
Bullet proof (almost) | | Weaknesses: |
Too heavy, but hey, it makes me a stronger rider. | | Bottom Line: | I've just discovered that the bond at the rear suspension mount on my 1997 Y-11 is loose. My local bike shop owner thought that Trek would simply replace the frame under warranty. Unfortunateyl, Trek doesn't want to do this, but instead says that they can easily fix the loose bond. Has anyone had to have this done? If so, did it really fix the problem? Aside from this issue the bike is sweet and any bobbing that people complain about just makes things more fun. People need to lighten up. If you're trying to put food on your table by racing a mountain bike then a full suspension is probably not a very good idea, anyway.
| | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
H. Ferrell
a Cross-Country Rider
from Pequannock,N.J.
Date Reviewed: March 18, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
waywayanda | | Duration Product Used: |
more than 3 years | | Strengths: |
Durable bike, good components | | Weaknesses: |
Heavy | | Similar Products Used: |
Owned 4 other different bikes. | | Bike Setup: |
Trek Y5 | | Bottom Line: | Fast bike, handles well for my size. I'm 190 lbs.
Has a tight feel compared to many full suspension bnikes I've rode. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Victor
a Cross-Country Rider
from Washington
Date Reviewed: March 16, 1999 | | Duration Product Used: |
1 Year | | Bottom Line: | I've owned a 97 Y5 for over a year now and have no complaints. I get better traction on hills than on my hardtail and can ride faster, longer and more in control. If you ride a full sus. like a hard tail its going to bob, the key is to spin. But even when I do get out of the saddle and mash the pedals up hills I don't notice the bob(unless its a smooth trail, but I'm usually spinning smoothly then). Even Ned Overend at Specialized says the key to full sus. is learning how to spin smoothly. All active suspension bobs unless it is designed to lock out. If the bobing bothers you buy a hard tail. Like most guys posting here I like the Trek more than other brands because of how it rides. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Steve
a cross-country rider
from OR
Date Reviewed: March 8, 1999 | | Bottom Line: |
They Y33 is not my first MTB and may not be my last but I can say one thing for sure over the 4 years I have owned it. The difference between this bike and the best bike is like splitting hairs. At this level one should buy the color they like best because the ride will not disappoint you. If you would rather be on a different brand go for it. If you get up in the $3000.00 range you are likely to find a brand or color you like better....but it wont really ride better......that will be in your mind only. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Kristian
a weekend warrior
from Canada
Date Reviewed: March 8, 1999 | | Bottom Line: |
I have owned my TREK Y3 for under a year. At first I thought it was the greatest bike in the world. It is a great entry level bike. Everything good that I have read on this page about the Y bikes is true. I just want something better. If anyone wants to buy my 98 Y3 for 1000 dollars o.b,o CDN, mail me. It has some little upgrades and is in almost new condition and very clean. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Paracel Le
a cross-country rider
from Chapel Hill, NC
Date Reviewed: February 20, 1999 | | Bottom Line: |
Well, I purchased my Y-22 in December and figured I needed a few months before I gave it a review. At first, I hated the thing! I paid good money (which I now have to eat Ramen noodles for supper every night for) and thought that my old Giant was leaps and bounds better than this thing. I was so upset with the bobbing and the clicking. I even put it in the classifieds to sell it two weeks after getting it. Well, after a few months and a few adjustments with the front and rear shocks....it rides wonderfully! It's like riding a Lexus and with the right pressure in the rear shock, I don't notice too much bouncing. I stopped comparing it to hard tails about a month ago and thought to myself...the reason I bought this bike was to have fun...and fun I had! It's not the fastest or the best handling, but the low maintainance, great looks, and overall ability to handle most anything in it's path sure makes it a better buy than that Specialized M4 S-works I was about to buy. My back aches even thinking about it. It may not be as razor sharp in cornering, but it definately has it merits in handling. My complaints are the clicking/creaking noises, a nicer crankset for $2000, the fact that I have to eat Ramen everyday forever to pay for it, and the odd feeling I get riding through campus because everyone is staring at my rig. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Chris
a weekend warrior
from Colorado
Date Reviewed: February 6, 1999 | | Bottom Line: |
It's 1999 and the Y-bike concept is almost dead. Hurrah! I owned one of these miserable, bobbing piles, it was called the Fun Hog. Not a Trek but the same bike since Trek bought Gary Fisher out. The Trek/Fisher URT design is the worst ever. At least Klien had the decency to advertise its URT truthfully. My C-dale 900 does not force me to conform to a particular suspension design. No, just lets me pedal forward, with my own style and enjoy non-pedal/brake induced suspension movement. I've read the other sites reviews of bike like this and find the owners of these bikes to be untruthful about the bobbing propblem. Most of the time you'll hear that an air shock is the answer to your woes. Wrong! The suspension design sucks! If you want further proof look at the new Trek catalog and see whats coming out this year. NEW DESIGN, VRX. In the future the only place you will see bikes like this are the Y-clone Mongooses hanging from the ceiling at your local Walmart and in the hands of ill informed dweebs who have spent upwards of $3000 for a sh#@pile! Yeah! You look pretty fly for a white guy your Y-five-0. Idiot! | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Neil
a cross-country rider
from Dallas, TX
Date Reviewed: January 29, 1999 | | Bottom Line: |
I recently purchased a brand new '98 Trek Y-22 for $1499.99. I found this price on the Web at a California bike shop. I took it to a local bike shop where they had some Y-22's remaining in their inventory. They gladly matched the price. Since then, I have not had any complaints about the ride quality. For my riding style, it suits me fine. The world is not entirely downhill. I've ridden sevral times on rough terrain and I don't get beat up. The single pivot design requires less maintenance than multi-link designs. I've spoken to several Y-bike owners and all of them could only speak of praises for their Y-bikes. You either love 'em or hate 'em. Overall, the bike has a fine mix of components: XT/XTR drivetrain, Manitou Xvert front shocks, and a Fox Vanilla RC rear shock. Another reason I purchased the Y-22 was Trek's reputation as a bicyle manufacturer. This is my second Trek mountain bike. I still own a Trek 930 which I ride to work as often as I can. Another reason is Trek's Lifetime Warranty. So, in the end buy a bike that YOU prefer and don't bash designs unless you've owned it before. One more thing: GO GATORS!!!!!!!! | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jeff
a weekend warrior
from Clarkston, MI
Date Reviewed: January 26, 1999 | | Bottom Line: |
I bought a '97 Y-II in june of '98 on a closeout. This bike rules. I've ridden it the way it was meant to be ridden and I've also abused it. This bike can take just about anything. The Y-frame looks great and carbon fiber holds up just as well. The only change I would prefer would be a component upgrade. I put a set of Panaracer Fire XC Pro's and a set of Mavic Crosslinks on it and it rocks. It eats up the worst sections of rock and roots washboards etc. sticks tight in all the switchbacks and is an excellent hill climber. 4 chillies for and excellent bike and minus 1 for componentry. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Link
a cross-country rider
from Kokiri Forest
Date Reviewed: January 25, 1999 | | Bottom Line: |
Scott, proper setup can make or break a FS bike. I can understand why you were disappointed with the Y-3. The Y-series design doesn't take coil-over shocks too well. Not only are these shocks heavy but they make the bike bob like an apple in water. I test-rode a Y-11 with a Fox Vanilla coil-over and I could not stand the constant bobbing. You could play with the preload and damping, but if you didn't want bob, you would have to compromise on activeness and plushness. The solution is an air-oil shock. I bought a Y-11 and immediately swapped the Fox Vanilla with a Stratos XC Pro, which is (was) spec'd on the Y-33. The improvement is like night and day. Bobbing is reduced by at least 75% and I can control compression damping on-the-fly via a handlebar-mounted lever. So if I want to hammer the bike, I can lock out the rear and the bike feels like a hardtail (albeit a heavy one!). Even if I use the least amount of compression damping, pedalling action has a relatively minor effect on the rear suspension. I can also change the air pressure to adjust the spring rate. I like the XC Pro a lot and its understandable why it was spec'd on the Y-33.I can't help you with the URT design, however. Every FS design has to deal with a set of benefits and consequences and URT is no different. It's certainly not optimized for DH or freeriding, but Trek or Schwinn or Klein didn't intend their URT bikes to be used solely for these activities. URT offers a simple, lighter-weight, lower-maintenance, efficient, and lower-cost solution. It's not fully-active, but that's not the point. Not everybody wants 5+ of super-plush travel attached to a 30#+ boat anchor. Not everybody can afford $3000+ for a fully-active and light-weight XC racing machine. You may have a reason to complain to Trek that the Y-bike is not fully-active, but I think the reason they call it fully-active is that the Y isn't a sweet-spot design. Since it has a low pivot point, the rear doesn't lock out like a sweet-spot bike when standing. It still has some activity, albeit less than a non-URT design.The Ground Control FSR does have a different feel thanks to its linkage design. But after pilotting it (Comp) around a little and trying a few hills, I didn't like the bike. If you can shed the weight, it has promise, but at the price point I was considering, it wasn't as desirable as the Trek. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
scott
a racer
from alaska
Date Reviewed: January 21, 1999 | | Bottom Line: |
Wow, this site certainly gets its' fair shares of reviews! I owned a Y-3 and these are my observations. The bike bobs. The rear suspension does not live up to what is claimed in the Trek literature or in some of the reviews posted here. Currently I now own a linkage Specialized FSR and can truthfully speak for the differences I noticed in the designs. The URT is a cross in between a hardtail and a full suspension bike. With that in mind it is meant to stiffen up when you get out of the saddle and to remain plush while seated. This is what happens in reality. The bike bobs and sucks up power unless it is set up with a very stiff preload, thereby reducing its effectiveness as a FS bike. When you stand up to absorb whoops and jumps the bike responds stangely. Meaning that since you are standing on the rear swingarm, the bicycle will not absorb the impacts like a truly fully active design. If you think about it, the bike is actully two seperate frames connected at one point. This is why it won't soak up rear impacts very well when the rider is standing. If this is what you are looking for then fine. This review is more geared towards the riders that are misled by the design, as I was, and are believeing that it is a fully active design as advertised. The Y bikes are not active in any sense of the word so beware and do your research. Overall my Y-3 was a very dependable bike but it didn't live up to what it was advertised to be. Make sure you know what you want and know what your buying, it could save a lot of heartache and dollars in the future. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
ZEUS
a weekend warrior
from Central New York
Date Reviewed: January 15, 1999 | | Bottom Line: |
Okay, all you guys who ride Y-3' and 5's, now hear this. Ride a real Trek! I have a '98 Trek Y-Glide Deluxe w/ full XTR, Manitau X-Vert Ti, and Spins rims, and all I have to say is SWEEEEEEEEEEEEET! And listen to this. It only cost me $900. Yes, only 900 bucks. How do you ask? Through my connections. Get rid of your shitty 3's and 5's and step on a real Trek. I don't like carbon fiber, that is my personal preference, so I wouldn't know about that, but all I have to say is that if you are going to go with a Y-Frame, spend that extra couple hundred to get a high quality Y. If you compare the frames, the Y-Glides have stronger welds, larger tubing, a beefy-er rear triangle, and instead of 2 dinky welded plates the size of a dime holding the rear shock to the rear triangle, the Y-Glides have two beefy titanium 3/8 3-bolt plates holding that bad boy on!, Plus the frame comes with a Fox Vanilla RX Coil over Oil rear shock with the piggy-back. 5 flaming peppers for the YG-Glide and Y-Glide Deluxe, but only 1 for the shitty 3's and 5's. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
ZEUS
a weekend warrior
from Central New York
Date Reviewed: January 15, 1999 | | Bottom Line: |
Okay, all you guys who ride Y-3' and 5's, now hear this. Ride a real Trek! I have a '98 Trek Y-Glide Deluxe w/ full XTR, Manitau X-Vert Ti, and Spins rims, and all I have to say is SWEEEEEEEEEEEEET! And listen to this. It only cost me $900. Yes, only 900 bucks. How do you ask? Through my connections. Get rid of your shitty 3's and 5's and step on a real Trek. I don't like carbon fiber, that is my personal preference, so I wouldn't know about that, but all I have to say
is that if you are going to go with a Y-Frame, spend that extra couple hundred to get a high quality Y. If you compare the frames, the Y-Glides have stronger welds, larger tubing, a beefy-er rear triangle, and instead of 2 dinky welded plates the size of a dime holding the rear shock to the rear triangle, the Y-Glides have two beefy titanium 3/8 3-bolt plates holding that bad boy on!, Plus the frame comes with a Fox Vanilla RX Coil over Oil rear shock with the piggy-back. 5 flaming peppers for the YG-Glide and Y-Glide Deluxe, but only 1 for the shitty 3's and 5's.
| | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Eli Leiberman
a weekend warrior
from Canada
Date Reviewed: January 14, 1999 | | Bottom Line: |
Im Eli and Im a dumb shit. I dont know anything about bikes and every single time I ride I break some part of my bike. I have broken my shifter pod, my shock, several tubes, my fork of my GT, and bent my rear deralleir Did I also mention that I paid WAY to much for my Trek Y22. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Link
a cross-country rider
from Kokiri Forest
Date Reviewed: January 13, 1999 | | Bottom Line: |
I finally replaced my worn-out Marin Bear Valley hardtail with an unused 97 Trek Y-11 I found on closeout. The best bike I've ever ridden was a 96 Trek Y-33, which a shop let me borrow. Since the Y-11 has the same frame as the Y-33, I figured I could selectively upgrade components to derive a great-feeling bike at a reasonable cost.My initial upgrades are all suspension-related, since this bike is 2 years old. I swapped out the Fox Vanilla coil-over rear for a Stratos Pro shock with lock-out and the dealer gave me a Judy XC for the stock Indy SL. I left everything else alone on the bike since almost all of the componentry is LX, which is fine for me. With these upgrades, my bike cost $1398 ($1099 for Y-11, $299 for Stratros, free for Judy). I am fairly excited to get this level of performance at this price. My bike certainly has its shortcomings, but I would be more unsatisfied with what you typically get with a new (1999) $1400 bike.URT is generally poo-pooed in the industry, but I personally am not sold on fully-active designs. I test-rode a Cannondale Super V and I grew tired of the chain slap and related problems. It didn't climb all that well either. If you freeride or downhill, a case can be made for fully-active designs, but I personally like URT for XC. The OCLV Treks just feel right to me. I'm not one of these hard-core maniacs who go through all sort of trouble risking life and limb on the mountain. This isn't the bike for that type of rider. The Trek Y makes me want to ride longer and more often since it seems light, willing and fun and offers control and confidence. That's why I bought this bike.The Trek beat out another very good bike, the Rocky Mountain Element Race, in my shopping decision. Since I got the Trek on closeout, it cost hundreds less than retail. However, the LBS who carries Rocky Mountain around here demanded list price. At $1679, I wasn't convinced the Element Race was better. It's an excellent value for a new bike and I was very close to buying it, but I wanted a better deal.Other bikes I rode before choosing the Trek include: Schwinn S-10, Marin Rift Zone, Cannondale Super V1000, Amp Research B3, VooDoo Zobop, Santa Cruz Heckler X, Gary Fisher Joshua X0, Specialized Ground Control FSR Comp. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Yme?
a cross-country rider
from Europe
Date Reviewed: December 24, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
This is actually aimed at koOp (below) and similar idiots who think they can rate a bike just by looking at it. Do not post reviews if you don't own the bike in question. Do not post reviews untill you've ridden your bike at least 500 miles, possibly more. Do not post reviews untill you've had you bike for at least 3 months. Do not blame bike manufacturers for crappy performance of shocks, forks, brakes, cranks, etc. unless they actually produce these parts.
And also do not think you can give advice to RACERS if you were seriously considering a Y3 for yourself.
I must say it's interesting that Y owners are mostly quite happy with their bikes. It's parking-lot-test-riders that trash them... . I guess that explains it all. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
ko0p
a cross-country rider
from Cleveland, TN
Date Reviewed: December 16, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
When i first decided on a full suspension i almost bought a y-3.
Probably the worst decision i could have made. These bikes are a rip-off, Indys and alivio for $900 No Way! Besides, they're heavy as crap! With a chromoly rear triangle, you can never achieve light weight. Instead, i bought a USED bike. Always buy used when looking for a deal on Full-Suspension... I got a '96 Jamis Dakar with a JudySL and All XT for $750! I later added a Cane Creek AD-10 and the bike weighed in at 26lbs! Not 34 like a y3. Enuf said. Y's suck, thats all i can say. ***NOTE***
Those of you who are really wanting to race FS, need to reconsider, i've gotten rid of my FS and bought a Kona Pohoehoe (Easton frame) with a SID and XT/XTR with crossmax wheels...Buy used buy used buy used!!!!!
Sid $300
Maxes $500
| | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Mack
a cross-country rider
from U.S.A.
Date Reviewed: December 15, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I recently purchased a '97 Y-50 frameset at an excellent price because the bike shop still had a couple new in box in the back. I posted a reveiw in October about my Y-5, and i have to admit, the carbon frame rides better and is about a pound lighter. I was interested in the the '99 superlight frameset, but with a retail price of $1500.00, i thought i'd try a cheaper one before dumping all of my money into something i didn't have much info on. The Y-50 so far is the perfect 3-4 trail bike for me. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Sam Roberts
a weekend warrior
from Frederick MD USA
Date Reviewed: December 15, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
A few months ago I decided it was time to stop riding my old hardtail and go for something nicer for under $1000.00. After a month or so of research I landed on a 98' TREK Y-3. Here's my little story:First off, I've raced road bikes for a few years and have a lot more road time then mountain time, so I'm no expert. But I do feel as though I know what feels good to ride, what's good design, and what is gonna last the longest. Let me also say that never in a million years did I ever think I would end up on a Trek (at the risk of starting a holy war....I would compare the dominence of Trek to that of Microsoft). Never-the-less, it was a Trek that won my dollar(s).Ok, the full suspension argument. For all of you out there who are wondering if the horror stories about bobbing and lost efficiency are true, take it from me; they CAN be true with certain designs and set-ups. The problems of full suspension on mountain bikes are the same reason that auto racers lower the suspension on their cars.....basically it comes down to the fact that suspension on the drive-train CAN take away your power. What can minimize that is good design and a balanced set-up of the bike. And as far as design goes, I found that the Trek y-series bikes to be the best choice. I looked at specialized, Klein, Canondale, and Gary Fisher bikes....but the design of the Trek was not only the most eye-pleasing, but also the most well though out. The URT design coupled with the Y look and balance, created a bike that can be set-up for cross country or downhill. The biggest thing that people complain about with the Y-series bikes is the bobbing effect that occurs when pedaling. This reviewer isn't silly enough to try and deny the presence of bobbing...but I instead would like to offer the statement, that a well set-up bike yeilds very little bobbing. Ok, components. Someone earlier in this review section said don't buy $150.00 components and expect them to perform like $600.00 ones. I agree with that statement entirely. FOR THE MONEY the bike is wonderful. The shifting is excellent, the brakes are dependable, and the shocks are responsive when set correctly. There are better components out there...and by upgrading the bike you bike will be, simply, better....but my point is that for under $1000.00 this bike performs wonderfully.I've been riding the bike for a little over a month now and have only encountered a few problems. The wheels are not as strong as I would like (but this could be nulififed by some better technique on my part.) The bike is a bit heavy in the back...but could again be upgraded to lower the weight.Overall, I am very pleased with my 98' Y-3. It looks great and performs just as well. There are a lot of other full suspension bikes out there, but I am sure that I got the best one in my price range. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Sean
a cross-country rider
from CA
Date Reviewed: December 12, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I had the chance to ride a y-3 in Colorado last summer. None of the specs really stand out. rock shox indys, lots of ls, rear suspension is ok, 98 fox vanilla r (not bad, but not great). However, this bike feels reaaly solid, it doesn't soak everything up, but in 2 days of hard dh riding, not one thing weny wrong. Trek did a great job of putting a great bike together using OK components. The higher models like the 33 have much better specs, so I believe that those must be great.
Components-3 chillys
Feel-4 chillys
Maintenence-5 chillys
Overall-4 chillys | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Fernando
a downhiller
from San Diego, CA.
Date Reviewed: November 26, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I just wrote a review on my Y bike yesterday morning and noticed a bend on my Y frames top tube in the afternoon after a ride. I took the bike back to my local bike shop I purchased the bike from and the TREK representative for my area just happened to be in the bike shop. He looked the frame over and said, he would order a new frame and I could ride my bike until the new frame came in. He said, he it would not be the color of my 97 but it would be a new Y replacement frame. So just a heads up for all you TREK Y bike owners, your TREK frame has a lifetime warranty. I am not sure of the specifics of the warranty, but my frame was covered, because it looked like it may of been a factory defect. So don't go out and jump up and down or take a hammer to the side of your Y frame. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
joe magliocca
a cross-country rider
from oneida,new york
Date Reviewed: November 26, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I jumped on the URT bandwagon way back in May of 95 when I bought my Y-22. Three and a half years,probably 4000 miles, and almost$2000 later, the bike makes my 37 year old 200 pound ass go like the wind. Sure it has it's short coming's. I've upgraded the following: Mavic 217's with xt hubs, White Brothers Hardbody Plus long travel-3 with Judd Springs, XT-V brakes, gore-tex cables, WTB Velociraptors. This last season Spring 98, leftover 97 Judy DH killer buy at $159, 98 Xt 5 arm cranks, new bottom bracket, aheadset, more gore-tex,and most importantly the replacement of the sleeves and bushings on the Fox Alps-4 shock, and the teflon impregnated frame pivot bushings. Talk about a tight bike. wow!!! Trek say's pivot bushing's should be replaced every two years, sounds rediculous- but makes a huge difference in the lateral stiffness of the bike. One additional review, White Brothers components suck. In a 15 month period, my Hardbody Cartridge had to be serviced 3 times, and one of the Judd springs broke in 2 places. Sure after a nasty letter included with the broken parts, they repaired and replaced the item's, but their component's perform, but their durability and customer service don't. I have ridden a lot of other FS bikes DBR V-Link 3.1, Jamis Team dakar, Gt LTS, Turner Burner's, and Schwin Homegrown. Sure there is a high lust factor for a few of those, there are some awful tempting deals on leftover framesets, but I like my Y-22. If your in my area e-mail me and we'll ride. Central New York has hundred's of miles of beautiful single track to kill yourself on year round | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Fernando
a downhiller
from San Diego, CA. USA
Date Reviewed: November 25, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
Well, it has been 2 yrs. since I purchased my Y-3 and it is still my favourite. Since I purchased it, I have broken and replaced every stock part on the bike, except for the seat post and frame. The Y-3 is now all XT/XTR and Gripshift equipped. The fork went from an Indy C to a Manitou X-Vert R. The bike is now a Freeride or Velo Schusser (sp?) spec. I hear that either people hate the Y frames or Love it! This was my 1st F.S. bike and I am satisfied w/ its performance thru the years. I know it is a totally different bike now, but as my confidence and abilities grew, my bike changed and grew w/ me. If you have a Y-3 one most noticible change you can make is by replacing the stock URT with a stock or aftermarket ALLOY URT. Also change out the rear Fox Vanilla L w/ a Fox Vanilla RX. Viva La TREK Y-3!! | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Crash
a cross-country rider
from Radford, VA
Date Reviewed: November 23, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I've recently picked up a '97 Y-22 (Deep Ice red) with a Fox Alps 4 shock. First Off I've got to admit it is my 1st full suspension bike. So far my impression of the carbon fiber beast are pretty good. The rear triangle seems to carry some flex with it, especially with the Avid 1D brakes on it. Also, it seems to run pretty scetchy on tight singletrack. Not a good attribute when one rides on cliff face trails a lot. In serious climbing, I havent noticed the notorious bobbing that people gripe about, unless really pounding hard on the pedals instead of spinning them. The suspension locks out fairly well when standing on the bike, and feels pretty plush when riding on the saddle. Unfortunately, the frame feels a little short in the top tube length, and the seat tube isn't far back enough to go without a layback type seat post. I'm running a Icon post witha velo saddle that has some pretty long rails and with the saddle all the way back it's still not quite enough. On single track, the rear end slips out a bit, and the steering up front seems a bit touchy with the 130X6 degree stem. Downhilling is pretty smooth on this machine, as the rear end tracks nicely over the big bumps without any real chain slop. Just watch out for tall obstacles, as hopping is a pretty hard trick with these bikes. Has anyone else had problems with the rear end being sketchy? Any way to clean it up? thanx for the input guys. I give mine four flaming mister hankeys for the sketchiness. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jason
a weekend warrior
from Australia
Date Reviewed: November 23, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I don't know why people complain about the flex. I have a Y3 97 model. If you adjust your shocks right get the right size bike their wont be any flexing. I weigh 60kg and very light at that. You need to fine tune everyting to your needs and this will be the best suspension bike under $2000 in Australia. The red frame is the sickest also. Change the handle bars I snapped them. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jerry is not
a weekend warrior
from Cali
Date Reviewed: November 22, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
Justt thought I'd update from my experience last Sept. As you will recall (or go back and reread 9/16 and 9/26), I had sent my frame back to Trek via my LBS for a broken weld on the chainstay. After not hearing from Trek for 3 weeks, Ben, the owner of Tri-Sport Unlimited in Fresno CA, finally got an answer. Yes, it was covered under warranty, but Trek is sold out of Y bikes and I would have to wait until they made some more some time next year! Wrong answer! Ben took care of me, he gave me a Trek Pro Issue Y bike frame he had in the shop and said he'd deal with Trek. I just hope this one never breaks. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
S.O.L. in BC
a cross-country rider
from British Columbia
Date Reviewed: October 29, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
Well boys and girls and to everyone else below, it's all about where you ride your Y-frame. Once upon a time, i owned an aluminum Trek ST120 FS bike. It broke (top aluminum pivot separated from the down tube). Trek was very slow with the warranty (9 weeks), but there service in the end was outstanding, as it should be for a big company. I was upgraded to a 97 OCLV Y-50 special edition. Quite the upgrade. Now the Y-50 is broken only after 3 months of riding. It is currently going through the warranty process again. Now they (Trek) are not being very cooperative about the warranty. (I'm thinking new Rocky Mountain DH T.O.) The outcome is still pending, however for those of you who ride in Canada (especially BC, where the real mountain biking terrain exists) here are a few suggestions regarding Trek OCLV.1. Don't buy carbon-fibre for mountain biking in BC (it will break).
2. URT's loose almost all of there activity when the brakes are on.
When your braking on 70% to +90% slopes you don't want your rear suspension locking up.
3. The Stratos Pro shock works more like a pogo stick (swap it unless you like going over the handle bars 24-7) or let all but 50 psi of air out at the top and hope that your done climbing for the rest of the ride (bob like a S.O.B.).
4. Any cracking noises check the top aluminum shock pivot for small fissures in the paint (it an indicator of the delamination of the fiber glass around the aluminum pivot - typical major structural problem for carbon-fiber).Overall the bike is decent for easy to intermediate XC riding. It is light, will not bob on the uphills if you know how to peddle (the lockout feature makes it easier for beginners), and it handles okay as long as you stay away from technical riding. Most importantly, remember - do not ride this bike in BC. Stay in nice flat areas of the continent. Keep Ripp'n (on anything but OCLV). | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Ricky
a cross-country rider
from DC
Date Reviewed: October 27, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I recently purchased a '98 Y-33 thru the MTBR Marketplace and I couldn't be happier! I am an intermediate/advanced 140 lb. rider who has done some racing (cross-country in MD and 24 Hours of Moab), so I am always looking for weight-saving features. The OCLV Y frame certainly provides that and is stiff to give good acceleration. The stock Cane Creek Cronos wheels are light and fast. This bike comes with a full XTR group which works flawlessly, except the front deraillure has trouble getting into the grannygear (probably a minor adjustment) and the V-brakes are amazingly strong (much better than the diacomps I have on my hardtail). The bike has a Stratoshok Pro upgrade which is plush and easy to adjust (pump with air) and it can be locked out on the fly by a thumbshifter, however, I have not ridden a Fox airshock or any coil shocks to compare. One complaint is the short stem and top tube which makes the steering extremely touchy - I have found myself oversteering in tight rocky singletrack - once I get used to it, the bike should go anywhere I point it! Another minor problem is creaking! I am going to try greasing the seatpost and tightening the BB to see if it goes away - any other suggestions? I give the bike 5 chiles! | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Dave Leonard
a cross-country rider
from Fairbanks, Alaska
Date Reviewed: October 23, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I bought my '95 Y-22 (the red one) in March '96 and have ridden it many miles and very hard ever since. I've replaced front and rear deraillers, cassette, rings, chains, bottom bracket, front shock damper, bars, grips, seat post clamp, shifters, ugraded to Shimano 535 and XT V-brakes. Currently I'm replacing the seat post, saddle, and I'm thinking about new wheel sets. This is one excellent bike. I've raced it, gone on easy and tough group rides, endurance rides, taken it on roads, through the worst mud you can imagine (really), snow, and on a glacier once. This bike has always given me an excellent ride and great performance, with the exception of the time the grimlins got my rear derailler, but even then I could ride it back to the vehicle. The bike is nimble on technical trails, climbs like a cat, and downhills like a banshee. With V-brakes, you gain so much more control over the bike, you find yourself taking on stuff you might normally give the pass. The '95 Y bikes might get lost in the immense proliferation of FS bikes being produced and to be produced, but I think that time will tell and one day people are going to be looking back and saying this was one of the best production bikes ever designed and ever built. Sure, I'm biased, after all, I bought the thing back when people were still saying FS would never be figured out (the hype of bicycle magazine writers notwithstanding) and you should stay with a hard tail. Speaking of hype, that new FS Specialized for '99 hyped recently in a mag looks interesting. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Ron Barr
a racer
from Anchorage, Alaska
Date Reviewed: October 21, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
Trek Y bikes have a problem with bobbing rear suspension systems, simple as that. If you were to follow Jim's advice (below) you will damage your bike. The rear preload will firm up the rear end and elimniate some bobbing at the expense of a plush ride. By cranking the preload collar down with a pair of channel locks you will achieve coil bind. This will not allow for the suspension to work as designed and put lots of stress upon the URT, frame, and shock. Try it out and break your bike if you don't belive me. Only adjust your by hand. Even though I dislike Trek Y bikes I detest bad infomation even more! | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Frank
a cross-country rider
from Atlanta, GA
Date Reviewed: October 21, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I've had a '98 Trek Y33 for about 9 months now and have not experienced any bobbing problems that Ron below states. This is a very well built bike, and is not designed specifically for either DH, XC or uphills but is able to perform all of these with equal aplomb. I can't speak for Trek's other model Y Bikes, but I feel the design should be similar for them all. This is an excellent all purpose bike - 5 flamers from me. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Kenneth-Fat & Happy
a weekend warrior
from B'ham AL
Date Reviewed: October 17, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I bought a 98' Y-22 3 days ago- I went on my first ride today- I am now in love!
I have been riding for about 5 years - Started on a hardtail- went to front sus Now-- An all out boinger- I have never went so fast over the rocks as I did today- Thanks Cahaba Cycles for setting me up and Thanks MTBR Review for having this site so I could do my Homework==5 Chilis for all----- | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jim
a weekend warrior
from Mobile, AL
Date Reviewed: October 17, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
After looking (and most important... riding)every FS bike in the $800 range I bought a 98 Y3. This bike KIKS ASS for the type of riding I do (trail, gnarly woods and moderate hills). I have been riding hard tail mountain bikes for fifteen years (yeah, right after the dinosaurs disapeared) and I was totaly impressed with the level of ride and components offered in this price range FS bikes, compared to the pogo sticks with wheels offered last time I was looking for a bike, five years ago. So I decided to check them out. I read the rags, checked out the web sites but most important RODE EVERY BIKE IN THE PRICE RANGE that I could get my hands on. Some of the bikes I rode include the GT LTS 4000, Giant Warp, Specialized FSR and Schwinn S40.After reading the reviews on the Y bikes in this site I shyed away from them. I only test rode one out of curiosity while test riding a more expensive S40 demo and was impressed with the comperable plush ride the Y3 had. Granted the S40 is in a higher category of components, but so was the price. This was early on in my comparison, so I kept on searching, riding and checking out the reviews.Putting all the suspension teck talk aside, I discovered only two types of rear suspensions. The free ride type with the crank on the main frame (S40, Y3)and the URT with the crank on the rear swing arm/triangle (GT, Giant). Most rag reviews seem to prefer the free style bikes for down hills. Due to the lack of ski lifts in my area, I have to ride the bike uphill as well (yes this is sarcasm)and found all the free style bikes I rode had massive suspension bob! With my size (a healthy 62 @ 210Lbs) I had to tighten the preload springs with channel locks to reduce the pogo. The URT bikes could be set-up to ride plush while sitting but the suspension, along with the bob, was barely existent while standing. With the free style bikes it did not make a difference if I was standing or sitting, they always bobbed. After riding all the FS bikes (and wearing out the salespeople)I narrowed my selection to the Specialized FSR Ground Control and the Trek Y3. I went back to take an extended ride on each bike. I didn't care for the stiction in the Manitou fork (It felt like it was dampened with sand). The Y3's Indy C was much smoother. Even though the FSR was a half pound lighter, it felt heavier than the Y3 when trying to hop the bike over the nasty stuff. The remaining components were comperable on these two (98models). After test diving both, I picked the Y3 because of the lack of suspesion bob when my ass is off the saddle. The Y3 is a month old and I have put it through it's paces. The ride is fantastic. I have dialed in the suspension to be plush while on the saddle and have no suspension bob when standing and cranking on the pedals. The Diacomp brakes work great and the Bontrager Jones tire hook up great on the soft stuff. The only complaint is shifting the front derailure is not as smooth as it could be(I forsee new chainrings in the future). I still give this bike five flaming ones due to the value for the money and you have to admit it looks cool! Before all you hard core downhillers start ragging my review, consider that ALL the reviews on this site are peoples opinions, and this is mine! For all of you looking for a new bike, all I can recommend is to TEST RIDE ALL THE BIKES IN YOUR PRICE RANGE BEFORE YOU BUY!!! Your riding needs are not the same as the rest of the people in the bike rags and sites like this and you might like a bike someone else doesn't!!!! | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
mack
a cross-country rider
from usa
Date Reviewed: October 16, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I've owned a '97 Y-5 for two riding seasons now and have had few complaints about the bike. In the stock state, the bike was heavy, but after upgrading the drive train, front fork and rear shock, seat post, etc. the bike was an acceptable 25 or so pounds. I read past reviews and can't understand where all the flex people are complaining about in regards to the frame. I weighed 225 lbs. when i first started riding the Y, and i never could get the frame to flex anymore than my hardtail. I agree that the bike isn't a screamer, but seems to do well in all conditions but does not excel in any specific type of riding and/or terrain. Before i bought my Y, i rode a cannondale at the same pricepoint and since have also rode a specialized fsr. All three bikes had their merits, but the Y simply fit me better and weighed less in the stock state. All three bikes bobbed and/or bio-paced to a certain degree. I was in my lbs one day and was speaking to a local roadie about the bobbing of my bike. The roadie instructed me to unclip out of one of the pedals and told me to try to spin as smooth as possible. It was not a pretty sight, but it showed me that i was 99% to blame for the pogo. Since i found the problem and work on perfecting my spin, i hardly notice the bob anymore. In addition, the stratos shock i installed on my bike has a lock-out (a $325.00 solution to a problem caused by me) that i never use since i've been practicing pedaling correctly. By the way, i purchased the Y-5 because at the time, trek had a lifetime warranty on the aluminum models, and only a 5 year on the carbon Y's. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Bart
a cross-country rider
from Austin, Tx
Date Reviewed: October 14, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I bought a demo y-11 about six weeks ago to replace a torqued
hardtail and I have put an average of fifty trail miles a week
on this bike ranging from single track cross country to rocky
downhills and I find that this bike has had an excellent
performance without any mechanical failures. The only problem
that I have had with this bike is that its not as fast I would
like it to be on the cross country single tracks but I think
an upgrade to a xt crank with 46t should speed it up a bit.
I would definately recommend riding a demo bike on the trails
you will be traveling before a person makes an investment in
either the urt or the linkage system because its definately
a matter of opinion which system is the best for the your
riding style. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
JoBu
a cross-country rider
from FL
Date Reviewed: October 13, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
Hi. I've got a '97 Y-22 which I've done a few upgrades to (components as well as visual). The best upgrade I felt that could be done to this bike (other than a lighter wheelset) is the rear shock. Don't get me wrong, the Fox Alps5 is an awesome shock but I wanted a true lock-out feature so I went with the Stratos Pro with an old Shimano S.I.S shifter for the control. Love the bike now. I can lock out the rear suspension for really long climbs when I want to stay seated or when I'm flying down a really fast single-track. Also, for those of you with '97 22's, can I make a couple of quick recommendations? First, have the rear triangle powder-coated red. It adds a lot to an otherwise rather plain looking bike. I also upgraded to a long travel Judy SL but used the '97 downhill legs for the red color. The bike looks a hell of a lot better now. Also, after reading some of these reviews, I feel there needs some clarification to be made. Love the site mtbr but don't you think there should be some seperation of the Y-33's, 22's and 11's from the Y-5's and 3's. I mean we are really comparing apples to oranges here. I don't blame the people who have 5's and 3's for not liking them. I rode a friend's Y-5 prior to purchasing my 22 and it almost prevented me from ever riding, much less buying, a Trek Y bike. What a piece of crap. Heavy, sluggish, slow, etc. Just think there should be at least 2 different headings for 2 different approaches to dual-boingers from Trek. Anyone else agree with this? I think I over did my 50 words so with that said...... | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Rich
a cross-country rider
from Wisconsin
Date Reviewed: October 8, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I have a 97 Y-3 and think it's pretty good. The frame does flex a bit, but it's held up well over the course of almost two years. I havn't noticed the uncontrollable bob that Jeff below talks about, but yes it's a bit stiffer when off the seat. Trek has come out with a new FS design for 99, but they've also kept the Y design on some of their 99 models as well. I guess they want to please Y bike devotees while trying out a new design at the same time. Minus 1 chili for the flex, but I hear the 98 Ys have a beefier frame that would solve the only real complaint that I have with my 97 model. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Trek Owner
a cross-country rider
from Upstate, NY
Date Reviewed: October 5, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I don't know what the guy below me is talking about, but my 98 Y-22 is great! Yeah, the rear end is a bit more stiff when standing up, but when going uphill - that's a good thing! And on downhills, the suspension is smooth and very active even when braking. I've had a Specialized FSR and a Cannondale HT, and the Y-22 beats them both in my opinion. A word to the wise for anyone buying a bike - ride before you buy and you'll know what you're getting. My Trek hasn't let me down yet. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Matt
a cross-country rider
from Colorado
Date Reviewed: September 29, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I owned a 96 Y22 for several years,never had a problem with the frame or rear shock, except that it's too flexy when climbing or cranking the big ring. It did however allow me to fly down most hills, switchbacks are pain the asss, but overall a good descender. Climbing was another story, there was no reason to get out of the saddle, pogomania, but with a powerful, smooth stroke one can propel this bike uphill for thousands of feet. All components held up well except my Rock Shok Judy XC with some blown seals. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
jerry is not a
a weekend warrior
from cali
Date Reviewed: September 26, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I get to put my foot in my mouth and downgrade the 4 chilis I gave the Y a couple of weeks ago. My frame is now in Wisconsin being looked at by Trek because of the crack I found in the rear triangle, in the weld for the brace between the chainstays on the drivetrain side. Check those frames! | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Spopsych
a cross-country rider
from Kirksville, MO (yee-hah)
Date Reviewed: September 21, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I finally rode one of these bad-a$$ looking bikes outon a trail. I rode a 98 Y-33. The only aftermarket part was an upgraded cassette to a XTR. It rode alright, I'm not a big URT fan, but it wasn't bad. We took it to a shop and had it weighed. 27 pounds. That's bull$hit. I mean, if you're going to spend 3300 on a bike that's supposed to be so light, wouldn't you like something at least under 25.5 or something. It's all about marketing baby!! | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Dave
a cross-country rider
from Minn
Date Reviewed: September 21, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I have a Trek Y-3. This has to be the worst bike on the market. My Specialized Rockhopper finaly bit the dust and I was on my way to college and needed a bike. What I really wanted was a FSR or Cannondale but couldn't aford one. I found a Y-3 for $600 and took it. Hey, I needed a bike. I have never liked this bike. The front shock sticks, I've never been able to get the Drive train twicked right. THIS BIKE SUCKS. I ride bike hard, too bad it doesn't ride with me I've replaced the Gripshift with XT rapidfire. Put on XT front/rear derailleurs, Shimano 747 pedels, replaceded the 7 speed rear wheel/hub with 8 speed in hopes of fixing the problems and it still doesn't work right. I now have a $1200 hunk of junk.If you're ever looking to buy a cheap bike and you're looking at the Y-3, DON'T! For just a few more $$'s you can get a Cannondale or Specialized and you'll be much more happy. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
mark maidwell
a cross-country rider
from st maarten, neth. antilles
Date Reviewed: September 19, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
this is my third Y bike. and its the best yet. this 98 Y33 really is stiff. from 97 to 98 this was biggest improvement in my eyes. second probably was the rear shock with the lockout. the shock has the internal spring and it feels so different than the air type or maybe its the geometry. no more kicking me over the handle bars. i race a series called The Caribbean Cup and i use the Y33 for downhill and cross country racing. it is the best of both worlds especially with the lockout. this way i can race it as a hardtail and unlock it with the remote bar lever on my wild descents. i just got first place overall in cross country in last race of the season and fourth in downhill. i have just ordered the 99 Y300 superlight and i should receive it in november. i am partially sponsored so i get the new bike each year and will be selling my 98 pretty soon. i know for 99 trek decided to concentrate on cross country for the Y as it gets the SID in front and back but for the series next year i will be concentrating more on cross country as well. i will probably sell the 98 for 1900 as the price is still about 3000 plus. still not bad for XTR brakes and shifters and cane creek wheelset. i tried a hardtail recently a top klein and there is no way. i just like going down in comfort and feeling secure. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
James Stevens
a cross-country rider
from Dallas, Texas
Date Reviewed: September 17, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
Listen up everyone. I was in the market for a new FS bike about 6 months ago. I shopped around, read the reviews, and most importantly RODE THE BIKES FOR MYSELF. From between a Mantra Comp, FRS Elite, and Trek Y-22 (all 98 models) and chose the Trek Y-22 w/Spinergy Rev-Roks. And you know why, it isn't because of the engineering dynamics, URT vs. The World, etc. IT RODE THE BEST FOR ME. I haven't regretted buying the bike, I don't have a problem with any bobbing more than with any other FS. Why don't you guys who seem to like bashing bikes you rarely ride or haven't at all apply some of your critical thought so something useful, such as creating/enhancing riding trails in your own area or starting a kids riding program. Let the arguments rest about who studied what and why our opinions hold more validity than the other guys. I'll bet you might even meet on a trail and ride together even knowing who the other was, or even caringto ask What do you think of the URT design. Relax, mature, and bike for what it is for. An enjoyable experiance which allows you to get away from the office and be at peace for a couple of hours.Happy trails.......James | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jeremy Hendricks
a cross-country rider
from montana
Date Reviewed: September 17, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
We all know every bike has a plus side and a negative side. But let the person who rides decide. I ride a 97 Y3. Although it's been fun, the ride is too soft for the REAL mountains. Loss of pedaling power uphill was horrid, and downhill made the bike loose. Maybe the carbon bikes are better, but I think I'll purchase a Yeti | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jerry is not
a weekend warrior
from Cali
Date Reviewed: September 16, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
Wow, lots of spite and venom in here! I've got an original Y22, one of the red ones. I've ridden the shit out of it, wearing out almost every part on it by now, in fact, this past summer I blew out the seals on the Fox Alps 4 and replaced that with a Rock Shox Super Delux. I was amazed at the difference in the bike with this other shock. Suddenly it is all kooshy and plush on the downhills! Great, except now it bobs like crazy up the hills and feels like it weighs several pounds more. On the whole though I like the bike. I think its funny how when the Y bike hit the market, all the silly magazines gushed about how great it was, but now they pan the same bike. I also think it's funny that when ever I see another Y like mine, a red one obviously a few years old, they are pristine, not a scratch on them. I guess my point is, I don't believe any of you whiny losers even ride your bikes. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Remco
a downhiller
from Netherlands
Date Reviewed: September 14, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I Rode '98 Y3 for 8 months (with Z1 bomber BAM and magura hs33), rode it hard, bashed it up- and downhill in Italy. Climbing tarmac is o.k. if you adjust the spring. Climbing rocky roads o.k. as long as you stay in your saddle. Downhill is very bad cause when you stand up you work against the rear suspension and the rear gets non responsive (i went over the bar a lot). Furthermore the frame is very flexy. Have a Cannondale super V now (since a few weeks, with the same Z1, magura and a Fox Vanilla Rx 120 mm). Super sus, rigid frame, better climbing(less bob). The difference is enormous. I would never recommend the Y3 to anyone. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Andrei
a weekend warrior
from Washington D.C.
Date Reviewed: September 5, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I bought a '96 Y3 last year when the '97 were comming out, it was the LAST med Y3 on the east coast. I paid $600 for it. I love that bike, after upgrades the bike is all XT/XTR and has a chubby, and helix expert. the front and rear ends of the bike are so in sync that it feels like you are floating in mid air. In the spring I used the bike for trials, right now, after destroying three Manitou FS's I decided to convert it to downhill. It is the best bike for the money even with a set of spinergys, I spent less then $1000 on the bike and I don't work at a bike shop.When climbing I beat all my friends on their proflexes, Gts and FSRs, on desccents I beat them too. 4 travel front and rear this bike rulles.So far I've put over 2000 miles of road touring and 500 more of serious off road riding and the bike feels just like new.And for all those peole who take the bike out on a ride in the parkinglot for 5 minutes and say that the bike sucks take it offroad and see how good the bike really is. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Scott
a cross-country rider
from Arizona
Date Reviewed: September 5, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
This is trivia but the Y-bikes have the largest number of reviews by far and most people love 'em or hate 'em (i.e. no middle ground). If you read most of the reviews people fall into four major categories 1.) they spout the latest techno jargon from the magazines and bash URTs (they have shortcomings and strengths) 2.) they think the bike looks cool but haven't spent time on one 3.) they are new riders to full suspension and don't have a frame of reference to compare to or 4.) they have been riding their Y alot and have tweaked it and learned how to make it work very well for them.Don't bash what you don't ride (and a single trip in a parking lot or off road doesn't give you enough information). I rode a Turner around the parking lot and bobbed all over until it was tweaked in better. It can take a while to dial a bike in. Air/oil shocks are easy because you pump up the air instead of switching springs or trying to crank the pre-load.If you can learn to ride smooth you eventually even give up on the lockout (except for really long and smooth climbs). The carbon fiber doesn't catastrophically fail but it has cracked sometimes near shock mounts and the paint can crack because the carbon fiber is more elastic than the paint. If you think that carbon fiber is a poor choice of materials, you should check out how much of a helicopter is made of composites! And this includes flight safety parts!In any case, the Y-33 has been a great bike for me but I customized it to suit my tastes and I think that it did much better downhill when I shifted the weight a little more to the rear with a Race Face seat post, riser bars and a taller (4) shock. Riding complex technical terrain has been easier since then.Ride what you like but don't bash another person's choice just because you prefer something else. Most importantly just get out there and ride! | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Monty
a weekend warrior
from Upstate N.Y.
Date Reviewed: September 5, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
Hi there,bought a y-11 about 2 yrs ago,leftover 96,rode a rigid giant for 8 yrs previous.have had the oppurtunity to beat the snot out of this thing,and can't fault it at all.I upgraded to v-brakes,and recently hung a fs-ti 80mm fork on it,vast improvement over the q-21r,I am a old guy 37,bur very strong,and abusive on things,and love this bike.Its not the best fast descender,but climbs exellent,and rails singletrack,bebops tech stuff well,I see a lot of people whining about suspension bob,assume they whine about everything,I dialled it up(weigh @180lbs)and basically ride it as a hardtail with give,plant your butt on the seat,and it soaks up almost everything.I was curious about the frames durability,but have been problem free,exept for a flop on the rocks that chipped a 1 square piece of the purple paint off,big deal.have ridden a bunch of bouncers since buying this,mostly boat anchors,somewhat plusher but dull feeling,if your not a total bike weenie whiner,and just like to ride hard,this is the ticket,also gets nothing but lighter with upgrades.Love this sucker,and it didn't cost more than a dirtbike with a motor. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Mike Nadel
a weekend warrior
from Toms River
Date Reviewed: September 4, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
Ron, why must I post a tecnical argument for why I like my bike? I've been a salesman at the lbs for a while now and I've found that you can talk about technical specs for hours (roadies are a bit better at this) but the only way that you can find the bike for you is to RIDE IT! I can think of as many arguments agenst a URT as for one, but the only explaination that is needed is that I ride my bike, ride it hard and love it. No, I'm not biased towards Trek because I work at a Trek dealer. We carry Trek, Raleigh, Haro, Mongoose, and GT. As a matter of fact I've been rethinking my plan of building up an 8900 frameset to building up a new cadd4. I love the Y bike for comfortable cruising but you have to admit that it isn't a speed deamon.oh, and the reason that you don't see Y bikes wining everything is because the Trek racing team uses mostly 9900 hardtails.Trek isn't giving up on the Y bike totally, there will still be two diffent Y superlight carbon models along with the four VRX bikes.That all for now.SHUT UP AND RIDE!!!!!!!!!!! | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Bart F.
a weekend warrior
from
Date Reviewed: September 4, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I just broke the frame on my 6500 trek hardtail so I have been demo-ing
some suspended bikes. The first one I demo-ed was a '98 y-22 upgraded
with xtr cranks, derailers and shifters. The first few miles of the ride
was a little bouncy but I tightened the back shock and took off. It has been
without a doubt the best ride so far. The '98 GT lts2000 was also a good
ride but was a little on the heavy side. The '98 FSR comp I demo-ed yesterday
was the worst piece of crap that I have rode, now I see why they have
so many left in the bike shops. The weight wasnt to bad but there was
never any consistent tracking with the back wheel going down rocky
terrain. I had to force myself to finish the ride, the bike might be
good as a boat anchor but it probably would be best to sell the aluminum at
the scrap yard. Next on the hit parade is going to be the y-5 hopefully
it will ride better than the fsr. So I give the y-22 upgraded the five
big ones with the durabilty on hold. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
ED
a weekend warrior
from BOSTON
Date Reviewed: September 3, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
WELL THIS IS AN UPDATE FROM MY LAST REVIEW IN MARCH SINCE THEN I BROKE MY ORIGANAL Y-11 ,GOT A 97 PRO ISSUE 3 WEEKS LATER WITH A STRATUS PRO WITH LOCKOUT . IT ONLY TOOK ME THREE MONTHS TO BREAK THIS(THE ALUMINUM SHOCK MOUNT IN SEPARATING FROM THE FRAME,SAME AS BEFORE) AND BLOW THE DAMPER IN THE SHOCK .UP TILL THEN I REALLY HAD NO COMPLAINTS IT WAS LIGHT HANDLES GREAT CLIMED EVEN BETTER. PLUS IT COMES APART AT THE REAR TRIAGLE AND FITS IN A LARGE SUITE CASE ,A GREAT WAY TO BEAT THE AIRLINE OUT OF THE $120.00 FEE THEY CHARGE.ANY WAY I AM WAITING FOR TREK TO SEE WHAT THEY DO ABOUT THIS ONE. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Don Theriault
a weekend warrior
from Washburn, ME
Date Reviewed: September 3, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I ride a 98 Y5 and have not had any of the previous mentioned anomalies that everyone always labels the Y's with. It does bob uphill, but so doesn't my buddie's linkage rear end FSR. I really like the machine alot, it rides nice and is tougher than nails. More importantly though is the customer service that I have received. I was washing the bike one evening after a ride and the paint started coming off in chunks. Called Trek and they said send in the frame and we will paint it for free any color you want. I called them again and asked about painting the URT section also and they again said no prob, on the house... they are going to paint any combination of their '99 colors I want to. They will also relabel it for me... how about a 98 URT VRX, original I'd say. BTW: to Ron Barr down below...how can you make such an intelligent and educated argument (although too sarcastic) about URTs only to botch it with the stooopid VRX statement. For someone who claims to know his stuff about bikes you sure have proven that any thing said in haste and worded properly sounds good. My buddy with the FSR may have some interesting stories for you about how he had a bolt fall out of one of his precious linkage points during a ride and how much fun it was to get it replaced by Specialized. It was a metric shoulder-bolt... not easy to find at Trustworthy or anywhere for that matter and Specialized told him, and I quote Uh, we haven't got anymore of those? WHATTT?!?! It's a bolt that goes on your most popular bike...hellooooo. His LBS ended up taking a bolt off of a floor model only to resume fighting with Specialized. You don't just buy a bike with your money, but you also buy into a dealership and a company. His dealer gets a thumbs-up.. Specialized gets a raspberry. I give the Y bike 5 chiles just to piss you off. I'd give Trek more..but I can't. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Scott
a cross-country rider
from Arizona
Date Reviewed: September 3, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I have been riding a 96 Y33 for two years. If anybody ever says carbon fiber doesn't hold up they might want to reconsider. I ride at 250+ on some of the rockiest terrain in the country. The frame is doing great. The swingarm finally has a hairline crack but Trek sent a new one out the same day the dealer called it in. The Judy SL was a little flimsy but it never failed. A White Brothers DC 90 has handled the job for the past year with excellent results. The bike bobs a little but setting the spring preload correctly and using the damping feature of newer Stratos shocks makes it work great in all the conditions I ride in. I have enjoyed the dependability and fun this bike has provided over the last couple of years. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Mike Nadel
a weekend warrior
from Toms River, NJ
Date Reviewed: September 3, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I have a few things to say in response to Ron Barr's review. First of all, the new VRX bikes are not linkage bikes, they have a swingarm with a single pivot. The fact that Ron didn't leave his email address leaves some doubt in my mind of his review. I've been riding a 1996 Y33 for nearly three years. I love it, and ride it daily. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Scythe
a cross-country rider
from Alberta, Canada
Date Reviewed: August 31, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I don't see why people always trash this bike. Seriously, if you go out and ride one you will see that what you've posted are all lies and bull. I've tested numerous full suspension bike(12,13..can't remember) and the Y-Bikes shine above all the rest. There are other bikes out there that are just as good, or almost as good. I don't mind the critism on the Y-Bikes, but if you are going to do that then put up some hard ass facts. Not just phrases like..oh it bobs like a pogo stick. I've owned a '98 Y11 for a while now. There is absolutely now pogoing whatsoever contrary to what some people have posted. It may pogo if you have the wrong amount of air pressure in shock for your body weight, but most people have enough common sense to change the shock for their weight anyways. I had sent my rear shock into fox to get it customized for my weight, and it's not all that much better than how it was now. It's a little more plush, and I have more confidence in it...but that's about it. Like all full suspension bikes it will pogo if you don't use the full range of your pedal stroke, but most people considering buying a bike like this will already know that. And if you are just buying one for fun then it doesn't really matter at all. The bike climbs like nothing I've ever seen before, except maybe a sweetspot bike. It climbs well sitting down and when you stand up to hammer on the suspension will act up, but then again it's like that on all full suspension bikes unless you lock out the rear shock. This bike will go over rocks and roots on the way up a trail and can rip down moderately steep grades ignoring all obsticles in the way. I recently went on a 5 day bike ride in the Rocky Mountains, and rode over 200km of trails. I wiped out going down a mountain at 60km/h and tore a nice hole in my left knee. There was no frame damage at all. People who claim that their frame has broken by dropping it must have let it fall off of their 8th story balcony. I haven't had any problems with this bike at all. So...if your in doubt of this bikes performance, go test ride one(not in the parking lot. Go take it for a real test, and put it to it's limits.) And if you're gonna say that this bikes sucks...give more reasons and details, not just saying things like, IT'S CRAP over and over. Oh yeah, and maybe give one of the bikes a ride before you put them down. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
JC
a weekend warrior
from x
Date Reviewed: August 28, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
This is one of the worst I have ridden! It is a fantastic ride until you take it on the dirt. If you want to look like a mountainbiker and lock out the shocks then this is a sweet wanna be machine but if you like the dirt then don't buy this bike it handles like a boat and the rear end feels like a rubberband! | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
HATFIELD
a weekend warrior
from stillwater, ok
Date Reviewed: August 27, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I purchased a 97 Y-5 about a month and a half ago and have put about 300+ miles on it and have loved every bit of it. I cant think of anything I dont like about it. The Manitou Pro-c works great for the $ and contrary to some reviews it climbs like a billy goat! No bobs,not even on gravel road sprints or any surface for that matter. Because of some of the negative remarks regarding URT's I was a little concerned but I cant find a complaint. Now this is my first FS bike so I dont have anything to compare it to but I love it and would recommend it to anyone looking for a sweet looking, billy goat climbing FS bike. Plus it was a closeout so I got it cheap!
Widespread Panic rules!!!!! | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Blah
a racer
from NY
Date Reviewed: August 24, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
Three Initals URT (Unified Rear Triangle). They Suck Period. They only kinda work when your sitting down, they bob, and they don't even work well. The trek is no exception. The suspension is totally offset, it corners like crap, its made out of OCLV carbon fiber, and the price is outrageous for such a hunk of sh*t. DONT BUY A PIECE OF SH*T, BECAUSE A SOON AS IT HITS THE DIRT, IT STARTS TO ROTT. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Tony Wilson
a weekend warrior
from Napier, New Zealand
Date Reviewed: August 24, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I have had my Y-22 for just over a year now and have never looked back. I have up-graded my original bike substantially as I tend to ride my bike quite hard.
I now have XTR quickshifts and v brakes, Mavic wheels, Azonic Handlebar, Ritchy pedals, Amos Kevlar seat, World Force stem (short), Panaracer FireXC tyres, upgraded Rock shox, Titanium bottom bracket and Race Face crank. The next step will be to get some triple clamp forks. I find the harder you ride your Y bike the better it is. | | Overall Rating: |
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