Trek or Giant.

[The Sumners]

I am looking at buying a Giant Iguana or a Trek 4900. Give me good or bad experiences with
these. Andy....

 

[Frank]

Dunno if this helps, but I've a 2003 Trek 4100. Since the body is the same, I can tell you it's
light and I'm happy with it. Don't know about the other parts. I belive 4900 uses Rockshox?

"The Sumners" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I am looking at buying a Giant Iguana or a Trek 4900. Give me good or bad experiences with these.
> Andy....

 

[MTBScottie]

"The Sumners" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> I am looking at buying a Giant Iguana or a Trek 4900. Give me good or bad experiences with these.
> Andy....

I matched up specs on both and they are darn near close. The Iguana disc comes with a Manitou fork
and the Iguana comes with the Same Rock Shox fork that the Trek does. It comes down to this; for
around 80 dollars more, you can get the Iguana disc with disc brakes which is an incredible deal,
considering the bike will still be under 600 dollars. Other then that, you have to go with what
feels better to you. I'm a proud Giant owner; I have a 2002 Rainier which is the same frame as the
Iguana with better components. I will also tell you that Giant is well known for being great with
customer service. The only problem I have had with mine was I needed to have a cog replaced, and the
idiots at the shop I bought it at originally didn't know how to proplerly set up the disc brakes, so
I took it to another Giant dealer in town and they replaced the cog, and adjusted my brakes at no
charge. After that (it's been over a year) the brakes are still as strong, and no problems at all
with the frame, fork, cranks, or anything else. I highly recommend Giant.

 

[Ryan Cousineau]

In article <[email protected]>, "The Sumners"
<[email protected]> wrote:

> I am looking at buying a Giant Iguana or a Trek 4900. Give me good or bad experiences with these.
> Andy....

If you buy the Giant Iguana, people will make constant jokes: "you ride a giant iguana"; "there goes
Andy on his giant iguana"; etc.

It happened to a friend of mine, so I know.

--
Ryan Cousineau, [email protected] http://www.sfu.ca/~rcousine President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club

 

[Jd]

"The Sumners" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> I am looking at buying a Giant Iguana or a Trek 4900. Give me good or bad experiences with these.
> Andy....

Some people are hung up on brand names. Names is for tombstones, baby.

JD

 

[Danny]

??? Why would anyone want to name their pizza? Hmm..

Danny ;-)

"JD" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> "The Sumners" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> > I am looking at buying a Giant Iguana or a Trek 4900. Give me good or
bad
> > experiences with these. Andy....
>
> Some people are hung up on brand names. Names is for tombstones, baby.
>
> JD

 

[Joel Mueller]

I ride a 2003 Trek 4500 and I LOVE it. The 4900 has even better parts than my 4500. The bottom line
is that you need to get which ever one is most comfortable.

"The Sumners" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I am looking at buying a Giant Iguana or a Trek 4900. Give me good or bad experiences with these.
> Andy....

 

[James Messick]

"Ryan Cousineau" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> In article <[email protected]>, "The Sumners"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > I am looking at buying a Giant Iguana or a Trek 4900. Give me good or
bad
> > experiences with these. Andy....
>
> If you buy the Giant Iguana, people will make constant jokes: "you ride a giant iguana"; "there
> goes Andy on his giant iguana"; etc.
>
> It happened to a friend of mine, so I know.

OTOH, that might be pretty cool! Go for the Iguana. Please.

 

[Jd]

"Danny" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> ??? Why would anyone want to name their pizza? Hmm..
>
> Danny ;-)

Watch "Live And Let Die" and then get back to me.

JD

> "JD" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> > "The Sumners" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:<[email protected]>...
> > > I am looking at buying a Giant Iguana or a Trek 4900. Give me good or
> bad
> > > experiences with these. Andy....
> >
> > Some people are hung up on brand names. Names is for tombstones, baby.
> >
> > JD

 

[Chip3130]

> "The Sumners" <[email protected]> wrote in message I matched up specs on both and they are
> darn near close. The Iguana disc comes with a Manitou fork and the Iguana comes with the Same Rock
> Shox fork that the Trek does. It comes down to this; for around 80 dollars more, you can get the
> Iguana disc with disc brakes which is an

I too am looking at these particular bikes. Does anyone dispute the logic of getting the cheaper
model (say a Trek 4100 over a 4300) when the difference may only be the quality of the derailleurs?
These items can be upgraded for a small amount- and hardly worth the couple of hundred that you may
find in the acutal price difference. Now when it comes to front forks and brakes, you have a totally
different situation....

 

[Ryan Cousineau]

In article <[email protected]>, chip3130 <[email protected]> wrote:

> > "The Sumners" <[email protected]> wrote in message I matched up specs on both and they
> > are darn near close. The Iguana disc comes with a Manitou fork and the Iguana comes with the
> > Same Rock Shox fork that the Trek does. It comes down to this; for around 80 dollars more, you
> > can get the Iguana disc with disc brakes which is an
>
> I too am looking at these particular bikes. Does anyone dispute the logic of getting the cheaper
> model (say a Trek 4100 over a 4300) when the difference may only be the quality of the
> derailleurs? These items can be upgraded for a small amount- and hardly worth the couple of
> hundred that you may find in the acutal price difference. Now when it comes to front forks and
> brakes, you have a totally different situation....

Well, most of the time I think you'll find the upgrades are a sort of system-wide thing.

Actually, the example you gave is an ironically good one. A comparison of the Trek 4100,
4300, and 4500:

http://www.trekbikes.com/bikes/2003/compare/compare.jsp?bike1=1022600&bik e2=1018600&bike3=1016600

The price differences are $40 and $70 to move up from each bike.

Taking the 41 and 43, that $40 buys you:

preload-adjustable fork Al handlebar slightly better rder (Acera vs. Altus; one grade in Shimano's
line) compact drive with one extra cog on the rear (8v vs. 7v) better (non-plastic) pedals

You couldn't upgrade those many things for $40. Usually the total package provided by an upgrade is
a very good deal compared to your own sources. The real question is whether the upgrades are aimed
at the things you actually care about upgrading. In this case, you might not care about the
drivetrain upgrades and think that the better fork is the only worthwhile gain.

--
Ryan Cousineau, [email protected] http://www.sfu.ca/~rcousine President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club

 

[Frank]

if you are in vancouver i saw a used 2003 Trek4300 at Sports junkies for $350. It's 18.5 inch.. too
big for me.. my 4100 is 17.5, and i paid $450 for it. so i think this 4300 is a good deal. looks to
be solid....

I recently just swapped my Botranger Connectiosn with Continentel Town & Country road tires since
i'll be doing some roading on the weekdays to work.. pretty smooth ride.

"Ryan Cousineau" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> In article <[email protected]>, chip3130 <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > > "The Sumners" <[email protected]> wrote in message I matched up specs on both and they
> > > are darn near close. The Iguana disc comes with a Manitou fork and the Iguana comes with the
> > > Same Rock Shox fork that the Trek does. It comes down to this; for around 80 dollars more, you
> > > can get the Iguana disc with disc brakes which is an
> >
> > I too am looking at these particular bikes. Does anyone dispute the
logic
> > of getting the cheaper model (say a Trek 4100 over a 4300) when the difference may only be the
> > quality of the derailleurs? These items can
be
> > upgraded for a small amount- and hardly worth the couple of hundred that you may find in the
> > acutal price difference. Now when it comes to front forks and brakes, you have a totally
> > different situation....
>
> Well, most of the time I think you'll find the upgrades are a sort of system-wide thing.
>
> Actually, the example you gave is an ironically good one. A comparison of the Trek 4100, 4300,
> and 4500:
>
> http://www.trekbikes.com/bikes/2003/compare/compare.jsp?bike1=1022600&bik e2=1018600&bike3=1016600
>
> The price differences are $40 and $70 to move up from each bike.
>
> Taking the 41 and 43, that $40 buys you:
>
> preload-adjustable fork Al handlebar slightly better rder (Acera vs. Altus; one grade in Shimano's
> line) compact drive with one extra cog on the rear (8v vs. 7v) better (non-plastic) pedals
>
> You couldn't upgrade those many things for $40. Usually the total package provided by an upgrade
> is a very good deal compared to your own sources. The real question is whether the upgrades are
> aimed at the things you actually care about upgrading. In this case, you might not care about the
> drivetrain upgrades and think that the better fork is the only worthwhile gain.
>
> --
> Ryan Cousineau, [email protected] http://www.sfu.ca/~rcousine President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club

 

[Junobug]

"The Sumners" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I am looking at buying a Giant Iguana or a Trek 4900. Give me good or bad experiences with these.
> Andy....
>
>

It sounds like you have gotten several helpful and thought out replies. The only thing I can add is
that in the few years I was working for a shop that sold both Trek and Giant, we seemed to have a
lot of problems with the hubs on the Giant bikes. They were all of questionable quality.
Unfortunately, it doesn't look like either of these bikes come with a branded hub. My suggestion
would be to get whatever fits you best and look at buying new wheels in the future.

Ken Juneau, Alaska www.takusmokeries.com

 

[Nelson Binch]

"junobug" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
|
| "The Sumners" <[email protected]> wrote in message
| news:[email protected]...
| > I am looking at buying a Giant Iguana or a Trek 4900. Give me good or
bad
| > experiences with these. Andy....
| >
| >
|
| It sounds like you have gotten several helpful and thought out replies.
The
| only thing I can add is that in the few years I was working for a shop
that
| sold both Trek and Giant, we seemed to have a lot of problems with the
hubs
| on the Giant bikes. They were all of questionable quality.
Unfortunately,
| it doesn't look like either of these bikes come with a branded hub. My suggestion would be to get
| whatever fits you best and look at buying new wheels in the future.

The primary problem with the hubs was that on their "House Brand" units, some of the drive side read
lock nuts were not tight enough, causing the axle to get loose and ruin the bearing races. This was
mostly on the lower end bikes (Like the Boulder.)

---
__o _`\(,_ Cycling is life, (_)/ (_) all the rest, just details. Nelson Binch =^o.o^=
http://intergalax.com

Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.490 / Virus Database: 289 -
Release Date: 6/16/2003

 

[John Harlow]

> > I am looking at buying a Giant Iguana or a Trek 4900. Give me good or
bad
> > experiences with these. Andy....
> >
> >
>
> It sounds like you have gotten several helpful and thought out replies.
The
> only thing I can add is that in the few years I was working for a shop
that
> sold both Trek and Giant, we seemed to have a lot of problems with the
hubs
> on the Giant bikes. They were all of questionable quality.
Unfortunately,
> it doesn't look like either of these bikes come with a branded hub. My suggestion would be to get
> whatever fits you best and look at buying new wheels in the future.

I might add Giant replaced the no-name hub free of charge on my bike with an XT hub. It was about 2
years out of warranty too.

 

[Technician]

Nelson Binch <[email protected]> spoke thusly...
> "junobug" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> |
> | "The Sumners" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> | news:[email protected]...
> | > I am looking at buying a Giant Iguana or a Trek 4900. Give me good or
> bad
> | > experiences with these. Andy....
> | >
> | >
> |
> | It sounds like you have gotten several helpful and thought out replies.
> The
> | only thing I can add is that in the few years I was working for a shop
> that
> | sold both Trek and Giant, we seemed to have a lot of problems with the
> hubs
> | on the Giant bikes. They were all of questionable quality.
> Unfortunately,
> | it doesn't look like either of these bikes come with a branded hub. My suggestion would be to
> | get whatever fits you best and look at buying new wheels in the future.
>
> The primary problem with the hubs was that on their "House Brand" units, some of the drive side
> read lock nuts were not tight enough, causing the axle to get loose and ruin the bearing races.
> This was mostly on the lower end bikes (Like the Boulder.)
>
>

same situation on my Goose wheels. first wheel was dry from the factory and disintegrated the
bearings. this wheel had the lock nut come loose. i didn't notice it until the hub was due for a
repacking. bearings are kind of small but i think they are still usable (still roll pretty good).
just one of those things i should have checked, but hey, gotta learn sometime, right. i figure,
mistakes are the best way to learn, that way you know the cost or labor of repair, so you keep an
eye on it next time (i check bearing slop before i load up for every ride).
--
~Travis

http://www.megalink.net/~farmers/

 

[Nelson Binch]

"Technician" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
| Nelson Binch <[email protected]> spoke thusly...
| > "junobug" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
| > |
| > | "The Sumners" <[email protected]> wrote in message
| > | news:[email protected]...
| > | > I am looking at buying a Giant Iguana or a Trek 4900. Give me good
or
| > bad
| > | > experiences with these. Andy....
| > | >
| > | >
| > |
| > | It sounds like you have gotten several helpful and thought out
replies.
| > The
| > | only thing I can add is that in the few years I was working for a shop
| > that
| > | sold both Trek and Giant, we seemed to have a lot of problems with the
| > hubs
| > | on the Giant bikes. They were all of questionable quality.
| > Unfortunately,
| > | it doesn't look like either of these bikes come with a branded hub.
My
| > | suggestion would be to get whatever fits you best and look at buying
new
| > | wheels in the future.
| >
| > The primary problem with the hubs was that on their "House Brand" units, some of the drive side
| > read lock nuts were not tight enough, causing the axle to get loose and ruin the bearing races.
| > This was mostly on the
lower
| > end bikes (Like the Boulder.)
| >
| >
|
| same situation on my Goose wheels. first wheel was dry from the factory and disintegrated the
| bearings. this wheel had the lock nut come loose. i didn't notice it until the hub was due for a
| repacking. bearings are kind of small but i think they are still usable (still roll pretty good).
| just one of those things i should have checked, but hey, gotta learn sometime, right. i figure,
| mistakes are the best way to learn, that way you know the cost or labor of repair, so you keep an
| eye on it next time (i check bearing slop before i load up for every ride).

Don't feel too bad about that happening, it was a case of poor design as well as poor assembly.

Every time somebody brought in one of those 'goose wheels with the hub loose I knew what I would
find. The cups were very cheap and since they were pressed into a large diameter hub, nothing
supported them besides a tiny
lip. Even wheels that felt good, if I opened them, I'd find cracks in the cup.

One of my distributors came out with a good quality wheel with the same rim, but with a much better
hub just to replace those things and keep the bike's appearance the same. I took it one step
further, selling folks wheels with quick releases. Sold a lot of wheels that way.

---
__o _`\(,_ Cycling is life, (_)/ (_) all the rest, just details. Nelson Binch =^o.o^=
http://intergalax.com

Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.491 / Virus Database: 290 -
Release Date: 6/18/2003

 

[Squid-In-Traini]

> Every time somebody brought in one of those 'goose wheels with the hub
loose
> I knew what I would find. The cups were very cheap and since they were pressed into a large
> diameter hub, nothing supported them besides a tiny
> lip. Even wheels that felt good, if I opened them, I'd find cracks in the cup.

Yep. Mine mashed my cups and I continued to ride it. It was great to feel during turns... kinda like
I had one big wobbly ass. Then I got a real bike.

--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

 

[Shaun Rimmer]

Phil, Squid-in-Training <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> > Every time somebody brought in one of those 'goose wheels with the hub
> loose
> > I knew what I would find. The cups were very cheap and since they were pressed into a large
> > diameter hub, nothing supported them besides a tiny
> > lip. Even wheels that felt good, if I opened them, I'd find cracks in
the
> > cup.
>
> Yep. Mine mashed my cups and I continued to ride it. It was great to
feel
> during turns... kinda like I had one big wobbly ass. Then I got a real big wobbly ass.
>
> --
> Phil, Squid-in-Training

 

[Sorni]

"Shaun Rimmer" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> Phil, Squid-in-Training <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > > Every time somebody brought in one of those 'goose wheels with the hub
> > loose
> > > I knew what I would find. The cups were very cheap and since they
were
> > > pressed into a large diameter hub, nothing supported them besides a
tiny
> > > lip. Even wheels that felt good, if I opened them, I'd find cracks in
> the
> > > cup.
> >
> > Yep. Mine mashed my cups and I continued to ride it. It was great to
> feel
> > during turns... kinda like I had one big wobbly ass. Then I got a real big wobbly ass.
> >
> > --
> > Phil, Squid-in-Training

Shaun finally chimes in with something useful.

Bill "enjoyed the void" S.