WTF?

Above is a 47cm WSD Trek Equinox 7 Tri bike. A huge WTF to Trek for putting 700c wheels on this bike. Granted, I am one of those wacky "650c wheels are the best" folks, but in this case there is no doubt. This bike should have 650c wheels for a few important reasons.

1. One of the purposes of a tri bike is to get aero. It is hard to get nice and low when you have a tall head tube. On a 47cm bike with 700c wheels the head tube has to be shorter than 7cm, preferably closer to 4cm. It is nearly impossible to do this with 700c wheels. This bike has a head tube of 7.8 cm.

2. The toe overlap is horrible on this bike. Clearance between crank and front wheel is about 2". This means if the woman has anything larger than size 36 shoe, she is going to have issues with this.

3. This bike was originally designed for a male rider about 5'10" on a bike with 700c wheels. Common sense should tell you that when you shrink a bike frame, it will not handle the same unless you change key geometries of the bike. They have not done this with this bike.

4. The Equinox series is designed around a 76 degree seat tube angle. At the end of a tri-fit session, most end up with an effective seat tube angle of about 78 degrees. Changing them to 78 degrees is not an issue, but for this WSD bike it is. The more forward the position, the more drop you need. On this bike, the head tube will not allow (see #1). Especialy if the rider wants to get to 80-81 degrees.

5. A bike this small should have a lower bottom bracket. Either change the geometries to accomplish this, or at least put 650c wheels on to accomplish this. As set up, the bike will not be as stable as it should be.


The bottom line on this bike is that it is not going to allow most riders to get into a good tri position. As a result the handling is going to be very poor. Unless the customer really wants this bike, there is little reason to direct them to it. There are other options out there that are better for smaller women seeking a tri bike.