Trek Procaliber 9.8SL becomes the TA 2018 bike

The new Bike - Trek Procaliber 9.8SL

So, when TA 2016 had gone so well on my "old" full sus bike, why should I bother changing bikes for TA 2018????

After TA2016, I had decided I enjoyed the Brevet style of riding, so, in the quiet time after the event, I started thinking about how I could improve, on what had been a pretty much faultless Tour.

One of the surveys that came out, was on the bikes used - the predominant style of bike was hardtail with rigid forks. The primary advantage of this is WEIGHT, or rather, lack of it, in comparison to suspension forks / full suspension etc. Plus, there are fewer moving parts, which means fewer potential breakages.

I started looking around at bike options. I set myself some parameters, based on what I now know.(NOTE - the following are my personal preferences - remember that your "perfect" bike is the one that you are happy riding day after day after day after day......) -
- Flat bar / MTB style. I like the control these offer on gravel. I came across some guys early on in the North Island, on cyclocross bikes on a section of road with deep loose gravel. They had both fallen off several times and one had a broken rear derailleur. I came across the same group in Mossburn again, so the different types of bike ended up finishing basically at the same time.
- 29" wheels and about 2.2" tyres - for same reason as above, plus this combo rolls nicely, still has good speed on the tarseal bits and this size tyre is available in most places in the event of damage. Tyres definitely tubeless and with relatively heavy sidewalls.
- something with readily accessible parts, to help make breakages as fixable as possible.
- lighter than the bike I had been riding
- comfortable enough to look after my 57y.o body on multi-day trips

After researching virtually every bike manufacturer in the world, and exploring Titanium, Steel, Aluminium, Stainless Steel,Carbon and bamboo as build materials, I had the opportunity to ride the Trek Procaliber 9.8SL at a demo day. Quite simply, it is the fastest bike I've ever ridden (including road bikes, if you can imagine a road versus mtb factor!!). Coming from a background of Cross Country MTB racing, the decision was made. At 9.11kg, it also goes uphill supremely well.

The first "big" test of comfort etc was on The Odyssey micro brevet from Alexandra/Old Dunstan Trail/Clarkes Junction/Lawrence/Roxburgh Gorge/Alexandra.

The Trek Procaliber, ready to roll at The Odyssey Micro-Brevet

As a 57 year old, one of my major concerns with a hardtail was the effect it may have on my back and neck. With the Isocoupler at the seat post/rear stay junction, the Procaliber is on a par with the full sus bike for comfort. I had been over the Dunstan trail about 4 weeks earlier on the full sus, and I enjoyed the long, fast, rough downhills MORE on the "hardtail". With the approx 15mm of movement that the Isocoupler gives, most of the downhills could be done sitting down, just like on the full sus. And, it seems to smooth out corrugations and the "little" bumps even better than the full sus.

Another "surprise" was how much I liked the 1x11 Sram gear setup. Losing the front derailleur has meant virtually every drivechain issue I have had in the past has now disappeared - no more dropped chains, not changing into small ring cos you left gear change a nano-second too late, etcetc (on The Odyssey, one of the guys I was with broke his front derailleur - need I say more!)

With the stock 32 tooth front chain ring and rear 10-42 cassette, I had effectively lost the bottom 2 gears (compared to my full sus bike) but barely noticed the difference. No doubt the 9.11kg base weight helped!, but I only seemed to walk as much of the hills as i had on the last trip. The other weight saving comes from the rear bag vs the Thule rack - there is about another 1kg weight saving there, although there is also slightly less carrying capacity.

To help protect my knees from the "bigger" gearing, I have now changed to a 30 tooth oval chainring. Whilst my top end speed is down a bit (I can still pedal at about 45kph) the bottom gearing is great, and the oval ring definitely seems to make the hills a bit easier, and smooths out the pedal stroke, resulting in less rear wheel spin on those short steep pinches.

At the moment, the bike still has the front shock, but I have a Muru Titanium rigid fork coming to try out.

I should also mention the Bontrager XR1 TLR Team Issue tyres. I love these tyres!! - They grip well on the loose gravel encountered regularly on Brevets, handle a bit of mud just fine, are REEEAALLY fast on tarseal, and after 2000km of being hammered over some rough back country, are yet to show any signs of cuts, abrasions or other "unnecessary " wear. I run them tubeless, and they hold pressure well enough to cope with Brevet riding. I run about 25psi and check the tyre pressure about fortnightly.