TREK 520 DISC
£1100 › Trek’s venerable steel tourer gets even more touring chops
Trek has been making the steel 520 since 1983. It started out as an all-round bike and since then has flitted between that guise and full-on tourer. The 2019 incarnation is the latter, having gained a front rack and a much lower bottom gear compared with the 2018 model, showing its expedition prowess.
The neatly TIG-welded steel frame and alloy fork have thru-axles, a peg to fit a pump under the top-tube and a chain peg on the driveside seatstay. The gearing has gone even lower this year, which is a good thing. If your bike is carrying a 70kg rider and 40kg of kit and you reach the bottom of a long or steep – or long and steep hill – you can never have a bottom gear that’s too low. This is where the rarely-seen-on-a-road-bike triple chainset comes in.
Trek should be praised for making it an Alivio, with a tiny 26-tooth inner ring, rather than 50/39/30. This pairs with the saucer-sized 36-tooth rear sprocket to deliver a very low bottom gear (under 20in). The 48x11 top gear (120in) is more than adequate for powering down hills, and the Sora shifters work well, even with large jumps.
The thru-axle at the front (with quick-release at the rear) helps get the most from the TRP Spyre brakes, which are among the best mechanical disc brakes around with the advantage of being easier to fix and fettle than hydraulics when off the beaten track.
The geometry is touring leisurely, with long chainstays, a wheelbase well over a metre and a slack head angle. This creates a comfortable, semi-upright riding position, ideal for both touring and commuting. Contact points are good and miles rack up comfortably, albeit slowly.
The resulting ride is ideal for long days that can stretch into weeks in the saddle. The frame also copes with heavy loads very well, and if you are loading up to the gunwales, split the load between the 25kg capacity rear rack and 15kg front. This will better balance the handling. The 36-spoke wheels are tough and it’s good to see tubeless-ready rims. The 38mm tyres roll well on tarmac and towpath-type gravel, and the rims can take even wider rubber. The frame and fork also have numerous bottle mount options.
If you carry heavy loads you could use this for tough commuter runs, but the Trek 520 is most at home on the wide open road. Thirty-five years of history so far, and you could get a lifetime of trekking adventure on this well-specced, attractively priced bike.