Thanx to Preston from Guthrie Bicycle in Salt Lake I was able to test ride someone else's 2007 Equinox TTX. It is unfortunate that I am not trying to purchase a 2007 Equinox TTX nor can I reasonably test a 2009 Equinox TTX since there are no such small-sized bikes anywhere within 50 miles of my home. I called all Trek dealers. According to Preston there are no new small 2008 or 2009 Equinox TTX bikes available in the country. In the country, from Trek, nowhere, until March-ish. There are plenty of medium-sized ones, even one in stock in Ogden.
I had extremely high expectations of this bike as I am a loyal Trek fan and this bike got many excellent reviews. My expectations were met: this bike was great. I got a dumb smile on my face from the moment I settled in the aero position until I began to breathe too hard to smile as I was flying down the road. The first word I came to as I rode away from the bike shop was: Stiff. For some reason looking at the bike I didn't think it would be solid, but it feels rock solid yet comfortable to ride. My second thought was "wow this bike is so much lighter than the others I tested". Wrong: 20.7 lbs with my pedals on it. I was shocked when the bike was weighed, it certainly felt lighter than the other bikes on the road, but I am kind of a fan of numbers, so it is actually the heaviest, and this is the 9.9, I believe the lightest made in 2007. I should mention I was told this specific bike had heavy wheels and tires on it due to the owner's desire to train. In my viewpoint it matches the low end wheels that come with the other bikes I tested.
I rode a little over a lap around Liberty park where there are a few really wide speed bumps to play with. I also purposefully did some tight turns and ran through some bumpy areas such as manhole covers to feel things out. (I hope the bike owner never reads this) The bike handling was great. Power transfer felt great. Explosiveness / quickness was good; I tried a few times to see if it was as good as other bikes I recently tried and put it in my head that it was, and I now think I rationalized it because I seriously thought the bike was lighter so I figured my legs weren't up to the sprinting challenges. This bike is not as explosive as the Felt B2. Damn.
I really enjoyed this bike and feel it would be an excellent purchase. Taking emotion and loyalty out of the equation and looking only at numbers such as weight and price the Felt B2 wins. Taking bike age, components, technology, price, and value into account: Depends.
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