The goal of the esthetic design is to show the Carbon Fiber. Looking that close and in direct sunlight and using a torch seems a little OCD to me. How does it look without the torch?
I get the point about aesthetic design if the entire bike was like that but only the top tube seems out of place, hence my query. The bike is in a well lit room with roof windows where I prepped it for ride wrap, so when the sunlight hit it, I noticed, as you would when riding on a good day. The torch was only used to check over the frame for scratches defects etc, so not OCD by any means, but over here when you pay $13k for this bike I think its fair to check it over in detail.
The second image looks like a patch. I would ask for a second opinion. Or get the LBS to show you that other bikes have the same "feature" in person. Pictures can look deceptive. $13k is a lot of money if the bike is not perfect!
Haha... bikes are meant to be ridden and will get a little dirty. If you want protection, RideWrap it. If you paid for a black paint job, it should be consistent and not so thin that it shows a possible patch job. A clear coat paint on a carbon bike should be perfect! Trek should at least TRY to do a better job in covering up their factory seconds or choose better frames for the clear coat "raw" versions. At least with Specialized, the paint is thick enough that you will never know if there are any patches until the frame breaks
Did you get the deore 4-pot (M6120) brakes and Deore levers then?
It did, but I got the shop to do it!
Mine has areas similar to this, but you have to be up very close to see it.
Yeah mine is like that too and, I actually wish it was more translucent (like my propain tyee). Anyways, like it or not it is intentional, hence the “deep smoke” name.
i am curious. Did your 9.8XT Fuel EXe come with the correct carbon cranks? Many others (including mine) were delivered with Al cranks.
Unidirectional Carbon is a series of alternating layers and "patches" such as this. It's a personal/design preference on if you like it. Maybe like natural look wood grain, but the "grain" here is intentional and structural. The scratching clearcoat is another story, but the carbon layers showing through is intentional.
ask your shop to call trek. mine was due in february. they called to see if one was available and two weeks later it showed up
So you did accualy get a Fuel Exe with the correct spec ? its unusual
yes. both bikes came with what i listed above. The fuel's cranks are carbon. Plus I got a box with lots of misc accessories.
Will you order the TQ Smart box / AXS harness separately to run the AXs on the bikes battery ? Or run the batteri on the gear
ok. Mine had alu cranks, Sram guid brakes , Eightthirteen casset and therefore another body
Wow those are quite the changes. original was a 9.8?? Seems like a lot of downgrades. Alu cranks I can understand if they refund the difference. Guide brakes? XD driver for the e13 cassette.
I wonder if that TQ smart box could be used to run integrated lights of the main battery for night riding.…anyone knows?
