A longer chainstay is more stable–it won’t change direction in a sprightly manner, but it also won’t cause things to sneak up on a tourer while all-day dirt touring as intended on the 1120. The effective toptube is just over 20 millimeters shorter per comparative frame size on the 1120, and the effective seat-tube angle remains the same between the Stache and the 1120–again, positioning the rider comparatively further forward on the 1120. This places the rider comparatively further forward on the 1120 as one is riding more in between the wheels than over the rear wheel. We’re talking 20 millimeters here–a 420-millimeter Stache chainstay versus a 440-millimeter 1120 chainstay. Now that we have that ironed-out: 1120 = distance, let’s revisit those changes–longer chainstay, steeper headtube angle, burly racks, and a suspension-corrected rigid carbon fork. The 1120 is a bike to ride long distances, on dirt, in mixed-terrain, on dreaded fire road, perhaps even some singletrack–to go the distance with all the things you need (possibly more, certainly room for them) to go that distance. If you’re looking for a Trek to ride out of the bike shop door and to the bottom of South America, then, aha, look to the 1120. Before we dive into why, let’s think about this bike’s intent. Though we may be lead to believe we need to fear all of this: a longer chainstay, a steeper headtube angle, robust racks, and a rigid fork–despite all of this, Trek just might be onto something here. Photo Credit: and video courtesy of Trek Bikepushing, not to be confused with Bikepacking.Įqually perplexing then seems to be the priorities at play here–no suspension fork, yet a dropper post. Closer inspection reveals some other differences between the two: the short chainstays aren’t as short, the a-mere-two-months-ago-considered-slack headtube angle of 67.8 degrees isn’t as slack. The alloy-framed rig seemingly appears very similar to a Stache–Trek’s trail hardtail making use of 29+ tires, a 120-millimeter boost fork, and a short, elevated drive-side chainstay referred to as Midstay by Trek. You know, what made Internet forums famous, right? That said, let the speculation begin. Unridden of course, so the best type of thoughts–nonempirical speculation.
![trek bike rack trek bike rack](https://photos.offerup.com/LG8kI3lw47XFV_o9e1tcPznHO7c=/600x800/6d24/6d24265230ee49a7bf41b98ccb1d1ad2.jpg)
![trek bike rack trek bike rack](https://outdoorguru.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/trek_1120_bikepacker_front_rack.jpg)
Many have reported on the unveiling of this 1120 bike, so we’re here to provide some reasonably-priced-cubicle-armchair thoughts on the new steed. So we don’t need to necessarily fear the big tires. There may be some readers who will not make it to this second sentence due to two things mentioned in the first sentence – rigid (scary) and 29+ (big, also potentially scary.) Let us remind you that we are fans of the Trek Stache 29+ bike, which yes, has 29+ tires and, also yes, is fun. Trek recently released its 2018 1120 rigid 29+ bike aimed squarely at bikepacking and mixed-terrain adventure touring with integrated aluminum front and rear racks.