How Good Is An "Entry Level" Road Bike In 2024? - Trek Domane AL 2 Rim Brake

Do we need new bikes. There are a lot of used bikes on the market with good kit at a good price. Helps sustainability but not your local bike shop. Which is better?

I think Jimmi is overestimating the impact of less availability of rim brake parts. Less availability doesn't mean unavailability. We'll surely have less choice but there is no way we won't be able to find parts as smaller brands will fill any niche left by the big brands.

Y'all keep your bikes in your kitchens?

Hmm, kinda interested in it

Wish you could tell us more about what you think of that frame. I want to buy that bike, try to fit 30’s otherwise supple 28’s, tpu tubes, and better brakes and ride long distances. You just did close to a web site comparison 😢

For a few hundred you could put a 105 rear brifter, 105 derailleur,11 speed cassette and 11 speed chain. BANG, 11 speed bike. No?

Black triban rc500 looks way nicer, idk why the 520 didn’t get the all black version

Blendr is Trek’s mounting system that allows you to direct mount bike computers and stuff with the stem. They have various accessories on their website that are compatible with it

This actually looks like my Triban RC100 if I were to actually do a 2x8 conversion from my 1x7 with a Claris set.
I don't think the whole ordeal would cost me 750-280 = 470€ tho. The wheels look nicer so you could maybe cut another 100 bucks from the budget. 370 for the shifters, crank, casette and dereilleur is alot.

I am riding a 2022 Canyon Endurace AL rim brake bike. I got it second hand a year ago, opting for rim brakes over discs. I admit I don't have a lot of disc brake experience, so I don't know what I'm missing out on. But the simplicity of rim brakes are more appealing to me than the effectiveness of disc brakes. I live in a hilly area and weigh in at 83 kg and never ever felt that "I wish I had better brakes". If I rode a lot in the rain I may or may not think differently, but I don't.
I also do not worry about the future. There will be a massive second hand market for all things rim brakes for many years to come. I'm not going to argue that rim brakes are better. But for me and for many others they are still the preferable choice. So I certainly hope these kind of bikes will be around for a good while longer.

Cube Nuroad One? 40mm tires!

Surprised to see a modern day bike coming with 25mm width tyres

You’re right about the improvements in groupsets. When I bought my Tiagra equipped bike 12 years ago I went for that over the cheaper Sora one mainly because Sora was compromised by its little button to downshift on the top of the hoods. 10 speed Tiagra was the cheapest one they did with “proper” full Shimano style shifting (and it still had cables coming out of the top of the hoods). Now right down to Claris at 8 speed the shifting is consistently good.

I got a domane 2 disc last year for commuting. Upgraded a few bits wheels, tyres, etc. Love it, so comfortable, decent speed, and easy to maintain.

I had a 2012 1.5 series from Trek and it looks almost identical to this. It was a great bike for the price!

I had those same bars on my emonda alr4. I found that my wrists would hit the bar when sprinting on the drops. I ended up getting a shorter reach bar and a longer stem to give me the same overall reach, but allow me to sprint better.

If you don’t know what you are missing, like me, these category of road bikes make a lot of sense. Love my Allez Elite 2x10 Tiagra, 2017 (?) Sagan edition that I bought 2nd hand. Tweaked it a little bit: salmon brake pads, lighter aluminium wheels (with 23C tires), smaller handlebar. I think it fits me best now and it weighs just 9kg. Together we accomplished tour versions of Amstel Gold, LBL and we climbed Ventoux. I had never done such things before and never imagined that it would be possible at age 64-66 😊

I have this trek bicycle. I upgraded the groupset to tiagra 4700,bontrager pro carbon handlebar. The upgrade was worth it. Thank you for sharing, great video and perspectives.

Good for someone wanting to get into cycling but not wanting to drop $2k

Can we get a video on entry level women’s bikes?

I’m trying to get my wife into the sport but don’t know what bike to get her…thinking the Liv Avail

I was going to get this as my first road bike, the only reason I went up 1 level was to fit wider tyres, NOT because of the rim brakes.Though given the grottiness of London roads, maybe discs are a better call. Aesthetics are not as nice on the AL 2, shifting is clunky compared to my hybrid with Shimano cues, and I've already ordered new, better tyres. But I'm happy with it so far. Yeah, I could have gone cheaper but the guy at my LBS was super helpful and I'm happy to give a few extra pounds to a physical LBS.

At that point I would rather buy a few year old used mid-range bike. Bikes don't change that much, and old Ultegra is probably better than modern claris.

All around, not a bad bike. Personal preference would lean me towards disc brakes, but this is perfect for someone wanting to start. Deeply uncharacteristic of Trek to offer such a cheap, cheerful bike that's a doddle to work on.

I echo the swap to shorter reach handlebars. I have the Spez ones, I think mine are 68 mm in reach. Perfect for anyone running hydraulic disc brakes, as the control levers on those are almost always a touch longer (3-5 cm) than their cable-braked counterparts.

The Trek looks like shit when compared to the Giant Contend 2 or Merida Scultura 100, both of which come with internal cable routing and lighter overall weight.

I bought it, had it for a few months now. Happy. Just a normal road cyclist who wanted something for every day commute and also for long ride use. I was a fan of the rim brakes, though it does limit your tire selection. It's a beauty too! ... all that said, I have nothing to compare it with, it's my first road bike.

I just got exactly that one, and now I’m riding in pure joy in and around Copenhagen 🇩🇰I picked the blue one,because I thought it was the most girly one. Love it.

Giant Content 1 is also a good option. The Giant and this bike can fit 700x32c tyres, you should try it.

Great video. Keen to see a review of the Van Rysel EDR AF 105 or the NCR AF from you guys.

What is the best wheel and tyre upgrade and could you fit Claris calipers on this bike.

Wouldn't the new Poseidon Triton be a good comparison and direct competition to the Trek Domane AL2 and even more so with the Triban 520. I like Trek bikes but there is some good competition appearing in the quality budget road bike and gravel bike categories.

I just looked at this bike yesterday. it's hard to find in my size, and the gorgeous black one isn't available anywhere. it's also 1k usa. which I think is over priced by several hundred dollars. im also looking at a Fuji Sportif rim brake bike for the same amount but better speced. I wish all companies offered these "diy friendly" type of entry level bikes. I dont think rim brake PARTS are going anywhere. there's millions of bike out there w them. I dont think at this level, the exposed cabling, the rim brakes, the qr skewers are going to make any difference in performance.

Do a sub $2000 ebay build contest on favorite 20 plus year old frame.

Funny that in my Country the Trek model are more expensive than the competition. It may be because the official local trek retailer and because trek is probably one the most popular bike brands in the local market where I live. In the example you give here, other rim brake bikes like the Giant Content, Cannondale CaaD, and even other brands with disc brake entry level bikes like Scott speedster are cheaper than Trek. Only once Trek local retailer goes on Sale, Trek model have competitive prices which usually is once there are few sizes left. Anyway, I am Trek and Specialized fan, but Trek probably is one the the best looking bikes, it only loses to some of Italian brands (that by the way, in my country Italian brands are the most expensive bike by far). Nice review!

I think it’s the worst looking out of the entry levels yous have shown, looks old

If this bike came with 28mm wide tyres, it would be hard to fit and remove the wheels. You'd have to tap the wheel in order for it to get through the brake pads. (I don't think it'd cause a lot of damage to any component, but it's kind of annoying.)
Talking about the brakes, they just suck under wet conditions. Be prepared to sandpaper the pads and clean the rims' braking surface after every wet ride.
Also, bear in mind that the bottom bracket is of the square taper variety, which is more fiddly to service than Hollowtech II.

I almost got that bike. But here in USA is $1k+
Over priced bike

This was my first road bike!! I loved it until I got a carbon h-disc bike which was a size up. Realised the Trek was too small and over time didn't like riding it anymore. Was super fast though and I loved the simplicity of 8 speed Claris. Bontrager wheels were amazingly easy to get tyres on and off too. Was ultimately a reluctant sale. Great bike.

focusing more on the weight of the bikes would be good, in comparing entry level there can be big weight differences but it's also not always easy to find out the weight which is very frustrating to me. good video anyway guys

Long live the Rim Brake!

Thank you for the awesome review. The bike dropped down to £600 and when added to the Cycle2Work scheme I was convinced the black carbon model needed to be my daily work ride. Keep up the great work!

For 750 pounds that's a scam, i got 2021 sram rival on a cell Brunswick 2 for 500

What funny things on this video is The Peddles used on the video are much expensive than the bike itself 😂

Cade Media, this bicycle comes with 25mm tires. Can one install 28mm tires or maybe 32mm tires? Thanks for sharing!

My first road bike was a trek 1.5. Got it second hand for like £350 in 2012ish. With 13 years of use for riding and daily commuting,minimal servicing - and being passed between three of my brothers - it just keeps going. Wish every other bike I owned had the same longevity. If trek still build them like that it’s an amazing bike

Long live the rim brake Amen.

I wonder how tall he is! Its a 52cm frame bike so I am curious about the riders' height if anyone knows. cheers

As an old guy, I can tell you that an entry level Trek from back in about 1975, was pretty darn good. I think mine was about $270 back then, which got me a handmade frame with Ishiwata chrome-moly steel. The brakes were Dia Compe (a Weinmann 999 clone), and the derailleurs were Sun Tours. It was fast and light, and a strong, reliable bike. For a little over $300 back then you could get a Trek with a Reynolds 531 frame and Campagnolo brakes and shifters.

So… 50 years later, if an entry level bike isn’t better, something is really wrong. I suspect, though, that even a lowly Domane like the one in this video is likely a really nice fast bike to ride. Indexed shifting is a huge advance over the derailleurs from back then, and disc brakes are also pretty nice to have.

apparently it's domanEEEEE my bad

also is £750 entry level? let us know your thoughts.