[Tharkun]

Hey,

Does anyone here own, or have ridden, a Session 7 or 77? Pictures and comments would be greatly appreciated. I do realize that there have been other Session threads but those were mostly speculation and no one really had the bike. I've heard good things about it.

Thanks,
Cam

 

[me89]

do a search

i know theres atleast one monkey that has one

 

[Ohio_Huck]

well, i broke my ironhorse at rays, and got to demo a 77 there. they are really nice bikes. the rear end is really, really plush, and its a very flickable bike. manuals very nicely, easy to get off the ground, ect. and its a VERY stiff bike, there is no flex in anything. the breakout plus was pretty sick too for all around freeriding. for the price, its a really nice bike, and i would recomend one without a doubt.

 

[me89]

wow you broke and ironhorse. wow that is an accomplishment. and ontop of my do a search post the sessions look to be very solid bikes for being treks. even though there a hardcore xc company they seem to be very solid bikes from what i can tell.

 

[RITFreeRider]

well, i broke my ironhorse at rays, and got to demo a 77 there. they are really nice bikes. the rear end is really, really plush, and its a very flickable bike. manuals very nicely, easy to get off the ground, ect. and its a VERY stiff bike, there is no flex in anything. the breakout plus was pretty sick too for all around freeriding. for the price, its a really nice bike, and i would recomend one without a doubt.

I was at Rays that day too, didn't you just bend your derailuer hanger I woudn't say you broke the bike if that was all.

Anyway I got some ride time on the Session 77. Overall the bike was good, pedalled as well as you would expect. Felt dead in the air, had to force it to really put it were you wanted. I didn't like all the Bontrager Big Earl parts on the bike and the sherman didn't do anything for me but then I don't like the feel of spv forks. I have no clue what these cost but I wouldn't pay too much for one.

 

[mobius]

It's a nice frame construction and paint job. The bike is kind of a simple design so it depends how you look at it. From a freeride it works stance then its a nice bike. The bontrager parts all over it is kinda meh. The manitou i'd say get rid of for a 66. Manipoo has lots of problems with their forks and i am not a fan of how they feel compared to a marz.

(before anyone says you havent ridden one i tried a manitou on my chase and it sucks. I tried it on my friends bike and it felt like poonannies.)

I'd say the session is a nice frame although u could find other bikes for the same price that are nicer its still a great bike and a nice construction. Checkout the ironhorse 7point series too.

 

[kidwoo]

In all fairness, unless your broke or bent something, how can you complain about Big Earl parts? Trust me, I'm well aware of the crap that has had the bontrager name on it before but what comes on the 77 looks pretty worthy. I'd certainly be willing to give them a chance. What are we talking about here? Rims, bars, stem tires......... The one I saw had saint cranks on it.

Mobius...didn't you have a stance fork? That's not exactly a good comparison to a sherman breakout. But I have felt a lot of dead manitous in the past. But the last two years, I've also ridden a handfull of really nice performing ones.......both a breakout and a slider. You guys going to whistler again this year? I'm going to be there the first week in July.

As far as the 77 goes, it looks like the best thing trek has ever made to me. I'm looking foward to getting a chance to ride one.

 

[Ohio_Huck]

eh, my bad, i f-d up the rear deerailleur, it was way smashed. not exactly breaking the bike, but whatever. eh, maybe it was just the fact that im used to my bike (which is a heavy, dead, flexy, POS, but i liked the session. yeah, bontrager stuff is usually crap, but i really didnt find anything wrong. everything felt solid. and the breakout plus was nice, not a DH fork, but for something that needs to be pedalled around, it worked.

 

[Cash-Money]

i got to screw arpouind on both a session 77 and a gary fischer king fischer 1 on sunday. the session manualed like a mofo and felt really good despite being undersprung for me. the two bikes were set up almosty identically aside from the frame and rear shock. the session had a swinger 4-way, and the fischer had a DHX 4.0. i prefered the gary fischer, it seemed to pedal better. i will probably be purchasing one of these two this summer, and would recommend either

 

[Ohio_Huck]

really? i also got to ride a king fischer, and i hated it. the rear end was too damn heavy, i thought it was very sluggish

 

[Geoff G.]

I demoed the session, and it felt great (except for being undersprung) It could go up, and down. Also nothing broke after about 1.5 hours of abuse from a rider who was constently bottoming it out. It looks alot better in person, than it does in pictures. Definately quality construction.

 

[Ohio_Huck]

oh yeah, for shure, for that price range, the session is a sick bike. the frame is very clean and understated, with really sculpted lines. its a sick bike that does everything well

 

[wannabeabonedoc]

click for a pic

sorry its from mtbr.com, but it's a picture.

 

[Tharkun]

Thanks for the reply's. I forgot about this thread for a while I've been doing alot of looking around for this bike. What you've said is generally encouraging, and I've heard both "it's not a trail bike at all" and "my XC bike is collecting dust" so I'm a little unsure still but what the hell I should just get it. Any more comments would be great!

Thanks,
Cam

 

[caputo1989]

Looks like an old stinky to me....

 

[binary visions]

Looks like an old stinky to me....

 

[Tharkun]

To me it looks far better then a Stinky, though I wish the production Sessions look like the ones on the website, not with the big tubing at the headtube and all.

 

[***MTB***]

killer bike dood

 

[Tharkun]

But I don't really want to buy this bike if Trek comes out with something way better next year. I've heard lots of stuff like "this is only the beginning" and all that. I don't want a bike that will be obsolete by next year.

 

[binary visions]

But I don't really want to buy this bike if Trek comes out with something way better next year. I've heard lots of stuff like "this is only the beginning" and all that. I don't want a bike that will be obsolete by next year.

Look, there's something better every year.

NEVER use that as an excuse to not buy a bike. If it suits your needs, buy it. Waiting because something will be better next year is stupid - in the mean time, you could have been riding, instead of wondering what Trek will come out with next year.

If they come out with some new bike next year, and you hear rumors that they've got something else in development, will you avoid making a purchase next year, too? What about the year after that?

If this bike looks good to you, and you have the money, then buy it. Stop thinking about next year and think about what you could be riding right now. There's always something newer and better, but no matter how great it is, it won't make up for all of your lost riding time.

 

[Tharkun]

That's a good point. I guess the fact that it's an old suspension design fueled that argument, but hey, it seems to work.

I'm still concerned with the weight however, but that's about it.

Thanks,
Cam

 

[Ohio_Huck]

go for it. absolutely. and this bike is a MILLION times nicer than a stinky. and with a swinger, it pedals damn well. i have a very in depth reveiw of it on MTBR if you wanna look there, but yeah, this bike is versitile, not a big hit freerider, not a trailbike, its right in between. perfect for technical ridding, drops, and badass trails.

 

[Tharkun]

I'll have to find that review on MTBR, is it in a forum or an actual review? Have you taken it on some XC trails, did you beg for mercy? You would say it is a great all-around bike? What kind of riding does it show some weakness?

Thanks alot,
Cam

 

[Tharkun]

I would say that most of my climbing is short, steep, out of the saddle rough climbs. The ones where you don't really have alot of momentum and you need to power it up a short, but rough, incline.

It has been suggested to me that I switch the tires to NBX 2.3's. This seems like a great choice as they are light, and really fast.

I would also say that I'm not worried about the bike's drop and jump ability. I'm pretty confident that it will be fantastic in that area. What I am worried about is the weight and how it pedals. Like if you had to go across a field, spinning through loose dirt, where you need every bit of power, would you want a 77? How about accelerating up to a jump on crappy terrain, like a grass meadow, or against the wind, would you want a 77?

I was almost sold on a IH 7.5 awhile back, but didn't buy it. Did I make the right decision?

Thanks,
Cam

 

[samich457]

I love everything about this bike. And yes it pedals really well!! I was skeptical myself. My bike weighs in at about 42 pounds, but does not feel heavy at all during pedaling. I dont think you will have any problems in that category. Overall I think you will be very pleased with it.

 

[theFOOT]

i'd totally go for it, i have had trek bikes in the past (liquid) and loved them, plus this one was designed by andrew shandro for himself so it has to be good, i cant wait untill my shop gets one so i can demo it.

 

[Tharkun]

I'm encouraged to buy this bike with all the positive stuff I've heard. I was watching Drop In today and I could be mistaken but isn't Cam McCaul riding a Session? Well he was the only one that did a backflip, and he was on the Session so it must be good in the air. He was going really high on that bike with the dirt jumps, just like all the others but they were riding hardtails. Maybe it isn't the Session though.

I also wonder how good of an urban bike it will be. How does bunnyhopping a 40 pound bike feel? It's only 6 pounds heavier than my current ride, and that bike doesn't strike me as a limiting factor in my painfully poor bunnyhopping. I know it "manuals like a mofo" so that is encouraging.

And I can't figure out whether or not to get a third ring on it. Like when I'm just riding around I can easily pull second-ring smallest-cog with a tailwind on a gravel road. I can't even stand up to hammer on it for too long because the gearing is just too low. But, on the other hand, I know I would ding up that third ring really quickly, so a bash would be nice. Would it be geared higher then my Warp because it is designed for only two rings? Like would the cogs be smaller and the rings bigger to fill the gap?

It's definatley one of the sexiest bikes around. I just hope I can use it's potential. I'm about a week away from getting it, if I decide to go for it.

Thanks,
Cam

 

[samich457]

Yes thats Cam riding a Session. I havent seen the Drop In episode but I do know that Cam also has a red short travel Session. I think its a combo between the Session and Liquid. I dirt jump mine all the time and love it. It is very easy to handle in the air. As for the urban riding Im not too sure. I choose to ride a hardtail for that. But I will tell you that my Session bunny hops really well!!! It even shocked a couple guys at the shop. I dont think you will be dissappointed!

 

[Tharkun]

Cool, I'm pretty sure that one was the long travel one because it looked identical to the ones I've seen. I'm glad it bunnyhops really well. When I say urban I don't mean like really hardcore urban (standing on back tire hopping to things extremely far away) but just easy to maneauver to get up on stuff, hold a tight line, that sort of thing. Bunnyhopping is of course apart of that. Also just being able to go really fast on pavement is good too. I've been riding stairs lately, not to good at going up them though.

The only thing holding me back now is the cost really. It's not cheap!

Thanks,
Cam

 

[samich457]

No this is definetly not a cheap hobby, but one of the many good things about this bike is the price. Its fairly reasonable. After riding it i would of paid more if I had to. I love it.

 

[Tharkun]

Yeah I still have a hard time getting over the prices of some bikes. I mean, I could buy a good second hand car for that amount of cash. But I don't want a car I want a mountain bike that will serve me well for years. I don't want to have to upgrade anything, and if I take really good care of it, maybe I can justify the cost.

I'll be moving into a big city in a year or two, I love riding bikes in the city. I'm on the hunt for new trails as well.

If it's as versitile as everyone says it is, and if I can swallow the bill, I'll get it.

Thanks,
Cam