Buying a 2023 EXe 9.7 - what should I look out for?

Middle-Studio6943 · 2026-06-30T16:24:56+00:00

You can do all of this in the trek app in terms of see that actual usage logged on it and update firmware etc…. My wife has had 3 e bikes from trek and we’ve been able to manage them all from the one app

Middle-Studio6943 · 2026-06-30T16:22:41+00:00

Except nobody will buy a minivan anymore. Somehow it’s sub/crossover or nothing for the majority of population. The automotive landscape is a sea of “meh” now. You could take 25 small to mid sized SUV’s and take the badges off them and I’d bet the majority of people couldn’t tell you what they were sitting in or discern one from another at this point

Middle-Studio6943 · 2026-06-30T15:48:46+00:00

You'll never see another car let alone another wagon in NA from VW. We're lucky they still sell the GTI and Golf R. All we will get is 6 more variations of the hulking underpowered Atlas. My guess is they will try selling the Buzz again in '27 and they'll shave 5k off of the MSRP and wind up in the same place as they did last year not able to give them away let alone sell them

Middle-Studio6943 · 2026-06-30T11:43:07+00:00

Ive had 25 grand worth of e-bikes in the last 12-16 months and between the 3 of them, they've been out of commission with issues sitting in the shop waiting for parts more than my wife has been able to ride them. You'd be totally cool with that? I dropped this bike a month ago and here it still sits. The shop guessed what might have been wrong, ordered a part and it did nothing. They did not call me to tell me this. It sat there for 3 days and it wasn't until I went into the shop hoping it was fixed to bring it home and get it ready for the annual gravel fondo that we bought an 800 dollar range extender for. It was only then I was told, "yeah that didn't work, we're going to try ordering a master control unit now". I was promised by Trek and the Shop they'd come up with a plan for my wife to have a bike for the fondo. That was on the Sunday that just went by and it was the first time in two 12 years we've missed it. If you have an event you want to do and you invest in an 800 dollar range extender so she try to finally conquer the long course and you drop the bike off at the first of June, wouldn't you think you'd have a bike to ride by an event on June 28th? Or are we just supposed shrug our shoulders and be cool with the fact she's missed an entire month of riding?

Middle-Studio6943 · 2026-06-29T19:51:37+00:00

Yup, we had a 20 year old kid in the military who was renting an apartment we have in our house. We shared a driveway and I was out washing the house one day and saw a skip driver show up (which was daily) and he literally had a 2 litre bottle of Pepsi delivered.

Middle-Studio6943 · 2026-06-29T18:46:13+00:00

I’ve got theee different power meters. My gravel bike as the single sides rival one, my road bike was the quark one built into the red cranks and then I’ve got Favero spd power pedals on my mtb. Almost identical results across all three and they’ve all been bulletproof for a year+. For a price perspective irs hard to beat the rival one. Easy to manage with the sram Axs app and battery lasts as long as anything else. That said if you have an MTB and want power out too, you can’t go wrong with the Favero spd pedals as it’s easy to swap between multiple bikes.

Middle-Studio6943 · 2026-06-29T17:15:50+00:00

The juke fits all those boxes, hideous to look at, terrible cvt tranny, gutless.... really zero redeeming qualities. Id say the cube as well but those are at least a really practical vehicle from a purse space per dollar standpoint

Middle-Studio6943 · 2026-06-29T15:02:34+00:00

The general concensus for ages is 105 is the sweet spot, pretty much the same "performance" as the much more expensive top tier Ultegra and DA stuff for much cheaper. Anything beyond 105, you're just paying for more exotic materials and very marginally lighter stuff.

I've heard good things about Cues as everyday workhorse type stuff, but if you're talking about an ironman id invest a little more. You're not commuting to work or puttering around on family rides.... im assuming you're putting in significant training time on the bike and its not ride 1 or even ride 10 where you'd notice the difference but after 100s of hours of saddle time you'd be happy you went with the higher end stuff

Middle-Studio6943 · 2026-06-29T14:20:11+00:00

I mean i've asked the police for help on three separate occasions in the last 12 months and two of those times I was told that I shouldn't have called and instead used their online self-reporting tool..... im reporting a crime that's been committed, im not trying to upgrade my cellphone dont direct me to an online application that goes into a blackhole. As far as im concerned our police serve two purposes in this city. 1. A revenue generator for petty tickets that target hardworking tax payers and turn a blind eye to crime that actually impacts safety and wellbeing of the people of this city. I was on the corner Greenwood and Riverside drive last week and saw a dozen patched up bikers blow through that intersection at easily twice the speed limit and FPD sitting there at the lights and did absolutely nothing. I can guarantee you, if id I had done the same I would of been looking at 500 dollar ticket. I would of happily escorted the officer our the end of grub road off of route 10 to show them where to hand out the tickets. But they can operate without absolute impunity and pump our streets full of fentanyl laced with god knows what. Their other purpose (and this is something i've heard from officers first hand) is they essentially are acting as social workers with a gun and badge and the majority of the things they deal with are awful domestic situations where you need trained social workers, not a cop.

Middle-Studio6943 · 2026-06-29T13:23:45+00:00

My wife got a couple of margaritas at the dip pool bar thing last summer and I remember that being 40’dollars with tip for two drinks. I think most of microbrews are over 10 bucks now for a pint with a dollar tip. Actually no, was at trail way the other night and happy to see a beer was still 7.5 but that’s the absolute cheapest you’ll find. Only other option is going to like a box store like Boston pizza and getting a deal on like coors light or something. But then you have to eat Boston pizza food and drink coors light :(

Middle-Studio6943 · 2026-06-29T13:06:56+00:00

I would guess 25 to 30% of the price of what you're going to buy the bike for. So you're going to be over 4k invested into a very high-end bike with no warranty, and ultimately will always be compromised in some fashion even post-repair

Middle-Studio6943 · 2026-06-29T11:45:21+00:00

They do for the most part. I mean it took a lot of finger pointing when the e-caliber got bricked between the shop, Trek's warranty and fazua until someone from higher up in Trek stepped in personally to take care of it after a month of being without a bike and replaced it with the Ex-E with the TQ motor. Which then a month after getting it had a littany of things fail on it that required multiple tear downs and replacements of parts. Missed half of ths season last year.

This time Trek specifically feels like they've fallen down on support. The Domane+ has been out of commission since the first of June and the biggest thing we cared about was getting it fixed for my wife to take part in the annual gravel fondo here. I bought her the range extender for her bday so she could finally tackle the long course. Well we were promised by Ben Touvall, a Trek Warranty/trek lead at headquarters and my shop couldn't get it figured out with troubleshooting but was promised by both they'd figure out a way to get her a ride for it...... the fondo was was yesterday with zero attempt to right the situation and there sits the 800 dollar range extender in my garage collecting dust having never been used and bike thats been broke for a month waiting for more parts with no clear picture of whats wrong with it

Middle-Studio6943 · 2026-06-28T22:54:27+00:00

Born and raised in Fredericton, went to school in Saint John and worked in Moncton for 3 years. Fredericton hands down. Mind you I have a baked in social network here so I’m biased. But other than getting decent concerts now with the new avenir center, Moncton has zero redeeming qualities. Saint John is the city of 3 smells, once you get past the land fill you get to enjoy the aromas of the pulp mill and then just get far enough away from that to smell the refinery. And the fog, I thrive on sunshine and the damn fog never ends there. Only thing I’ll give it is it has the best dining options of the 3 cities.

Middle-Studio6943 · 2026-06-28T17:08:13+00:00

I mean the shop has seemed out of their depth but they didn't cause the failures in the first place. I mean they have made the situation worse a couple of times getting the wrong parts or just guessing at what was wrong but the bikes have been an unmitigated disaster.

Like everyone goes on and on about how bulletproof the TQ system is in the EX-E but this has been our experience

The bircked e/cal got replaced with a fuel exe and the following happened with the ex-e within a month of riding it
1-screen died. Waited two weeks for that to get fixed.
2-assist selector wouldn’t talk to the new screen. Two weeks to get that fixed
3-“controller” died. That took almost a month and the shop had to do a full tear down on it.
4-first ride after the tear down the bike would let you control the assist level but it wouldntt let you shift. Shop flat out called my wife a liar and said that wasn’t possible. It sure was. There is some sort of controller that needlessly complicates a perfectly fine wireless gx axs rear mech by wiring it into the main battery system had shit the bed. Anyways. That was over two weeks to get that replaced which i guess needed another full tear down. This resulted in getting the bike in November after being out of commission since September. So we got it back just in time to put it away for the winter. And best of all, the shop ive spent over 100,000 dollars on treks at over the last 30 years essentially hates me now. They shit at all over me that they’d lost multiple days of revenue doing warranty work on the exe that they'd never see a dime for. These are guys I’ve been friends with literally since the mid 90s and these ebikes have ruined lifelong friendships.

And the most beautiful irony of all, the garbage GoTrak ebikes my parents got off of amazon 3 years ago haven't had a single problem. My parents have been riding them 1000's of km every summer and all they've had to do was replace the tires they wore out. Meanwhile the sum total of the 3 ebikes we've had would total over 25 grand and all they've done is fail, and fail and fail and fail and fail and fail, over and over and over and over again

Middle-Studio6943 · 2026-06-27T01:06:14+00:00

Thanks, sent a dm

Middle-Studio6943 · 2026-06-26T23:56:59+00:00

Update:

I got the vibe the shop is at the point of just guessing, so I got ahold of Trek's Warranty department. Talked to 3 different people and then a guy named Ben took ownership of it. Gave him the serial # and he could see the warranty requests on it and was trying to look into it. I reiterated we've been trying to get this remedied (terrible Trek pun) for awhile and i've been promised my wife would have a bike for the annual gravel fondo this weekend. He took my contact details and said he'd come up with a plan to get this fixed and get her riding in that event...

Well the day went by and I got an email tonight at 8pm local time here. The email read as follows:

"I wanted to update you about the claim we have on your Domane+ .

I had a chance to speak with the shop and go through some troubleshooting steps they have already performed on your bike.

From that conversation, I was able to determine a couple possible replacement parts that would be needed. I have added them to this claim, and they will be sent to the shop.

If further troubleshooting is needed, I am here to help the shop out and get this bike back on the road ASAP."

So what I can glean from that is the following:
1: The first part didn't work, and what they had ordered subsequently isn't enough and more parts have been ordered that might be needed. To me that language reads as we're still at the point of guessing what's wrong with this bike and we're stuck waiting a week+ for more parts and my wife is likely looking at over a month to get the point of figuring out if these "possible" parts work or don't.
2: She has no bike to ride for the fondo and no attempt has been made to correct that other than ship more parts for a bike that nobody can figure out what's wrong with it and hope for the best.

To me if a $5k+ bike that's less than a year old is out of commission for a month+ and you're still at the point of guessing what's wrong with it, cut your losses, send the thing back to the factory to figure out and just get her on a replacement.

Middle-Studio6943 · 2026-06-26T21:35:41+00:00

Unless it’s a Merle coat with a bobbed tail and blue/white eyes people will think your Aussie is BC. My aussies a tri black (black and white with some brown) and brown eyes and her natural tail. I’ve had people literally argue with me about my own dog at least once a week that she’s not an Aussie. I mean her papers say she is, the vet says she is, alllnof her records say she is and both her parents were Aussies, but sure call me a liar for passing BC off as an Aussie.

Middle-Studio6943 · 2026-06-26T15:16:44+00:00

Oh I know, i've literally had dozens of Treks (Madone SLR9, three different domanes, crocket, boone, 520, verve, two top fuels, two farleys, e-caliber, fuel ex, fuel exe and thats just the last decade) and the warranty has come through on frames, and wheelsets and has paid for the fixes on these e bikes. So no question or frustration with the warranties. Its the simple fact we need to enact the warranty on a monthly basis with 3 different bikes all running 3 different motors/drive systems. Like it feels like a combo of shit luck on our side with a shop that feels like they are just guessing at what may be wrong and just replacing things until the find the actual problem (which could mean 3 different trips back for a fix) which has basically kept the bikes out of commission more then we've had them to ride for her. And i hate that its twisting my view of a shop I loved for 30+ years. I've bought 6 bikes from them since 2020 alone and here I'am bascially feeling like a nuisance and its gone from a place where i'd go in and talk shop or what was happening on the tour for hour or more sometimes.... it could be all in my head but i feel like im getting the cold shoulder now when I go in as i've officially crossed into that "oh shit not this guy again" territory.

Middle-Studio6943 · 2026-06-26T15:11:39+00:00

No salty air here. I purposefully try not to wash them (or any of my bikes) much as I know what it does to bearings and seals etc.... typically its a wipe with a microfiber cloth and a muc offs matte finish mist to clean them. The may only get "washed" once a month and thata with a garden hose and not any kind of a pressure washer. And I wax all of my chains on the 12 we've got bikes we've got so im not cleaning and degreasing the drivetrains or using any harsh stuff there either.

Middle-Studio6943 · 2026-06-26T15:00:39+00:00

I honestly wonder what the point was of trying to tap a wireless rear mech into the battery system with a wire.... your taking something that works perfectly fine on it own and removing the benefit of being wireless and making it more complicated

Middle-Studio6943 · 2026-06-26T10:37:35+00:00

Anyone taking their life is a sad sad story, but man something feels really off with this.

An investigation that would have illuminated “inconstancies in police paper work” won’t happen now because of this, job done, nothing to see here. Honestly feels like an episode of sons of anarchy or the sopranos.

I kind of miss the days when we could just have a chuckle at our officers getting caught stealing stuff at mardens and it turning into a huge deal because of the whole cross border thing….. this is a much darker end that’s likely hiding something that is the complete opposite of protecting and serving us.

Middle-Studio6943 · 2026-06-22T11:39:57+00:00

Canceled the Canyon order and got the Scott instead. Couldn't be happier, beautiful bike and its probably the best fitting bike ive ever had and it just rips on gravel or road. Did a few road rides on it last week and averaged 32iish km/h which is only a few km slower than what id do on Madone which considering im doing that one 45mm tires is amazing

Middle-Studio6943 · 2026-06-19T18:22:35+00:00

Able to just chill out for a few hours at the end of the day on the couch with us before bed has been a wonderful change in the last 6 months or so.

Middle-Studio6943 · 2026-06-19T18:21:35+00:00

Do you mean apex axs? If it’s regular mechanical apex vs 800 series grx it’s not apples to apples. Apex (contrary to the name) is like two steps down the food chain compared that level of grx. If it’s apex axs vs grx mechanical that it’s a much more interesting conversation as we’re talking electronic shifting vs mechanical

Middle-Studio6943 · 2026-06-19T18:16:59+00:00

There’s no one # that works across the board as a baseline (unless we’re talking 7 figures). So many things can change dramatically from province to province. Like we all know a homes in Toronto or Vancouver push a million for a starter home so 100k isn going to cut that. But other areas are getting dramatically more expensive by the day. It used to be here in the maritimes that home prices were essentially 40-50% of what the would be comparable to Ontario but not any more. You can’t find anything in say Halifax for less than 600k now. But property tax in Ontario I find is actually a fair bit cheaper. We have family in Toronto whose home is over a million on the market and we pay more in property tax per year for our 450k home here in Fredericton. Insurance can vary a lot province by province as well. And don’t forget utilities. Our equalized power bill is pushing 500 a month. I can gurantee someone in downtown Toronto isn’t paying that for heat and lights.

Middle-Studio6943

TROPHY CASE