trek 520 tur bisikleti

Trek 520 Tur Bisikleti

Daha önce kullandığım Trek 6500’den midir bilinmez, aklımda hep 26 jant bir tur bisikletine sahip olmak vardı. Sonra rengiyle, heybetiyle, ön-arka bagajlarıyla, şekliyle… Sayacaklarım daha uzar gider ama, tur bisikleti araştırırken kendimi 2019’da çıkan yeni Trek 520’ye bakarken buldum. 2019’daki Londra seyahatimde ise kanlı canlı gördükten bir kaç dakika sonra mağazadaki arkadaşa “Bunu kolileyebilir misiniz, uçağa koyacağım da…” dedim.

Tur bisikleti olarak Trek 520 seçmemdeki sebeplerden biri, markanın bu mofrli 1983 senesinden beri üretmesiydi. Üstünde ciddi anlamda bilgi ve birikim var. Ee tabi benim Trek markasına karşı duyduğum güvenin de bir etkisi oldu. Gelelim bisikletin diğer özelliklerine…

Trek 520 Kadrosu ve Maşası

Araştırmalarım sırasında zaten kafamda netlemiştim, sahip olacağım tur bisikleti çelikten bir kadroya sahip olacaktı. Trek 520’nin de kadrosu chromoly çelikten yapılma. Bu malzeme hem dayanıklılık hem de -Allah göstermesin- kadronun başına bir şey geldiğinde dünyanın neresinde olursa olsun işinin ehli bir çelik kaynak ustasıyla karoyu yolda tutmaya devam etmenize yardımcı oluyor. Bisikleti alırken beni kadro konusunda düşündüren tek şey kadro kulağıydı. Şimdiye kadar kendim hiç yamultma ya da kırma gibi bir tecrübe yaşamadım ama yakın çevremde başına öyle şeyler gelen arkadaşlarım oldu. Bu kadronun kadro kulağı bir çok çelik kadroda olduğu gibi sabit. Bakalım, kötüyü çağırmayalım. 🙂 Tur kadrolarında nerdeyse standartlaşan çerçeve içinde 2, alt boruda 1 tane olmak üzere 3 tane matara kafesi yuvası 520’nin üstünde de var. Hatta üçgen içindeki yatay matara bağlantısı 3 sıra yapılmış. Matara kafesini aşağı yukarı rahatlıkla takabiliyorsunuz.

Maşa ise çelik yerine alüminyumdan üretilmiş. Bu da benim hoşuma giden özelliklerden biri oldu. Çünkü bir çelik maşaya göre daha çok esniyor ve titreşimi emiyor. Üstünde ise sağlı sollu 3’er sıra bagaj bağlantı noktası yapmışlar. Düşünün, o sıra gravel bisikletler o kadar yaygınlaşmamış, gravel maşalar daha piyasada kendini göstermemişti bile. Adamlar bikepacking ‘i düşünerek maşayı modernize etmişler. Belki ilerde sistem değiştirir, maşa çantası ile hafif şekilde yola devam ederim. Maşa buna müsade edecek.

Jant Seti ve Göbekler

Geçmiş yolculuklarımdan edindiğim bir diğer tecrübe de iyi bir jant setinin turda hayat kurtardığıdır. Daha önceki yol arkadaşım Rex ‘in jantı ve telleri başlangıta ağır yüklere pek uygun değildi. O yüzden Anadolu Sahilleri’ni gezerken 2 kez set olarak arka jantın tellerini değiştirmiştim.

Trek 520 tur bisikleti üstünde fabrika çıkışı 36 delikli Bondrager Affinity TLR jantla geliyor. Jant, kalınlığı güzel, dayanıklı bir U profilden yapılmış. Çember tubles lastik kullanmaya da uygun ama o tarz afili işlere şimdiye kadar hiç sıcak olmadım. İç lastiğimi taktım ve devam ettim.

Göbek olarak ise Shimano M574 kullanmışlar. Bu göbeği de seviyorum, Deore serisine denk diyebiliriz. Dünyanın her yerinde elbet bir yedek parçası bulunur. Şimdiye kadar orman asfaltın yanında orman yollarında da yüklü şekilde çok yol aldım, jant seti bana mısın demedi.

Bu arada, ön göbeği değiştirdim. Deneyimli turcuların tecrübelerine güvendim, Shimano göbeği Son 28 dinamolu göbek ile değiştireceğim. Bu göbekten elde ettiğim akımı da Bush + Müller E-Werk ile belli başlı bataryalarımı şar edebileceğim bir enerji kaynağına çevireceğim. Bakalım ne kadar randımanlı olacak. Deneyip göreceğiz.

Tur Lastiği Seçimi

Trek 520 üstünde Bontrager H1 Hard-case Ultimate, 700x38c lastikle geliyor. Daha önceki nesillerde 700x32c veya 700x35c lastikler oluyordu. Bu bisikleti bu kadar albenili gösteren de bu lastikler. Aynı zaman yolda çok akıcılar. Yağmurda çok iyi performans veriyorlar ve 38c lastik yanakları sayesinde büyük yüklerin altında da rahat kalkıyorlar. Aynı zamanda patlamaya da dirençliler ama ben bir kez ön lastiğimi bir telden dolayı patlatmayı başardım.

Anlayacağınız ürere bu lastiklerden çok memnumum. Bir çok tur bisikleti kullanıcısının lastik olarak dayanıklılık konusunda kendini kanıtlamış Schwalbe marka lastikleri kullandığını görebilirsiniz. Ben de kendimi Asya yollarına vurmadan önce, Pamir gibi stabilize yolları da düşünerek Schwalbe Marathon Plus Tour 700X40c lastiklere geçiş yapacağım. Gürkan Genç’in 12 bin küsür km’de başından geçen bir kaç badire sonrasında o lastikleri ıskartaya çıkardığını düşününce, planladığım seyahati her türlü çıkartacaklardır.

Unutmadan şunu da ekliyim, Trek 520’ye 29×2.00 ebatında lastik de takabiliyorsunuz. Böyle bir modifikasyonla bi’ nevi Trek 920 ‘ye benziyor anlayacağınız. Arazi sürüşleri için bence güzel bir seçenek.

Tur Bisikleti Gidon Seçimi: Kelebek Gidon vs Drop Bar

Daha önceki seyahatlerimde düz gidon barı kullanmış biri olarak, bana daha fazla tutuş pozisyonu alternatifi sunan bir gidon tercih etmek istiyordum. Burada da karşınıza ilk olarak 2 gidon modeli çıkıyor. Kelebek gidon ya da Drop bar , bu konu tamamen kişisel bir tercih bence. İksinin de artıları ve eksileri var. Kelebek gidon sunduğu yaklaşık 5 farklı tutuş açısının yanı sıra aksesuar takabileceğiniz daha fazla yer sunuyor. Kullanılan malzemenin kalitesine ya da markaya göre de bazı esneme ve tam güç aktaramama gibi handikapları da olabiliyor kelebek gidonun. Drop barda ise yine 5 faklı tutuşu açısını size sunmasının yanı sıra daha agresif bir sürüş tarzının kapılarını açıyor. “Uzun yolda agresif sürüşe ne gerek var?” diyebilirsiniz. Bazı olumsuz durumlarda (bir çoban köpeğinin bölgesinden hızlıca çıkmaya çalışmanız gibi) bisikletin üstüne kapanıp adrenalin patlaması yaşadığınızda bu gidonun size artısı olacaktır ki bana vaktinde oldu. 🙂 Drop bar’da benim gözlemlediğim eksiklik ise gidon çantası taktığınızda ekstradan fener ya da km saati takacak pek bir yer kalmıyor. Ama bunu sorunu da farklı aksesuarlarla çözebiliyorsunuz. Şunu da ekleyeyim, kadrosu ve gidon boyu bedenize uygun bir bisiklete sahipseniz, drop barda da fazla öne eğilmeden konforlu bir sürüş elde edebiliyorsunuz. Benim şu anki tercihim 520’nin üstünde gelen drop bar’dan yana. Tabii ki üstüne bazı ufak modifikasyonlar da yapacağım. Daha uzun kullanımda yine bu kısmı güncellerim.

Vitesler ve Vites Kolları

Yeni Trek 520’de sevdiğim bir diğer özellik de vites sistemi. Eski nesillerde bar end shifter dediğimiz, gidon sonundan değiştirmeli vites kolları kullanılıyordu. Şimdi ise Shimano Sora 3030, 3×9 sistem kollarını tercih etmişler. Malum, drop bar’da kullanılacak doğru düzgün 3’lük bir sistem pek üretilmiyor. Bu sistem de eski Shimano 105’in 3×9 kollarının üstüne geliştirilmiş. Gayet dayanıklı ve düzgün çalışıyorlar. Ön vites için ara seçenekleri de kol size sunuyor. Şehir içi kullanımda da atiklik konusunda katkı sağlıyorlar.

Arka viteste 9’lu Shimano Alivio var. Kaset olarak ise 11-36 Alivio ruble mevcut. Ön viteste 3’lü Shimano Sora var; vites koluyla tam uyumlu. Dişli olarak ise 48x36x26 oranlarına sahip Shimano Alivio aynakol var. Dağ bisikletinin nispeten düşük aynakol oranlarından sonra bu yeni oranlar başlangıçta beni biraz zorladı ama zamanla alıştım.

Güzel Bir Mekanik Disk Fren: TRP Spyre C

Yine tur bisikleti bakarken aklımda disk fren almak pek yoktu. Eski faaliyetlerimde jant teli kırmamın birincil sebeplerinden biri disk frenin getirdiği ters gerilimdi. Ayrıntıya fazla girmeyeceğim, sizin de başınıza geliyorsa, bir ara konuşuruz. 🙂 Zaman içinde iyi bir jant ve tel seti ile bu sorunun da çözüldüğünü görünce, disk fren konusu yeniden gündemime girdi. Trek 520’nin üstündeki TRP’ler gayet randımanlı frenler. Çift taraftan pistonlu ve fren balatalarının mesafesini birbirinden bağımsız olarak ayarlayabiliyorsunuz. Shimano B01S balataları da yedek olarak kullanabiliyorsunuz. Tabi bi’ Spam BB7 kaliperler kadar güçlü değiller diyebilirim.

160 mm TRP diskler üstünde geldi. Ben ön tarafı 180 mm ile modifiye ettim. Ne yapayım, MTB’den gelen bir alışkanlık. 😅

Eski nesil 520’ler sadece arka tarafta 25 kg kapasiteli Bontrager Tur Bagajıyla geliyordu. Yeni nesil ise arkaya ek 15 kg kapasiteli Bontrager ön bagaj ile geliyor. Alüminyum malzemeden üretilen bu bagajlar şimdiye kadar yeterli performansı verdiler. Bakalım eşek yükünün altında Asya coğrafyasında ne yapacaklar, birlikte göreceğiz. 😉

Tur Bisikleti için O Bir Klasik: Brooks B17

Bir bisikleti konforlu yapan en önemli şeylerin başında bence koltuk geliyor. 520’nin üstünde Bontrager’in standart bir selesi vardı ki ben o seleyi Anadolu Sahillerini gezerken 2.000 km’den fazla kullanmıştım. Aktif geçen 3 saatin sonunda konfordan eser kalmıyordu. Şimdi ise bir çok turcunun tercihi Brooks B17 deri seleyi kullanıyorum. Gayet de memnunum. Totonun konforu önemli.

Bisiklet turculuğuna ilgisi olanlar zaten bu modeli biliyordur. Bilmeyenler için konuyu biraz daha derinleştirecek olursam; 1887’de İngiltere’de kurulan Brooks, o zamanlar at eğerleri üretiyormuş. Zamanla eğere talep azalınca rotayı demir atlara çevirmişler. Görüntüsü çok sert olan bu koltuklar hakiki deriden el işliğiyle üretilen ve zaman içinde kullanıcısının kalça kemiğini şeklini alıyor. Böylece uzun kilometreler boyunca konforlu bir sürüş sağlıyor.

Shimano XT PD-T8000 Pedal

Trek 520 üstünde standart bir pedalla geliyordu. Ben onun yerine ne zamandır gözüme kestirdiğim Shimano PD-T8000 pedalı tercih ettim. Bu pedal hem hafif hem de dayanıklı. Bir tarafı platform, diğer tarafı ise kilitli pedal ayakkabıya uygun. Uzun süre bakım yapılmasa bile akıcılığını koruyacaktır.

Bir Çamurluk Sorunsalı: Olmalı mı Olamalı mı?

Bir bisiklet üstünde en çabuk deforme olacak malzemelerden başında çamurluklar geliyor. Ön arka farketmeksizin yağmurlu havada konforu da sürüşü farklı bir seviyeye getiriyor. Vaktinde Doğu Karandeniz’de 10 gün boyunca aralıksız yağmur altında süren biri olarak, ön terekin insanın suratına gönderdiği su damlacıklarının ne kadar çirkin olduğunu iyi biliyorum. Yeni bisikletimde de çamurluk olmazsa olmaz diye düşündüm ve Bontrager NCS Çamurluk Setini bisikletle eş zamanlı aldım. Bu çamurluk sağlamlık konusunda tahminlerimin üstünde performans verdi. Blender uyumlu arka lambamı da çamurluğun üstüne takmak güzel oldu.

Trek 520 Tur Bisikleti İnceleme Videosu

Bunları da beğenebilirsiniz

Bisiklet Turunda Kullandığım Kameralar ve Görüntü Ekipmanları

Trek 520 Uzun Yola Hazır

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Road Test: Trek 520

If the Trek 520 were a person instead of a bicycle, it would be old enough to run for president.

Not to serve, mind you — not this term anyway. The Trek 520 is “only” 34 years old, a year short of the constitutional requirement for ascension to the presidency. Anyway, that position has been filled.

Hiring policies in the nation’s capital notwithstanding, the 520 remains the elder statesman of the Trek line, according to Eric Maves, curator of the Trek Historical Collection.

“Thirty-four consecutive years in the product line; no other Trek model comes close to that track record,” he said.

As you might expect, this venerable touring bike has seen a few changes since 1983, when Ronald Reagan was in the White House and I was in the newspaper business. The lugged Reynolds 501 tubeset has given way to welded 4130; chainstays and wheelbase have stretched a couple of centimeters; and the brakes have evolved from sidepulls through cantilevers to mechanical discs.

But, at rock bottom, the 520 remains stable, sturdy, and steel, available in six sizes from small to tall, and anyone who liked it in ’83 is liable to like it today.

Heck, if you were a fan 10 years ago, you’ll probably be one now because the 520 isn’t much different. Why mess with success?

You’ll find quite a few Shimano components on the 520 — 36-hole M475 hubs with quick-release skewers, Deore M590 triple crankset, Alivio and Deore derailers, Dura-Ace bar-end shifters, and a nine-cog HG50 cassette.

And, because this is a Trek, you’ll see a lot of Bontrager bits too, as in just about everything else. Stem, handlebar, tape, seatpost, saddle, rims, tires, rear rack — even the sealant in the inner tubes bears the B.

There are a few exceptions. The brakes are Hayes CX Expert mechanical discs, with levers from Tektro, just as on the comparably priced Kona Sutra, which I reviewed in May 2014. The chain is a KMC X9. And the pedals are Wellgos, with toe clips and straps. 

Gearing is what you’d expect from a touring bike with more than three decades on the road — a 48/36/26T triple up front and an 11–32T cassette in back. The Deore trekking crank even includes a chainguard to keep lube off your chinos, if you occasionally do your cycling in street clothes.

And the color is basic black, which is always in style.

A Little History

My first Trek was considerably less subtle. That 1985 560 was an eye-popping purple and yellow, like a bruise with wheels, which seemed oddly appropriate as my years spent working a series of copy desks had left me looking a bit puffy.

I rode the wheels off it, shedding weight and a nicotine habit, and I know 520 owners who have recouped similar value from their Treks. A friend’s wife still loves her ’09 model, which has been converted to a flat-bar bike, and a neighbor only recently sold his 520 after first transforming it into a singlespeed.

But when it comes to finding out what the bike is truly capable of, I tip my hat to the late great David Lamb. In 1994, the veteran Los Angeles Times correspondent rode his 520 more than 3,000 miles from the Potomac to the Pacific, eventually spinning the three-month journey into a book, Over the Hills: A Midlife Escape Across America by Bicycle.

In an excerpt reprinted in Adventure Cyclist, he wrote, “My American-made bike — a Trek 520 — proved as roadworthy as the most expensive Mercedes-Benz, and it strikes me as remarkable that such a simple contraption was capable of carrying me so far without extracting a single penny for fuel, oil, or mechanical repairs.”

Twenty-three years later, the descendant of Lamb’s bike seems equally well suited to adventures large and small.

Size and Carrying Capacity

With sizes ranging from 48cm to 63cm, fit shouldn’t be an issue for most customers. A 57cm fit me like an old slipper, with an assist from the short-reach, shallow-drop Bontrager VR-C bar. The Blendr-compatible stem lets you mount lights, computers, and accessories above or below the faceplate. And because pedals and a rear rack are included in the $1,360 price tag, you’ll be ready to roll as soon as the credit card clears.

That rack, a Bontrager BackRack Deluxe L, is rated for a maximum of 55 lbs. The company doesn’t offer a front rack for the 520, but I had a Tubus Ergo low-rider on hand; it needed a few spacers to clear the fork’s stout lower legs and disc-brake caliper.

Performance

Once on the road, the 520’s performance was just what you’d expect from a bike that was all about adventure before the concept became a category. The ride was relaxed but responsive — just the ticket for those impromptu coast-to-coast getaways — and the Bontrager AW1 Hard-Cases felt surprisingly plush for an all-weather, puncture-resistant 32mm tire. You can go bigger if you want, but I found the Hard-Cases well suited to my rides around Albuquerque.

Snapping through the gears was a breeze with the Dura-Ace bar-cons and Alivio/Deore derailers all meshing nicely. I do have an aesthetic problem with that Alivio front derailer — it looks boxy, cheap, and clunky, especially sitting next to that triple crank with its equally obtrusive chainguard — but the solution is to avoid looking down while riding. Trust me. After a while, I forgot that my ’85 560 looked like the upshot of a hard left to the ribs and just rode the bike.

Trust me. After a while, I forgot that my ’85 560 looked like the upshot of a hard left to the ribs and just rode the bike.

The Alivio derailer may not be sexy, “but it is functional, reliable, and easy to find an economical replacement for, should the need ever arise,” said David Studner, Trek’s assistant product manager for city bikes. “The low-clamp/top-swing format is also more durable by virtue of its tucked-away design.”

This was good to know because I found myself using that front derailer more than usual. I’m sloppy about shifting, generally slouching around in the middle ring until some emergency arises, but with the Trek I found I wanted to be in the little ring if using the 28T or 32T cog to keep a clean chainline and avoid the occasional auto-downshift from the middle ring.

Road Test: Co-op Cycles ADV 1.1

I don’t see the Hayes mechanicals as often as I do the Avids, but they impressed me on the Kona Sutra and I like them here too. This is another good thing because the rim-brake 520 has been discontinued effective this year. Thus, the disc-brake model is the only one you’ll see at your local dealer. When I picked up my review bike at the Albuquerque Trek Superstore, manager Mike Humphries had just one lonely V-brake 520 on the floor, which seemed to be where it would stay.

Oh, you can still have one if you must. Studner said both the disc- and rim-brake 520 framesets are stocked as service parts for $660, so if you break yours, or just want one to build to your own specifications, see your friendly neighborhood Trek dealer.

Or you could save yourself the time, hassle, and expense, and go with the instant gratification of the modern 520 to get started on your own midlife escape from the Potomac. The Pacific awaits.  

Patrick O’Grady has written and cartooned about cycling since 1989 for VeloNews, Bicycle Retailer & Industry News, and a variety of other publications. Read more from and about Patrick O’Grady   here .

• Price: $1,360
• Sizes available: 48cm, 51cm, 54cm, 57cm, 60cm, 63cm
• Size tested: 57cm
• Weight: 29.4 lbs with rear rack, stock pedals with toe clips and straps, and reflectors front and rear

Test Bike Measurements

• Stack: 587mm
• Reach: 383mm
• Head tube length: 160mm
• Head tube angle: 71.8°
• Seat tube: 543mm (center to top of seatpost clamp)
• Seat tube angle: 73.5°Top tube:557mm (effective)
• Chainstays: 450mm
• Bottom bracket drop: 70mm
• Fork offset: 52mm
• Fork trail: 59mm
• Wheelbase: 1052mm
• Standover: 794mm

Specification

• Frame: 4130 butted chromoly. Rack and fender mounts, disc mounts, pump peg, chain hanger, three sets of bottle bosses, down tube cable routing, down tube bosses for shifters/barrel adjusters
• Fork: Chromoly with rack and low-rider mounts, and fender and disc mounts
• Headset: VP Slimstak, sealed semi-cartridge bearings
• Rims: Bontrager tubeless ready
• Hubs: Shimano M475, 36-hole, QR
• Tires: Bontrager AW1 Hard-Case, 700c x 32mm
• Crankset: Shimano Trekking M590 with chainguard, 175mm, 48/36/26T
• Bottom bracket: Shimano sealed cartridge, threaded
• Cassette: Shimano HG, 11–32T, 9-speed
• Brake levers: Tektro RL340 aero
• Shift levers: Shimano Dura-Ace bar-cons
• Front derailer: Shimano Alivio
• Rear derailer: Shimano Deore
• Brakes: Hayes CX Expert mechanical disc, 160mm rotors
• Stem: Bontrager Elite, 100mm, 31.8mm four-bolt clamp, 7° +/-, Blendr compatible
• Handlebar: Bontrager Race VR-C, 440mm, 85mm reach, 125mm drop, 31.8mm clamp diameter
• Seatpost: Bontrager SSR, two-bolt head, 27.2mm, 12mm setback
• Saddle: Bontrager Evoke 1
• Rear rack: Bontrager Back Rack Deluxe L, 55 lbs
• Pedals: Wellgo R125 with toe clips and straps

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The New 2019 Trek 520 Touring Bike

Table of Contents

The 2019 trek 520 touring bike, want to compare this touring bike with dozens of others, helpful resources, touring & bikepacking bike overview.

The Trek 520 is the longest running model in Trek’s history. It’s hard to believe that this USA-based company has been refining their dedicated touring bike for 36 years now! Today, we’ll be looking at the controversial changes to the frame, fork and components of the 2019 Trek 520 model.

Ok, the most controversial change to the Trek 520 is the new aluminium fork. Really, a steel frame and aluminium fork?

Aluminium is a dirty word in the bike travel world, but the thing is – broken aluminium forks that are designed for the purpose of touring are about as rare as hen’s teeth. Almost all European touring bikes employ aluminium forks on their builds, and it follows that if this material was inherently unreliable or dangerous, manufacturers would’ve switched back to steel over a decade ago.

From the outset, it might seem strange that Trek chose an aluminium fork for the 520, especially when it causes concern for some. I can’t comment on the precise reason why Trek would have chosen aluminium over steel, but it seems logical to me that they’ve managed to achieve increased fork stiffness with a tidy weight reduction of 318 grams.

Is an aluminium fork less comfortable than a steel fork? Not in my experience. When you’re running tyres in the 38-50mm width range you experience lots of tyre deformation over bumps making any difference in vertical fork compliance unnoticeable. It is worth mentioning that some steel forks with a long rake can be optimised for vertical flex, but this style of fork wasn’t fitted to the outgoing 520 model.

Moving on, a new feature of the fork is what Trek calls the thru-skew secure skewer system. The dropout loops all the way around the skewer, meaning that the wheel cannot fall out unless the skewer is removed. This is designed to keep the quick release wheel perfectly aligned in the fork, similar to a thru-axle system. The fork itself comes with eyelets to fit a cargo cage on either side, as well as eyelets behind the dropout for full fenders.

Included with the bike is a Bontrager front rack unique to the 520. The rack features an upper tray to fit a front basket or a porteur-style bag. Alternatively, you can use the tray to simply strap a drybag to the top. It’s great to see some eyelets on the rack to help mount a front dynamo light too.

The Trek 520 now uses Shimano STI shifters rather than the tried-and-trusted barend shifters of the previous models. While this may seem like a bad decision for a round-the-world touring bike, STI shifters have become much more reliable in the past five years and many people who travel a bit closer to home certainly prefer the better access to the shift levers. You can always swap the levers out if you’d prefer to know your shifter will outlast the rest of the bike.

The bars on the 520 are a pretty typical road handlebar. It’d be nice to see a flared drop handlebar offered with this bike for two reasons: the flared drops provide a bit more steering leverage and the handlebar shape provides additional clearance for a bikepacking handlebar pack, should you decide to pack light.

The gear ratios have improved on the 2019 Trek 520 which I’m really happy about. While many users of the old model opted to swap in a 11-36t cassette to achieve a sub-20″ climbing gear, the new model comes with one as standard.

Another moot point found in the forums about the 2019 model is the downgrade from Shimano Deore gearing to Alivio. The reason for this move is that Deore has now moved on to 10-speed, and unfortunately there are no Shimano STI shifters which will work with the new 10-speed Deore drivetrain parts.

The brakes have received an upgrade to TRP Spyre-C callipers, however. These cable-operated brakes use a unique design that pulls both brake pads in at the same time, providing near-hydraulic braking performance (most cable disc callipers pull just one pad).

Tyre clearance has stepped up from 700x45c to 700x50c. While most companies abide by international standards for tyre clearance (at least 4mm of space on either side of the tyre), Trek adds another 2mm on top of that, so you can likely fit 54mm tyres (29×2.2″) in the 520. Another change to the 520 frame is the larger diameter downtube. This increases the lateral frame stiffness and therefore increases the stability with a front and rear load. As far as I’m concerned, you can never have enough frame stiffness on a touring bike!

And finally, there’s been some discussion around the 125kg maximum total weight limit for this bike. If the bike weighs 13kg itself and you were to carry the maximum rack capacity of 38kg, that means that technically you’d have to be under 74kg as a rider to meet this requirement.

I’m not too sure why Trek have opted for this limit (it’s been like this for a while – something legal perhaps?), but it’s my experience that a frameset of this build type will comfortably handle more. The wheels, although spec’d with 36 spokes, are possibly the only area which may not stand the test of time under a 125kg+ load. Check out THIS resource for my rim recommendations for super heavy loaded touring (ie. tandem-strength rims).

In addition, most bigger manufacturers like Trek are typically a bit more generous with their warranties as they prefer to provide good after-sales service to keep their customers happy. Not always, but I do often hear this.

What do you think of the choice of two colours? I’m digging the simple retro graphics of this years model and think the Anthracite Grey would be a good theft-deterring colour option. At US $1679 , the bike is a bit more expensive than previous years, but with the front rack, upgraded brakes and STI shifters it’s still competitive enough in this segment. Don’t like the build? You can also get the frameset for US $640 if you’d prefer to do build it your way.

You can find out more at Trek .

Check out the  Touring Bicycle Buyer’s Guide  which compares touring bike steering, sizing, gear ratios, specification, pricing and more. The Bikepacking Bike Buyer’s Guide does the same thing, however, with a focus on lighter bikes and models with more off-road capability. Both of these guides are updated annually with the latest models at no extra cost!

All About Touring Bike Brakes Frame Materials for Bicycle Touring How to Select Touring Bike Gearing Understand Bicycle Frame Geometry What’s the Difference between Cyclocross and Touring Bikes?

2016 Advocate Lorax 2018 All City Gorilla Monsoon 2016 Basso Ulisse 2016 Bianchi Volpe and Lupo 2016 2016 Bombtrack Beyond 2017 Bombtrack Beyond 2018 Bombtrack Beyond 2018 Bombtrack Arise Tour 2019 Bombtrack Beyond 2016 Brodie Elan Vital 2016 Cannondale Touring 2019 Cannondale Topstone 2020 Cannondale Topstone 2016 Cinelli Hobootleg Geo 2018 Co-Op ADV 4.2 2017 Curve Grovel V2 2017 Diamondback Haanjo EXP Carbon 2016 Fuji Touring 2017 Fuji Touring 2018 Fuji Touring 2018 Fuji Touring Disc 2016 Genesis Tour de Fer 2016 Giant ToughRoad 2017 Giant ToughRoad 2018 Giant ToughRoad and ToughRoad GX 2016 Jamis Aurora and Aurora Elite 2019 Jones Plus SWB 2020 KOGA WorldTraveller-S 2016 Kona Big Rove 2016 Kona Roadhouse and Sutra LTD 2016 Kona Sutra 2017 Kona Sutra 2018 Kona Sutra 2018 Kona Sutra LTD 2019 Kona Sutra and Sutra LTD 2020 Kona Sutra and Sutra LTD 2020 Kona Unit X 2016 Marin Four Corners 2017 Marin Four Corners 2018 Marin Four Corners 2016 Masi Giramondo 2018 Masi Giramondo 2016 Niner RLT9 2016 Rawland Ulv and Ravn 2016 Salsa Deadwood 2017 Salsa Fargo 2018 Salsa Fargo Ti Frameset 2018 Salsa Journeyman 2016 Salsa Marrakesh 2017 Salsa Marrakesh 2018 Salsa Marrakesh 2020 Salsa Marrakesh 2017 Salsa Vaya 2019 Salsa Warbird 2016 Specialized AWOL 2017 Specialized AWOL 2017 Specialized Diverge 2018 Specialized Diverge 2019 Specialized Diverge 2017 Specialized Sequoia 2018 Specialized Sequoia 2019 Specialized Sequoia 2018 Surly Bridge Club 2017 Surly Troll 2016 Traitor Wander 2019 Trek 520 2016 Trek 920, 720, 520 & CrossRip 2017 Trek CrossRip 2018 Trek 920 2018 Trek 1120

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Trek 520 Review: Is It a Good Bike or Waste of Money in 2024?

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Trek 520 is an affordable touring road bike with a rich history. The question is:

Is it a good bike worth your consideration?

One of the highlights of the Trek 520 is that it comes with front and rear racks, allowing you to equip it with panniers and bags for increased cargo capacity. The stylish yet durable steel frame. The entire bike’s geometry is more relaxed so that you can sit in a more upright position.

Let’s scrutinize this bike in-depth to find out more.

Is Trek 520 a Good Bike?

Trek 520 retails for around $1,829 (the actual price may vary).

So, what do you get for this money?

• A stylish, old-school-looking bike based on a steel frame.
• Front and rear racks for panniers and bags to expand the storage capacity for your long bike adventures.
• Shimano Sora 3×9spd groupset, providing enough gears for all terrains.
• Disc brakes for effective stopping power in all conditions.
• An overall capacity of 275 lbs (125 kg).

The quick description above makes it clear that the Trek 520 is not a standard road bike but a touring/adventure bike designed for touring.

Bikepackers and other adventure seekers love it for its large storage capacity, which allows them to pack everything they need.

The bike’s geometry allows you to sit upright, unlike on racing road bikes. This riding position is more beginner-friendly and suitable for people with limited mobility.

Trek 520 is available in 6 sizes and is suitable for riders from 5’2″ to 6’6″ (from 158 to 197 cm) tall.

Pros and Cons of Trek 520

Below, I summarized the pros and cons of Trek 520.

Pros of Trek 520

• Front and rear racks included
• Timeless look of the steel frame
• 3×9spd drivetrain offering 27 gears
• Disc brakes
• Comfortable geometry, allowing upright riding position
• Available in a wide range of sizes
• Tubeless-ready rims
• High weight limit of up to 300 lbs (136 kg)
• Platform cage pedals included
• Lifetime warranty and wide distributors (support) network

Cons of Trek 520

• Limited color selection
• The higher weight of 31.4 lbs (14.24 kg)
• Relatively low weight limit of 275 lbs (125 kg)

Owner’s Experience with Trek 520

The following part summarizes the experience of the owner of Trek 520 Grando, who was kind enough to provide us with pictures and his insights.

“Trek 520 Grando – the ‘do it all’ bike. Go anywhere, everywhere, on any surface, and in any condition.

Steel frame, aluminum fork with Shimano Tiagra front derailleur and shifters & Shimano GRX rear derailleur.

I’m almost at 3000 miles as of August 7th. I bought the bike on December 29th, 2021.

I’ve added the Bontrager Adventure Boss frame bag, switched out the pedals to Shimano SPD, the handlebars to GR Elite with 13° flare, and the red tape. Also switched out the saddle to the Verse Comp.

The most important and noticeable change was the wheels, which I upgraded to Bontrager Aeolus Pro 3V with a 108 rapid drive hub.

The tires are Origin 8 Wildfire CX 700x38C tires for gravel/sand and Bontrager H2 for the road.

I ride the bike through sandy trails, over gravel, mud, and grass, and on the road. The gearing goes from crawling to maxing out at 34mph (55 km/h) on flat terrain.

The changes I’ve made are all personal things I wanted to upgrade or change for my comfort and performance. The bike stock was perfect, except for the pedals and saddle. It came with toe cages that are not good, and the saddle was not very comfortable (personal preference).

Otherwise, I love the bike so much! I’m averaging about 120-160 miles a week on it. Unfortunately, I am limited because of the 40°C temperatures we have this time of year.

I can definitely recommend this bike to someone looking for a versatile and comfortable bike! “

Main Features of Trek 520

Trek 520 has been in Trek’s lineup since 1983. Below, I focus on the 2023 model.

Durable Steel Frame

Trek 520 is based on a timeless steel frame with a relaxed geometry.

This is good news for bike packers because they can sit in a more upright riding position that is less demanding on their flexibility and core strength.

Steel is also a bike material that is relatively easily fixable on the go (unlike carbon).

Its other benefits include high durability, affordability, and the iconic look of the rounded tubes.

29-Inch Wheels

The 29-inch wheels are a standard size on road bikes. Those on the 520 are tubeless-ready, so you can use tubeless tires.

They are made of aluminum and use stainless steel spokes, providing great durability while keeping reasonable weight.

NOTE : The wheelset in the following picture is not stock. The owner replaced it with the Bontrager Aelous 3V carbon wheels.

The 520 offers tire clearance for up to 2″ wide tires (without fenders). So, depending on the terrain you want to ride, you can replace the stock 38mm tires.

Trek 520 is equipped with Shimano Sora/Alivio (shifters, derailleurs, cranks, cassette), Bontrager, and other 3rd party components.

The Grando has a combination of Shimano Tiagra and GRX and easier gears. It also has wider tires but doesn’t include the rear rack.

I am sure you will appreciate the mechanical disc brakes that are more effective in tougher conditions (like in the rain).

Some owners report the stock saddle is uncomfortable, but everybody has different preferences. You can always replace it later.

One of Trek 520’s main highlights is its aluminum racks, which can hold up to 55 lbs (25 kg).

Remember, the Grando only comes with the front rack. The rear rack is not included.

NOTE : The rack is not shown in the pictures because the owner took it down and uses frame bags instead.

These racks will allow you to expand your bike’s storage capacity, so you will pack everything you need for your trip.

The current generation of Trek 520 has a 3×7spd drivetrain with 21 gears, while the Trek 520 Grando has a 2×10spd drivetrain.

This range is wide enough for various terrains. Just make sure you avoid cross-chaining.

The disadvantage of the 3X drivetrains is their complexity, more complicated maintenance, and higher weight.

More expensive mountain bikes come with 2X or 1X drivetrains that are much simpler than 3X.

You don’t have to think about the cross-chaining as much. That’s why they are more popular.

Trek 520 Specifications

Below, I summarize the most important technical specifications. Remember, they differ based on the year:

• Frame material: Steel
• Trek 520: ±14.24 kg (31.4 lbs)
• Trek 520 (Grando): ±13.28 kg (29.27 lbs)
• Wheel size: 29-inch (tubeless-ready)
• Brakes: Mechanical disc brakes
• Trek 520: Shimano Sora/Alivio
• Trek 520 (Grando): Shimano Tiagra/GRX
• Trek 520: Front and rear included
• Trek 520 (Grando): Front only
• Trek 520: 3×9spd
• Trek 520 (Grando): 2×10spd

What Trek 520 Size Do You Need?

To choose the correct size of Trek 520 (Grando) for your height and inseam, refer to the following Trek 520 sizing charts.

Trek 520 (also available in the ‘Grando’ option) is a reliable touring road bike worth buying if you want to undertake long bike adventures.

It has racks that allow you to equip the bike with panniers and bags to extend your storage capacity.

Thanks to the durable steel frame, you will stand out in the flood of carbon road and gravel bikes.

It also offers a wide enough gear range (3×9spd) suitable for various gradients.

There are really not many downsides, except for the limited color selection and weight limit of 275 lbs (125 kg).

Trek 520 FAQ

Yes. Trek 520 is a worthy touring bike for people seeking bike-packing adventures. It has a durable steel frame with a relaxed geometry, racks for extending storage capacity, and a wide enough gear range to tackle any terrain. Read this entire article for more info.

The Trek 520 has narrower tires and front and rear racks. Grando has wider tires, only a front rack, and different gearing and components (Shimano Sora/Alivio vs. Tiagra/GRX). The 520 Grando is also about 1 kg (2 lbs) lighter.

Trek 520 weighs ±14.24 kg (31.4 lbs). Trek 520 Grando weighs ±13.28 kg (29.27 lbs).

Trek 520 has been in Trek’s lineup since 1987. ( Source )

About The Author

Petr Minarik

5 thoughts on “trek 520 review: is it a good bike or waste of money in 2024”.

I loved this bike, but after about 1,500 miles the crank bearing were worn and the ultimate disappointment, the frame cracked. It was my ideal touring bike up tao that point. Trek cannot even replace the frame, but offered an aluminum gravel bike frame which does not meet my needs. I’ll keep looking for a frame.

Hi Kurt, I am sorry to hear that. I am also surprised that Trek didn’t offer the same frame as a compensation. What frame did they offer? And why it doesn’t meet your needs? – Petr

Luckily got Trek 520 from Dbyke store, Pune, India. Weight factor is a concern as it weighs pretty 14 Kgs. Should weight could be compromised by Al alloy speed could also have picked up as its not designed for speed. Should have come with fenders and a dynamo. I didn’t find the stock pedals effective and got it replaced. Overall tough bike and didn’t face any issue from 9 months. No bike is complete but have to accept the reality.

I have owned 520 since 2020. In that time I have driven 8000 km (end 2023). I happened to weigh over 135 kg. The Shimano hardware and paint is poor, a gentle bump is a chip. I have HeadSet bearings to replace. The 520 has not let me down in Switzerland, Italy, Germany, France, Holland, Belgium, Austria, Hungary, Poland … Is it worth buying? I can’t think of anything better in Europe at this price. The Koga is two, three times more expensive.

Have a good trip

Hi Dominik, Thanks for sharing your experience! I wish you a lot of kilometers ridden. 🙂 – Petr

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Trek 520 Disc first ride review

BikeRadar gets world’s first test of Trek’s revamped steel tourer

Robert Smith / Immediate Media

Simon Withers

The Wisconsin-based company has been making its steel 520 bike since 1983 — making it a couple of years younger than Specialized’s Allez and a decade or so younger than the Dawes Galaxy, probably the standard bearer for steel touring bikes, at least in Britain — and started out as an all-round road bike. But in the years since 1983 the bike has flitted between all-rounder and full-on tourer.

The 2019 incarnation is very much the latter beast, having gained even more touring-friendly features than the 2018 model, and it now has some serious expedition chops to its name.

• Best gravel and all-road bikes of 2018
• This Pinion-equipped touring wagon is unashamedly practical

Trek 520 Disc spec as tested

• Frame : TIG-welded butted chromoly steel
• Fork : Alloy disc touring with lowrider mounts
• Handlebar : Bontrager Comp VR-C
• Stem : Bontrager Elite ‘Blendr’ with computer and light mounts
• Seatpost : Bontrager 27.2mm alloy, 12mm offset
• Saddle : Bontrager Evoke 1.5
• Shifters : Shimano Sora
• Front derailleur : Shimano Sora
• Rear derailleur : Shimano Alivio rear
• Brakes : TRP Spyre C2.0 mechanical disc
• Brake levers : Shimano Sora
• Cassette : Shimano HG200, 11-36, 9-speed
• Chain : KMC X9
• Chainset : Shimano Alivio triple 48/38/26T
• Bottom bracket : Shimano external cartridge bearing
• Wheels : Bontrager Affinity TLR tubeless-ready 36-hole rims, Shimano M475 hubs
• Tyres : Bontrager H1 Hard-case Ultimate, 700x38mm with reflective sidewall
• Extras : Bontrager 15kg-max capacity front rack and 25kg-capacity rear rack
• Weight : 13.97kg (57cm including racks but not pedals)

Trek’s 520 ups its touring chops for 2019

Most notably for 2019 the 520 has gained a 15kg-capacity Bontrager front rack and a much lower bottom gear — the all-important one — compared with the 2018 model. It has also moved from bar-end shifters to more familiar Sora STI levers.

Trek’s original 520 was lugged, whereas today’s model has a neatly TIG-welded chromoly steel frame with an alloy thru-axled fork; the rear wheel has a standard quick-release.

There’s a peg at the rear of the head tube to fix a frame pump under the top tube and a chain peg on the driveside seatstay. There are three bottle bosses on the down tube, allowing you to fix the bottle cage at different points, and further fittings on the fork, so you can adjust the height of the rack or carry more bottle cages if you forego it altogether.

Triple the fun

Most significantly for 2019, and a sign of its more adventurous ambitions, is that the gearing has gone even lower than before. Make no mistake, this is a good thing.

If your bike is carrying a 70kg rider (okay, nearer 75kg in my case) and approaching 40kg of kit, and you reach the bottom of a long or/and steep hill, you can never have a bottom gear that’s too low. This is where the very-rarely-seen-on-a-road-bike triple chainset comes in.

Trek should also be praised for making it a 48/36/26t Alivio mountain bike chainset, with a teeny-tiny 26t inner chainring, rather than a Shimano 105 road bike 50/39/30 or similar.

Trek really makes the most of this with the saucer-sized 36t sprocket, which delivers a very low bottom gear (under 20in). The 48x11 top gear (around 120in) is more than adequate for powering down hills, and the Sora gear lever and Alivio rear derailleur pairing works well, even with the large jumps necessitated by the 9-speed 11-36 cassette.

Is that bailout/granny gear too small? Not if you find yourself on an unsurfaced road at the foot of a 2,000ft / 600m peak, which happened to me touring in New Zealand years ago.

The front thru-axles help you get the most from the TRP Spyre brakes, which are among the best mechanical disc brakes around with the advantage of being easier to fix and fettle than hydraulics when off the beaten track. Okay, they require more effort through the brake levers than even low-end hydraulic disc brakes, but they work in all weather conditions.

That said, the 36-spoke Bontrager Affinity rims give the impression they’d survive the apocalypse. The 38mm Bontrager Hard-Case tyres ride well on tarmac and were fine on the light gravel of my local canal towpath, and the rims will take wider rubber too, so you can fit more gravel-specific or off-road-flavoured tyres.

Go low, go slow, go long…

The geometry is touring leisurely, with long chainstays, a wheelbase well over a metre and a slack head-tube angle. This creates a very stable, comfortable, semi-upright riding position, ideal for both touring and commuting.

Contact points are good and you can rack up those miles comfortably, albeit slowly. Where it really comes into its own is in its ability to carry considerable quantities of kit, which is where the super-low gearing helps.

My 16-mile commute ends with a few hundred metres of climbing at 10–12 percent, which usually requires out-of-the-saddle honking or even zig-zagging on the steepest section.

Not with the Trek 520. Even with bulging panniers I could stay seated in the bottom gear and spin-spin-spin. On a tourer you want to twiddle and maintain a high cadence rather than crank a knee-crunching gear. If you are loading the 520 up to the gunwales, split the load between the 25kg capacity rear rack and 15kg front, which will balance the handling better.

Trek 520 Disc early verdict

The 2019 is £100 / $215 more expensive than last year’s model, but I think it justifies the extra cost (in the UK at least) if you fancy tackling some full-on, continent-traversing treks.

The front rack ups carrying capacity to the max, with more bosses for greater adaptability, and while Sora STI may nominally be a lower spec than 2018’s bar-end shifters, the move to a much lower bottom gear more than makes up for that.

Upping tyre spec from 32mm to 38mm adds weight, yes, but increases comfort, which can be further added to by going tubeless or to even chunkier rubber.

If you carry heavy loads you could use Trek’s 520 for tough commuter runs but the 520 is most at home on the wide-open road. Thirty-five years of history so far, and we reckon you could get a lifetime of trekking adventure on this well-specced, attractively priced bike.

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2023 Trek 520 Review

Are you looking for an affordable, lightweight, and dependable travel bike to tour around the world? If your answer is yes, then you need to read our review of the 2023 Trek 520.

The 2023 Trek 520 is one of the most popular touring bikes on the market. 

It has a lightweight steel frame, sturdy wheels and powerful brakes that make it ideal for long-distance travel in any terrain. 

Additionally, it offers an impressive range of gears, which helps ensure that you’ll be able to handle anything life throws at you while on the road.

Although this bike was designed with touring in mind, its stylish design and reliable components make it suitable for everyday use as well. 

We will review the features and specs of the 2023 Trek 520 and explain why it’s one of the best bikes for long-distance cycling or urban commuting.

Trek’s 520 touring bike for 2023 comprises both speed and strength, crafted with Bontrager Evoke saddle, lightweight alloy wheels and Shimano components. 

It considers comfort, efficiency and reliability as a priority. Let’s take a look at the features in this review of the Trek 520 for 2023:

The Trek 2023 520 is a dependable touring bike made for long distance rides that has been optimized for comfort and performance.

This touring bike offers riders a lightweight yet strong chromoly steel frame, precision brakes and an ergonomic riding position. 

It also comes with an adjustable stem to provide extra reach when needed, reliable tires on rugged wheels, responsive Shimano drivetrain with 21 speed, wide-range components so you can go farther with less effort. 

– Lightweight chromoly steel frame for strength and durability

– 3×9 Shimano drivetrain for improved gear range

– TRP Spyre C 2.0 mechanical disc brakes provides reliable stopping power in all conditions

– Wide range 3×9 drivetrain consisting of 48/36/26t front chainrings and a 11-36, 9 speed cassette

– Reliable Bontrager H1 Hard-case Ultimate, 700x38c tires

– Rugged Bontrager Affinity Disc wheels withstand even toughest terrains

The steel frame is made from Trek butted chromoly that provides a reliable ride quality and excellent strength to meet the challenging miles you will be encountering—no matter if on pavement, dirt or gravel.

Trek has equipped the new 520 with just the right amount of rigidity while still maintaining the compliance needed to stay comfortable over longer rides. 

It comes with Trek’s Alloy disc touring fork, loaded with rack mounts, and a 100x5mm ThruSkew that gives you excellent control over rough surfaces. 

The resulting stability ensures you feel safe and secure even during high-speed descents down steep grades.

Wheels & Tires

This bike is fitted with Bontrager Affinity alloy wheels spinning around sturdy sealed bearing hubs that are designed to tackle any road surface. 

As well as being light they also feature straightforward mechanical disc brakes offering plenty easy braking power when needed. 

For grip on tougher terrain, Trek dressed the aluminum hoops with meaty Bontrager H1 Hard-case Ultimate, 700x38c tires boasting plenty of bite through wet conditions.

Drivetrain & Brakes

Thanks to its strong Shimano Sora and Alivio 3×9-speed drivetrain, you are guaranteed plenty range for tackling climbs or flybys when out riding around town. 

Stopping power comes courtesy of TRP Spyre C 2.0 mechanical disc keeping weight low but ensuring you have enough stopping power when coming back down off tough sections.

All these elements come together making up an incredible machine perfect for those looking for strong, reliable, steel touring bike capability at great value without halfhearted design or compromises when it comes to components. 

Next time your considering your next purchase be sure to take some time to consider Trek’s latest offering —the 520 may be just what your searching for!

Order online and have it shipped to your local dealer for final assembly!!

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• Rider Notes

2022 Trek 520

A steel frame gravel bike with mid-range components and mechanical disc brakes. Compare the full range

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Feb 2020 · Miles Arbour

The stock Trek 520, the quintessential steel touring bike in the brand's lineup, wasn't quite doing it for Miles. Here is his take on a classic, complete with a flat bar conversion, 1x11 drivetrain, and the absolute biggest tires he could fit. Find details, lots of photos, and a complete build kit here...

Read Review

Last updated June 28 Not listed for 654 days

Shooter Files by f.d. walker

Street Photography Tips, Interaction, Travel, Guides

Apr 24 2017

City Street Guides by f.d. walker: A Street Photography Guide to Moscow, Russia

*A series of guides on shooting Street Photography in cities around the world. Find the best spots to shoot, things to capture, street walks, street tips, safety concerns, and more for cities around the world. I have personally researched, explored and shot Street Photography in every city that I create a guide for. So you can be ready to capture the streets as soon as you step outside with your camera!

At over 12 million people, Moscow is the largest city in Russia and second largest in Europe by population ( Istanbul is #1). An urban, cosmopolitan metropolis with more than enough glitz and glam to cater to the elite, but without losing its fair share of Soviet era roughness around the edges. It can be fast paced, brash, busy, and trendy like other big cities, but it has its blend of West meets Russia atmosphere and beauty that provides plenty of unique interest. The Red Square is as famous as it gets, but there’s so much more to this city, including the most beautiful subway system you’ve ever seen. It would take years to capture all of Moscow, but that means you have an endless amount of areas to discover.

So here’s a Street Photography guide so you can be ready to capture all that Moscow has to offer before you even arrive!

• Patriarch’s Pond
• Old Arbat Street
• Maroseyka Street
• Tverskoy Boulevard

Top 5 Street Spots:

1. red square.

The Red Square is the most famous square in not just Russia, but all of Eastern Europe. The name actually doesn’t come from the color of the bricks or communism, but from the name in Russian, Krásnaya, once meaning “beautiful” before its meaning changed to “red.” This large plaza is what you see on the cover of guide books and magazines for Moscow, with St. Basil’s Cathedral being the center piece next to Lenin’s Mausoleum surrounded by the Kremlin Wall. Of course, the Red Square attracts hordes of tourist due to the main attractions, but all that activity around an interesting atmosphere does provide street photo opportunities. It’s also the central square connecting to the city’s major streets, providing a good starting point to explore outward.

You’ll also find the popular pedestrian only Nikolskaya Street connecting the Red Square to Lubyanka Square. This line of expensive shops includes plenty of activity, while also leading you to another popular square. Filled with history rivaling any city, the Red Square and surrounding areas are the heart and soul of Russia.

2. Patriarch’s Ponds

Patriarch’s Ponds is one of the most exclusive neighborhoods in Moscow. Despite the name being plural, there’s only one large pond, but it’s worth a visit with your camera. It’s a popular spot for locals and expats to come relax or take a stroll around the pond. You get an interesting mix of young and old too, from young love to “babushkas” feeding pigeons. It’s a very peaceful park atmosphere in one of the nicer areas within the city center, while bringing enough activity for street photography. 

The pond is shallow and in the winter becomes a popular spot for ice-skating too. The area is also well-known for the location in the famous Russian novel, The Master and Margarita. 

3. Old Arbat (Stary Arbat)

Old Arbat is the most famous pedestrian street in Moscow, and dating back to the 15th century, also one of its oldest. Originally, it was an area of trade, but soon became the most prestigious residential area in Moscow. During the 18th century, Arbat started attracting the city’s scholars and artists, including Alexander Pushkin. Cafes lined the streets and impressive homes filled the neighborhood. Since then, New Arbat street was created as a highway in the area, while Old Arbat was paved for a 1km pedestrian only walkway.

Due to the historic buildings, famous artists that lived here, and the bohemian atmosphere, Old Arbat has become a big attraction for tourists today. Now, there’s a mix of cafes, restaurants, souvenir shops, street performers, street merchants and other attractions for visitors, and some locals, to come enjoy. It can get really busy here and there’s usually something interesting going on so it’s a good street to come walk with your camera for guaranteed life.

4. Gorky Park

One of the most famous places in Moscow is Gorky Park. The official name is Maxim Gorky’s Central Park of Culture & Leisure, which gives you an idea of what goes on here. When built, it was the first of its kind in the Soviet Union. Divided into two parts, it stretches along Moscow River. One end contains fair rides, foods stands, tennis courts, a sports club, a lake for boat rides, and more. This end brings more active life due to its number of attractions, while the other end is more relaxed, where you’ll find gardens, trees, older buildings, and an outdoor amphitheater.

Gorky Park attracts mostly locals so it’s a good spot to capture the non-tourist side of Moscow life. Muscovites come here to escape the city and unwind in a picturesque setting. The park remains alive outside of the warmer months too, especially when the lake turns into the city’s largest outdoor skating rink. I’d recommend taking the metro out here to spend at least half a day exploring the massive park’s life with your camera.

5. Maroseyka Street

Maroseyka Street is a popular area not too far from the Red Square. The long, winding street turns into Pokrovka and is lined with restaurants, cafes, bars and places to stay. It’s actually where I like to stay when I’m in Moscow due to its location and solid street photography opportunities itself. You have Kitay-gorod station near and if you keep walking southwest, you’ll get to the Red Square. But if you walk northwest, as it changes to Pokrovka, you can find a long street of activity for photography with its own interesting atmosphere.

6. Tverskoy Boulevard

Tverskoy Boulevard is the oldest and longest boulevard in Moscow, beginning at the end of Nikitsky Boulevard, and finishing at Pushkin Square, a spot to come for activity itself. The boulevard is made up of two avenues, with pedestrian walkways in-between. You’ll find grass, shrubbery, trees, benches and more walking it’s almost kilometer length. Many people come here to enjoy some relaxation, walk their dog, or just to use it to walk wherever they’re going. Its center location also provides a nice place to walk with your camera near plenty of other spots you’ll want to check out anyway.

Sample Street Walk:

For a full day of Street Photography, covering some of the best spots, you can follow this sample street walk for Moscow:

• Start your morning walking around the Red Square (1), while exploring the surrounding area, including Nikolskaya Street
• Then walk northwest to Patriarch’s Ponds (2) and slowly walk the pond and surrounding area with your camera
• Next, walk east to the Pushkin Monument and stroll down Tverskoy Boulevard (6)
• Once Tverskoy Boulevard (6) ends, it will turn into Nikitsky Boulevard. Follow this down until you get to the start of Old Arbat Street (3), across from Arbatskaya station
• After you’re done walking down Old Arbat Street (3) for more street photography, spend some time checking out Moscow’s beautiful metro stations
• To finish off the day with more street photography, get off the metro near Red Square (1) again, Maroseyka Street (5) or wherever you’re staying for the night.

3 Things I’ll Remember about Shooting in Moscow:

1. museum metro.

The Moscow metro system was the first underground railway system in the Soviet Union and today includes 203 stations across 340km of routes. The elaborate system has some of the deepest stations in the world too, with escalators that seem to go on forever. None of this is what makes it so special, though. Many of its stations feel like stepping inside a museum, making it without a doubt the most interesting and beautiful metro system I’ve been in.

When built, Stalin wanted to make the metro stations “palaces for the people” with marble, chandeliers, and grand architecture. The best part is the variety of architecture and styles used, making many of the stations a completely different experience visually. You could easily spend a whole day traveling the stations and there are even tours available for people who wish to do just that. My advice, though, would be just to buy a ticket and hop on and off at different stations, while exploring different lines. The museum-like surrounding mixed with the crowds of characters can make for a great photography experience.

Since there are so many stations, here are some of my favorites to check out:

• Novoslobodskaya
• Mayakovskaya
• Elektrozavodskaya
• Komsomolskaya
• Ploschad Revolyutsii
• Dostoyevskaya
• Prospekt Mira

2. Moscow is Big

It’s no secret that Moscow is a big city, but it can feel even bigger with how spread out much of it is. This is especially true if you compare it to cities outside of Asia. If I compared it to cities in Europe, I’d probably say only Istanbul would warrant more time to really discover the depths of this city. Most only explore around the Red Square and surrounding area, but that is such a small part of the city. Although, that central area does give you plenty to see on its own.

Fortunately, I had a good friend living in the city to show me around, but it opened up my eyes even more to how much there is to discover in Moscow. It’s a big city with a variety of atmosphere that can take you from “east” to “west” and trendy to rugged depending on where you go. I’d imagine you’d have to live here a while to really know the city.

3. Cosmopolitan Mix of East meets West

Modern skyscrapers mixed with amazing architecture, a world-class metro system with museum-like beauty, trendy fashion and chic clubs, Moscow is a rich mix of Russian culture and history in a more western cosmopolitan package. There is a push to keep the Russian culture, while also pushing forward with a modern metropolis the whole world will envy. This comes with an impressive skyline, that continues to grow, and endless modernities, but with soviet nostalgia and atmosphere mixed in for good measure.

Mixed in with this grand western cosmopolitan atmosphere, is a strong national pride in Russia. This includes their famous leader, Vladimir Putin. Maybe no other place will you see a country’s leader more often. All over, from the pricey tourist shops to the underground walkway stalls, you’ll find goods with Putin’s likeness covering them. From t-shirts to magnets to Matryoshka dolls. There’s a strong national pride that can be seen around the city, which also extends to their leader. Moscow is many things. It’s East meets West, modernizations meets Soviet era, and a whole lot more.

What To Do For a Street Photography Break?:

Eat at a stolovaya.

Stolovayas are Russian cafeterias that became popular in the Soviet days. You grab a tray and walk down the line of freshly prepared local dishes, and select whatever you want from the chefs. They’re usually inexpensive and a much better value than restaurants, while giving you the opportunity to try from a wide selection of everyday Russian food. They’re also very tasty. I always include some borsch on my tray and go from there. The places themselves are all over Moscow and usually come with Soviet-era aesthetics to complete the experience.

Street Safety Score: 7

*As always, no place is completely safe! So when I talk about safety, I’m speaking in general comparison to other places. Always take precaution, be smart, observe your surroundings and trust your instincts anywhere you go!

Being the 2nd largest city in Europe with over 12 million people, you’re going to have your dangerous areas, but for the most part, it feels safe walking around. Russia is statistically higher in crime compared to most of Europe, but this generally doesn’t apply to tourists and visitors. Around the Red Square and surrounding city center, you should feel completely safe walking around. Pick pocketing can happen, but no more than other touristic places. I always explore Moscow freely without coming across too much to worry about. It’s a spread out city, though, so of course it matters where you are. Just use basic street smarts, know where you are and Moscow shouldn’t give you a problem. 

People’s Reaction Score: 7

Moscow is fast paced, big city life, which usually means people aren’t too concerned with you, or your camera. I don’t find people notice or pay much attention to me when I’m out taking photos in Moscow. For the most part, people just go about their day. You shouldn’t get too many looks or concern. But it can depend on the area you are in. The more you stick out, the more you might get noticed with suspicions. I’ve never had any problems in Moscow, or Russia, but just be careful who you’re taking a photo of if you get out of the city center. Other than that, it’s about average for reactions. 

Street Tips:

Learn the alphabet .

Much of Moscow, including the metro system, doesn’t use english. The Russian alphabet uses letters from the Cyrillic script, which if you aren’t familiar with it and don’t know the sounds, can be hard to decipher the words. This is most important for street names and metro stops when trying to get around. It can save confusion and make it easier getting around if you learn the basic alphabet. At the very least then, you can sound out the words to see which are similar in the english conversion, which can help matching them to maps. When out shooting street photography, getting around is as important as anything. So save yourself some time and frustration by learning the Russian Alphabet.

Use the metro

While Saint-Petersburg feels very walkable for a city its size, Moscow can feel very spread out, even for its bigger size. Outside of the Red Square area, you can have plenty of walking before getting anywhere very interesting, so you’ll need to take the metro a lot if you really want to explore the city. Maps are deceiving here too, it will always be further than it looks.

Another reason it’s less walkable than Saint-Petersburg is its completely different set-up. Moscow’s streets are mostly contstructed in rings with narrow, winding streets in-between. This is common with medieval city cities that used to be confined by walls, but you usually don’t have it in a city this massive. Saint-Petersburg has a more grid-like pattern that also uses the canals to help you know your way around. When it comes to navigating on foot in Moscow, it can be more difficult, so bring a map and take the metro when needed. It’s why Moscow’s metro carries more passengers per day than the London and Paris subways combined.

Explore other areas if you have time

Moscow is really big. While most people stay around the Red Square within the Boulevard Ring, there’s so much more to the city. I covered some other spots outside of this circle, but if you really want to see the city, you’ll need time. If you do have time, some other areas I’d check out first are Zamoskvarechye, along some of the south and western Moscow.

Inspiration:

For some more inspiration, you can look through the Street Photography of Moscow photographer Artem Zhitenev  and check out 33 of my photos taken in Moscow .

Conclusion:

Moscow’s name brings a certain mystique, but once you’re there it might bring a different atmosphere than you expect. It’s big and sprawling, but beautiful in many ways. It can feel like a European capital on a grand scale, but you can definitely find its Russian side in there.

The urban sprawl of Moscow can be intimidating, but give it enough time and you’ll be rewarded with plenty to discover. All with the world’s best metro system to take you around.

I hope this guide can help you start to experience some of what Moscow contains. So grab your camera and capture all that Moscow has to offer for Street Photography!

If you still have any questions about shooting in Moscow, feel free to comment below or email me!

(I want to make these guides as valuable as possible for all of you so add any ideas on improvements, including addition requests, in the comment section!)

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In Transit: Notes from the Underground

Jun 06 2018.

Spend some time in one of Moscow’s finest museums.

Subterranean commuting might not be anyone’s idea of a good time, but even in a city packing the war-games treasures and priceless bejeweled eggs of the Kremlin Armoury and the colossal Soviet pavilions of the VDNKh , the Metro holds up as one of Moscow’s finest museums. Just avoid rush hour.

The Metro is stunning and provides an unrivaled insight into the city’s psyche, past and present, but it also happens to be the best way to get around. Moscow has Uber, and the Russian version called Yandex Taxi , but also some nasty traffic. Metro trains come around every 90 seconds or so, at a more than 99 percent on-time rate. It’s also reasonably priced, with a single ride at 55 cents (and cheaper in bulk). From history to tickets to rules — official and not — here’s what you need to know to get started.

A Brief Introduction Buying Tickets Know Before You Go (Down) Rules An Easy Tour

A Brief Introduction

Moscow’s Metro was a long time coming. Plans for rapid transit to relieve the city’s beleaguered tram system date back to the Imperial era, but a couple of wars and a revolution held up its development. Stalin revived it as part of his grand plan to modernize the Soviet Union in the 1920s and 30s. The first lines and tunnels were constructed with help from engineers from the London Underground, although Stalin’s secret police decided that they had learned too much about Moscow’s layout and had them arrested on espionage charges and deported.

The beauty of its stations (if not its trains) is well-documented, and certainly no accident. In its illustrious first phases and particularly after the Second World War, the greatest architects of Soviet era were recruited to create gleaming temples celebrating the Revolution, the USSR, and the war triumph. No two stations are exactly alike, and each of the classic showpieces has a theme. There are world-famous shrines to Futurist architecture, a celebration of electricity, tributes to individuals and regions of the former Soviet Union. Each marble slab, mosaic tile, or light fixture was placed with intent, all in service to a station’s aesthetic; each element, f rom the smallest brass ear of corn to a large blood-spattered sword on a World War II mural, is an essential part of the whole.

The Metro is a monument to the Soviet propaganda project it was intended to be when it opened in 1935 with the slogan “Building a Palace for the People”. It brought the grand interiors of Imperial Russia to ordinary Muscovites, celebrated the Soviet Union’s past achievements while promising its citizens a bright Soviet future, and of course, it was a show-piece for the world to witness the might and sophistication of life in the Soviet Union.

It may be a museum, but it’s no relic. U p to nine million people use it daily, more than the London Underground and New York Subway combined. (Along with, at one time, about 20 stray dogs that learned to commute on the Metro.)

In its 80+ year history, the Metro has expanded in phases and fits and starts, in step with the fortunes of Moscow and Russia. Now, partly in preparation for the World Cup 2018, it’s also modernizing. New trains allow passengers to walk the entire length of the train without having to change carriages. The system is becoming more visitor-friendly. (There are helpful stickers on the floor marking out the best selfie spots .) But there’s a price to modernity: it’s phasing out one of its beloved institutions, the escalator attendants. Often they are middle-aged or elderly women—“ escalator grandmas ” in news accounts—who have held the post for decades, sitting in their tiny kiosks, scolding commuters for bad escalator etiquette or even bad posture, or telling jokes . They are slated to be replaced, when at all, by members of the escalator maintenance staff.

For all its achievements, the Metro lags behind Moscow’s above-ground growth, as Russia’s capital sprawls ever outwards, generating some of the world’s worst traffic jams . But since 2011, the Metro has been in the middle of an ambitious and long-overdue enlargement; 60 new stations are opening by 2020. If all goes to plan, the 2011-2020 period will have brought 125 miles of new tracks and over 100 new stations — a 40 percent increase — the fastest and largest expansion phase in any period in the Metro’s history.

Facts: 14 lines Opening hours: 5 a.m-1 a.m. Rush hour(s): 8-10 a.m, 4-8 p.m. Single ride: 55₽ (about 85 cents) Wi-Fi network-wide

Buying Tickets

• Ticket machines have a button to switch to English.
• You can buy specific numbers of rides: 1, 2, 5, 11, 20, or 60. Hold up fingers to show how many rides you want to buy.
• There is also a 90-minute ticket , which gets you 1 trip on the metro plus an unlimited number of transfers on other transport (bus, tram, etc) within 90 minutes.
• Or, you can buy day tickets with unlimited rides: one day (218₽/ US$4), three days (415₽/US$7) or seven days (830₽/US$15). Check the rates here to stay up-to-date.
• If you’re going to be using the Metro regularly over a few days, it’s worth getting a Troika card , a contactless, refillable card you can use on all public transport. Using the Metro is cheaper with one of these: a single ride is 36₽, not 55₽. Buy them and refill them in the Metro stations, and they’re valid for 5 years, so you can keep it for next time. Or, if you have a lot of cash left on it when you leave, you can get it refunded at the Metro Service Centers at Ulitsa 1905 Goda, 25 or at Staraya Basmannaya 20, Building 1.
• You can also buy silicone bracelets and keychains with built-in transport chips that you can use as a Troika card. (A Moscow Metro Fitbit!) So far, you can only get these at the Pushkinskaya metro station Live Helpdesk and souvenir shops in the Mayakovskaya and Trubnaya metro stations. The fare is the same as for the Troika card.
• You can also use Apple Pay and Samsung Pay.

Rules, spoken and unspoken

No smoking, no drinking, no filming, no littering. Photography is allowed, although it used to be banned.

Stand to the right on the escalator. Break this rule and you risk the wrath of the legendary escalator attendants. (No shenanigans on the escalators in general.)

Get out of the way. Find an empty corner to hide in when you get off a train and need to stare at your phone. Watch out getting out of the train in general; when your train doors open, people tend to appear from nowhere or from behind ornate marble columns, walking full-speed.

Always offer your seat to elderly ladies (what are you, a monster?).

An Easy Tour

This is no Metro Marathon ( 199 stations in 20 hours ). It’s an easy tour, taking in most—though not all—of the notable stations, the bulk of it going clockwise along the Circle line, with a couple of short detours. These stations are within minutes of one another, and the whole tour should take about 1-2 hours.

Start at Mayakovskaya Metro station , at the corner of Tverskaya and Garden Ring,  Triumfalnaya Square, Moskva, Russia, 125047.

1. Mayakovskaya.  Named for Russian Futurist Movement poet Vladimir Mayakovsky and an attempt to bring to life the future he imagined in his poems. (The Futurist Movement, natch, was all about a rejecting the past and celebrating all things speed, industry, modern machines, youth, modernity.) The result: an Art Deco masterpiece that won the National Grand Prix for architecture at the New York World’s Fair in 1939. It’s all smooth, rounded shine and light, and gentle arches supported by columns of dark pink marble and stainless aircraft steel. Each of its 34 ceiling niches has a mosaic. During World War II, the station was used as an air-raid shelter and, at one point, a bunker for Stalin. He gave a subdued but rousing speech here in Nov. 6, 1941 as the Nazis bombed the city above.

Take the 3/Green line one station to:

2. Belorusskaya. Opened in 1952, named after the connected Belarussky Rail Terminal, which runs trains between Moscow and Belarus. This is a light marble affair with a white, cake-like ceiling, lined with Belorussian patterns and 12 Florentine ceiling mosaics depicting life in Belarussia when it was built.

Transfer onto the 1/Brown line. Then, one stop (clockwise) t o:

3. Novoslobodskaya.  This station was designed around the stained-glass panels, which were made in Latvia, because Alexey Dushkin, the Soviet starchitect who dreamed it up (and also designed Mayakovskaya station) couldn’t find the glass and craft locally. The stained glass is the same used for Riga’s Cathedral, and the panels feature plants, flowers, members of the Soviet intelligentsia (musician, artist, architect) and geometric shapes.

Go two stops east on the 1/Circle line to:

4. Komsomolskaya. Named after the Komsomol, or the Young Communist League, this might just be peak Stalin Metro style. Underneath the hub for three regional railways, it was intended to be a grand gateway to Moscow and is today its busiest station. It has chandeliers; a yellow ceiling with Baroque embellishments; and in the main hall, a colossal red star overlaid on golden, shimmering tiles. Designer Alexey Shchusev designed it as an homage to the speech Stalin gave at Red Square on Nov. 7, 1941, in which he invoked Russia’s illustrious military leaders as a pep talk to Soviet soldiers through the first catastrophic year of the war.   The station’s eight large mosaics are of the leaders referenced in the speech, such as Alexander Nevsky, a 13th-century prince and military commander who bested German and Swedish invading armies.

One more stop clockwise to Kurskaya station,  and change onto the 3/Blue  line, and go one stop to:

5. Baumanskaya.   Opened in 1944. Named for the Bolshevik Revolutionary Nikolai Bauman , whose monument and namesake district are aboveground here. Though he seemed like a nasty piece of work (he apparently once publicly mocked a woman he had impregnated, who later hung herself), he became a Revolutionary martyr when he was killed in 1905 in a skirmish with a monarchist, who hit him on the head with part of a steel pipe. The station is in Art Deco style with atmospherically dim lighting, and a series of bronze sculptures of soldiers and homefront heroes during the War. At one end, there is a large mosaic portrait of Lenin.

Stay on that train direction one more east to:

6. Elektrozavodskaya. As you may have guessed from the name, this station is the Metro’s tribute to all thing electrical, built in 1944 and named after a nearby lightbulb factory. It has marble bas-relief sculptures of important figures in electrical engineering, and others illustrating the Soviet Union’s war-time struggles at home. The ceiling’s recurring rows of circular lamps give the station’s main tunnel a comforting glow, and a pleasing visual effect.

Double back two stops to Kurskaya station , and change back to the 1/Circle line. Sit tight for six stations to:

7. Kiyevskaya. This was the last station on the Circle line to be built, in 1954, completed under Nikita Khrushchev’ s guidance, as a tribute to his homeland, Ukraine. Its three large station halls feature images celebrating Ukraine’s contributions to the Soviet Union and Russo-Ukrainian unity, depicting musicians, textile-working, soldiers, farmers. (One hall has frescoes, one mosaics, and the third murals.) Shortly after it was completed, Khrushchev condemned the architectural excesses and unnecessary luxury of the Stalin era, which ushered in an epoch of more austere Metro stations. According to the legend at least, he timed the policy in part to ensure no Metro station built after could outshine Kiyevskaya.

Change to the 3/Blue line and go one stop west.

8. Park Pobedy. This is the deepest station on the Metro, with one of the world’s longest escalators, at 413 feet. If you stand still, the escalator ride to the surface takes about three minutes .) Opened in 2003 at Victory Park, the station celebrates two of Russia’s great military victories. Each end has a mural by Georgian artist Zurab Tsereteli, who also designed the “ Good Defeats Evil ” statue at the UN headquarters in New York. One mural depicts the Russian generals’ victory over the French in 1812 and the other, the German surrender of 1945. The latter is particularly striking; equal parts dramatic, triumphant, and gruesome. To the side, Red Army soldiers trample Nazi flags, and if you look closely there’s some blood spatter among the detail. Still, the biggest impressions here are the marble shine of the chessboard floor pattern and the pleasingly geometric effect if you view from one end to the other.

Keep going one more stop west to:

9. Slavyansky Bulvar.  One of the Metro’s youngest stations, it opened in 2008. With far higher ceilings than many other stations—which tend to have covered central tunnels on the platforms—it has an “open-air” feel (or as close to it as you can get, one hundred feet under). It’s an homage to French architect Hector Guimard, he of the Art Nouveau entrances for the Paris M é tro, and that’s precisely what this looks like: A Moscow homage to the Paris M é tro, with an additional forest theme. A Cyrillic twist on Guimard’s Metro-style lettering over the benches, furnished with t rees and branch motifs, including creeping vines as towering lamp-posts.

Stay on the 3/Blue line and double back four stations to:

10. Arbatskaya. Its first iteration, Arbatskaya-Smolenskaya station, was damaged by German bombs in 1941. It was rebuilt in 1953, and designed to double as a bomb shelter in the event of nuclear war, although unusually for stations built in the post-war phase, this one doesn’t have a war theme. It may also be one of the system’s most elegant: Baroque, but toned down a little, with red marble floors and white ceilings with gilded bronze c handeliers.

Jump back on the 3/Blue line  in the same direction and take it one more stop:

11. Ploshchad Revolyutsii (Revolution Square). Opened in 1938, and serving Red Square and the Kremlin . Its renowned central hall has marble columns flanked by 76 bronze statues of Soviet heroes: soldiers, students, farmers, athletes, writers, parents. Some of these statues’ appendages have a yellow sheen from decades of Moscow’s commuters rubbing them for good luck. Among the most popular for a superstitious walk-by rub: the snout of a frontier guard’s dog, a soldier’s gun (where the touch of millions of human hands have tapered the gun barrel into a fine, pointy blade), a baby’s foot, and a woman’s knee. (A brass rooster also sports the telltale gold sheen, though I am told that rubbing the rooster is thought to bring bad luck. )

Now take the escalator up, and get some fresh air.

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21 Things to Know Before You Go to Moscow

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