Trek Boone as an allrounder: Why not?
 

I'm looking for a faster bike but I enjoy mixing dirt roads and gravel into my road rides. I like to ride longish rides and I don't want a super aggressive geometry.

A Boone riding 28s looks like a great option. Is there a reason I shouldn't?

Its a good choice, if you race cross. Low head tube, no rack or fender mounts, limited 1X gear range - all good for racing cross. Otherwise, the Domane or Checkpoint are better options, especially if you ride mixed terrain, fast group rides and longer sojourns. These bikes have geometry more in line with typical road/gravel/credit card touring type riding. Fender/rack mounts, higher head tubes, wide 2X gear range, etc. But if you race cross, the Boone is your bike.

Boone
 

Trek Boone is a great bike if you don't need the room for tires that are wider than 35mm.
Does not take flat mount brakes- otherwise it is a nice bike.

I think the Boone is made from higher grade carbon than a Checkpoint.

Ah, I actually didn't realize that they were post mounts.

The Domane does look like a nice bike; the geometry, seems really upright -- reach/stack 374/575 in a 54 vs 383/562 for the Boone. On paper at least the Boone looks a lot like a somewhat lower/longer cousin of the Domane.

as long as you don't need rack/fender mounts, it's a great option. clearance for up to 38mm tires (claimed) means you can do all sorts of stuff with it; cross, gravel, dirt, singletrack, road, etc... I definitely know people who went that route with either it or the Crockett, selling their other cross bikes to have more clearance for all around use that includes gravel racing.

I haven't looked at the Domane geo numbers but I'd say if you only want road tires, that's likely a better route. if you want road tires and gravel/cross tires, the Boone would be better.

The Boone’s high bb may feel odd -

Since when do Domane's have rack mounts?

I have a 2016 Domane, it absolutely doesn't have rack mounts. It has some hidden fender mounts.. which look like they require care to get a fender that works... they're not the normal mounts I would expect to just throw SKS fenders on.

Upright/long-and-low is all in the eye of the beholder.. it's completely up to your personal torso:leg ratio. In my size the Domane is approximately 1cm shorter & 1cm taller.. I think I could make either bike work fine. I am really between sizes on these Treks anyway though.

I run 26s on my Domane because it's not really my bad road/gravel bike, it's my go-fast bike. But if you're only going to run 28s I wouldn't see why you'd choose a Boone over a Domane, if you're buying brand new and can get either one with Discs you can run 30s on the Domane too.

That's me, I'd probably choose a "gravel" bike over a "cross" bike anyway.

it is about 1cm higher than the Domane. BUT wow the Domane has a low BB! 78 or 80mm drop is low.

for reference, my cross bikes are 63mm drop and road bikes are 68-70mm. I've ridden the cross bikes on the road a ton, and it's been fine.

so, to me: it's the 78-80mm of drop that would feel odd! :eek:

I have had both Domane and Boone - both had hidden fender mounts. You need the eyelet kit from trek (comes with a new bike) in order to mount fenders.

Domane was great as long as it fits you - stack was too high for me. Boone geo felt a little strange to me - high BB I guess.

I think I'm in the camp of liking low BBs...

IIRC my Domane has the lowest BB of any bike I've had, I don't think I've ever actually scraped a pedal on it but it is far and away the best descending road bike I've had.. totally on rails. Again might have to do with personal body geometry.. I'm tall, so my natural CG on the bike is probably higher than someone who is shorter, so maybe I feel the lower BB differently.

I don't go riding it through rock gardens though. Whereas my All City Space Horse I do occasionally feel the stupid and take it through a rock garden, and the low BB there is noticeable compared to a cross bike or MTB... I'm pretty good at keeping the pedals in the right place to avoid rock hits but they happen way more frequently on that bike compared to my MTB.

Trek Crockett
 

So I have the Aluminum brother of the Boone, its great. Basically its an Emonda ALR (almost) that will comfortably accomodate 45mm tires on some Open Pro Rims so I know they have to be wider.

I love the Crockett, bought it cheap and I ride the hell out of it.

I know a guy (owns a big Trek Dealership) and his bike of choice is the Boone, he typically rides like 32's, I am sure he could go wider.

Ray

Thanks for the thoughtful and informed input.

Yeah, I noticed that the Domane has a super-low BB. Really interesting.

The Boone's BB _is_ a little higher than most road bikes (68), but not super duper high either.

Gotta get some test rides. It's challenging near me to find a shop where I can actually check these bikes out in person.

I'd also add that if you're riding gravel, you may enjoy riding a tire bigger than a 28. 32's seem like a good compromise if you're doing more than ~30% off pavement. IMO.

I wouldn’t hesitate to run a Boone as a “one bike” but I think you’d want to build it up with a 2x drivetrain for road riding.

I believe Trek dropped the fender mounts in 2018 for the Boone, and Crockett in 2019. if this is a priority to the OP, they should verify.

it's funny we're even having this conversation. used to be nobody thought twice about riding a cyclocross bike as their one bike; for touring, commuting, gravel, road, etc. most people that bought 'em never raced cross (or even knew what it was). tire clearance was less, and BB's were higher; and nobody complained about either. they just enjoyed the swiss army bike. but now we have gravel bikes and endurance road bikes muddying the waters... :bike: