Turf Zone – SubWreckOne
Temptation is never very far away. That second helping of your mum’s home-made rhubarb crumble with ice cream. That delicious looking fruit scone in the bakery window. That last Kit-Kat resting alone on the fridge shelf. Yes, temptation is never that far away. I too am again feeling the pull of temptation but not another Brompton folding bike this time, but it is another bicycle, another fat bike, either the aluminium framed Trek Farley 5 or the carbon fibre Trek Farley 9.6.
I know how that stream of temptation began. I was changing the way some of my turf blog archives were presented online, from monthly archives to yearly, thus reducing the number of pages by around 50. During that process I came across pictures of my old Surly Pugsley fat bike in the winter snows and felt those fat bike pangs again, finding myself wishing I had another fat bike to take to the beaches of East Lothian, to make a few videos and have a jolly good time. Buying a fat bike was one of the reasons I bought a DJI Neo drone which I’ve yet to use.
Anyway, with fat bikes on my mind, I did a quick search for the Trek Farley and found one of the theories I was pondering just might be true. Fat bikes seem to be in decline, manufacturers are dropping their fat bike model off the production list and riders seem to have lost interest in that type of riding other than a few hard-core enthusiasts. At least here in the UK. Across the pond in America fat biking is still alive and kicking. I do wonder if electric mountain bikes have had something to do with that decline.
So, what do I find online for these very desirable Trek Farley fat bikes? Well, the last time I looked, a few months ago, the stock price of £3250 for the Trek Farley 9.6 now available discounted to around £2500 or thereabouts. Today, I’m seeing a price reduction to around £2080 for the 2024 model, that’s a whopping £1170 saving. With the Trek Farley 5, with a list price of £1850, being offered around £1450. Both are so very tempting indeed.
So, what am I going to do? Should I buy the Trek Farley 5 or the Trek Farley 9.7? Well, actually, neither for the moment, as our car is in need of some routine maintenance. Following the MOT last week, which set us back around £250, we also need brake discs and pads on the front and brake shoes on the rear. And in the not-too-distant future, a couple of front tyres as well. And all that will not give us much change from around £650. Bugger!
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