RAW and RAD / Trek Full Stache

This would have made a great ISO project - but boredom with the stock colour had come long before I stripped and sanded my Trek Full Stache 8.

For those willing to have a crack at this - make friends with paint stripper, sandpaper, and a wire brush. Always wear gloves and protective eyewear.

Out of the door the bike comes with a semi-matt olive / fluorescent scream for the rear stays. The prospect of painting a dual suspension frame is many times more complex that a regular frame. Removing pivots, bearings, cabling - oh and getting that cabling back in will have you wishing for AXS throughout especially since the stock dropper post is ho-hum in an otherwise solid spec.

After stripping it back, and wandering the paint aisle in Bunnings looking for inspiration, simultaneously contemplating re-assembly I stopped. Keep it raw, in the vogue of the dreamy PACE frames and other frames from the 90s which were polished or brushed alloy.

The weight weenies may delight in the knowledge of shaving essential grams. The only thing I regularly shave these days is my head, weight has never been of consequence to me.

Standard vinyl decals replaced the originals, and I had the green grips in the spares tub which add a splash of colour.

These are the same wheels from my Curve Blinglespeed thanks to some standard BOOST spacing. Curve Dirt Hoops to DT350s with Teravail Coronado 29x2.8s with custom black reflective decals.

Why so serious?! Have fun with your projects. Scratches from spills are just character marks from previous adventures.

Just enough to get you out of a jam - Skingrowsback Plan B. Comfortably conceals a 29er tube / multi-tool and CO2 and has it at the ready.

Available in a colour to match whatever ride you decide.

The Quad Lock out front mount puts your phone where you need it, out of harms way when you eat it - and ready to be detached within milliseconds for snapping photos.

Full disclosure - QUAD LOCK were a 2019 Melburn Roobaix sponsor - and would have been in 2020 if a pandemic didn't throw a spanner in the works. A great company, born and bred in Melburn. With over 35,000 amazing reviews - I'm not telling you something that many others haven't already said.