Basically, we pick up where we left off – drooling over the new 2011 bikes.
Aside from receiving some amazing new matt paint jobs across the range, a lot of the Trek and Gary Fisher models have had some serious refinement in their frame technology, with neat tricks such as custom-tuned suspension and bolt-thru axles becoming more commonplace amongst the mid to high-end bikes.
The 120mm travel Fuel EX has become Trek’s best-selling full suspension bike, due to its incredible versatility, pedalling efficiency and plush suspension that is all thanks to the Active Braking Pivot design, or ABP for short.
The Fuel EX 9.8 uses a US-handmade OCLV Carbon Fibre frame that takes the EX ride quality and handling precision to a whole new level. Oh and it’s lighter too!
The big news on the 2011 Fuel EX range however, is the result of the ongoing relationship between Fox Racing Shox and Trek. Rather than selecting a specific tune (rebound & compression settings) from Fox as most manufacturers do, Trek have gone a step further and had Fox machine up custom shim stacks for their forks.
A result of the intense R&D that Trek is quite well-known for, this has allowed the engineers to achieve a plusher ride up front in order to match the DRCV rear shock used on the back of the Fuel EXs and the Remedys.
An explanation of the way Trek provides a true custom tune on their forks. The bikes that we rode achieved a balanced feel between the front and rear suspension, and compared to last years bikes, the forks now match that incredibly linear feel on the DRCV rear shock.
A big deal that Trek is really pushing with their 2011 mountain bikes is how durable the OCLV carbon frames really are. We watched a fascinating video of a giant pickaxe being thrust into a bunch of alloy and carbon frames (I almost cried) to demonstrate what damage is done from a typical impact from a flying rock. With the new carbon armour on the downtube, combined with the off-road specific OCLV Mountain carbon fibre, there was little doubt that the carbon frames were much stronger than their alloy counterparts, and less prone to fatigue too.
A close up of the carbon fibre Remedy 9.9 with the carbon armour downtube protector. This bike is meant to go large, and it has been designed to do so, with confidence in its strength.
The OCLV Mountain carbon fibre is a specific type of carbon designed to withstand impacts better than the regular OCLV lay-up. On all of the carbon Treks and Fishers, the OCLV Mountain is featured on the downtube and the seat stays, which typically see the brunt of most impacts from crashing off road.
The white outlines depict the use of the OCLV Mountain carbon fibre.
Commonplace on the carbon frames, and making it’s way onto the alloy frames too, is the use of the press-fit bottom bracket. Traditional BB’s use a thread-in style cup that positions the bearings on the outside of the frame. By removing the cups and threads, and simply “pressing” the bearings into the frame (much like a headset) you can get better bearing life and a stiffer BB area. Trek is currently the only manufacturer in the world to do this on their carbon frames, where the bearing lies directly onto the carbon fibre seat. Other manufacturers use a glued-in alloy sleeve, which is heavier and weaker. However, Trek are able to mould their carbon so accurately, that they don’t need that alloy sleeve, and so their frames are lighter and stiffer too.
Watch out for other brands catching up on the press-fit BB in the next couple of years.
Press-in bearings for the bottom bracket. Lighter, stiffer and improved bearing life; Win-Win-Win?
Also now on the Fuel EXs for 2011, is the new thru-axle rear that debuted on the Scratch and Remedy last year. Using a RockShox Maxle (the same as what you find on RockShox thru-axle forks) instead of a traditional quick release, the Fuel EX now reaches a ridiculous level of rear-end stiffness, that tracks straight and true through the rough stuff and keeps all the suspension links moving together with minimal flex. This enhances the life of the bearings in the rear suspension pivots, as everything is tighter, but the main improvement is just how much you can load the bike through the corners and in rock gardens as it reacts with the kind of authority you would get with other brands DH bikes.
The 142 x 12 rear axle design, using the RockShox “Maxle” clamp system. You can convert the rear back to standard 135mm quick release though, which gives you the option to run your old trusty wheelset.
In our totally unbiased opinion, we’ve found the ABP rear suspension design to be one of the best on the market, as it is just so smooth and linear, regardless of how hard you push it or how much you are on the brakes. This is apparent on all of the Treks and Fishers, from the 100mm travel Top Fuel to the 203mm travel Session, and is a big part of why Trek has had such a resurgence in the mountain bike world in the past 3 years. And so for Mark and me, it was a bit of a treat for us to actually meet and talk to the guy who is behind the whole suspension design at Trek, Dylan Howes, or as Trek like to call him; “Director of Frame Technology”.
This guy is pretty much the reason why Trek & Fisher mountain bikes are so good, and it was an awesome opportunity for us to pick his brain about suspension technology, tuning, ABP, pedalling efficiency, brake jack, brake squat and his experience with rival suspension designs.
Dylan Howes, the Director of Frame Technology at Trek, talks us through the MTB lineup. We had to resist bowing at his feet for coming up with the ABP rear suspension design on Trek & Fisher duallies.
This guy is literally paid to ride, and spends countless hours riding trails in the US fine-tuning shock and fork tunes and pivot-placement on their duallies. “Yeah, I have the best job in the world man!”; was his excited answer as he grinned ear-to-ear when we asked him how sweet his job must be.
Having a chat with Dylan about the new custom fork tunes after having ridden the Fuel EX. Oh and the man can ride too. Definitely made me look like, well, the punter that I am.
For our next update, we’ll check out some of the bigger travel bikes, as well as the ever-stronger lineup of Womens Specific Design mountain bikes, or WSD for short.
I’ll leave you with a photo of perhaps the most talked about bike at the convention, the Trek Fuel EX 9.9, which is hot on the heels of competitors XC Race bikes in terms of it’s stunning 10 kg complete weight. Take a close look at some of the features I’ve pointed out in this update, such as the rear Maxle bolt-thru axle design, the OCLV Mountain carbon fibre, the carbon armour downtube, the press-fit bottom bracket, the ABP rear suspension design, the E2 tapered steerer tube, the custom tuned Fox fork, the DRCV rear…oh the list goes on.
When you see this bike up close and get a chance to ride it in anger on the trail, you begin to realise why Trek employs 137 Engineers to create their bikes.
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