Quick look at the new Trek Fuel EX

MY23 y’all. We’ve not seen one of the new Trek Fuel EX bikes in the flesh, but we still thought you’d like to know the basic gist of it. Here goes with the hardboiled deets!

Yes, it does look a whole lot like the new Trek Fuel EXe ebike. We imagine this aesthetic homogeneity may become a feature with most brands over the next couple of years.

The rear travel has been bumped up a bit from 130mm to 140mm.

So too has the front boing number being upped and the new Trek Fuel EX bikes come specced with 150mm travel forks.

The Fuel EX remains Trek’s key all-round mountain bike type thing. You could call it a Trail Bike, if that meant anything much anymore.

Re:AKTIV with ThruShaft (remember that?) rear shock design has gone. Replaced with ‘normal’ rear shocks throughout the range.

Speaking of rear shocks, the new Fuel EX is coil-shock compatible. Rocker has two settings for different leverage rates. This is actually applicable to air shocks too really. One setting is less progressive (good for wheels-on-the gorund mid-speed swallowing of chunky terrain. The other setting is more progressive, which as well as theoretically being more suited to the linearity of coil shocks, will also offer more support and bottom resistant for higher amplitude riding/riders.

There’s down-tube storage on alloy and carbon models, with the BITS pull-out storage bag included.

Longer (rear, wheelbase), slacker (head angle), steeper (seat angle) geometry. Reach increases circa 20mm. Also, size-specific seat angles. Also also, size-specific chainstays.

The geometry is adjustable via the familiar Mino Link in the rocker (+/-0.5° head angle adjust approx 8mm bottom bracket adjust) but now Trek are offering angle-adjust headset cups aftermarket (+/-1° head angle adjustment).

The seat tube accepts more modern must-have longer dropper seatposts (200mm+). The seat tube diameter has gone up to 34.9mm (expect to see more of this happening on other brands’ MY23 bike). Larger seat tubes afford “longer, more robust dropper posts” y’see.

Although Trek state that the Trek Fuel EX can be mulleted it does come with the caveat that you’ll need to up the fork to 160mm travel (which *may* just a new air shaft job rather than a whole new fork) and you’re advised to run the MinoLink in High setting, obvs.

What else? Oh yes. Fully guided internal cable routing. Which is nice.

Oh and the ‘Knock Block’ steering limiter is not on the new Trek Fuel EX but an ISCG-05 chainguide mount (3-bolt) is.

UK pricing

Fuel EX 9.9 XX1 AXS, £11,750
Fuel EX 9.9 XT,R £9,900
Fuel EX 9.8 GX AXS, £6,900-£7,450
Fuel EX 9.8 XT, £6,300-£6,850
Fuel EX 9.7 SLX/XT, £4,800
Fuel EX 8 XT, £4,000
Fuel EX 7 Deore/XT, £3,300

trekbikes.com

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Ben Haworth

Orange Switch 6er. Stif Squatcher. Schwalbe Magic Mary Purple Addix front. Maxxis DHR II 3C MaxxTerra rear. Coil fan. Ebikes are not evil. I have been a writer for nigh on 20 years, a photographer for 25 years and a mountain biker for 30 years. I have written countless magazine and website features and route guides for the UK mountain bike press, most notably for the esteemed and highly regarded Singletrackworld. Although I am a Lancastrian, I freely admit that West Yorkshire is my favourite place to ride. Rarely a week goes by without me riding and exploring the South Pennines.

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