After sitting, thinking, listening, reading advice on here and deciding, i thought “well, the stuff i’m riding, i can/should be fine on something less massive than the big blue bouncy G170.
So my thoughts went up, down, round about, i then thought, you know what, lets get this done.

Stability is one thing, 29er wheels, so everyone tells me are faster, then lighter weight.

With the G170 coming in at nearly 17kg that’s a big burly bike and the Trek coming in at 13.5kg, it’s about as light as you’re going to get within a sensible budget.

I’m both scared and excited in equal amounts.

Frame:
OCLV Mountain Carbon main frame and stays, BITS internal storage, tapered head tube, Knock Block, Control Freak internal routing, Carbon Armor, ISCG 05, magnesium rocker link, Mino Link, ABP, Boost148, 130 mm travel
Rear Shock:
Fox Performance Float EVOL, RE:aktiv with Thru Shaft 3-position damper, tuned by Trek Suspension Lab
Fork:
Fox Performance 36, Float EVOL air spring, GRIP damper, tapered steerer, 44 mm offset, Boo
Number of Gears:
12
Gear Shifters:
SRAM GX Eagle, 12-speed
Chainset:
Truvativ Descendant 7k Eagle, DUB, Boost
Chainrings:
32T alloy ring
Rear Cassette:
SRAM XG-1275 Eagle, 10-50, 12-speed
Chain:
Sram GX Eagle
Front Derailleur:
N/A
Rear Derailleur:
SRAM GX Eagle
Bottom Bracket:
SRAM DUB, 92 mm, PressFit
Pedals:
Not Included
Rims:
Bontrager Line Carbon 30, Tubeless Ready,
Front Hub:
Bontrager Line Carbon 30, 6-bolt, Boost110, 15 mm thru axle
Rear Hub:
Bontrager Line Carbon 30, 54T Rapid Drive, 6-bolt, SRAM XD driver, Boost148, 12 mm thru axle
Front Tyre:
Bontrager XR4 Team Issue, Tubeless Ready, Inner Strength sidewalls, aramid bead, 120 tpi, 29×2.60″” or27.5×2.60″”
Rear Tyre:
Bontrager XR4 Team Issue, Tubeless Ready, Inner Strength sidewalls, aramid bead, 120 tpi, 29×2.60″” or27.5×2.60″”
Brakes:
Shimano SLX M7120 4-piston hydraulic disc
Handlebars:
Bontrager Line Pro, OCLV Carbon, 35 mm, 27.5 mm rise
Handlebar Grips:
Bontrager XR Trail Elite, alloy lock-on
Headset:
Knock Block Integrated, sealed cartridge bearing, 1-1/8″” to
Stem:
Bontrager Line Pro, 35 mm, Knock Block, 0-degree
Saddle:
Bontrager Arvada, austenite rails
Seatpost:
Bontrager Line Elite Dropper, 170 mm travel, internal routin
Accessories:
N/A
Weight:
M – 13.55 kg / 29.88 lbs (with tubes)

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2n68RWY]2022-02-28_04-15-19[/url] by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

Well it’s here and it’s INCREDIBLY shiny !!!! I mean like really really shiny !!!

I’ve had to move the shifter bracket and dropper bracket, move the levers out a bit. But other than that, we’re good to roll.

It rides and rolls really nicely…. (in the close…) and it’s super.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2n6khV3]2022-03-01_04-42-19[/url] by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2n6hCpx]2022-03-01_04-41-59[/url] by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

It’s now running Minion DHRs front and rear.
[url=https://flic.kr/p/2n68ryW]2022-02-28_09-03-31[/url] by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

I’ve not taken it out in anger yet at the weather has been awful and i’m currently fitting a Dyedbro frame protection kit to it.

I’m sure i’ll get out this weekend on it though.

Obviously things have escalated at home with racing plans as you may have seen in the other thread. But arguably this bike still suits my requirements better than the G170. Even if i kept the G170 i wasn’t taking it down DH Blacks with my lad, he’s doing them on his own. But on the reds at BPW, up at Afan, etc it’ll be brilliant i’m sure.

Awesome bike. 🙂 Enjoy.

Very shiny!! 🙂

Looks nice

I hired one of them last year in the Peak and really enjoyed it. Funnily enough, on the same route you did near Froggat with ebikes iirc.

Nice bike. Tried and failed to buy one before I settled for the Occam.

Swap the DHRs for some lovely 2.6 Rekons and it’ll go like shit off s shovel. 😃Though perhaps not if it’s as muddy as it was last time you were in the Peak.

It came with XR3s which were too slight on tread, the DHRs acccording to STW articles are the go-to for everything and everything more.. So they’ll do nicely.

Just finished the Dyedbro kit install. Back to work now 🙂

I know everyone loves a kitchn pic

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2n6APPP]2022-03-03_01-21-26[/url] by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

Kitchen tiles are nice 😉

A Trek and I thought you were a Whyte man through and through well what ever next mind Treks are great bikes have a few myself not to mention the ones I have sold over the years ENJOY.

Nice. I demoed one a couple of years ago and it felt great. Think that was the alloy though. Should be a great all-rounder.

Fade paintwork front to rear? That’s lovely, and that’s coming from someone with 3 raw finished (unpainted) bikes.

Swapped tyres and failed to align valves and logos 🙈

Swapped tyres and failed to align valves and logos 🙈

That is the correct I just wanna ride my bike look though???

@weeksy – is your bike brand new or another canny 2nd hand purchase?

it’s an ex-demo bike…. not quite new, but bloody close.

The Trek looks soooo much nicer than the G170 👌

I ride a 130mm travel full suss 29er at BPW with my kid (growed up kid) on his Remedy and I love it.
Also don’t do the blacks 🙂
Well, I did til kid buggered off to Uni and went all sorts of good places with the uni MTB club 🙂

I think mine’s a bit lighter than the Trek, but it has 34s not 36s. (And is old!)

I still think they missed a trick not calling it the Trek Integrated Tool Storage. You know Transition would have used that acronym 😉

Nice looking bike though.

A friend has one of these and I’m always eyeing it up, it feels rapid compared to a full on Enduro bike but is nearly as capable. You won’t do much better as a one bike to do it all for the UK setup.

Weeksy buying habits best series on Web!

Is it a Remedy? Looks lovely, I’ve been thinking of changing my clockwork evo for something like that – a rugged & fun FS

Fuel ex9.8

Trek Fuel EX 9.8 review

“ I still think they missed a trick not calling it the Trek Integrated Tool Storage. You know Transition would have used that acronym 😉”

They’ve already used it for cable routing – the Tube In Tube System!

Nice bike weeksy, should be great for your riding!

That’s a nice bike 🙂 You’ll love riding that, even with the 29 wheels 🙂

Ii also thought it was a remedy, Just surprised at the weight!

Definitely looks fast, I’m sure it could handle the black runs

Definitely looks fast, I’m sure it could handle the black runs

There’s a difference between me and it…. i have no doubt IT can… 🙂

Just surprised at the weight!

But what does it ACTUALLY weigh?

13.8 according to my scales with pedals and tools in the box

Nice bike! Can I put a bid in on it now? Or is the done thing to wait until you’ve decided it’s not for you?

I’ve always liked the Fuel EX. A nice, all day cross country bike.

I’ve got an ex demo 2017 Fuel EX 9.8 and I love it!
That’s a lovely looking bike Weeksy, good choice!

DHR2 are great tyres but they can feel really draggy in certain conditions, particularly sandy soil types.

DHR2 are great tyres but they can feel really draggy in certain conditions, particularly sandy soil types.

Especially the 2.4” one. I’ve got the 2.3” on the back of my Sentinel and it’s really good in the winter. Doesn’t roll too slow, seems to get much better grip uphill than the 27.5” version of exactly the same tyre and finds good braking grip (3c Maxx terra exo).

The 2.4” one has much bigger blocks so finds better grip in slop by quite a lot – but you know about it pedalling on the flat.

The 2.4” ones you’ve got will find good grip in a wet FOD or similar natural trails – but it might drag around something like the Cwmcarn trail centre where it’s mostly fast rolling rocky stuff.

I’m intrigued to know if this thread will get to 100 post before he rides the damn thing.

Or 10 rides before he sells the damn thing 🙂

I’ve ridden it… twice… but neither on dirt. Both just on the road to a mates house.

Today was driving from Berks to MAnsfield to collect the GT DH, then to Stockport to drop the Sworks with the new buyer, i’m now sitting watching the last part of the Strade Bianche not riding.

day was driving from Berks to MAnsfield to collect the GT DH, then to Stockport to drop the Sworks with the new buyer, i’m now sitting watching the last part of the Strade Bianche not riding.

That’s commitment to the bike cause with all those miles driven. 💪

Just got a 9.7 here after only ever riding hardtails. Loving it so far having only ridden it around Eastridge and Llandegla.

Previous hardtail is an xl nukeproof scout which has very very similar geometry. When the hell did trail bikes start being spec’d with 2.5″ tyres, 4 pot brakes and 203mm front rotor?

Enjoy it weeksy, be warned that the cupboard on it needs to be a bit larger to for a tube!

Another part of why i’ve not ridden it yet was due to a gearing issue, but i didn’t want to discuss it before having it dealt with by the dealer.

It was an ex-demo so had some wear and tear, no marks really but a worn drivetrain was in the description, but of course i was fine with that because i was paying a lot less than the £5000 new price.

However on the first test ride i noticed in gears 8/9/10/11 were skipping on the cassette, not in an indexing context but in a chain/cassette interfacing issue. I noticed it was a brand new chain on an older cassette, i have a 12sp cassette here so tried that but still the same.
To narrow it down further i then fitted a mates wheel to test and it was silent and perfect.
Sadly due to his being a HG freehub and mine an XD i couldn’t fit his cassette to 100% narrow it down, but it didn’t feel like a freehub issue.

So i contacted the retailer, Balfes bikes and we discussed the issue, the guy said “bring it down and we’ll look”… That wasn’t exactly the most convenient thing, but it was 100% fair of them as they don’t know whether i can diagnose an issue correctly, i wouldn’t expect Ford to fix my car without looking, so would be unfair to expect Balfes to fix without checking it too.

So i took the bike to Balfes this morning, it’s a 90 min drive there into the middle of Gatwick airport lol, very strange in some ways as i thought i’d end up in Departures a few times.

I then wrote this email to the sales guy and his boss.

Hi Gee,

That was a most unusual transaction with a bike store.

I turned up and the lads knew who I was, what a rough description was of the issue and the history of the bike.

They then listened to my diagnosis and troubleshooting and took it on board.

The bike was then checked, tested and found to be a cassette issue as I suspected. It was discussed with and and then replaced by your guys quickly and tested.

They then sent me on my way with a smile.

Let’s just say, it’s not often you get this level of service from either the after sales or the mechanics in bike shops, and I’ve dealt with a lot in my time.

If only you were 50 miles closer, you’d be my go to bike shop.

Say thanks to the lads.

And thanks to you too.

Fab service from Balfes in Gatwick, even if it’s a VERY weird place to find as it seems to be in the middle of the airport.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2n6khV3]2022-03-01_04-42-19[/url] by Steve Weeks, on Flickr
Mino link / flip chip. Changes the geometry to be more climb or more descend focused.

Tried it in both high and low position today. I was surprised to feel the difference and notice it. It’s not usually my strong point.

The lower position was first and the bike feels ace. I’m the higher position it’s all a bit Salsa Spearfish, a bit XC and on top of it.

Lower will be the choice for me

That’s commitment to the bike cause with all those miles driven. 💪

Not sure if serious:-)

If your bike could talk it would tell you to get these F###ing pedals off me NOW.

If your bike could talk it would tell you to get these F###ing pedals off me NOW.

You see, some things matter more. More than ‘oh it’s got pink pedals’.

They were a present from Mrs Weeksy for Xmas, so every time i get on the bike i have little thoughts of a nice time and a present from the wife. That trumps any aesthetics you can throw into the discussion, because in quite simple terms, i’m not 14, i don’t care what others think about my choice of pedals, footwear, grips, jackets or anything else really 🙂
I ride for me and they make me happy… so they stay.