trek ex – is the fox rhythm 34 worth the extra $$$ over the reba?

just looking over the trek ex

alloy ex7 with reba £1980

alloy ex8 with fox rhythm 34 £ 2.450

carbon 9.7 with fox rhythm 34 & reaktive shock £2,700

not arsed about 11 or 12 speed and everything else looks the same

the carbon is 29.70lb

ex7 :32lb

ex8: 31.10lb

On my 650b, I’ve just gone from a 2015 Revelation (32mm stanchions) to a 2017 Pike (35mm stanchions), damping aside (which is a HUGE improvement), the jump of 3mm in girth makes the fork a damn site stiffer in a great way. The Treks a 29er right? if so i’d personally want to see at least a 34mm stanchioned fork on it. I had the Revelation for 2 years and it did the job, but, the improvement in stanchion diameter is significant, i think with a 29er wheel you’ll see greater gains.

I don’t know the bike or whether it is 27.5 or 29 but depending on your weight the Fox 34 Rhythm is an ace fork – i.e. if you’re a bit rufty tufty the stiffness is much appreciated. If a 29er get the Reba model, sell the fork and buy a Fox 34 here – https://www.bike-components.de/en/Fox-Racing-Shox/34-Float-29-130-Grip-Rhythm-51-Boost-Suspension-Fork-2017-OEM-p61616/. Plenty of STWers made the leap and I haven’t heard anyone unhappy yet. If 27.5 there’s this – https://www.bike-components.de/en/Fox-Racing-Shox/34-Float-27-5-100-Grip-Perf-Speed-Ped-Boost-Federgabel-2017-Werkstatt-p61609/ in extra-tough pedelec version. Check for Boost/non-Boost.

wow – that fork seems cheap!

I’m 67kg and looking at the 29 version

now…is the carbon and 2lb weight saving worth extra?

Actually, thats a £470 price jump, ignoring spec differences, for that much difference in price you could buy the cheaper modeled bike & then this fork: https://www.bike-components.de/en/RockShox/Revelation-RC-DebonAir-Boost-51-Off-Set-29-Federgabel-2018-Auslauf-p56887/ and then sell the Reba as unused…..

the www above had some good Fox deals too.

Happy to confuse 😉

Ha Ha  – great minds………………………………

The fork is bloody cheap but there’s nowt wrong with it. I bought four of them!

hmmm…need to put the fuse up for sale now

actually the cheap version is not available in a 18″ and I think that could well be my size

yep ive liked the fox rhythm 34 130 of bike components quality..

I have the 2018 EX8 29er with the Fox rhythm and finding it to be a really good fork (and great bike overall).

looks like its between the ex8 and ex9

£270 for carbon front end

but the alloy ex8 have eagle

I am enjoying the eagle on the EX9 – much more than I did on my 1×11.

Another owner of the 2018 Ex 8 29er.

very good bike, I’m 70kgs and the fork is spot on so far. I do lots of different riding, rocky welsh trail centres, flat fast XC trail centres through to natural hilly trails. Been damn good son far.

not arsed about 11 or 12 speed and everything else looks the same

You may not be but the EX7 low gear is 32-42 whereas the EX8 gets 32-50 which is a noticeable difference . The EX7 is overgeared for a 29 trail bike IMO . Just got the EX8 myself and only 2 rides in but loving it so far , the fork seems really easy to set up and I’m surprised how often I use the 50 sprocket . Hate the grips but if that’s all I can find to grumble about then the bike must be pretty good .Just checked and the EX8 also gets better brakes , better rear shock and a better dropper post than the EX7 .

the ex7 is out of the picture as they dont have a 18.5

EX8 it is! you looking at the 29er or the 27.5+?

All I have done is change to a shorter stem and slightly wider bars and grips just because I found 750mm just a bit too narrow.

EX8 – but I went 27.5+… and then threw some 29er hoops in which I use most of the time, but it is nice having both!

The Fox is nice – not had an issue with stiffness and I am on the larger side of things 😉  I couldn’t justify the price increase to carbon, and wasn’t sure that I wanted it anyway.  I could use a lighter gear than the 1×11 GX for the hills around here, but may pop a 30 tooth oval chainring on and see if that helps things a bit!  I thought I had bought one a while back, but can’t see it anywhere so may just be confused!!!!

29er

The 29er EX8 is a great bit of kit, as is the Fox 34. I’ve a 2017 vintage (which replaced it’s 2010 predecessor) and it just laps up everything I can throw at it and comes back for more! Biggest revelation for me was how well it handled, I thought it’d be a bit of a barge compared to my beloved 26er but it’s just as nimble.

The Fox setup guide is also pretty much spot on which meant very little suspension tweaking on the first few rides.

Personally the thought of a carbon MTB scares me, I’d be way too worried about catching a rock and punching a hole in it.

<span style=”display: inline !important; float: none; background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: ‘Open Sans’; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 22.4px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;”>You may not be but the EX7 low gear is 32-42 whereas the EX8 gets 32-50 which is a noticeable difference . The EX7 is overgeared for a 29 trail bike IMO</span>

Horses for courses, I have an EX9.9 which I used my old XX1 groupset on, which I run with a 32T front ring on.

Personally, 32/42 is for all the riding & racing I do on the bike 🙂

I would pick the bike with the GX1 groupset on it personally though.

having watched the videos on yourtube of people trying to destroy carbon frames and rims I pretty confident in there durability.

I dont buy into all the stifness guff when you got FS and 18psi.

..so its just weight and looks

the ex7 is out of the picture as they dont have a 18.5

Trek currently have 5 EX7 in the UK and 20 in Europe so any Trek dealer should be able to get you one within a week .

Changed my mind about my wider bars and now back to the original ones!

They cope well with dodgy landings

View this post on Instagram

Fully testing the bike & my skill set #NWAlpsCConTour #NWAlpsCC #mtb @trekbikes @trekbikes_uk @themudhugger @rad8mtbglasses Trek Fuel EX8 @jude_havranek

A post shared by Low Speed Adventurer (@rocketdoguk) on Apr 24, 2018 at 6:50am PDT