Trek Fuel EX 8 Review
class="rating">4 out of 5 stars
"A superb do-it-all trail bike with great balance, communication and control despite dubious fork technology"
Bikeradar Review Manufacturers description User reviews Mon 19 Dec 2011, 8:00 am GMTBy Guy Kesteven, Mountain Biking UK Shopping partners Buy Mountain BikesBuy Mountain BikesBuy Mountain BikesBuy Mountain BikesTrek’s top-ranked all-rounder is even more confident, capable, enjoyable and better value this year, despite our doubts about the new DRCV fork.
Ride & handling: Slacker geometry adds confidence without affecting balance and ability
The first impression of the Trek is ‘seriously stout’. The broad rimmed wheels, QR15 axle, tapered fork, oversized E2 head tube and wide, almost flat bar make it feel rock solid in your hands. There’s nothing to suggest anything other than strength and stiffness between the soles of your feet and the back wheel either.
Rider weight is well planted centrally and there’s no twist through the midsection when you’re playing about doing trackstands or flicking it around in the car park. While it’s not that light overall and has fairly heavy wheels, it certainly doesn’t feel that way when you put the power down.
The rear end stiffness syncs with the firm top note of the DRCV (Dual Rate Control Valve) shock for an immediate acceleration response to pedal pressure. There"s a ProPedal low-speed compression kill switch on the Fox RP2 damper but we rarely felt we needed to use it, even on high-torque, low-rev road climbs.
The ample cockpit room means you’re not going to run out of breath either. Low hand positioning stops the front from popping up and losing the plot on technical climbs too. While the seat angle looks slack on paper, the inline post puts you far enough forward to nail sketchy traction without reaming yourself a new one on the saddle nose.
The Trek is superbly balanced when descending too. Frame and fork stiffness, body position, well-sized tyres on broad rims and the controlled DRCV/Full Floater/ABP rear end all combine to reduce downhill drama.
We’re not sure about adding DRCV up front though. The chamber split of the rear shock is reversed so that the second chamber opens 66 percent into the stroke (at around 80mm). According to Trek suspension guru Jose Gonzalez, this is “for additional spring force control at mid-stroke in order to hold the front end up when descending, cornering, and so on”.
Spring rate and rebound changes plus end stroke ramp-up make the fork unpredictable at the worst possible times – particularly when taking big hits at medium speeds or pushing down before a dynamic pull-up. The decreased initial spring volume also makes the fork feel harsh and chattery over smaller bumps, which reduces comfort and traction. It also makes setting up pressure and rebound much harder.
It’s something you get used to the more you ride it, but frankly, Fox’s 120mm-travel fork is great even in open bath damping format and, for the sake of a matching stickers front and rear, DRCV adds more problems than it solves. Luckily for Trek this isn’t a ride-killer and the Fuel EX is still ahead of the pack, but our team felt the gap would have been bigger – and the score higher – without the DRCV fork up front.
Frame & equipment: DRCV shock and ABP pivot create outstanding rear end control
Trek’s frame updates for 2012 are mainly centered around a slacker head angle, but you also get internal front mech cabling and a lazy S-bend down tube. The new look doesn’t agree with everyone, but there’s room for a proper bottle cage and it’s certainly stiff structurally.
If you find the limited seatpost drop restrictive there’s spare clip space for a remote dropper post, and ABP Convert dropout chips allow a 142x12mm screw-through axle upgrade. If the red anodised seatpost top clamp, grip collar and headset seat detailing aren’t jazzy enough, there’s a more vibrant white and titanium colourway too.
The QR15 axle and tapered steerer on the Fox RL fork are great stiffness boosters at this price. The Shimano XT/SLX stop/go setup was universally praised by our testers, particularly the powerful and communicative brakes. Bontrager’s tubeless-ready tyres, the almost flat but reasonably wide bar and saddle all got positive reactions too.
The Bontrager Rhythm Comp wheels were chosen to fatten tyres and add strength rather than reduce weight, and even the seatpost is a stout All Mountain item, so there’s plenty of weight-loss potential in the mix. The Trek isn"t overly heavy though, and the whole package is good for the price and has no real weak links.