Trek Fuel EX 9 Bike Review

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Trek Fuel EX 9 Review

Trek Fuel 9 Mountain Bike Review

My first impression of the Trek Fuel EX 9 is that it was positively faster than other 5 inch travel mountain bikes that we have race tested in the past. The Trek Fuel EX 9 inspires confidence on tight singletrack and deftly carved its way through trees, around stumps, over the bumps and was more than ready to burn rubber out of a corner. Have you ever gone to a go-kart track and marveled at how snappy and tight these things can turn and handle? If so then the Trek Fuel EX 9 gave me the same sensation, light and nimble and very quick.

In fact, the Trek Fuel EX 9 can be difficult on your parts build as it is the type of bike that inspires the confidence to push faster and go farther than you would on your old bike. As you know, the faster you go, the more parts you break in the long run. It's no fault of the bike, just a really neat side effect of adrenaline and confidence.

Trek Fuel Mountain Bikes

The Trek Fuel EX 9 in my opinion is a great all around mountain bike that is pretty good at almost everything it does, making it a superb choice for most mountain bikers. You can buy purpose built bikes that excel at what they are designed for but the fact is that most riders encounter a wide variety of terrain. Most of us are not always going up, not always going down and not always on a singletrack trail. In reality most of us encounter ALL of these conditions on one ride.

The Trek Fuel EX 9 matches that need very well. Trek Fuel offers 130mm of front travel and 120mm of smooth rear travel giving it a very spirited and active ride that will serve you well on those long, all day rides where you encounter a variety of terrain. The Trek Fuel is a trail bike at heart that can also disguise itself as both a competent ascender/descender. A perfect choice for most of us.

The Trek Fuel EX 9 frame set is a strong and well built aluminum frame with a deep sloping top tube that maximizes standover. The frame tubes are reinforced where necessary and provide a very confident feel when the going gets twisty. The Trek Fuel EX 9 frame is not particularly high tech or an earth shattering design but it's rock solid and inspires confidence in the rider, just what it should.

Trek Fuel EX 9 Build

We experimented with a few different forks that we had lying around to see what difference it might make but honestly the Fox RP24 performed just fine and allowed up to 130mm of travel and also provided 4 suspension settings including full lockout. The rear shock is again a Fox RP23 with Pro Pedal and lockout. The rest of the drivetrain build is a mix of high quality components including SRAM and Shimano XT components....good quality stuff no question.

If I were hand spec'ing this bike I would probably outfit it with all Shimano as I am simply more comfortable with the shifters and the setup and adjustment of their components but SRAM has quite the loyal following as well and I am sure whomever purchases a Trek Fuel would quickly adapt to the SRAM and may even like it more in the long run.

The usual assortment of Bontrager components to be found with items like the seatpost, handlebars, stem, saddle etc all coming under the Trek/Bontrager umbrella. Some of the bike snobs love to poo poo on anything Trek or Bontrager but I've got to tell you, this stuff is good quality components and much of it is as good as anything on the market.

Trek Fuel EX Rear Suspension

Something worth mentioning in regards to the Trek Fuel EX 9 is the rear suspension. I wasn't sure how well this setup would work as it is different than the bike I normally ride but I figured I would give it a shot. Trek bills itself as being on the cutting edge of technology when it comes to designing bicycles so that might be tough to live up to but I have to say they did.

The Trek rear suspension is billed as being a "Full Stroke" type setup. How that works is like this, the shock is mounted in two places as opposed to the more traditional setups that mount one end of the shock to a fixed point and the other to a moving link. Full Floater connects the shock to the EVO Link on the top and the extension of the swingarm on the bottom.

What does that mean to you?

This Full Floater allows the shock to “float” between these two suspended attachment points and allows excellent tuneability. The Trek engineers have manged to tune this setup to provide a rear suspension that is compliant, controlled and smooth all while allowing some serious power to the pedals.

Trek Fuel EX Review Summary

As you can tell, I like this bike. I prefer bikes that are simple, clean, efficient and that work well and the Trek Fuel EX delivers all of that in spades. I would definitely recommend it to a rider that is looking for a high quality machine, with good components that will perform well over a variety of trail conditions. It is not a purpose built downhill machine, it is not a purpose built all XC lightweight race bike but rather the Trek Fuel EX 9 is an excellent all around performer that will be a joy to ride all day long over a variety of terrain.

I think this quote sums it up best....this is directly from a recent Trek Fuel EX 9 test rider.

"If I could only have one bike on a singletrack-laden desert island, the Fuel EX is it. I’ve used this bike in cross country races, and even short track races, and then taken it for the long weekend in Moab to ride with friend on long travel bikes. It gives me the feeling of way more than 120mm of travel, all without losing snappy pedaling efficiency. And the E2 front end is stiff in a way I am only used to feeling on double crown forks."

Trek Fuel EX 9 get one today.