Product review
Waterloo Wisconsin. Home of America's Bicycle Company whose backyard has been professionally landscaped into every little boys dream. No sandbox or swing set here, just a healthy piece of land covered in thick Wisconsin foliage and a few connecting meadows called The Farm. Within The Farm is an amazing network of trails that have been carved out to perfection. Winding tight through the trees and over strategically placed rock gardens, Jim's Trails are a masterpiece of trail construction that can challenge just about anyone. From rollercoaster descents that are more like a pump-track through the trees and quick bursting climbs to North Shore style features of big drops, step-ups, wall rides and teeter-totters; Jim's Trails left me wanting more after every lap.The best part about the trails was that every time we set out for another lap or two, we had the opportunity to take out a new steed, which made the testing purposes more meaningful. The loop was so good that even though there are a wide variety of trails to choose from, we kept grinding out the same trails with each new bike.When we showed up at Trek HQ, I had a few major objectives in mind of bikes I wanted to test. Being a bit of a racer I had to get my hands on a Top Fuel 9.9 and of course, really put some time in on a Superfly. There were a number of other bikes also put on the checklist as well including the Trek Remedy, Fuel EX, possibly one of the new Speed Concept bikes and if there was time, why not a Session 88 just for fun. The truth is, "just for fun" was an understatement for the entire demo. It was amazing.My first venture on The Farm was on the popular Trek Top Fuel 9.9. It's said to be the best XC full suspension race bike ever. If you look at some of the results over the past few years you might just believe it. From World Cup and National victories, to appearances in many other monumental races around the world. This was the bike Lance used to win the ever-famous Leadville 100 in 2009.
It didn't take long to settle in to the Top Fuel 9.9. As we pedaled the paved road towards The Farm, I did what any pilot would do before takeoff. Checking through my cockpit, making any needed adjustments and getting aquatinted with the lockout switches. I'm a bit of a minimalist and the 9,9 is far from simplistic on the handlebars. It's not complicated by any means and it's all about the performance, but it does take a bit of getting use to when you've never had that many cables routing to the bars.We made out way to the trailhead and the excitement began to build. I had no idea what I was in for. There was lots of buzz around Trek World about how cool these trails really were. We made out way up a short climb on a dirt road that paralleled what looked like a nice set of dirt jumps. A nice quick rhythm section at the top followed by some bigger table-tops and a huge wall ride near the bottom was quickly added to my to-do list. Soon we found our way to the trailhead and began to rip some sweet, tacky Wisconsin single track. The 9.9 was quick and nimble. It whipped in and out of the trees with little effort and when I put a little muscle into the climbs, she zipped perfectly to the top. The bike seemed to have really good balance. I felt very confident in its ever move and took to some of the features without a hitch. It was very apparent that this was not only a fast race bike but it was also a sweet trail bike too.The 2011 bike comes stock with the new XTR 2X10, which seemed to work great. It does lack the crisp shifting of XX but as a whole, the system worked great. The Bontrager carbon wheels are the icing on the cake. Not quite as stiff as my Edge or Reynolds, but the ride quality is hard to beat. There's really not much I'd change on this bike if I were to purchase it from Bike Fix. Trek did a very nice job specking it out with all the race essentials that make it a light, fast trail/race bike.The next bike I checked off the list was the Trek Superfly. Formerly the Gary Fisher Superfly, now it dawns the Trek logo and can be found under the Gary Fisher collection, by Trek.
My first experience with a 29er was a number of years ago at the 24 hours of Moab bike race. I barrowed Tolberts, Gary Fisher Rig, to race on a single speed ridged team. With Kenny Jones, Chuck Gibbson and Josh Wolf. Lap number one for me was not only my first ride on a 29er but also my first time riding a single speed. Despite having no suspension fork, I noticed right away that this bike, mainly because of the wheels, was going to be fast. It was the perfect course for a ss and an even better course to try out the 29" wheel revolution. I was sold. Since then, I've stuck to riding super light 26" carbon hard tails, which in my mind are also the best XC race bike ever. But, I have quite frequently though that a carbon 29er would be pretty sweet.That being said, I took to the trails on just that. The new Trek Superfly is a fully stocked race bike. XO componentry, and some pretty light weight scandium wheels, the bike is an extra tall super nimble racehorse. The second time around trails I was a bit more familiar with some of the features. The carbon 29er handled most all of them with ease. The big step-up and a few of the drops were busted out with ease. I did take a pretty good digger though on a big wall ride. Not enough speed combine with slick wet tires, didn't quite stick to the nearly vertical wood beams that made up the large wall-ride corner. Regardless, the Superfly kept shredding the trails like a champ.At one point, I opened it up to a pace that would resemble a pretty intense effort in a race. I noticed that when you got the bike rolling there was nothing that could get in it's way. Pulling out of a few tight and slow corners, it actually accelerated much better than I anticipated. I was very impressed and would defiantly include this bike in my armory of racers.Taking a small brake form the racers to add a few more inches of fun factor, I jumped on the Trek Remedy 9.9, for a few laps. If you're looking for a bike that rips the DH similar to a freeride bike but also have the ability to climb back to the top, this is the one for you. I was way impressed with the Remedy and it's ability to actually ride as a trail bike. It simply rips.
Because Jim's Trails are so buff, it's really tough to pull out the full test on a bike like this but with the various adjustability of the front and rear suspension, I think the Remedy would be a great bike for those looking to push the envelope a bit more as well as join your buddies on a nice trail ride from time to time. It's a bit more than the complete package of a bike, but that's also coming from a "racer" who's been spending a lot of time on a carbon hardtail. I'd love to have one of these in my quiver, but if I were the type of rider putting in some decent and consistant hours on the bike, I may tone it back just a bit. Something like the Fuel EX.The Fuel EX seemed to be one the best all round trail bikes I've ridden. It was pretty spunky and quick on the draw yet it had just enough slack in the head angle, and travel in the suspension to really soak up all the bumps, both big and small. The beauty about this bike is the rear suspension, dual air chamber. When you're ripping the trail at speed, because you really can on the EX, you can trust that your rear wheel, will always be in close contact with the ground and there will be no quick bounce back that other shocks and suspension designs tend to do. Wheels on the ground = good traction and stability at all times.
By the time I got around to riding the Fuel EX I was loosing opportunity to ride anything else. I was okay with that because I felt like I put in a few really good efforts on some very solid bikes. I was hoping to spend some time on the dirt jumps on board a Scratch, but as I mentioned, my time was running out. Instead I dropped the seat slightly on the Fuel EX and went for it anyway. I wasn't let down. Before my eyes, the Fuel EX became a sweet dirt jumper and was soaring high above the table-tops and ripping the berms like a champ. It was that good, that I ended up lapping the jumps quite a few times. Not bad for a bike that's considered an XC/Enduro trail bike.