Trek Fuel EX 9.8 2020 - Full Review ( 1 Year Review )
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- čas přidán 9. 08. 2020
- I’ve owned my Trek Fuel EX 2020 about a year now and it was time to share my thoughts. It’s a bike I have been really happy with. Thumbnail courtesy of Lawson Turcotte Photos.
There’s much more that can be said than I can say in a single video. I will post a full blog post in the comments in the near future.
Regarding other bikes I would consider as an alternative to the Fuel Ex: Keep in mind there are hundreds of bikes in this travel category. The Transition Spur, Transition Sentinal, and 2021 Trek Slash are bikes that I think would be good for my style of riding but they bring different things to the table than the Fuel EX. (That’s assuming that the new Slash is awesome... we haven’t seen it yet) - Jak na to + styl
Hey. Love your review. Great video. One note, when you setup those great natural pan shots, pan to the bike.
Very nice review! :-)
Hi men, I wrote to you when you release a video when the bike was new. I also have a 2020 9.8 and in october I will have a year with the bike. For now I have beeing riding the bike about 1180 miles and I like it pretty much. Here in Mexico City the trails I ride are very agressive, more like an enduro ones, and the bike goes forward like a tractor! I also compite in enduro races with an Ibis Ripmo and I also compite with this Fuel EX to have an idea of the potential of the bike. On the suspension ligue, I think to make an upgrade as you to make the fork a 150mm, but I only put a Vorsprung Luftkappe and it change a lot the ride quility. The shock its another history, in the next months I will buy a Cane Creek coil shock, to have a more feedback, because the I dont like it al all. Cheers from Mexico!
The Fuel is a very good descender indeed. Very interested to hear how your new shock handles when you get it.
Have you ridden the yeti sb130 and if so thoughts compared to the Fuel EX?
I'm looking at getting the 2021 Fuel EX 9.8 and am planning to put the GRIP2 damper in the fork. Do you feel the move from 140mm to 150mm made a big difference in the geo of the bike? They finally steepened the seat angle (though I think they should have done more) and I was wondering if adding the 150mm put it back to a slack seat angle and would negatively effect climbing.
I honestly prefer the climbing with the longer fork as it slows down the steering a bit. I just slid my saddle a little further forward and dropped my stem by one ten mm spacer. The seat angle feels pretty normal to me. Could be steeper I suppose but not a problem.
Would the 2020\1 PIVOT SWITCHBLADE beat this bike in every aspect? Climbing, sprinting, descending, tight turns, NOT destroyer of pedals and cranks, flat surfaces, rocks,...
How does it compare to a remedy 8?
Hi There, Question for ya. I have a 2020 Fuel EX 9.7 and was curious how you felt about the stick XR4 Team Issue tires? Did you swap them out immediately? I normally run Maxxis tires, and am running them for the sake of them being there, and wondered if you saw any improvements say going to a Assegai front Agressor rear combo?
I ran the XR4 on my Remedy for awhile and they work out okay since they are so predictable but I found that they are down on grip over all compared to my Maxxis combo. The Assegai has much more total grip and the aggressor is faster rolling so when I got the Fuel I swapped them out right away.
I swapped the xr4s for a pair of ardent 2.4s. Faster and lighter gave me more range for slight loss of grip. Keep the xr4s for the days I hit the real rough stuff. They are comparable to the minion dh tire without heavy duty casing.
Tire choice is very personal and particular to terrain. Buy test discard repeat.
Nice review. Any issues with the knock block headset? I’m concerned with riding up and down tight switchbacks- Any problems there? Does it require more maintenance than a traditional headset?
I haven’t ever had any issues on switchbacks though a small percentage of riders do. (Depends a bit on how the bike fits you). No additional maintenance. The only consistent negative is that if you crash hard enough you can chip the stop in the headset and then the fork can turn further than it’s supposed to.
@@WildOutdoorLiving thanks for the info. I’m close to pulling the trigger on a fuel ex and to be honest with you knock block is the only thing in the way. Some of the trails I ride on the Front Range have tight switchbacks. Maybe I’ll demo one. If the stop in the headset breaks does that require the headset be replaced or only the stop chip/clip?
hello i have my own version of your bike (2020 fuel ex 9.8 green) just wandering where did you get that rubber to hold that two cable (brake lever) in one?
That wrap comes stock on some Scott bikes. I had grabbed the left overs from the shop where I work a couple of years ago. I don’t think Scott sells the wrap but a few other companies are now selling a similar cable wrap. Unfortunately I don’t have an experience with the new stuff.
for your rides, mino links, high or low? I have a 2020 Fuel EX 9.8 XT. awesome bike
I always have mine in low
Very good review!
Amazing bike, really nice upgrades.
I have one question in regards to sizing.. I know its difficult to advice on this topic but me being 185 cm tall, if I look at trek sizing guide I am Hair short of XL. I never had full suspension Bike not sure if I should size up or not. Cheers
I am 185 and I have Trek Fuel ex 8 2020 in L size, It is perfect. Climbing, descending, CORNERING...perfect.
I believe that XL would stretch you forward too much. Problem is that too much bike companies make every year longer and longer bikes and when we read reviews at pinkbike, vital etc. readers believe that those bikes are super duper enduro bro rage !! Because testers always mentioned this bike is faster, that bike is faster...
In reality if you dont ride enduro or DH racing 24/7 you dont need super long and super stable bike.
At the end of day MTB is about fun!
Go for L size you will be happy.
@@bitumen83 hello, thanks for your advice. I actually went for Proper measuring in the shop. My insode leg was to short for xl.
I got the L.
IT IS AMAZING.... Cheers
did you ever experience the fork locking out with hard riding? The GRIP damper dial sucks, I had to secure it with 2 zip ties.
I never had that issue with this fork. Have you contacted Fox to see if there’s anything they can do to fix it?
@@WildOutdoorLiving The problem is there are no firm clicks so it moves easily, and during rough root sections or brutal bunny hops it locks the fork. I no longer use the fork anyway, I sold frame, and will sell the fork, I now ride a new bike and have Fox 36 Grip 2, no such issue there, it's super secure, you won't accidentally get it to move, you actually need to put some effort into it.
What size shock volume spacer did you go for? Stock is 0.4 but i'm finding I'm blowing through the travel on repeated hits on open mode. Thinking to try 0.8
it has been awhile but I believe I had a 0.95 in there.
@@WildOutdoorLiving Nice one, thanks. I've been using the 0.8 last few weeks and it's feeling way better through the jank. And got a 150mm spring with 1 token (stock was 4!) on the fork. Low mino link. It took me a long time to get this bike feeling great but think i'm finally there. Maybe i'll try the 0.95 though i'm only 145lbs.