Whenever
anyone asks me about working in the Bike industry, I always get the same
question asked “It must be awesome to ride bikes all day and get paid for it!”
As anyone
who works in a Bike Shop knows, most of our time is spent selling bikes, fixing
bikes, sorting replacement parts to customers and generally stressing about
the lack of time we have to do repairs and new builds, or about the state of
the shop floor.
Honestly,
some days you get home and think “Id be happy if I never saw another bike in my
life!”
So we packed
our bags, left work early on the Wednesday night, picked Dan up from Wetherby and set off on a 3 ½ hour journey full of inappropriate comments, banter and
many coffee stops!!!
Eventually
we rolled into Glentress lodges, our home for the night and start unpacking the
car and setting up camp. Tom has other ideas so by the time me and Dan had the
car unpacked,Tom set up and lit a fair sized fire so it was beer o’clock!
After some ribbing
each other some more, talk turned to the next day and what bikes we all wanted
to try out. Both Tom and I wanted to go down the 27.5” route, however Dan was
very much committed to the 29er, so as it hit midnight and the fire died down,
it was time for some kip as it was an early start in the morning.
8am,
everyone’s up and ready, a quick trip into Peebles for breakfast and then back
to the Pod to eat and get our riding kit sorted for the day.
After a
lovely, crisp, clear night, the Riding gods have not looked upon us favourably
and decided to make things a bit more interesting, so it’s tipping it down!!
Waterproofs on, winter gloves and Sealskins socks are dug out of kit bags and were off bright and early to get the pick of the bikes. Where the first lot there, so like kids in a sweetshop, we had pretty much every bike and size at our disposal, so Tom goes for a 2015 Slash 9, I grab a Remedy 9 and Dan goes for a Remedy 9 29er.
Trek have come
on leaps and bounds in the last couple of years with their bikes and this
year’s range looks stunning (even caked in mud from the previous day!!).
Trek have
very much stuck with 29” wheels through their range as well as 27.5” for 2015.
It seems everyone else has been jumping ship and going down the 27.5” route. I
can understand the commitment from a lot of brands going with 27.5” over 29” as
they are nimbler through the tight, twisty stuff and to be really blunt, most
people are scared to death of changing to a 29er as they think it will limit
them on the trail, especially anything over 120mm, as unfortunately the rise of
the dreaded forum and many armchair experts have demonised the 29er as a thing
reserved for the XC whippets and the quirkier riders. I’m going to tell you now
that’s absolute rubbish!
Treks range
of 29ers are some of the best I have ridden, and I’m very much a convert of the
smaller wheels (something to do with a DH background I guess!) but with the
offset crowns used on their 29” bikes, they handle like they have a much
smaller wheel and after last year’s demo day at Coeyd y Brennen, I was very
much sold on the 29ers (ask Dan at Wetherby for confirmation, he spent his cold
hard cash on a 29er remedy this year!), but we didn’t really get a chance to
test much in their 27.5” range last year as they were few and far between, but
for 2015 that has all changed!
So all 3 of
us set off for the long, soggy, cold slog to the top. Tom and Dan are off like
missiles, I hang at the back (as usual!) being the unfit mess of the group. As predicted,
Dan’s 29er is by far the best climber of the 3, the bigger wheels are always
going to help him on the climbs and even with the ground sodden, he’s not
struggling with lack of grip on the closed woodland climbs. Toms off like a rocket
too, but starts to ease up a bit halfway to the free ride park as the slash
he’s on is a big, slack bike designed for going down rather than up, but
surprisingly he gets it up to the buzzards nest before Dan. My 650b Remedy is a big surprise. It climbs very well for a 150mm travel bike and even through the steeper switchback climbs, the front end feels planted. It has all the traits of the 29er I rode last year going up, but as we get to the free ride park, I’m getting tetchy to give it some stick.
Tom and I decide to mess about for half an hour on the jumps and drops and as predicted
the Slash didn’t disappoint. From the looks of things, Tom had a blast on the
bike through the table tops and berms, but I’ll let you read his review further
down for more on the Slash.
Dan made the
decision to catch a breather and laughed at us sliding our way down the jump
line, probably a wise decision as it was pretty lethal on the rocky sections
and wooden boxes.
My Remedy
rode like a dream, no matter how sketchy my landings were after some rather
shonky whips, or dodgy line choices through some slippery rocks, the bike felt
stable, planted and very forgiving. As soon as I got to the bottom, I was
running back up for another go!!!!
Eventually
the other 2 prised me away from the playground and we continued our accent to
the top!
We barrel
into spooky woods at a fair rate!! The trail’s hard packed up here and were not
fighting for grip even though there is a river running down the top section. I
keep my distance from tom, don’t fancy having a tumble on the first decent so
all 3 of us are keeping a fair bit of room between us, but were flying! The remedy
is light, nimble and sticks like glue to the berms, rollers and small jumps on
the top section. Through the berms I wasn’t even covering the brakes because
the bike felt so stable I was rolling through them and using the berm itself to
moderate my speed. It’s rare I can be on a bike for less than 2 hours and feel
comfortable enough to do that, but in the wet I don’t think I’ve ever ridden a
demo bike like that. This is shaping up to be a good decent!
We pop out
at the bottom, have a quick breather and a drink and then into the next
section.
Once again
hardpack trail, fast open, corners and more pushing the bikes harder and
harder.
The next
section is a little different. We drop into the woods and straight away we are
greeted with mud, polished roots and rocks. It wouldn’t be so bad even in the
wet, but it is dark, and I mean really dark. We slow it down and pick our lines
very carefully. At lower speeds the remedy still feels stable and even though
it’s got a pretty slack head angle, I found I could muscle it through the
technical sections without any hassle. I felt so at home on it, at one point I
got a bit sloppy with my line choices and ended up straight lining a section of
polished roots and ended up in a tangled muddy mess on the floor! Very much pilot
error rather than the bike not being able to handle it. Dan had the same idea
as me, slow and steady in the dark woods, Tom on the other hand was his usual
gung-ho self and was hitting everything with a real do or die attitude, which
seemed to pay off! I was the only casualty of the day, but I’m sure the other
chaps had a couple of hairy moments but I doubt they will admit it!!
As we rolled
back to treks tent, caked in mud, cold and hungry we all had smiles on our
faces!
Next stop,
food.
Over dinner,
we had a talk about the bikes we’d ridden and decided to go out for a go on the
new 27.5” fuels which Trek have brought out this year, we were already covered
in mud so we might as well go out and try something none of us were too
bothered about last year.
We decided a
trip to the halfway point was a wiser move as it would be late by the time we
got back if we did the full loop, so off we went on the shorter travel bikes
for a bit of a play.
The Fuels
are a good option for the UK, as they are slack enough to really enjoy the
descents, but not too slack as to limit you on the climbs. If I was to buy a
bike to ride the natural trails around west and north Yorkshire, this would be
at the top of my list!!!! They climb like mountain goats, and even with my lack
of fitness and how tired I was, I actually enjoyed the switchbacks up to the
halfway point. It didn’t want to lift its front wheel, it was easy to manhandle
over rocks and roots and had a nice comfortable riding position.
The real
surprise was on the down! The fuel feels
like it has a hell of a lot more travel than it actually does!!! This partly
due to the DRCV RE:AKTIV shocks trek use on some of their bikes and this year.
I won’t go too much into the technology in this review, but I advise looking at
this link and watching the videos on the DRCV and RE:AKTIV shocks.
What I will
tell you about the shocks is that they do actually do what they say on the tin.
I never really used the climb setting on either of the bikes as I found that
even in the middle “trail” setting, both shocks were stiff enough to climb on,
but if like me, you get caught up in the moment and forget to switch back to
the “decent” mode, the bike won’t try to kill you and your suspension will work
as is meant to even on rough descents. I know there is a lot of people in the
industry developing specific shocks and forks for their own suspension
platforms, and a lot of them don’t live up to expectations, but trek have nailed
it this year, and that’s a pretty big statement from me as I am unbelievably
fussy with my suspension set ups!
So, in a
nutshell, Remedy or Fuel? For me personally, it’s still the remedy. I love the
fact I can beat the bike up on everything I throw it at and it takes it in its
stride. I’ve always loved the full floater suspension platform and Active
Braking Pivots trek have used for years, I think they are one of the most
forgiving rides on the market, but the DRCV shocks on the longer travel bikes
have always been a bit wishy washy, sometimes you find you are using all your
travel when you don’t need too. A linier
stroke on a longer travel bike isn’t always a good thing, I always find a
little ramp up does make the bike feel sturdier and you’re not quite as worried
you’re going to bottom out the bike.
The RE:ACTIVE shock changes how the bike
feels at the top end of the travel and never once did I bottom it out, or even
feel close to doing so. I think the only change id make would be the front
forks on the Remedy. I would have gone with the Rockshox Pikes myself as they
have a much better feel than the 2015 Fox 34’s, but once again, that’s personal
preference.
Now for the
shocker…..
The Fuel
really is the bike I'd suggest buying for most people. I can imagine taking it out
of a trail centre setting and up onto the natural terrain and moorland round
here it would be in its element. The only reason I would have the Remedy is due
to how I ride a bike, as I said I tend to want something that I can really
throw around and will do the bigger jumps and drops, but for your weekend
warriors, trail centre riders and dare I say it, the XC guys who want just a
bit more, I think the Fuel is the better option. The 27.5” wheels with 120mm
forks really is the best option for most trail centres in the UK, but with its
climbing capability’s and relaxed, but not too relaxed geometry (I hope that
makes sense!!) it is the Perfect UK trail bike.
It’s not about how much travel your bike has, but very much how the frame and shock work together as a platform and for me, and I hate to say it, the Fuel does it better than the Remedy!
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