Trek has released its updated Fuel EX trail bike, which transformed it from a lighter, short-travel ripper into a more aggressive trail bike.
The Fuel EX gets 140mm of rear travel paired with a 150mm fork, and features adjustable geometry and the ability to run a coil shock.
The new shape bike takes clear aesthetic influences from Trek’s also new Fuel EXe eMTB, which was released this summer. Slightly curved top tubes and a lower shock mounting point on a bar that connects the down tube to the seat tube, above the bottom bracket area, are the most obvious visual connections between the models.
Trek claims that the trail category is the most important part of its mountain bike family, and as such the Fuel EX is the key bike in the lineup.
As such, this is a bike that Trek aims to outperform in all conditions and appeal to a wide range of riders. It has to climb well and descend confidently and be a lot of fun. Trek claims it’s the most feature-rich bike it’s ever built.
The bike uses the brand’s ABP suspension linkage and is offered in the smaller sizes with 27.5-inch wheels.
Trek Fuel EX frame details
Trek offers the new Fuel EX in both aluminum and carbon options that share the same geometry and suspension headlines.
The shape of the frame had to be changed on this version of the bike in order for Trek to achieve a number of its goals.
For example, it wanted a shorter seat tube length to allow for longer drop droppers, but had to balance that with a longer seatpost insertion length to allow for those longer posts.
This means the shock has been moved forward in the frame to accommodate the new seat tube. However, Trek says it didn’t want to compromise on water bottle storage or standover height.
Trek also had to make sure they could fit a wide range of shock sizes—including coil and piggyback shocks. Trek says this means all Fox and RockShox air and coil shocks, as well as DVO/Push/Marzocchi, will fit.
Some smaller frames with water bottles may experience compatibility issues with large architecture shocks.
Trek uses the standard 34.9mm seat tube diameter, which allows for more reliable long-drop droppers. This larger diameter allows for a stiffer dropper post construction and also means the seals are more effective.
The Fuel EX features downtube storage on both carbon and alloy models, with the door located under the bottle cage.
There’s also fully routed internal cable routing – a first for the Fuel EX, which allows you to slide cables in up the head tube and wait for them to exit in the right place without having to fish around internally to route them.
As with the Trek Slash and Session, the down tube features full-length rubberized bolt-on protection. This extends high up the down tube for riders tossing their bikes over the tailgate of a pickup truck.
Trek Fuel EX suspension details
Trek’s ABP suspension linkage features a rear pivot that is concentric with the rear axle (rather than close to it at the chainstay like on a 4-bar or at the seatstay in a linkage-driven single-pivot design).
This is to prevent the suspension from hardening when braking. This system has worked well on a number of Trek mountain bikes.
Trek added a “progression chip” to its ABP suspension system that Suspension Leverage Rate.
Effectively, this allows the use of both air (progressive nature) and coil (linear nature) shocks. However, Trek says the chip can also be used to change how your bike rides with the same shock.
In the less progressive setting, it’s designed to behave like previous generations of the Fuel EX. It should handle rocky, bumpy, big-hit trails well where you want to easily and reliably access all of the bike’s travel.
In the higher speed setting, you get more progression and more bottom-out resistance, which Trek says is ideal for smoother trails where you want the bike to be held higher in its travel and to offer more pop when you’re riding a hit jump .
This is a step up from changing the spring rate of the suspension, as lever rate also affects damping of the shock. This is Trek’s Session DH bike’s trickle-down technology.
Trek Fuel EX geometry
Bikes are now longer, lower, flatter and steeper, as you would expect. This means that the head angle has been chopped to 64.5 degrees, the reach has increased by 10 to 20 mm depending on size and the seat tube angle has also become steeper.
Chainstays are size specific, ranging from 435 to 450mm depending on frame size. This was done to have a more consistent weight balance across the eight sizes (XS to XXL).
The XS bike is only 27.5 inches, while smaller bikes are available in both 29 inches or 27.5 inches. The rest of the range is 29 inches.
Trek equipped the Fuel EX with both the Mino Link Hi/Low Flip Chip and an adjustable headset system with three positions – Steep, Neutral and Slack.
This alone gives six geometry options. However, it also indicates that the bike can be ridden as a mullet in sizes M to XXL.
If ridden as a mullet, Trek says the Mino Link should be run in the high setting and a longer 160mm fork should be used.
The current Hi setting of the Mino Link is the same as the previous generation Low setting.
Below is a 29-inch, Mino Link Low, Slack headset geometry diagram. Trek’s website has a dynamic geometry chart that updates as you digitally change settings on the bike.
Trek Fuel EX models
The lineup begins with the Fuel EX 5, which uses the previous generation frame.
The new chassis lands on the EX 7 and up models. Trek will offer both the carbon and aluminum frames as a frame-only option for those who want to spec their own bikes.
All bikes are mostly equipped with Bontrager components, including dropper posts. At the time of writing we do not have any prices.
Trek Fuel EX 5 specification
- Frame: Alpha Platinum
- Fork: RockShox Recon Silver
- Shock: X Fusion Pro 2
- Group: Shimano Deore
- Brakes: Shimano MT200
- Wheels: Alex rims, Bontrager hubs
- Tires: Maxxis Recon
Trek Fuel EX 7 specification
- Frame: Alpha Platinum
- Fork: RockShox 35 Gold RL
- Shock: Fox performance floats
- Group: Shimano Deore/SLX/XT
- Brakes: Shimano MT420
- Wheels: Bontrager Line Comp 30
- Tires: Bontrager XR5 29×2.6 inch
Trek Fuel EX 8 specification
- Frame: Alpha Platinum
- Fork: Fox rhythm 36
- Shock: Fox Float X2 performance
- Group: Shimano SLX/XT
- Brakes: Shimano MT6120
- Wheels: Bontrager Line Comp 30
- Tires: Bontrager XR5 29×2.6 inch
Trek Fuel EX 9.7 specification
- Frame: OCLV carbon
- Fork: Fox rhythm 36
- Shock: Fox Float X2 performance
- Group: Shimano SLX/XT
- Brakes: Shimano MT6120
- Wheels: Bontrager Line Comp 30
- Tires: Bontrager XR5 29×2.6 inch
Trek Fuel EX 9.8 GX AXS / Shimano XT specification
- Frame: OCLV carbon
- Fork: fox performance 36
- Shock: Fox Float X2 performance
- Group: SRAM GX AXS or Shimano XT
- Brakes: SRAM code R or MT8120
- Wheels: Bontrager Line Elite 30 Carbon
- Tires: Bontrager XR5 29×2.6 inch
Trek Fuel EX 9.9 XX1 AXS / Shimano XTR specification
- Frame: OCLV carbon
- Fork: Fox factory 36
- Shock: Fox Float X2 factory
- Group: SRAM XX1 AXS or Shimano XTR
- Brakes: SRAM code RSC or MT9120
- Wheels: Bontrager Line Pro 30 Carbon
- Tires: Bontrager XR5 29×2.6 inch
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