MTB

Eurobike 2011: New bikes from Trek, not all 29ers either

Superfly 100 Elite is easily one of the best looking bikes in the world right now. Full OCLV carbon fibre frame beautifully shaped with a massively reinforced head tube junction with the top and down tubes.

The Fox shock sits in line with the top tube and is driven by a short carbon link that is mounted to the top tube, just before the seat tube. Out back is an ABP axle, like that found on Trek’s other bikes, and a BB95 bottom bracket provides a huge surface area for the down tube and main pivot.

The Superfly name is also applied to this lovely carbon fibre 29er hardtail. Same great paintjob.

For women mountain bikers Trek has introduced the Lush, a four bike range that includes aluminium and carbon models. There’s 120mm of travel from the same ABP/Full Floater platform as the other bikes in Trek’s range, but to better accommodate women is the huge dropped top tube for massive standover clearance and the women-specific contact points. This has been made possible with a shorter rear shock to free up space for the top tube.

The Fuel EX’s are all a bit lighter next year, and the 120mm bikes have also been slackened with a reduced head angle.

The aluminium Rumblefish is a fine looking bike.

Although the mountain bike world is very focused on 29ers at the moment, Trek isn’t ignoring its stable of 26er bikes. This is the stunning, looks-fast-sat-still Elite 9.9 SSL. Natty internal cable routing, with the cables entering the bulging head tube, and a half height integrated seat mast are standout features.

Like the Remedy but want it burlier for more demanding riding? Trek has answered your request with the Slash, which essentially is a bike based on the Remedy but made fatter and chunkier in all the key places. A replacement for the Scratch if you prefer.

More travel too, with 160mm from the Full Floater suspension and a RockShox Lyrik Solo Air fork. An important change on all Trek’s top-end full-sussers is that the very clever Dual Rate Control Valve (DRCV) tech will migrate to the forks, with Fox incorporating the design for an better balanced ride.