What Next... Stick with Trek or Move On...

shidevil

Hi Chaps,

I'm riding a 2013 Trek EX Fuel, standard other than the addition of Stealth Reverb, Tubeless etc (Nobby Nick's UST), and I ride SPD"s.

I've been riding for a while but have recently got back into it more so, progressing from local rides round the woods, to night time rides once a week with mates, speeding through woods at night, tight trails, over logs, tracks etc. We have started doing bigger and more technical places e.g. Cannock Chase and have plans to go to Dalby Forest next. Cannock was so much fun and my kind of riding. I bloody loved it! Monkey Route twice in the day and loved the climbs and the downhill technical sections. This is me, what I enjoy. Loving the jumps, the twists, rocks, tree trunks, anything to test you, twisty turns up and down etc, maximum variety, hammering it along. The Trek Fuel is an awesome bike and it's amazing how one trip changes things, locks you in and the fear you felt before doing things disappears Im addicted!

I'm wondering what to do next. So, here's the quandry. Do I upgrade the bike...lighter wheels, maybe better front shocks etc. Incrementally improving it... (I'm not looking to do park (i'm a snowboarder, so hopefully that's what its called), just continue with XR, downhill etc).

Or, do I go for a new bike, with the view that the upgrades might be better spent on a 650B (many of my mates ride this setup now), maybe look at a Carbon Frame (I can get a decent deal from the US on bikes) and go for it, so tempted (i'm impulsive and very competitive). I am in a lucky position to be able to afford to do so but the same time, I am also wondering what the best bang for buck/fun will be, given how good the Trek Fuel is. Anyone been in a similar position?

What are your thoughts chaps

Thanks chaps.

Briggo

given how good the Trek Fuel is

Give me the money

BloggingFit

I was in a similar position to yourself last year but with a 2013 Remedy instead of a Fuel. I too am in a position to get Trek Bikes at a decent price so I ended up buying the Remedy and using for a year with a view to at least make my money back and invest in a Carbon version rather keep it and upgrade.

I too jumped from 26" to 650b/27.5" and there was an initial difference between the two sizes with the Remedy due to a 10mm reduced travel and revised geometry plus the Carbon makes it feel a more focused ride. It felt more Fuel like to ride Uphill and on the flat and Remedy like Downhill. Having ridden the Fuel in both formats the transition across is far less noticeable. The main thing I noticed is that the speed is deceptive and you end up travelling quicker than you think.

If you're in the position be go for a Carbon platform, assuming you're sticking with Trek, then I would recommend taking this path. The new Re:Aktiv rear shock platform works really well for climbing on all the 2015 models and the Carbon is a great frame to work with. If you fancied something a bit more capable of going downhill then I can really recommend the Remedy and I find the 650b/27.5" climbs nearly as well as a Fuel.