Quick Ride: Trek Remedy 9 29

[Claudio]

My first thought when seeing the Remedy is, "that's quite beefy, must be heavy". Which isn't that bad of a thing, necessarily. Most 29ers are short travel, skinny, light buggars that you wouldn't want to point down a rooted slope, never mind a muscly beefcake like this.

 

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[Hairy]

Nice review and I look forward to more!

[Red Zone]

"I love skidding about, locking the rear and sliding" no wonder Tokai is so trashed, please look after out trails!

[Stevief]

To be honest sounds like the bike wasnt so great considering what its built for? A bit top heavy on downhills, bit sluggish, and not much fun.

[Matt]

"I love skidding about, locking the rear and sliding" no wonder Tokai is so trashed, please look after out trails!

 

None of that skidding around was done on the trails themselves I can assure you. We're big fans of the many hours of work put in at Tokai and would not break this cardinal rule!

[banna]

To be honest sounds like the bike wasnt so great considering what its built for? A bit top heavy on downhills, bit sluggish, and not much fun.

 

Jip. Not an impressive review at all. Tx for playing, I'll stick with my 26'rs then.

[Stevief]

None of that skidding around was done on the trails themselves I can assure you. We're big fans of the many hours of work put in at Tokai and would not break this cardinal rule!

Rode tokai on sat , the new singletrack trails "mamba?" and a few more were freaking awesome. Big up to the trailbuilders, you dudes are legends.

[Tommohawk]

Interestingly I've ridden the Trek Remedy 9 26er and the Remedy 9 29er extensively back to back and I find the 29er the more agile bike - just proving that as much as a bike is more than the sum of it's parts, it is also more than just a wheel size and we should be careful not to classify all 29ers as exhibiting specific riding traits.

 

The key to this bike's success under the Trek Enduro Team and Tracy Moseley at the Enduro World Series (1st team and 1st lady overall in the series) lies more in the geometry and suspension design than anything else.

I'm probably biased, but the ABP design offers the best rear pivot location any manufacturer could hope for (but can't copy due to patent laws in most countries) and when you combine this with the EVO rocker link and adjustable geometry you get something truly special.

 

Also can't wait to test out the Remedy 650b for a head to head comparison...

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Rode tokai on sat , the new singletrack trails "mamba?" and a few more were freaking awesome. Big up to the trailbuilders, you dudes are legends.

 

Fanks!!! We were on My Roots (right at the bottom) all day. Was hard graft, but worth every drop of sweat!!!

[Matt]

To be honest sounds like the bike wasnt so great considering what its built for? A bit top heavy on downhills, bit sluggish, and not much fun.

 

I had the chance to give it a ride as well, albeit a short one, but was suitably impressed considering it's purpose. Already riding a 29er (although a carbon hard tail) the wheel size for me was a non-issue. Despite being a good 4kg heavier than my usual far less beefy ride it climbed very nicely. In fact a whole lot better on the technical stuff as the rear wheel kept traction regardless of position. As Claudio noted in his review on the longer constant climbs and uphill accelerations the weight was felt, but with the Fox CTD and dropper post it transformed quickly into a capable climber.

 

When heading downhill the slacker head angle, shorter stem and wider bars inspired confidence. Being used to a jarring hard tail the plush suspension on the Remedy did leave me feeling a bit disconnected with the trail, but the same way you might feel when changing to a car with power steering. Something I think I'd come to appreciate with more time behind the bars.

 

With the more relaxed geometry and slightly longer wheelbase than my current ride it didn't dive into corners quite like I'm used to, but I didn't get the chance to really put it through it's paces on a windy trail.

 

For a first ride it was a whole lot of fun. Hip jumps and gaps that I'd never taken a second look at before were suddenly fair game and comfortably so.