Trek Remedy - Custom built 6" travel speed machine!
Trek's Remedy 6" travel platform uses some new and unique features to hopefully move it ahead of the pack in the All-Mountain category. Having spent a few days on one I knew it would be the perfect candidate to build up my dream mid-travel ripper. 6 months later and I have a pretty good impression of how the bike performs and its distinct ABP pivot and FullFloater suspension system, as well as the trick E2 head tube.
Read about my build and how the bike performed....
2 HD videos and loads of pictures inside!Trek Remedy
Last winter I was lucky enough to be able to skip some of the grey rainy weather that we suffer through and head South to sample Trek's then new Remedy all-mountain platform. The sun was amazing, the trails were amazing, and the whole trip was amazing. But that's pretty much a given, especially when it's only 2 degrees Celsius and pissing at home. As for the bike, well it sure felt kick ass while underneath me in Mexico as we railed into the Copper Canyon! I think I would have been pumped to be do doing a 4 hour XC ride on an old rusty 10 speed considering the circumstances though, which is why I arranged to get my hands on a frame in order to build it up with some select parts and put some miles in on more familiar terrain. All in the name of "testing" of course!
![photo]()
Starting from scratch with just a Remedy frame and let me build the bike up exactly how I saw fit. I knew that the Remedy would be quite capable and this would be my only horse for quite awhile. I would be doing everything from lifty runs in Whistler and SilverStar to shuttle runs in Kamloops and on my local hills. The large majority of the riding would be good solid XC loops though, so I wouldn't be exaggerating when I say I rode everything on the Remedy. Hell, I even finally got off my ass and rode the Seven Summits trail in Rossland, 6 hours of ecstasy! Despite where and how I was riding the bike my goal was to do it, and do it well, on the same bike with the same parts.
The Frame...
From far away the Remedy strikes a classic pose: standard front and rear triangles, along with a small rocker arm and vertical shock mounting. Get a bit closer though and the story changes. Each tube seems to flow to create a frame that looks more organic than metal. The stance looks like the quintessential full suspension bike but the true story here is radically shaped tubes and some very distinct frame features.
![photo]()
The massive down tube changes shape along it's length, from roughly triangular near the head tube to an immense rectangle at the bottom bracket. Its width at the BB shell is wide enough that there is nearly no shell at all left to protrude from each side of the down tube. At the head tube/down tube junction there is a load of room to clear any forks dials and adjustment knobs. The top tube slopes down towards the rear of the bike for more clearance and is also shaped to bear no resemblance to any sort of round tube. All cables and lines (front and rear shift, as well as rear brake) are routed under the top tube. At 5'10" I had quite a bit of extra stand over room on my medium sized Remedy. The chain stays are asymmetrical to try and keep the noise down, more about that further down. There is quite a bit of room for a high volume 2.35" tire in the rear, although 2.5" would be pushing it a bit. I can't see many riders wanting to slow the bike down with anything that wide anyways. Rear suspension is handled with a Fox RP23 air shock with a larger than normal XV air can. 57 mm of stroke doles out 150 mm of rear travel at the axle. The seat tube has three kerf's cut in the top of it to even out clamping forces, as opposed to the usual single cut. The medium sized frame weighed in at 6.7 lbs including the shock.
The Remedy has some very interesting features built into the frame in the name of speed and handling. Starting at the front you can find a very curvy tapered head tube. With a bottom width of 1.5" and a more traditional 1.125" diameter at the top Treks goal with their E2 headtube was to improve stiffness while not adding weight or yet another standard. That's right, before you get your panties in a knot you can still simply use a regular 1.125" steerer fork. Fox and RockShox are specing OE forks on the Remedy's with tapered E2 head tubes to take advantage of the system. I personally like the idea of extra stiffness and strength of the E2 1.5" bottom end but not being stuck with having to use 1.5" stems.
![photo]()
E2 Headtube, 1.5" bottom end and 1.125" on top
Trek does not rigidly mount the Fox RP23 shock to the front triangle, instead it is attached to a forward extension from the chain stays. This gives Trek's suspension gurus another place to tune the bikes rate as it goes through its travel as well as not feeding suspension forces directly into the main frame. So what they've done is built a slight falling rate into the bike's travel to compensate for the use of an air shock (which inherently has a rising rate as it's compressed). Combined with the RP23's larger than regular air can it should eliminate harsh spikes and in simple terms mean more usable travel.
![photo]()
Trek's FullFloater shock mounting, notice the lower shock bolted directly to an extension from the chain stays
ABP is short for Active Braking Pivot and is exactly what it says. The chain and seat stays pivot directly in line with the rear axle which lessens the amount of rotation between the caliper and rotor, making for a more active system under braking. Simply put, it is a sort of built in floating brake. No special hub is needed as any regular 135 mm QR hub fits, the only proprietary part being a slightly longer than average QR skewer.
![photo]()
ABP pivot
ABP pivot apart and it's very nice aluminum hardware
The Remedy's rocker arm is a single unit made from two pieces and welded together instead of bolted. The claim is a stiffer component (which I could see) as well as a lighter one (which is obvious). The bearings are all sealed units and use extra long inner races instead of annoying little spacers which I'd end up losing. All of the hardware on the Remedy is amazing to say the least. Each nut or bolt is a purpose built piece and made from aluminum, including the tapered pivot axles. Each piece has it's own torque rating on it also so don't be a goober and over do it. There was Loc-Tite on everything from the factory also, a nice touch.
Geometry for my medium Remedy
You're reading about the '08, get in the Pinkbike Time Machine and learn about 2009 Trek Remedy 9 by watching the movie!
The build...
Wheels and tires can change a bikes personality more that any other part. Basically I only needed uber-strong wheels for when I decided to send something or at the park, and at the same time they needed to be relatively light as it all adds up while trying to pedal myself over some mountain. I ended up lacing a set of Stan's ZTR Flow rims to WTB hubs with Sapim spokes and aluminum nipples. The result was a total weight of 1687 grams. Impressively light and you'll find out further down if they were up to the task. I went through loads of tires, some of which you read about, until I settled on my final choice. A 2.35 Maxxis Highroller 3C for steering duties and Maxxis Larsen out back.
Braking, shifting, and drive duties went to SRAM, and for good reason. At the top level we have to admit that everything is pretty damn dialed, what I like about X.O is the solid feel to its shifting and ability to take abuse despite being rather light. Carbon Noir cranks get picked because in this travesty that is outboard bearings that has been forced upon us their Giga X Pipe BB is by far the best. It has to be Avid for braking! Juicy Ultimate's in white to match the frame/fork and with little rotors. I know I'm going to take some heat for this but I really wanted to find out how much braking I really need. Up front you'll see a 6" rotor and the back gets the tiny 5" job. Say what you will but half the fun is trying, you close minded goobers!
![photo]()
Contact points are covered by SDG with their new Formula FX I-Beam seat and Micro Adjust post because seat rails are for those same close minded goobers! I picked Chromag's flat Fubar to hold onto to keep the front low, but more importantly I know I liked the feel of them from years of using them on big bikes. Keeping the Fubar in place is a 50 mm Thompson X4 stem. No reason to explain that one!
All the specs....
Enough with the babbling, how does it ride?
After 6 long months flogging the Remedy on every kind of terrain within an 8 hour drive of home, I have a pretty good idea of how the bike performs. The Remedy's suspension is the perfect example of a system that doesn't feel amazing when you give it the push test, but that comes to life once you start covering ground on the dirt. It's always funny to hear people's verdicts after giving a fork or shock a push at the trail head, really... what the hell is that going to tell you?!
![photo]()
The Remedy's geometry and suspension come together to make one of the most confidence inspiring 6" travel bikes that I've spent time on. When the front of the bike is pointed down hill the RP23 comes to life, far more so than other air shocks on this sort of bike. In fact, the RP23 on the Remedy not only out performs the DHX Air on bikes of the same travel, but feels very coil-like in the majority of situations. The combination of the larger air can (XV) and the falling rate built into the Remedy's rear suspension create a far more linear spring curve than what I was expecting to find. There is no noticeable spike on hard hits, neither from bottoming or ramping up of the suspension. The most obvious example that comes to mind would be a rather large step down that took me a few tries to make smooth. It was clear that all the travel was being used by the o-ring being pushed right off the RP23's shaft but the ending of the stroke didn't feel harsh, or even like it was ending at all!
![photo]()
At 28.7 lbs. it was easy to pedal up but built with a smart group I could charge the downhill's confidently
It's hard to really quantify or throw around percentage numbers regarding the bike's ABP and FullFloater suspension or E2 headtube, those numbers don't mean much to me anyways, but they surely play a part in the Remedy being such a rocket ship. I personally have not felt as confident as this while on any bike of similar travel and intentions. Cornering felt very intuitive and happened with little input, although it wasn't twitchy by any means. I can't tell you that "the steering felt way stiffer due to the E2 head tube and tapered Fox steerer tube" because that would be a bit of an exaggeration, but I'm convinced that this is the case of it being the sum of it's parts. Oddly enough while the front end didn't feel leaps and bounds stiffer than a traditional system, the back half of the bike was incredibly solid. The Remedy is one of the few bikes that I couldn't manage to produce tire rub on the inside of the rear stays. I wasn't forced to apply any more weight to the front end than necessary as traction and understeer were both never an issue. The ABP system had me wishing my local trails had braking markers coming into all the corners. Whether or not ABP was working it's magic I found myself braking later than ever just to test the system, the outcome? I was still in control and going through the turns faster than ever. The combination of the Remedy's geometry, suspension, and chassis stiffness is what really makes this bike such a proficient descender.
![photo]()
Takeoff is in the top right corner! Doesn't "All-Mountain" mean everything on the mountain?
The bike's low weight really made it playful on the mountain and encouraged me to look for different lines and transitions that I may not have been aiming for otherwise. It didn't hurt to have a huge range of seat height adjustment either, something that other full suspension designs lack due to interrupted seat tubes and tire clearance issues.
With the RP23 it sat at 35% sag, the maximum recommended, the suspension still performed amazingly well in all conditions. Although this sounds a bit much for a 6" travel all-mountain bike it never complained. A point was made to be consistent with the rear shocks pressure regardless of terrain or type of riding I was doing. There are not a lot of 6" air sprung bikes that manage to pull that off but the Remedy had no trouble, again this must come down to the suspension rate combined with the XV air can, a very versatile system indeed. The Fox 36 RC2 performed just as I've come to expect from these forks, which is flawlessly.
Watch the video to see the Remedy in action!
The Remedy pedaled quite good, although a bit more active than I anticipated. While the drivetrain's effect on the suspension was negligible, it was easy to activate the suspension by getting sloppy with your body movements when tired. The RP23 has a ProPedal lever but I rarely used it unless I was on pavement because of the extra traction from the active suspension. The rear wheel traction on the Remedy is over the top. While tired and fading fast while on Rossland's Seven Summits trail I still managed to get myself up and over some pretty tricky loose and technical climbs. The Fox 36 RC2 on my Remedy is the '08 non-Talas version which did hinder me in some of the tighter switchback's. I have never been a fan of adjustable height forks up until now, probably because the Remedy's traction let me get places that I may not have otherwise. Thankfully Trek with have the '09 Talas version on the front of the Remedy 9 for this coming season.
How about those parts?
-The newest SDG I-Beam seat, the Formula FX, is super comfortable for my bottom. I liked the older version also but this is even more forgiving without adding loads of padding. Try it, you may like it.
-I did a build-up article on the wheels that I used on the Remedy. Light and strong were the goals and they were pretty much reached. Under 1700 grams and they held up just fine to multiple road gaps, some decent sized hits and everything else. I managed to break one Sapim spoke, but it was on another bike's pedal so that hardly counts.
-How about that 5" rear rotor? I am pleased with how it worked out actually. Only one trail really over cooked it, "Downtown" at Silverstar Resort pretty much started a brake fire on the back of my bike. Other than that single trail there was not a big difference in the 1" smaller diameter. This includes lift riding at Whistler, as well as lots of 3000 ft+ descents. It's not for the brake draggers out there and both the bike and rider were relatively light, maybe you don't need that 8" saucer?
-To chainguide or not to chainguide was really my biggest conundrum. With a single ring guide (BB mount though, no ISCG tabs) and some meaty 2.5 treads a competent rider could really make some headway on this bike. With a dual ring guide a rider could hit up the lifts, shred some XC riders, and cut down on a lot of chain slap noise. With three rings I could ride the bike anywhere I wanted, very rarely lost a chain, and put up with the the extra noise. You decide because any of the above choices would be a blast and work great.
-The WTB hubs are nice, really light, and work well. One drawback is the single sided threaded nut you use to adjust tension on the sealed bearings. Not an issue if you do it right, but if you don't it can be quite easy to accidentally over tighten the nut and prematurely wear out wheel bearings. I'd like to see a 5 mm Allen key hole on the end of the driveside axle as it would make small adjustment easier.
-Highrollers are amazing in any size. The Larsen TT I used in the rear has loads more traction than I was expecting.
-The SRAM X.9 front derailleur moved the chain just fine but was impossible to set up correctly and always had slight chain rub in a certain gear.
![photo]()
Other notes or issues....
-I'd like to see ISCG mounts on the bike. This bike with the AM Hammerschmidt would be quite the combo. It would cut down a lot of the chain slap noise also. Don't expect to see any ISCG tabs on the '09 either. Those smart guys at SRAM need to come up with a proper BB mount adapter to retrofit their Hammerschmidt to bikes that could rock it properly, although I'm pretty sure it's easier said than done!
-There is a hell of a lot of chain noise on the Remedy. Yes, I am running the bike with three rings and therefore have some chain slack in certain gear combos, but man alive is it loud. It came with a smart little Velcro pad for the chain stay but it didn't cover enough to make a big difference. My degree in Arts and Crafts finally paid off with a sweet tube wrap job around the stay from front to back which helped some. This combined with the odd creak meant that I still wouldn't be sneaking up on an bears in the forest.
-I'm on the medium size frame and will never be able to fit a large water bottle within the triangle and even a small bottle is a hassle to get in and out. I almost always roll with a Camelbak, but if you don't, keep that in mind!
![photo]()
-My Remedy had a knocking in the left ABP pivot from new. The first grab of the brakes would produce a slight clunk that you could hear but not feel. It wouldn't happen again until you really put the power down and then would clunk again, in the opposite direction I'm assuming. Everything was checked and proved to be tight. It wasn't until the third disassemble and grease that the noise went away. Very strange...
-The RP23 shock comes with a "medium" rebound tune. I think I would have liked to have the heavier tune with a shade slower rebound damping range. Most riders won't feel the same way, but if you do it is something that any Fox repair depot can do easily.
-The 2009 Remedy 9 comes with a Talas travel adjust fork, my '08 didn't which made for some tricky climbing is some spots (the 50 mm stem didn't help either obviously). The '09 model will be an un-stoppable climbing machine!
-It came with a sweet little doohicky that clips onto the RP23 shock and makes it easy to measure the bikes sag. Why hasn't anyone thought of this before?!
![photo]()
My first few rides on the Remedy earlier in the season gave me a hint of what Trek's new all-mountain chassis could be capable of. Six months later and I am convinced that not only can this bike do everything on the mountain, it can do it amazingly well. The bike felt great 5 hours into a 6 hour epic on Saturday, and could session the big senders on Sunday. The impressive part of the equation is its ability to do it all without having to vary suspension settings, something the all around riders will appreciate. I can see more and more XC riders looking for a more capable bike but still wanting something relatively light building up a Remedy similar to mine, or even lighter. On the other hand with a chain guide and some serious wheels more aggressive riders will be happy with the outcome. Neutral handling encourages you to push yourself aboard the Remedy regardless of the type of riding you are doing, a trait of any great bike!
![photo]()
While my build was full custom, Trek does three complete bikes. The Remedy 9 is their top tier machine that is outfitted with top end suspension and parts and the Remedy 8 is the every man's version of the bike. The Remedy 7 lets you experience the ABP and FullFloater technology at a lower buy-in price.
Trekbikes.com
-Mike "Kakah" Levy
Read about my build and how the bike performed....
2 HD videos and loads of pictures inside!
Last winter I was lucky enough to be able to skip some of the grey rainy weather that we suffer through and head South to sample Trek's then new Remedy all-mountain platform. The sun was amazing, the trails were amazing, and the whole trip was amazing. But that's pretty much a given, especially when it's only 2 degrees Celsius and pissing at home. As for the bike, well it sure felt kick ass while underneath me in Mexico as we railed into the Copper Canyon! I think I would have been pumped to be do doing a 4 hour XC ride on an old rusty 10 speed considering the circumstances though, which is why I arranged to get my hands on a frame in order to build it up with some select parts and put some miles in on more familiar terrain. All in the name of "testing" of course!
Starting from scratch with just a Remedy frame and let me build the bike up exactly how I saw fit. I knew that the Remedy would be quite capable and this would be my only horse for quite awhile. I would be doing everything from lifty runs in Whistler and SilverStar to shuttle runs in Kamloops and on my local hills. The large majority of the riding would be good solid XC loops though, so I wouldn't be exaggerating when I say I rode everything on the Remedy. Hell, I even finally got off my ass and rode the Seven Summits trail in Rossland, 6 hours of ecstasy! Despite where and how I was riding the bike my goal was to do it, and do it well, on the same bike with the same parts.
The Frame...
From far away the Remedy strikes a classic pose: standard front and rear triangles, along with a small rocker arm and vertical shock mounting. Get a bit closer though and the story changes. Each tube seems to flow to create a frame that looks more organic than metal. The stance looks like the quintessential full suspension bike but the true story here is radically shaped tubes and some very distinct frame features.
The massive down tube changes shape along it's length, from roughly triangular near the head tube to an immense rectangle at the bottom bracket. Its width at the BB shell is wide enough that there is nearly no shell at all left to protrude from each side of the down tube. At the head tube/down tube junction there is a load of room to clear any forks dials and adjustment knobs. The top tube slopes down towards the rear of the bike for more clearance and is also shaped to bear no resemblance to any sort of round tube. All cables and lines (front and rear shift, as well as rear brake) are routed under the top tube. At 5'10" I had quite a bit of extra stand over room on my medium sized Remedy. The chain stays are asymmetrical to try and keep the noise down, more about that further down. There is quite a bit of room for a high volume 2.35" tire in the rear, although 2.5" would be pushing it a bit. I can't see many riders wanting to slow the bike down with anything that wide anyways. Rear suspension is handled with a Fox RP23 air shock with a larger than normal XV air can. 57 mm of stroke doles out 150 mm of rear travel at the axle. The seat tube has three kerf's cut in the top of it to even out clamping forces, as opposed to the usual single cut. The medium sized frame weighed in at 6.7 lbs including the shock.
 |  |  |
The Remedy has some very interesting features built into the frame in the name of speed and handling. Starting at the front you can find a very curvy tapered head tube. With a bottom width of 1.5" and a more traditional 1.125" diameter at the top Treks goal with their E2 headtube was to improve stiffness while not adding weight or yet another standard. That's right, before you get your panties in a knot you can still simply use a regular 1.125" steerer fork. Fox and RockShox are specing OE forks on the Remedy's with tapered E2 head tubes to take advantage of the system. I personally like the idea of extra stiffness and strength of the E2 1.5" bottom end but not being stuck with having to use 1.5" stems.
Trek does not rigidly mount the Fox RP23 shock to the front triangle, instead it is attached to a forward extension from the chain stays. This gives Trek's suspension gurus another place to tune the bikes rate as it goes through its travel as well as not feeding suspension forces directly into the main frame. So what they've done is built a slight falling rate into the bike's travel to compensate for the use of an air shock (which inherently has a rising rate as it's compressed). Combined with the RP23's larger than regular air can it should eliminate harsh spikes and in simple terms mean more usable travel.
ABP is short for Active Braking Pivot and is exactly what it says. The chain and seat stays pivot directly in line with the rear axle which lessens the amount of rotation between the caliper and rotor, making for a more active system under braking. Simply put, it is a sort of built in floating brake. No special hub is needed as any regular 135 mm QR hub fits, the only proprietary part being a slightly longer than average QR skewer.
 |  |  |
The Remedy's rocker arm is a single unit made from two pieces and welded together instead of bolted. The claim is a stiffer component (which I could see) as well as a lighter one (which is obvious). The bearings are all sealed units and use extra long inner races instead of annoying little spacers which I'd end up losing. All of the hardware on the Remedy is amazing to say the least. Each nut or bolt is a purpose built piece and made from aluminum, including the tapered pivot axles. Each piece has it's own torque rating on it also so don't be a goober and over do it. There was Loc-Tite on everything from the factory also, a nice touch.
 |  |  |
| Head angle | 67.0 |
| Seat Angle | 72.0 |
| EFF Top Tube | 23.3" |
| Chainstay | 16.5" |
| Bottom Bracket | 13.8" |
| Wheelbase | 44.6" |
| Actual Frame Size | 16.3" |
| Standover | 29.3" |
The build...
Wheels and tires can change a bikes personality more that any other part. Basically I only needed uber-strong wheels for when I decided to send something or at the park, and at the same time they needed to be relatively light as it all adds up while trying to pedal myself over some mountain. I ended up lacing a set of Stan's ZTR Flow rims to WTB hubs with Sapim spokes and aluminum nipples. The result was a total weight of 1687 grams. Impressively light and you'll find out further down if they were up to the task. I went through loads of tires, some of which you read about, until I settled on my final choice. A 2.35 Maxxis Highroller 3C for steering duties and Maxxis Larsen out back.
 |  |  |
Braking, shifting, and drive duties went to SRAM, and for good reason. At the top level we have to admit that everything is pretty damn dialed, what I like about X.O is the solid feel to its shifting and ability to take abuse despite being rather light. Carbon Noir cranks get picked because in this travesty that is outboard bearings that has been forced upon us their Giga X Pipe BB is by far the best. It has to be Avid for braking! Juicy Ultimate's in white to match the frame/fork and with little rotors. I know I'm going to take some heat for this but I really wanted to find out how much braking I really need. Up front you'll see a 6" rotor and the back gets the tiny 5" job. Say what you will but half the fun is trying, you close minded goobers!
Contact points are covered by SDG with their new Formula FX I-Beam seat and Micro Adjust post because seat rails are for those same close minded goobers! I picked Chromag's flat Fubar to hold onto to keep the front low, but more importantly I know I liked the feel of them from years of using them on big bikes. Keeping the Fubar in place is a 50 mm Thompson X4 stem. No reason to explain that one!
| Frame and Size | Trek Remedy •medium Frame |
| Rear Shock | Fox RP23 XV (larger air can)•150 mm of travel |
| Fork | Fox 36 RC2 Float• air pressure, rebound, high and low speed compression adjustments |
| Headset | CaneCreek |
| Crankarms | Truvativ Noir |
| Chainrings | 42/32/22 |
| Bottom Bracket | Giga X Pipe |
| Pedals | Wellgo magnesium, black |
| Chain | Sram PC-971 |
| Cassette | Sram PG-990, 9 Speed, 11-34 |
| Front Derailleur | Sram X.9 |
| Rear Derailleur | Sram X.O long gage |
| Shifter Cable/Housing | Jagwire, white |
| Shifter Pods | Sram X.O Trigger, 9 speed |
| Handlebar | Chromag Fubar, flat(31.8mm) |
| Stem | Thompson X4, black •50mm reach |
| Grips | Funn, white |
| Brakes | Avid Ultimate, 6" front rotor, 5" rear rotor |
| Front Wheel | Stan's ZTR Flow, WTB hub, Sapim CX-Ray spokes and aluminum nipples |
| Rear Wheel | Stan's ZTR Flow, WTB hub, Sapim CX-Ray spokes and aluminum nipples |
| Tires | Maxxis Highroll 2.35 3C, Maxxis Larsen |
| Tubes | Hopefully not! |
| Saddle | SDG I-Beam Formula FX |
| Seatpost | SDG I-Beam Micro Adjust |
| Extras | •Stan's Yellow Tape rim strips and Stan's valve stems |
Enough with the babbling, how does it ride?
After 6 long months flogging the Remedy on every kind of terrain within an 8 hour drive of home, I have a pretty good idea of how the bike performs. The Remedy's suspension is the perfect example of a system that doesn't feel amazing when you give it the push test, but that comes to life once you start covering ground on the dirt. It's always funny to hear people's verdicts after giving a fork or shock a push at the trail head, really... what the hell is that going to tell you?!
The Remedy's geometry and suspension come together to make one of the most confidence inspiring 6" travel bikes that I've spent time on. When the front of the bike is pointed down hill the RP23 comes to life, far more so than other air shocks on this sort of bike. In fact, the RP23 on the Remedy not only out performs the DHX Air on bikes of the same travel, but feels very coil-like in the majority of situations. The combination of the larger air can (XV) and the falling rate built into the Remedy's rear suspension create a far more linear spring curve than what I was expecting to find. There is no noticeable spike on hard hits, neither from bottoming or ramping up of the suspension. The most obvious example that comes to mind would be a rather large step down that took me a few tries to make smooth. It was clear that all the travel was being used by the o-ring being pushed right off the RP23's shaft but the ending of the stroke didn't feel harsh, or even like it was ending at all!
It's hard to really quantify or throw around percentage numbers regarding the bike's ABP and FullFloater suspension or E2 headtube, those numbers don't mean much to me anyways, but they surely play a part in the Remedy being such a rocket ship. I personally have not felt as confident as this while on any bike of similar travel and intentions. Cornering felt very intuitive and happened with little input, although it wasn't twitchy by any means. I can't tell you that "the steering felt way stiffer due to the E2 head tube and tapered Fox steerer tube" because that would be a bit of an exaggeration, but I'm convinced that this is the case of it being the sum of it's parts. Oddly enough while the front end didn't feel leaps and bounds stiffer than a traditional system, the back half of the bike was incredibly solid. The Remedy is one of the few bikes that I couldn't manage to produce tire rub on the inside of the rear stays. I wasn't forced to apply any more weight to the front end than necessary as traction and understeer were both never an issue. The ABP system had me wishing my local trails had braking markers coming into all the corners. Whether or not ABP was working it's magic I found myself braking later than ever just to test the system, the outcome? I was still in control and going through the turns faster than ever. The combination of the Remedy's geometry, suspension, and chassis stiffness is what really makes this bike such a proficient descender.
The bike's low weight really made it playful on the mountain and encouraged me to look for different lines and transitions that I may not have been aiming for otherwise. It didn't hurt to have a huge range of seat height adjustment either, something that other full suspension designs lack due to interrupted seat tubes and tire clearance issues.
With the RP23 it sat at 35% sag, the maximum recommended, the suspension still performed amazingly well in all conditions. Although this sounds a bit much for a 6" travel all-mountain bike it never complained. A point was made to be consistent with the rear shocks pressure regardless of terrain or type of riding I was doing. There are not a lot of 6" air sprung bikes that manage to pull that off but the Remedy had no trouble, again this must come down to the suspension rate combined with the XV air can, a very versatile system indeed. The Fox 36 RC2 performed just as I've come to expect from these forks, which is flawlessly.
The Remedy pedaled quite good, although a bit more active than I anticipated. While the drivetrain's effect on the suspension was negligible, it was easy to activate the suspension by getting sloppy with your body movements when tired. The RP23 has a ProPedal lever but I rarely used it unless I was on pavement because of the extra traction from the active suspension. The rear wheel traction on the Remedy is over the top. While tired and fading fast while on Rossland's Seven Summits trail I still managed to get myself up and over some pretty tricky loose and technical climbs. The Fox 36 RC2 on my Remedy is the '08 non-Talas version which did hinder me in some of the tighter switchback's. I have never been a fan of adjustable height forks up until now, probably because the Remedy's traction let me get places that I may not have otherwise. Thankfully Trek with have the '09 Talas version on the front of the Remedy 9 for this coming season.
How about those parts?
-The newest SDG I-Beam seat, the Formula FX, is super comfortable for my bottom. I liked the older version also but this is even more forgiving without adding loads of padding. Try it, you may like it.
-I did a build-up article on the wheels that I used on the Remedy. Light and strong were the goals and they were pretty much reached. Under 1700 grams and they held up just fine to multiple road gaps, some decent sized hits and everything else. I managed to break one Sapim spoke, but it was on another bike's pedal so that hardly counts.
-How about that 5" rear rotor? I am pleased with how it worked out actually. Only one trail really over cooked it, "Downtown" at Silverstar Resort pretty much started a brake fire on the back of my bike. Other than that single trail there was not a big difference in the 1" smaller diameter. This includes lift riding at Whistler, as well as lots of 3000 ft+ descents. It's not for the brake draggers out there and both the bike and rider were relatively light, maybe you don't need that 8" saucer?
-To chainguide or not to chainguide was really my biggest conundrum. With a single ring guide (BB mount though, no ISCG tabs) and some meaty 2.5 treads a competent rider could really make some headway on this bike. With a dual ring guide a rider could hit up the lifts, shred some XC riders, and cut down on a lot of chain slap noise. With three rings I could ride the bike anywhere I wanted, very rarely lost a chain, and put up with the the extra noise. You decide because any of the above choices would be a blast and work great.
-The WTB hubs are nice, really light, and work well. One drawback is the single sided threaded nut you use to adjust tension on the sealed bearings. Not an issue if you do it right, but if you don't it can be quite easy to accidentally over tighten the nut and prematurely wear out wheel bearings. I'd like to see a 5 mm Allen key hole on the end of the driveside axle as it would make small adjustment easier.
-Highrollers are amazing in any size. The Larsen TT I used in the rear has loads more traction than I was expecting.
-The SRAM X.9 front derailleur moved the chain just fine but was impossible to set up correctly and always had slight chain rub in a certain gear.
Other notes or issues....
-I'd like to see ISCG mounts on the bike. This bike with the AM Hammerschmidt would be quite the combo. It would cut down a lot of the chain slap noise also. Don't expect to see any ISCG tabs on the '09 either. Those smart guys at SRAM need to come up with a proper BB mount adapter to retrofit their Hammerschmidt to bikes that could rock it properly, although I'm pretty sure it's easier said than done!
-There is a hell of a lot of chain noise on the Remedy. Yes, I am running the bike with three rings and therefore have some chain slack in certain gear combos, but man alive is it loud. It came with a smart little Velcro pad for the chain stay but it didn't cover enough to make a big difference. My degree in Arts and Crafts finally paid off with a sweet tube wrap job around the stay from front to back which helped some. This combined with the odd creak meant that I still wouldn't be sneaking up on an bears in the forest.
-I'm on the medium size frame and will never be able to fit a large water bottle within the triangle and even a small bottle is a hassle to get in and out. I almost always roll with a Camelbak, but if you don't, keep that in mind!
-My Remedy had a knocking in the left ABP pivot from new. The first grab of the brakes would produce a slight clunk that you could hear but not feel. It wouldn't happen again until you really put the power down and then would clunk again, in the opposite direction I'm assuming. Everything was checked and proved to be tight. It wasn't until the third disassemble and grease that the noise went away. Very strange...
-The RP23 shock comes with a "medium" rebound tune. I think I would have liked to have the heavier tune with a shade slower rebound damping range. Most riders won't feel the same way, but if you do it is something that any Fox repair depot can do easily.
-The 2009 Remedy 9 comes with a Talas travel adjust fork, my '08 didn't which made for some tricky climbing is some spots (the 50 mm stem didn't help either obviously). The '09 model will be an un-stoppable climbing machine!
-It came with a sweet little doohicky that clips onto the RP23 shock and makes it easy to measure the bikes sag. Why hasn't anyone thought of this before?!
My first few rides on the Remedy earlier in the season gave me a hint of what Trek's new all-mountain chassis could be capable of. Six months later and I am convinced that not only can this bike do everything on the mountain, it can do it amazingly well. The bike felt great 5 hours into a 6 hour epic on Saturday, and could session the big senders on Sunday. The impressive part of the equation is its ability to do it all without having to vary suspension settings, something the all around riders will appreciate. I can see more and more XC riders looking for a more capable bike but still wanting something relatively light building up a Remedy similar to mine, or even lighter. On the other hand with a chain guide and some serious wheels more aggressive riders will be happy with the outcome. Neutral handling encourages you to push yourself aboard the Remedy regardless of the type of riding you are doing, a trait of any great bike!
While my build was full custom, Trek does three complete bikes. The Remedy 9 is their top tier machine that is outfitted with top end suspension and parts and the Remedy 8 is the every man's version of the bike. The Remedy 7 lets you experience the ABP and FullFloater technology at a lower buy-in price.
Trekbikes.com
-Mike "Kakah" Levy
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I built it up with RaceFace Deus cranks, Atlas stem, Monkey Light bar, ODI lock ons, Formula k24 brakes 200mm f/b, Stans flows / Hope pro II / Fat Alberts, It will get the rockshox post or the KSi950.
Ya the bike rocks. ROCKS! She climbs like a monster! I'm cleaning everything up. And excellent on the downs... with that ABP this bike can stick the technical like no other bike of its type.... My buddies on their rides used to at least keep up with me, this year, no chance.... Not sure what it is, but this bike is the hammer. I'm curious to ride a Scratch though... just for that little bit more reserve and a bit tougher frame.
for the chain slap, I mounted up a Heim3 -> e-thirteen bought them out, and its not on their website, but you can find them somehow, I did a few weeks ago. Helps a ton and I've still got three rings for the odd time I need to hammer. The chain does jump out every odd ride though... Maybe I'm riding it too hard? The guys on their downhill sleds thought so when they were trying to keep up!
Ride on!
- but haven´t you forget to mention the Magura Wotan fork at the front? As in the Video you´re riding an Magura Wotan Fork not that Fox 36 !!!!
I want is the Remedy 9 Frame with the Fox 36, but it's impossible to get a hold of without plunking down 5G's for the whole bike.
well done review. looks like trek is doing a good job at trying to reinvent themselves borrowing from a bunch of ideas that have worked for the other big companies. I am wondering if that rear pivot is necessary. I am very curious to ride one but no one rids trek's around here it seems.
I would still never buy one because I dislike how they treat bike shops and I am trying to stick with bikes made in the us, or canada, or both(knolly's rock).
where is that big drop? does anyone know cause i know that drop at the end is on Mt Vedder
thanks,
O
Change the Handlebar!
out for you're $$$ quality control sucks!!! once again stay away from fonny products ..go SantaCruz.Chumba.Brooklyn. shit man trek has long way to go~!and if they ever get there!