Ultimate Ride III

The Ultimate Ride has come back to the Seattle area again. Later, this weekend, there will be a public demo but this one was for dealers only. Ten of us, including the store managers from all three stores and Stan Gregg went out to Fall City to ride the trails near there.
Dax, Kurt and the Demo van was all set up and after some quick adjustments and sizing we were ready to go. A three hour ride was the plan, just enough time to get a really good feel for the bikes. We had our choice of the '08 Trek Fuel EX 9.5, '08 69er 3x9, '08 69er Top Fuel, or the '08 Gary Fisher HiFi Pro Carbon. Not bad choices.

Kurt gave us some last minute instructions and we were off to ride the bikes.

The Trek line up for 2008 is really solid. It helps that we have all had a good chance to ride the bikes in situations other than a quick test ride. Make sure to check out the public demo at the Colonnade on Saturday the 8th and at St. Edwards on the 9th.

The Ultimate Ride Comes to Greenlake

The Trek Ultimate Ride has come to us! Dax and Kurt from Trek drove in this morning in the "Ride the Best" truck to give our employees a day long clinic on the new EX trail bikes and the new 2008 Madones.

Both bikes are radically different then the 2007 models that they are replacing so a little extra knowledge is needed to sell them effectively. We want to make sure that we get our customers on the best bike for them so we have to know as much as we possibly can about each bike.

Trek does a great job makeing sure that our employees understand the new technology. We need to learn how to size these bikes correctly and also we need to get out and ride them.

The 2008 Madone has created a huge amount of buzz this summer. We recieved ten of them earlier in the summer and sold them all in about 8 days. So far people have loved this bike and we already have orders for a few more Madones. We do have a few in stock right now in the triple configuration but they are sure to go fast.

Ultimate Ride II

I promised more would come later. I was hoping it wouldn't be this much later but here it is all the same. On the second day of the Ultimate Ride we headed up to the Warm Springs Trail and although we couldn't do the upper part of the trail due to Elk calving, we had a great time on this perfectly built trail. Hats off to the group that built the trail it really was superb!

The highlight of the week for me was heading down to the Warm Springs Lodge on amazing single track following Gary Fisher with Keith Bontrager and Travis Brown somewhere behind me (not that either of them couldn't have been miles ahead of me, they just happend to be in the group behind me this time :) )

Keith Bontrager and Travis Brown

Some of the other dealers as we wait to regroup at the top of a climb.

Gary Fisher enjoying the day like only he can!

Some of the bikes I got to ride. The Trek EX9.5 and the Gary Fisher HiFi 29er. Both bikes that will be available in 2008.

A close up of the APB on the '08 Trek EX series of trail bikes. Coming soon to a dealer near you!

Here's a close up of the "Full Floater" which makes the EX feel like it has at least 6 inches of travel. (It only has 4 inches, but you'd never know it!)

A quick look at the 69er Top Fuel with the "Inverse Mullet" design. Party up front, business in the back!

Another look at the HiFi 29er. Probably the most stable bike I've ever ridden. Just point and shoot down just about any trail. Just make sure you keep your momentum up as you climb.

Sneak peak on this one. It wasn't ready to ride but I sure looked cool. This is the all new, all carbon Gary Fisher Supercaliber. It just looks fast doesn't it?

All in all it was a great week of riding and learning about the the '08 Trek Mountain Bike line up. The hardest thing for me to do was stay objective during the whole thing and not drink too much kool aid. I've ridden a lot of bikes (Rocky Mountain, Specialized, Santa Cruz, Cannondale, Ventana... the list goes on) and the new EX series stacks right up with the best of them. Like I said in my last post about this topic, Trek Mountain Bikes haven't been that exciting for the last few years (even they admitted it) but that will change in 2008. Look for Trek to be launch a serious challenge to the leading Mt. Bike brands.

The Ultimate Ride

Sometimes the perks of working in a bike shop really pay off. This year I was lucky enough to be chosen to go to the Trek Ultimate Ride in Sun Valley, Idaho. What is the Ultimate Ride? It's a chance for about 15 or 20 dealers to to get a chance to ride the new '08 Trek and Fisher Mt. bikes in the beautiful setting of Sun Valley. I know, I know... it's a tough job, but someone's got to do it!

We started the day with a presentation on the new technology for the Trek Mt. Bike line. Admittedly, Trek mountain bikes have been less than exciting over the last couple of years. That is all about to change. The Fuel EX has undergone some major changes from the Fuel EX 7 to the carbon fiber Fuel FX 9.5. Most of the changes are in the rear suspension design. Here are the buzzwords:

1. APB - Active Braking Pivot
2. Full Floater
3. EVO Link

All of these things are bringing better handling to bike, but what are they? Quickly, let's go through them.

1. APB: Ok, this a little tough to explain, at least for me. You've heard of "brake jack" right? The tendency for the rear suspension to compress when you brake hard, (try this for a full, really full description) and basically robbing you of the control that rear suspension can offer you in all kinds of terrain. So how does it work? I'm going to quote this just so I don't get it wrong! "APB puts the rear suspension pivot concentric to the rear wheel axle, as opposed it other designs that place the pivot above or below the axle. The new pivot location allows the disc caliper to keep a near constant relationship to the disc rotor so that the caliper's rotation in relation to the disc rotor is minimized through the bike's range of travel. There is one disadvantage that I can see, but it's a minor one. Because the ABP requires bearings at the rear drop out the skewer has to be a little longer and you have to take the skewer completely out of the bike to get the wheel out. There is a good picture and more info on cyclingnews.com


2. Full Floater: The Full Floater promises not more travel but smarter travel. Trek has taken the rear shock off of a fix lower frame mount and placed it on a floating mount letting the rear shock to float between two suspended attachment points. This allows the suspension to be tuned more effectively then ever before. This all means that the Full Floater gives you the suspension feel of a long travel bike without the added weight.

3. EVO Link - They basically made the rear link both stiffer and lighter through a one-piece design which allows the elimination of extra bolts and small cross braces. The difference in stiffness is huge.

All of these upgrades appear on the EX line and having ridden the bike today, I can say that they work. The bike rode great and inspired a giggling last run of the day. The bike did exactly what they said it would, it was laterally stiff and tracked like a hard tail and the rear end stayed on the ground through all of my panic braking as I rode an unfamiliar trail on an unfamiliar bike.
Along with the Trek FX 9.5 I got to ride the new Gary Fisher HiFi 29er and the Hifi Pro. I'm too tired to go into the specs on these but let it be said that 29ers are here to stay and the Hifi is another great trail bike.

The Hifi 29er a really fun bike!

Not a bad way to spend the day!

More to come tomorrow.