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05/11/2008
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Trek
and Gary Fisher for 2006
Press launch (and swagfest) in Whistler
Words and photos (unless noted) Cam
McRae
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Trek remains serious about freeride. The fine folks from Waterloo, Wisconsin
believe it is the future of our sport for a large segment of the market and
they have committed some serious dollars and manpower to bikes from Trek and
Gary Fisher and components from Bontrager. Not only that, they laid
down some large dollars to fly in journalists from North American and Europe
to spread
the '06 big bike news all over the pages of their magazines - or in our case,
to Web it up. Trek has also noticed that Whistler is fast becoming
freeride Shangri-La, which means product managers and engineers will be
saddled with the
burden of spending more time in the bike park.
Closer to home in Waterloo, Trek has been developing trails on a large parcel
of land they purchased right next to their headquarters. On top of snaky
singletrack, Trek wanted some stunts so they hired Dangerous Dan Cowan to
come
and build them some rowdiness. Trek and co. have spent over two million
dollars developing a line of bikes for freeride apps in the last two years,
and the efforts of everyone involved are bearing some ripe and tasty fruit.
Here are some thoughts on the new harvest.
John Riley talks freeride. The Trek Session has been
well received and has changed little for 2006. The big difference for
the 77 is that it will be adorned with King Earl components (more on those
soon).
The
Session is designed with change in mind and you can tweak the BB height and
swap out the rear dropouts for Saint-compatible bits.
The biggest news from Trek is the re-launch of a dedicated, balls-out, long-travel
bike. The Session 10 is low-slung and sultry and it benefits from a significant
Trek innovation that's been around for a while: CTE.
The 2006 Trek Session 10. You are correct sir - 10 inches
of travel.
CTE refers to the chain torque eliminator and it first appeared
on Scott Sharples' downhill rig six years ago. It's been resurrected
and put to good use on the Session 10. Trek wanted to utilize a high
forward pivot on the 10 but they realized this would compromise pedalling
and produce
unbearable bob. The CTE aligns the chain path with the pivot line and
virtually illuminates the bob that's characteristic of many single pivot
bikes (particularly those
with a chainline above the chainline). The parallelogram chain path eliminates
chain growth as well. I rode a 10 all day today as well as during
a testing session on the Shore 6 weeks ago, and I have to say the CTE is
immediately
felt and highly effective. I kept expecting the bob and suck that often
accompanies single pivot bikes, but it was not to be found.
Behold CTE: the Chain Torque Eliminator.
The development of the Session 10 was not done in a vacuum. Joel Smith
from Manitou talked to us about the fact that much of their rear shock development
happens without any knowledge of the final application; they don't know the leverage
ratio, the suspension config. or even the target market for the bikes the rear
shock will end up on at the beginning of the product cycle. In this case,
Manitou and Trek worked together to produce a platform that would be ideally
suited
to shock and vice versa. First off, Trek engineers went to Manitou to find
out the ideal leverage ratio. Manitou has calculated the the optimum leverage
ratio for a rear shock on a long travel bike is 2.7:1. That means that
for
every inch of stroke, the rear wheel arcs through 2.8" of travel. In
this case, 3.5" of stroke x 2.7 = 9.45" of travel. A higher leverage
ratio produces a shock that lacks small bump compliance (as well as blown-up
shocks),
while a lower leverage ratio fails to ramp up appropriately. The Session
10 nails that mark and is likely one of the secrets behind the supple, forgiving
ride.
Good bones: the Session 10 displays nice smooth lines
The Session 10 was designed (by ACG, the Advanced Concepts Group) and manufactured
in Waterloo, Wisconsin. Much of the real-world testing was dumped on Andrew
Shandro's plate and he has a huge stake in the finished product. The low
BB is a Shandro trademark, as is the fine pedalling capability. The 10
has been through at least four prototyping stages over the course of a year,
and
Shandrew
has ridden them all and pushed for tweaks. Unfortunately, Tough Guy
laid it down in the Boneyard on the first day of the camp, sliding across a
sharp
rock that cut him so deeply he needed stitches inside and out. He also
tweaked his thumb, so he'll be sitting out for a week or so.
Andrew Shandro telling us about his new bike.
Shandro's old bike from 2003 is clearly related to the Session
10. You'll see the CTE, the single pivot platform and similar geometry. The
frame construction, rear shock and overall refinement have evolved dramatically.
| Some big news from Bontrager (a Trek-owned
brand) is the launch of the King Earl parts group. Here you'll
see the three-bearing pedal. It looks nice, but I'm not convinced
by the grip or the pin design. The pins thread directly into
the outside of the pedal, so thumping them into granite could easily
result in crunched
pins that can't be removed. The pins we used were also on the short
side and while they worked fine in the dry, they are too stubby to do
much
good in the rain. I heard mention of a longer pin size but I only
saw and rode the low-pro variety. More on the King Earl components soon. |
 The
King Earl Pedal
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After Manitou and Trek decided to work together developing some bikes, they then
decided to work together launching product. All the bikes we've ridden
were
equipped with a Manitou fork and most boasted a rear shock from Answer
Products
as well. The biggest change in the Manitou line this year is Intrinisc
Damping.
ID is a tweak of SPV damping that completely disengages at the top of the stroke,
dramatically improving small bump compliance. SPV worked best when things
got deep in the stroke, allowing an easily-tuned bottom out adjustment, which
made SPV equipped bikes feel bottomless. On the Revox model, the bottom
out adjustment is now tool-less - you can easily twist the volume through four
distinct
settings to suit the terrain (or to suit a more portly pilot). The Revox
also boasts high and low speed compression damping, a 14mm aluminum shaft and
a standard Ti spring. This will not be an inexpensive product.
The Manitou Revox is a premium product. It only ships with Ti
springs and is only available in 3 eye to eye/stroke lengths.
Last year, Gary Fisher rolled out the King Fisher - their first attempt at a
freeride
platform. Unfortunately, the pre-production models we rode weren't built
to correct spec; the shock mount was too low making the bikes steep and
twitchy. This year, the bugs have been sorted out and I was really pleased
with the neutral but responsive ride of the KF. This is not a couch to
sit
on, despite the 7" of front and rear boogie. Like many single pivot
platforms, the KF ramps up rather quickly and feels lively and spry on the trail.
It felt particularly at home on A-Line and hitting trannies became a breeze.
Gary Fisher's King Fisher bike with 7" of travel front
and rear.
| The geometry is a little unconventional,
but pure Fisher. You'll find a moderately relaxed 67° headtube
paired with a relatively steep 73° seattube. Gary figures
you are going to want to pedal this bike and he wants your legs to be
in a powerful
position. When I first planted my ass on the KF, this position
seemed a little strange but riding downhill it wasn't an issue at all
- and
it
soon felt comfortable.
Rob McSkimming and Tom Radke of Whistler accompanied a few of us to
the top of the Peak Chair on the final day of the camp. There
are two bike carriers on the chair, which means you can experience the
full 5280' (1600 metres) of vertical Whistler has to offer. For
the most part we rode down fast fire roads and the KF encouraged me to
twist
the
throttle. Last year's bike was great going slowly or turning fast,
but in the steeps and at speed it felt a little sketch. The 2006
bike likes to run fast.
Fisher philosophy stipulates simplicity, which explains the single pivot
design. The swingarm swivels on large (38mm outside diameter)
cartridge bearings, which are clamped as far out from the centreline
as possible
to achieve a stiff, wide stance. The swingarm itself is an asymmetrical
box section construction and it felt plenty stiff on No Joke in the
Garbanzo
Zone. |
The Gary Fisher King Fisher - now approved for steeps. Rider ~ Ryan Cleek.
Photo ~ Sterling Lorence
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Manitou wiped their fork slate clean for 2006. Gone is the much-loved
Dorado and the venerable Sherman. Both are replaced with
the Travis line. The Dorado felt like butter but it was expensive
and less stiff than other designs. The Sherman didn't allow
much tire choice and the narrow stance meant the dual-crown models
didn't
turn as sharp as most DC forks. On top of that, Manitou felt
they could improve the small bump compliance of SPV+ using the Intrinsic
Damping system that will be standard on the Revox rear shock.
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The Travis QR through axle. No tools needed for snug clamping.
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I will talk more about the performance of the Travis forks
I rode in a subsequent article, but right now I'd like to show you what
looks to be the
best tool-free 20mm axle system I've seen yet - Manitou's new Hex Lock system. The
Maxle system Rock Shox uses on Pike models can't be beaten for speed and
convenience,
but
a lack
of clamping force compromises stiffness (in my humble opinion), making it
less then suitable for a dual crown application. We'll have to wait
and see how it performs in the real world but thus far the new Hex Lock
looks great.
I have more to tell you about the Session 10, the Travis and a brand new
6"platform from Trek called the Remedy. In the words of Cam
McCaul,
"check, check, check out my Remedy."
Stay tuned.
SWAG
| It's kind of an unwritten rule in the media; never divulge the
depth of the swag (Stuff We All
Get). I'm fond of breaking rules. Trek does swag better
than anyone. Last year, they hooked up all of us media folks with
a CDN$400 Lance 4 Watch - and a bunch of nice soft goods. This
year every one of us received an embroidered Dakine Nomad pack, a
Nike windbreaker,
some Nike shades and gloves, two Trek jerseys, a pair of Trek shorts
and socks, five pipers piping, and a Manitou jersey and t-shirt. They
fed us well (the night I wrote this we ate at Umberto's La Trattoria
- an excellent Italian place), stored us at the Westin and gave us tickets
to ride the bike park every day on brand spanking 2006 bikes. Life
as a journalist has some perks. Folks caught in binds like
Martha Stewart often say, "I may be paranoid but that doesn't
mean they aren't out to get me." My translation is, "I
may have been generously swagged but that doesn't mean the product
isn't good." Hopefully
the truth serum (in this case wine and grappa from La Trattoria) won't
get me uninvited next year, but if you don't see me reporting on
the 2007
Trek/Fisher/Bontrager goodies you'll know I've gone too far. |
Cam McRae
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