Trek Session 88

So How Does it Ride?

Words by Cam McRae. Photos by Sterling Lorence.

This is a rough time to be a product manager charged with designing a new full suspension bike. Specialized and Santa Cruz managed to purchase existing designs so others couldn’t use them while Ironhorse and Ibis have licensed the DW Link system from Dave Weagle (Actually DW isn’t continuing with Ironhorse for 2009 so they are back to the drawing board). If patents are a minefield then infringement lawyers are snipers ready to finish you off after the blast. In this arena coming up with a design that is original, functional and marketable – perhaps the most important of the three – is an Everest-sized challenge.


John Riley - Trek product manager with a Session 88 Freeride.

It would have been epic to be a fly on the wall when the light went on. Apparently Jim Colgrove – the man who came up with Trek’s OCLV technology – overheard a suspension conversation at lunch and tossed in “why not make the pivot concentric with the rear axle,” and then went back to his roast beef sandwich. Imagine how the engineers must have felt if riders like you and I are saying ‘why didn’t I think of that?’


ABP stands for Active Braking Pivot and it means that the pivot is right there at the axle. Check out the slick cable routing as well.

Because of this eureka moment Trek finally has a full squish design they can market aggressively. The company is stealing sales from other manufacturers – particularly in Europe – with their Fuel EX designs and creating the sort of excitement that Lance brought to their road line. With this background as well as some very positive experiences on the the Remedy I was more than a little keen to see how ABP would translate in 8” travel trim.


The lower shock mounts to extensions of the chainstays. This allows Trek to tune the leverage ratio so it behaves appropriately throughout 8 inches of travel.

We flew to Boston for this trip and then jumped in a van to head towards the Highland Bike Park in New Hampshire (aka New Hampshuh). After a brief presentation on the bikes it was time to saddle up and hit the trails.


Shandro railing in the Highland Bike Park.

First Impressions
To begin with I didn't notice much at all. That was good news because it was largely a reflection of bang on geometry. Generally when you sit on a bike there are things to get used to but I found none on the Session 88. For day one I was on large model with DH spec and on day two I saddled up a medium FR version. All the bikes have a 65° head angle and because of a slack 58° seat angle this is not an ideal ride if you plan to jack the saddle and suffer through the climb. A nice low 362mm bb makes it clear this is a bike for going fast – as do the slightly long 440 mm chainstays. Trek didn’t try to break new ground with the geo of the Session 88 and it felt instantly comfortable. I was able to ride aggressively (for me) on the very first run and actually enjoy it.


The rear half of the FR version of the Session 88.

Suspension
Over the past few years Trek has calved off the fine tuning of suspension. They sent Jose Gonzales and Greg Buhl out to Santa Clarita California to do year round testing and development for new designs. They sort out what the leverage ratios should be and how the rear shocks for each design should be valved and stacked. In this way rather than ordering an off the shelf shock from Fox they can be specific about what they want based on the leverage ratio of the platform in question and how it should perform at different points through the travel. Jose and Greg use data acquisition equipment to find out what works best and get all scientific about things. It's all about structure and repetition. Each of us at the camp at Highland had the chance to ride the DA equipped bike and see how the process works with the shock at different settings – and how this translates into data.


Jose Gonzales (right) and Greg Buhl talk about their 'tough gig' of evaluating suspension in Cali year round.

The Ride
It’s no surprise that I was very pleased with the way the Fox 40 performed. It’s light stiff and supple the whole way through – a perfect match for this bike. The rear end was a pleasure as well. The new one piece EVO link makes for a very stiff rear end. The bike tracks as well as any I’ve ridden. The feel of the rear end strikes a nice balance between the stuck to the ground feeling of bikes like the V10 and a more lively shock/rear end configuration like you might find on a single pivot without a platform shock. The bike lifts off the ground with ease but sucks down low and then pops you out of berms. The 88 corners so well that I could accelerate into a berm and then just tip the bike over and hang on before accelerating out the other side. Riders with actual cornering skills will rail on this bike.


Not much going on in this hood without the bike park. Shandro testing the G forces.

I have noticed that the Remedy isn’t at its best when faced with deep ruts at high speed in rapid succession and I found this with the Session as well in a couple of sections at Highland. Perhaps with more time to tune I could have eased this problem but that hasn't been the case with the Remedy. Generally though I was very impressed with the way the bike handled all the terrain we encountered. I found myself stepping up to moves that scared me at first as I began to have more and more confidence in the Session 88. Little gaps and step downs – often with challenging technical run ins – were found all over the park and I eventually launched all the ones I wanted to, except for one. It’s amazing what a little peer pressure can do. I also managed to go faster and faster over the course of the weekend and I hadn’t hit the wall by the time we packed up after last lap.


"Maybe I will renew my race license".

Component Spec
The DH comes with Saint cranks, Avid Elixir brakes (which were spectacular) an XO drivetrain along with the aforementioned Fox 40. Both bikes are spec’ed with Bontrager Big Earl wheels, which are nice and light but maybe not burly enough for those of you who prefer to go through the gnarl rather than around it. Also on both bikes you’ll find Bontrager Big Earl 26 x 2.5” steel bead tires. I initially thought the bike was spec'ed with single ply kevlar Big Earls but they are indeed dual ply. On one trip up the chair we were watching Cam McCaul come down the trail that’s closest to A Line (but scarier) and when he tipped the bike into a berm he tacoed the wheel. He iced the cake with a nice front flip in pike position and nailed the landing. He was unhurt but it left me wondering about the rims for average Joe. Oddly when our test bike arrived the other day the front wheel we received was the one McCaul made into a Mexican sandwich. Once we get a replacement we’ll put the bike to the test here on the Shore and at Whistler and find out if the wheels are up to some abuse.


The DH version of the Session 88 looks fast and sleek with Avid Elixir brakes, an XO drivetrain (with a nice small cluster) Saint cranks, a Fox 40 up front and Bontrager Big Earl bits throughout.

The FR version rolls out with a full 2008 Shimano Saint gruppo. I’ll be riding new Saint this weekend so I won’t go into much detail now but overall I was pleased. The four piston brakes are incredibly powerful but also quite noisy. The rear derailleur hanging off the thru axle is gone and replaced by a burlier version of the Shadow.


The Freeride spec is all Saint with a Totem up front and Bontrager Big Earl labels are found on the wheels, tires, saddle, post, stem and bars of both bikes.

Up front the Session FR pushed through the chop with an E2 version of the Rock Shox Totem Coil. The top of the fork was 1 1/8 so it’s compatible with your current stem and the steerer increases in diameter to 1.5 by the time it hits the crown. This system is substantially stiffer than a straight 1 1/8, particularly under torsion, but Trek says the system saves you 275 grams – contributing to the 38lb out of the box weight. I preferred the bike with the Fox 40 for park riding and not surprisingly I couldn’t get the Totem to perform as well as the big triple clamp. Still for riding the Shore the Totem would do just fine. With Fox DHX 5.0 rear shocks on both bikes it’s tough to fault any of the component choices. Bontrager’s new white stems were a nice finishing touch.


No need to carry a big wrench. The 150 mm thru axle rear end comes apart with an 8mm Allen wrench or anything you can slide into the holes in the fitting. ABP doesn't add any hassle factor at all.

Like many of the current generation of DH bikes the Session employs a 150mm thru axle rear. It improves on other designs by allowing you to pull it all apart with an 8mm Allen wrench – something you’ll find on many multi tools. In a pinch you could also slide a screwdriver or a long five mm Allen through the holes in the fitting and remove it that way. I just removed the wheel to try it out and although a little sticky it worked fine. I lubed the axle when replacing it and it slid out smoothly the second time.


Helium in the tires; This was a rirdeable machine and we all got some laps on it - at 33 lbs or just under 15 kilos. Unfortunately Trek are not producing a plain polished model like the one you see here.

Weight
The days of DH riders not worrying about weight are long gone. The light DH bike thread on our forums is one of the liveliest currently active. Debates rage over what compromises are worthwhile and which are silly. It won't be long before someone comes out with a carbon fibre dh bike - maybe even Interbike 08. The weenies will love the Session 88. Trek had a Boxxer World Cup equipped Session 88 on display with lighter parts from bow to stern. Are you kidding me? Thirty three pounds? That’s under 15 kilos. Set up like that the Session 88 was a rocket ship. I cranked out my two fastest laps of the weekend on the silver bullet and I escaped without a flat. You may not want to ride it like that every day but it would be fantastic on race day. Each of the stock builds weighs around 38 lbs and the frame alone is 7 lbs without the shock and 9 lbs with a steel spring-equipped Fox DHX 5.0.


The FR graphics depict a contour map.

Frame fit and finish
Something I noticed immediately was the smooth weld bead at the headtube of the frame. Apparently the welders take a second pass over the bead to smooth it out and remove some of the stress risers. It almost looked like a fillet brazed weld. The top and downtubes are a pleasing hexagonal profile while the square-tubed rear triangle leaves plenty of gaps to prevent mud build up and allow for some nice beefy skins. To allow for a larger welding surface the E2 head tube is longer than most. To keep the stack height to a minimum Cane Creek produced an E2 specific headset that allows the bearings to recess into the frame – even at the 1.5” bottom of the Totem fork.


A cutaway of an E2 headtube. Even with a 1.5 lower race the headset cups recess into the frame for a lower stack height.

The graphics on the DH model are some of the nicest I’ve seen. The frame is polished and then treated with subtle lines to accentuate the length of the tubes and make it look like it’ll slice through air. Apparently the brain behind this used to be overworked on the road side of the line but some staffing changes have freed up his skills for the dirt crowd.


The EVO link - comprised of three cold forged pieces welded together - keeps the rear end nice and stiff.

The FR graphic is somewhat edgier but not unpleasant at all with an understated contour map grid treatment matched to flat silver anodizing.

Overall
This bike is legit. If you are a racer or just someone who likes to rip laps in the bike park you’d have a hard time doing better than the Session 88. The suspension does exactly what it’s supposed to do and the bike takes you where you point it. It corners like like an angry cougar, loves to get in the air and it lands with grace. What remains to be seen is how it will stand up to being thrown in the back of pick-ups and hurtled down Crabapple Hits. Fabio – one of the German journalists – laid down his bike on our very first lap. It was in a rather innocuous section of trail with no obvious hazards and yet somehow he managed to put a significant dent in one of the seat stays. Maybe this was a fluke – or maybe the frame pushes the weight envelope too far. Once we get some laps on it as the summer progresses we’ll know more about that. For now I can say this is a fast machine that will make you feel like Shandro when he’s full of piss and vinegar. The geometry and spec hit the target and you’d be hard pressed to find a lighter race-ready DH rig out of the box. The price is a bit of an eyebrow raiser. The numbers you see below put the 88 up against some true exotics like Intense and Foes. Let’s call the Session 88 the bike for the discerning gravity rider with a fat wallet.

Pricing	CDN*	CDNº	US*	USº	€ Euro	UK £	SFr	Kr
Session 88 FR	6499	6149	6049	5499	3999	3200	5999	32,999
Session 88 DH	6999	6499	6379	5799	4299	3500	6499	35,999
DH Frame only	4499	3999	3299	2999	2199	1800	3299	17,999

For CDN and US pricing *denotes 'advertised price while ºindicates the suggested price. These bikes should be available at your local Trek Dealer in late July.

Trek already has the Session 88 on their Web site.

Anything to say about the Session 88? Questions I haven't answered? Right this way...