For four months we patiently waited for this, the opportunity to test the all new Trek Top Fuel – Trek’s marathon and cross-country race weapon piloted by the likes of Emily Batty. When the first Project One Top Fuel landed in SA, Seamus Allardice was pretty much first in line to test-ride it. Photos by Ashlee Attwood.
Being beaten to it by a couple of Trek South Africa employees doesn’t really count, so for all intents and purposes Full Sus is breaking with the first local test of the new Top Fuel. No pressure…
Being a Trek Project One build, the test Top Fuel is a pretty special looking bike: matt black frame, grey/silver decaling and with the Fox Factory Series fork and shock providing a bit of bling. The Shimano 1 x 11 XT drivetrain and XT brakes provide the propulsion and stopping power, while DT Swiss M 1 900 wheels (I would have loved to have seen the Project One build specced with the carbon XCM 1 200 DT Swiss hoops) and an assortment of Bontrager components make up the build. A final class and racy touch is the dual lock-out remote, which runs the Fox suspension elements though their Climb, Trail and Descend settings.
Despite not being drenched in carbon the test Top Fuel is a light, sprightly accelerator and nimble climber. For the race snakes a more lightweight (and expensive) build will produce a remarkably light full suspension bike, with Trek claiming that the range topping 9.9 model tips (or rather hardly tips) the scale at 9.5kg. The Top Fuel frame might not be as light as the Superfly FS which it replaces, but with the Boost wheel spacing, stiffer frame and more capable suspension the addition of a few grams aren’t going to worry anyone. Trek say the new Top Fuel is designed with the increasingly technical World Cup XCO racing circuit and the growth in trail riding in mind, and it shows, as the Top Fuel is equal parts fun and fast.
My initial rides on the Top Fuel were slightly uncomfortable as I haven’t ridden an aggressive race bike for a while. The steep 70.0° head angle (in the low Mino Link setting) made me a little nervous on technical descents – which meant I put the excellent XT brakes to good use – but after a couple of hours in the saddle I started to adjust and soon felt very comfortable. It provides precise steering and once I got the hang of the exaggerated shifts of body weight necessary to keep it rubber side down I could pedal the Top Fuel into any of the obstacles I usually tackle on slacker more trail orientated rides.
Where the Top Fuel really excels, right from the off, is on the climbs. The accurate steering makes picking out the best line a synch on technical climbs, while the light weight and aggressive front-end make long drags uphill less of a drag than usual. The pedal efficacy is impressive with the shocks locked out, though it’s not quite as rock hard as a couple of other full suspension race bikes I’ve tested. As I only had the Top Fuel for a week, before it had to go off to a rival publication (yes we beat them to it!), I didn’t have the chance to fiddle with the Mino Link (Trek’s flipable chip in one of the pivots which raises the BB and steepens the geometry) and ride the bike in the high geometry setting. Though from the angles I’m guessing the bike shifts to the twitchy side of agile but making it climb even better. In short, just the way the cross-country racers like it, but with too little margin for error for my liking.
The test bike’s Project One build came with one notable draw-back: the 1 x 11 Shimano XT drivetrain. It’s not that the shifting is poor, it’s anything but! It’s not that the climbing is limited; with a 32 tooth chainring and the 42 tooth big blade on the cassette it has the same capability as the SRAM system. The issue is at the other end of the cassette: with a 32 tooth chainring in the highest gear you’ll only be pushing around 80.4 inches per revolution of your Shimano crank compared to 88.4 inches if you were running the SRAM system with its 10 – 42 cassette. This meant I was constantly searching for a non-existent harder gear for the flats and descents. Yes, you could simply go with a 34 tooth chainring, but depending on the terrain you ride it might not be an option. My suggestion is to go with a SRAM drivetrain if you’re a die hard 1 x 11 fan, or to make the switch to 2 x 11.
Once I’d settled on the Top Fuel I toughly enjoyed it and I can see it being a popular choice for stage racers across the country. It goes from A to B as fast as anything I’ve ridden but it keeps you smiling while going fast too, and that’s a pretty nifty trick from a category of bikes which are often as much white knuckle as they are white lightning.
Sus the Trek Top Fuel Geometry
All measurements are in mm or degrees on a 19.5 inch frame sized bike.
Project One Top Fuel (as tested): RRP R?
Top Fuel 9.9: RRP R?
Top Fuel 9.8: RRP R?
| Low | High | |
| Effective Seat Tube Angle | 74.0 | 74.9 |
| Seat Tube Angle | 68.5 | 69.4 |
| Seat Tube | 470 | 470 |
| Heat Tube | 100 | 100 |
| Head Angle | 70.0 | 70.9 |
| Effective Top Tube | 625 | 625 |
| BB Height | 330 | 341 |
| BB Drop | 39 | 27 |
| Chainstay | 433 | 432 |
| Wheelbase | 1 144 | 1 143 |
| Standover Height | 745 | 801 |
| Reach | 457 | 466 |
| Stack | 587 | 580 |
