*if you watched my Trek Remedy review, you might think you already know how I feel about
Trek bikes But I wanted to compare the Remedy against
the Slash.
BOTH are Trek's 6" travel, Enduro/All-mountain bikes that are REALLY close in Geometry…
but the Slash has BIG wheels on it's side...
And Dang Gina!
This is a Monster truck of a bike!
29" in wheels to roll over just about anything When I say it was a monster truck… it pretty
much felt like a monster truck!… it wanted speed, and it begged me to pick bad lines…
or to NOT pick any lines at all!..
It just takes you for a ride!.... which could be a good or bad thing..
I definitely enjoy that feeling for what it is… with the bike doing all the work.. and
taking me for a ride…
I still prefer something a bit more nimble Where I feel like I'M THE ONE in control,
but have to work a little bit harder…
Now – if I was racing enduro… and all that mattered was the clock..
I could enjoy something like the slash ALL DAY.
But… with the huge wheels… long legs….
No matter how low the bottom bracket is (352mm height)… or how sagged in I got… there
was STILL kind of a feeling of riding *on top* of the bike.. instead of really inside
it… which kind of added to the experience of the bike doing all the work and taking
ME for a ride…
An aggressive 65.6 degree headtube angle felt just right for me… and if you want to party
even more, you can easily flip the mino link chips and get it down by half a degree…
But for climbing.. it can get down to business with a 74.1 degree seattube angle….
Which I was expecting it to feel about the same as the efficient Remedy… but..
I felt like… after getting over the initial acceleration, it climbed better than the Remedy.
Handling technical climbs just as well.
The reach on this 17.5" frame… measures at 431mm…
And The Chainstays measure at 433mm… which, are the SAME length as the 27.5 remedy…
which is nice!
It's still stable, but they kept 'em short enough, for a 29er, to give it SOME agility…
or at least as much as you can get out of a 6" travel 29er… haha
Now, Just like the Remedy, the Slash sports the super stiff front end with the Straight
shot downtube and knock block headset technology…Which IS noticeably stiffer… but I could go either
way on it...
It also has the Active Braking Pivot suspension design to keep your butt comfy through the
chunder… even while on the brakes!... which, I prefer to more conventional single pivot
designs, where Brake Jack is really noticeable…
But it DOESN'T have the Full Floater design… the bottom of the shock is fixed to the frame.
*now Trek says that they initially designed FULL FLOATER before all these new shocks came
out with more volume in the negative air chamber, to help them break off the top more smoothly
… so for their full Enduro 29er, they decided to utilize new amazing shocks and skip out
on full floater to create a beefier frame design for more stiffness in the rear…
*Now… this IS a $5500 bike.. and they only make carbon options… the other one is $4500…
WHEW!
If you want an alloy option 29er from Trek, You've gotta go with the Fuel Ex…
Going down to 130mm of travel…
Which I thought it was a great bike… but It would've been nice to see a BIG brand
offer more options, especially in their aggressive enduro 29er slash bike…
And Trek, being one of the big 3…
Trek, Specialized, and Giant… uses a lot of in-house bits to give better value…
BUT - I think in comparison, trek falls a bit short on value at the $5500 mark…
YES – everything is top notch… but at this price, with Specialized and Giant, you
get in-house carbon wheels… which is a MAJOR upgrade in my opinion…
Also…
You all know that I'm a shorty… with a 27" inseam…
I had problems with saddle height and seatpost insertion on the Trek Remedy because of their
kink…
So I sized down from 18.5 to 17.5 to see if I could fit a longer dropper post… but NO!..
The ACTUAL Seat angle on the slash (64.5) is slacker than on the remedy (67.7)!
Trying to keep the Same "EFFECTIVE" Seattube Angle at 74.1, just caused the Kink to be
MORE ABRUPT!
Again..
I'm stuck with a 125mm dropper MAX… and for a bike that's meant to be an enduro
race bike.. you would THINK that they would allow for really long dropper insertion…
and do something about that kinking kink!
And onto the dropper post itself… the Bontrager Dropline has really good intentions with the
shifter style remote lever…
But it got REALLY sticky on me and it wouldn't keep the seat down… which I've heard has
happened to multiple people with these same posts…
AND.. because the ACTUAL seattube angle AFTER the kink is REALLY slack (at 64.8 degrees)…
when you want to push the dropper down, you have to sit on it at just the right angle,
or else the post kinda binds up…
And as far as spec goes…with X1…
Sram is great for going!.. but NOT for stopping!
... I know this is a big heated argument… but sram guide brakes just aren't for me!....
And ….Maybe I'm just ruined for all other tires after sporting Maxxis Minions for a
year… but sheesh!
The Bontrager se4 tires were NOT my cup of tea… for my style of riding.. yes that's
an easy change.. and tires are all relative to the rider and terrain… but I would expect
a more aggressive tire spec on the Slash… if they HAVE to stick with Bontrager… maybe
they should spec the SE5 or G4…
*(WHICH ARE PRETTY MUCH JUST TRYING TO BE MINIONS!)
OK… despite that rant…
I actually really liked riding the Slash for a week!... it was a really efficient climber
for how dang well it went downhill… and it felt really balanced…
Now, Which one did I like better?
The Trek Remedy?
Or the Trek Slash?....
Well….
I NORMALLY lean towards 27.5 bikes….
But if I had to pick between the two right now, and I didn't have short leg problems…..
it would probably be the Slash… despite having the same amount of travel.. it felt
way more composed!
I didn't love it, or hate it….
But it's bike likes The Slash… that REALLY make me want to have a long travel 29er in
the bike stable to mix things up and have a blast!....
Thanks for watching my review of the Trek Slash… but I would Highly suggest trying
out the Slash for yourself and making your own opinions… now, in the meantime.. get
out there – Ride more!
And Crash Less!
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