Trek presents two new cross-country bullets

With the "Procaliber SL" hardtail and the "Top Fuel" fully, Trek is launching two new bikes for racing. Both are designed for efficiency and therefore come with either small or large wheels, depending on the frame size. These models are available both as complete bikes and as framesets.

The riders of the Trek Factory Racing Team had been eyeing up new bikes for some time. Now the industry giant is letting the cat out of the bag. The full-suspension "Top Fuel" comes in six equipment variants, including a women's-specific model, as well as a frame kit. It replaces the Superfly FS models with aluminum and carbon versions. It moves away from the fixed shock suspension and back to the Evo-Link with the Full Floater system. However, the tried-and-tested Active Braking pivot is still used on this bike.

The wider Boost axles are brand new on the Top Fuel. If you want to buy additional wheels for this bike, there are now numerous brands that offer wheels designed to the Boost standard (148 mm rear, 110 mm front). In terms of wheels, Trek offers 29-inch wheels from 17.5-inch frame sizes upwards. From 15.5 inches, however, rolling stock in 27.5 inches will be installed.

The Top Fuel comes with 100 millimeters of travel on the rear triangle and fork. The geometry can also be adjusted, which was previously only possible on bikes with more suspension travel. Using the Mino-Link, the steering angle can be adjusted by half a degree and the bottom bracket can be lowered by eight millimetres. The fork also has an offset of 51 millimetres.

The Top Fuel frame weighs 1,900 grams including the rear shock and has cable ducts for the XTR Di2 electronic drivetrain as well as for a dropper post. All internally routed cables and lines come together in the down tube and are strapped down as they exit the frame so that they do not cause any noise.

Trek designs the frame for chainrings up to 36 teeth and also provides the option of mounting a 2x system.

Hardtail with integrated comfort
The Procaliber SL is Trek's new hardtail. However, a hard rear triangle is no longer so hard these days, so Trek has added a little comfort to its Procaliber SL. This is not a reinvention of the wheel, but uses the "IsoSpeed" technology already familiar from the road bike sector. This is a "decoupler" that allows the seat tube to move independently of the top tube and seat stays. This results in improved damping compared to completely fixed systems. With the IsoSpeed, the seat tube rotates in the top tube connected to a bearing and thus generates up to eleven millimetres of "suspension travel".

When it comes to the choice of wheels, Trek follows the same path as the Top Fuel and gives the small frames from 15.5 inches 27.5-inch wheels and from 17.5-inch frame size the Twentyniner wheels. These in turn come in the axle widths Boost148 at the rear and Boost110 at the front.

The weight of the Procaliber SL is a little heavier than the Superfly SL. However, according to the riders of the Trek Factory Racing Team, the comfort gained through IsoSpeed more than makes up for the extra weight of 100 degrees due to the system.

The frame of the Procaliber SL, like that of the full-suspension bike, is designed for the cables and wires of the XTR Di2 and the Vario seatpost. On the hardtail, however, you have to make do with just one chainring.