Thanks for noticing the trails mate! I have a few Go Pro Guides of Tasmania with this bike and my main Fuel EX if you want to enjoy them some more? Keep riding and stay awesome!
I have one, love it. Make them do a suspension service before (it changes the bike feel a lot) and check the crank screws, because they are sometimes loose.
Been waiting on a 9.5 but it's been pushed back again further delays,so my dealer had a word with Trek and negotiate a discount on 9.7 for me 😜,so that is on order now and expected next week.Happy days .
Thank you for the review, we just put a deposit down on 2 Trek exe bikes, the his and hers going over to the dark side from Triathlon.. After many hours reading watching and physically riding e-bikes I have to admit Trek came up trumphs regarding any issues with the bikes. We've ridden Derby in Tassie we rode in Queenstown in NZ and our home tracks Like Nerang Daisy Hill and Boomerang Park highlighting the whole package ( It's called down time ) When things go wrong and it's gonna happen trust me.
Thanks for the kind reply there! Going to make one recommendation though, make sure you have a multi-tool somewhere on the bike? The chain slipped between chainring and the motor, with the only real solution being removing the bash guard to allow the chain to get out. Otherwise, I was stranded for about half an hour waiting for someone to come by with a multi-tool. Hopefully you can take the EXes on new adventures and have a great time! Keep riding and stay awesome 👍
Just ordered the 9.7 to replace my regular mtb (I hate climbing). I have an Orbea wild FS with full 85nm Bosch but reserve it for group/longer/more elevation rides.
LOL he's so scared of a little bit of power going uphill. Meanwhile, on my Bafang M600 eMTB if I can't hit 20 mph on a 20 degree incline it's too weak. Super jealous of that beautiful blue trial tho, out here in SoCal it's just rock gardens for miles and miles.
Nice review...at about the 5:00 min mark you switch off assist and go in the lowest gear, you mention it feels like driving on a flat tire and very difficult. Do you feel it's harder than it would have been on a regular (non E) mtb, and if so, do you think that's because it's heavier or because of drag from the motor? I'm interested in this lightweight category because I'd like to use pedal power to work on overall fitness, and use assist for steeper climbs or when I'm fatigued, but am concerned if it's just too difficult in 'analog' mode.
That is a great question! So I did ride the same trails on my 2020 Trek Fuel EX 9.8 in the same conditions and a regular MTB with 29x2.6 felt good, so no assist climbing is that hard. I did test a Merida e-One Twenty a few years previous on these very trails, and it was as much of a burden on the climbs in no assist mode as this. The reason why I love this question so much is considering the mechanical principles of the TQ motor. Even when you shut off the assist, the rotor and stator would give some resistance when spinning, so the resistance felt would most likely be down to the weight of the bike (19.05kg for medium vs 13.13kg for the non-eMTB variant) but there would be mechanical resistance from the harmonic drive ring of the TQ motor and electrical braking from the rotor assembly. As for fitness and climbing, a lightweight e-MTB does have its advantages. Make no mistake, you still have to put in muscle power to climb since being a diabetic I can see how much my blood sugars drop when using any bike. Having an e-MTB of any sort isn’t “cheating”, it’s like riding in a tail wind on a flat road. A wind won’t necessarily push you up to 25km/hr, but having a tail wind does make it easier to maintain speed. Going faster than what the tail wind can help with (say a 12km/hr wind) will need you to put in more effort and this is true for e-MTBs depending on the assistance level and the upper speed limit (for Australia we get assistance up to 25km/hr). Having an e-MTB in general helps you ride further and improve fitness in different ways. More descending time helps with upper body and core fitness, especially having to manoeuvre the additional weight. If you now have the ability to deploy power on climbs that ordinarily drain you which may put you into neuromuscular/anaerobic exercise, now you can stay in a lower heart rate which puts less strain on your heart and muscles. Fitness is a weird thing where you can perform at the extreme end for a short time, or pace your stamina and go longer, so with an e-MTB you can technically do both? Plus, if there is a pesky climb on your ride and that’s why your procrastinate from riding that, now you can power through it! In the end, choose the bike you want to ride and will enjoy riding because that’s how you will improve fitness, getting out and having fun on trails. Keep riding and stay awesome!
1000 other reviewers say the exe uniquely shows practically no drag when switched off. This guy is the complete exception to that portion of the review. He’s been on high powered ebikes too long.
The weight of the bike on test was 19.45kg (with flat pedals, no battery extender plug in and all other parts being factory). Meters of ascending is difficult to answer seeing as it would be dependent on the rider’s weight, which power modes they use for climbing, gradient of climbs, tyre pressures and whether or not the user implements the Trek Ride App to optimise the route for maximum efficiency. In my testing using Eco mode 75% of the time, I reached 750m of ascending being an average fitness person of 86kg (helmet, hydration pack and Go Pro gear included) with damp trails. After having a lunch break for an hour and letting the shop charge the bike, I did ride a further 131m of elevation with the settings dialled to maximum power in order to complete filming.
I hope you enjoy it! Everything is pretty good except for the remote for the dropper? Just seems awkward and some of the cut footage from this review was me failing to trigger the TranzX Keep riding and stay awesome!
If you’re interested in light weight e-MTBs, I’d say it’s worth it. Provided the frame has no structural flaws and the electronics work well, it’s a great bike for an afternoon blast or if you want some pedal assistance but don’t want to compromise handling performance. My personal rule is that if you want to use it every day/week and it does something different your other bikes don’t then go for it 👍
Felt like a force push all of a sudden in the highest assistance setting. Just one moment nothing and then it just launches you forward after an awkward amount of time and crank position. Flow Mountain Bike are still trying to tinker with their review bike with the Boost Mode in the Trek Central app and nothing has been overly fruitful. I might have to look into the harmonic drive more precisely to see if there is a electromechanical reason why this is happening, or if it is strange programming?
@@JaegerDynamics , yes, there is this push allways at the same position. But at my bike this moment feels like if a mechanical gearbox flips into gear. Very strange.
Got the 9.7 here in NZ..restricted to 32k's..love it...been faultless after 560k's..mainly ride aggressive downhill..changed the tyres-seat and grips straight away..my brakes and shifters are SLX M7 not M6..cranks are shorter at 165mm..totally recommend the bike.
Love the RUclips handle their chief, was “FatBikesAndBeer” before I changed it to the current channel name 👍 So you went more downhill and aggressive? Mind posting the tyre, pedal and grip combo? Keep riding and stay awesome mate 👍
I don't understand why people use the term 'acoustic' when defining a manually powered bike. The does not work on sound or sound waves or have ears etc. the definition of acoustic is and has nothing to do with manually powering anything: 1: of or relating to the sense or organs of hearing, to sound, or to the science of sounds acoustic apparatus of the ear acoustic energy : such as a: deadening or absorbing sound acoustic tile b: operated by or utilizing sound waves 2: of, relating to, or being a musical instrument whose sound is not electronically modified There are no other definitions of acoustic.
Ditto, I think using a writting convention discribing a mtb an 'acoustic" does not imply you pedal it. Maybe call it a MTB or EMTB happy days. (MTB) Manual while (EMTB) could be relabelled as (AMTB) Assisted Mountain Bike as it will not confuse the person reading the title of Manual or Assisted regardless of the power source such as battery, fosal fuels, wind ! Just Imagine hi I'm riding my acoustic today tomorrow I'll be riding my Electric. Is that my acoustic guitar and electric guitar see how easy it is to confuse the purpose if your describing something. Any way I bought a MB and just about to buy a Powered assisted MB.
I agree, but the price difference has at least decreased between the electric assist bikes and their traditional counterparts. With $2000 AUS being the difference between the 9.7 EX and the 9.7 EXe (without the current sales of normal EX), that’s only a 20% MSRP difference compared to when it was between 50-70% a few years ago. My thoughts will always be if you enjoy riding the bike and get out on it as often as you want, then going traditional or electric assistance is the buyer’s preference. You’re right, pricing right now isn’t great but at least the bikes are better and riding further than when they first came out? Keep riding and stay awesome!
Never seen a more critical review of the Trek. 1000 reviews say how this bike offers little or no drag when switched off. This guy says it feels like he’s running on flats.
lol Bontrager - Sounds like the YTer has some issue with the brand, despite him saying otherwise - pointing that out wa few too many times in the first minute and a half. Rather odd. Should have just stated that you have some issue with Bontrager and gotten that out. Makes the rest of the review sound like you have a bias and kinda tanks the whole thing.
Is no one talking about these sweet trails he is riding?? Looks amazing and so fun! Thanks for the review and all the information you have provided!
Thanks for noticing the trails mate! I have a few Go Pro Guides of Tasmania with this bike and my main Fuel EX if you want to enjoy them some more?
Keep riding and stay awesome!
@@JaegerDynamics it only has 50 miles on it. I think I may grab it
I just ordered my Top Fuel 5 at a local Trek shop. I cannot wait to get mine! Glad you're enjoying yours!
I have one, love it. Make them do a suspension service before (it changes the bike feel a lot) and check the crank screws, because they are sometimes loose.
Great review…Ty
Been waiting on a 9.5 but it's been pushed back again further delays,so my dealer had a word with Trek and negotiate a discount on 9.7 for me 😜,so that is on order now and expected next week.Happy days .
Nice mate! I think the upgrade in drivetrain and brakes will be worth it to a point
Hope you enjoy this absolute trail weapon 👍
Awesome trail and great review
Thank you for the review, we just put a deposit down on 2 Trek exe bikes, the his and hers going over to the dark side from Triathlon.. After many hours reading watching and physically riding e-bikes I have to admit Trek came up trumphs regarding any issues with the bikes. We've ridden Derby in Tassie we rode in Queenstown in NZ and our home tracks Like Nerang Daisy Hill and Boomerang Park highlighting the whole package ( It's called down time ) When things go wrong and it's gonna happen trust me.
Thanks for the kind reply there!
Going to make one recommendation though, make sure you have a multi-tool somewhere on the bike?
The chain slipped between chainring and the motor, with the only real solution being removing the bash guard to allow the chain to get out. Otherwise, I was stranded for about half an hour waiting for someone to come by with a multi-tool.
Hopefully you can take the EXes on new adventures and have a great time!
Keep riding and stay awesome 👍
Just ordered the 9.7 to replace my regular mtb (I hate climbing). I have an Orbea wild FS with full 85nm Bosch but reserve it for group/longer/more elevation rides.
LOL he's so scared of a little bit of power going uphill. Meanwhile, on my Bafang M600 eMTB if I can't hit 20 mph on a 20 degree incline it's too weak. Super jealous of that beautiful blue trial tho, out here in SoCal it's just rock gardens for miles and miles.
hmm tempted to get one as a younger rider to climb steep fire roads that i can barely ride up lol
Nice review...at about the 5:00 min mark you switch off assist and go in the lowest gear, you mention it feels like driving on a flat tire and very difficult. Do you feel it's harder than it would have been on a regular (non E) mtb, and if so, do you think that's because it's heavier or because of drag from the motor? I'm interested in this lightweight category because I'd like to use pedal power to work on overall fitness, and use assist for steeper climbs or when I'm fatigued, but am concerned if it's just too difficult in 'analog' mode.
That is a great question!
So I did ride the same trails on my 2020 Trek Fuel EX 9.8 in the same conditions and a regular MTB with 29x2.6 felt good, so no assist climbing is that hard.
I did test a Merida e-One Twenty a few years previous on these very trails, and it was as much of a burden on the climbs in no assist mode as this.
The reason why I love this question so much is considering the mechanical principles of the TQ motor. Even when you shut off the assist, the rotor and stator would give some resistance when spinning, so the resistance felt would most likely be down to the weight of the bike (19.05kg for medium vs 13.13kg for the non-eMTB variant) but there would be mechanical resistance from the harmonic drive ring of the TQ motor and electrical braking from the rotor assembly.
As for fitness and climbing, a lightweight e-MTB does have its advantages. Make no mistake, you still have to put in muscle power to climb since being a diabetic I can see how much my blood sugars drop when using any bike. Having an e-MTB of any sort isn’t “cheating”, it’s like riding in a tail wind on a flat road. A wind won’t necessarily push you up to 25km/hr, but having a tail wind does make it easier to maintain speed. Going faster than what the tail wind can help with (say a 12km/hr wind) will need you to put in more effort and this is true for e-MTBs depending on the assistance level and the upper speed limit (for Australia we get assistance up to 25km/hr).
Having an e-MTB in general helps you ride further and improve fitness in different ways. More descending time helps with upper body and core fitness, especially having to manoeuvre the additional weight. If you now have the ability to deploy power on climbs that ordinarily drain you which may put you into neuromuscular/anaerobic exercise, now you can stay in a lower heart rate which puts less strain on your heart and muscles. Fitness is a weird thing where you can perform at the extreme end for a short time, or pace your stamina and go longer, so with an e-MTB you can technically do both?
Plus, if there is a pesky climb on your ride and that’s why your procrastinate from riding that, now you can power through it!
In the end, choose the bike you want to ride and will enjoy riding because that’s how you will improve fitness, getting out and having fun on trails. Keep riding and stay awesome!
1000 other reviewers say the exe uniquely shows practically no drag when switched off. This guy is the complete exception to that portion of the review. He’s been on high powered ebikes too long.
Hello, two questions:
1. What is the weight of the bike?
2. How many meters of ascending you can do with the 360 wts internal battery?
The weight of the bike on test was 19.45kg (with flat pedals, no battery extender plug in and all other parts being factory).
Meters of ascending is difficult to answer seeing as it would be dependent on the rider’s weight, which power modes they use for climbing, gradient of climbs, tyre pressures and whether or not the user implements the Trek Ride App to optimise the route for maximum efficiency.
In my testing using Eco mode 75% of the time, I reached 750m of ascending being an average fitness person of 86kg (helmet, hydration pack and Go Pro gear included) with damp trails. After having a lunch break for an hour and letting the shop charge the bike, I did ride a further 131m of elevation with the settings dialled to maximum power in order to complete filming.
Just ordered a 9.7 today
I hope you enjoy it! Everything is pretty good except for the remote for the dropper? Just seems awkward and some of the cut footage from this review was me failing to trigger the TranzX
Keep riding and stay awesome!
what is the real range i ride on road ?
Some gent selling this for 5k usd barely used. Worth the investment ?
If you’re interested in light weight e-MTBs, I’d say it’s worth it. Provided the frame has no structural flaws and the electronics work well, it’s a great bike for an afternoon blast or if you want some pedal assistance but don’t want to compromise handling performance.
My personal rule is that if you want to use it every day/week and it does something different your other bikes don’t then go for it 👍
Did you also feel the motor kick in a strange way? Mine produces a "klonging" feel at 2 o'clock pade position. Other motors kick in much smoother.
Felt like a force push all of a sudden in the highest assistance setting. Just one moment nothing and then it just launches you forward after an awkward amount of time and crank position.
Flow Mountain Bike are still trying to tinker with their review bike with the Boost Mode in the Trek Central app and nothing has been overly fruitful.
I might have to look into the harmonic drive more precisely to see if there is a electromechanical reason why this is happening, or if it is strange programming?
@@JaegerDynamics , yes, there is this push allways at the same position. But at my bike this moment feels like if a mechanical gearbox flips into gear. Very strange.
Apparently there is a firmware update to fix this
Got the 9.7 here in NZ..restricted to 32k's..love it...been faultless after 560k's..mainly ride aggressive downhill..changed the tyres-seat and grips straight away..my brakes and shifters are SLX M7 not M6..cranks are shorter at 165mm..totally recommend the bike.
Love the RUclips handle their chief, was “FatBikesAndBeer” before I changed it to the current channel name 👍
So you went more downhill and aggressive? Mind posting the tyre, pedal and grip combo?
Keep riding and stay awesome mate 👍
I don't understand why people use the term 'acoustic' when defining a manually powered bike.
The does not work on sound or sound waves or have ears etc.
the definition of acoustic is and has nothing to do with manually powering anything:
1: of or relating to the sense or organs of hearing, to sound, or to the science of sounds
acoustic apparatus of the ear
acoustic energy
: such as
a: deadening or absorbing sound
acoustic tile
b: operated by or utilizing sound waves
2: of, relating to, or being a musical instrument whose sound is not electronically modified
There are no other definitions of acoustic.
Acoustic makes no sense.... neither does analog. I've heard that many times.
Ditto, I think using a writting convention discribing a mtb an 'acoustic" does not imply you pedal it. Maybe call it a MTB or EMTB happy days. (MTB) Manual while (EMTB) could be relabelled as (AMTB) Assisted Mountain Bike as it will not confuse the person reading the title of Manual or Assisted regardless of the power source such as battery, fosal fuels, wind !
Just Imagine hi I'm riding my acoustic today tomorrow I'll be riding my Electric. Is that my acoustic guitar and electric guitar see how easy it is to confuse the purpose if your describing something. Any way I bought a MB and just about to buy a Powered assisted MB.
Yeah, they're "mountain bikes" and these are E-bikes.
(e)biking has become so good, but the price development is not pleasing at all... It costs about $8100..
I agree, but the price difference has at least decreased between the electric assist bikes and their traditional counterparts. With $2000 AUS being the difference between the 9.7 EX and the 9.7 EXe (without the current sales of normal EX), that’s only a 20% MSRP difference compared to when it was between 50-70% a few years ago.
My thoughts will always be if you enjoy riding the bike and get out on it as often as you want, then going traditional or electric assistance is the buyer’s preference. You’re right, pricing right now isn’t great but at least the bikes are better and riding further than when they first came out?
Keep riding and stay awesome!
Never seen a more critical review of the Trek. 1000 reviews say how this bike offers little or no drag when switched off. This guy says it feels like he’s running on flats.
lol Bontrager - Sounds like the YTer has some issue with the brand, despite him saying otherwise - pointing that out wa few too many times in the first minute and a half. Rather odd. Should have just stated that you have some issue with Bontrager and gotten that out. Makes the rest of the review sound like you have a bias and kinda tanks the whole thing.
E-Bike = Motorcycle