Several weeks ago I gave you guys the first look at my new Trek Remedy 8 and after about 100 miles on the bike and a couple of solid trail rides I'm ready to give you guys my first impressions on how this bike performs.
The Trek Remedy 8 if you're not familiar is an all mountain trail bike with 160mm of travel in the front, 150mm in the back, 27.5" wheels 2.6" tires and 455mm of reach in a size large.
I really like this bike guys.
So let's start off with a few big highlights.
This bike is highly nimble, and very well balanced. The handling is very predictable and the bike as a whole is highly capable. This thing is so much fun
Let's hit on a few things
Climbing. The Remedy is a very capable climber, I've taken it up long shallow climbs, long steep climbs and short techy climbs (like stair cases). Sure it doesn't surge ahead like a light XC bike but it is acceptably efficient even in that environment. On techy climbs the suspension and the tires provide great traction, the front wheel doesn't wander and it's nimbleness really helps it around corners. I've also run it in the open setting on the steepest climbs and I've found the pedal platform to be very good.
Downhill No the Remedy is no the longest biggest 29 enduro rig on the market. It has smaller wheels, the geometry is more conservative and so it shouldn't be as stable as those bigger bikes. It's probably not but I have yet to find a situation where it felt unstable. What stands out the most though is the way this bike corners. At no time have I ever felt that the Remedy was out of my control, it's cornering ability is really outstanding. The effort it takes to get in and out of turns is really minimal and the Remedy's slow speed handling is really to be commended.
The biggest benefit I have found in the Remedy's handling is that trail features that are honestly a bit scary for me are less intimidating than they would be on other bikes. If I have to let go of the brakes and trust the bike to do it's job it absolutely gets the job done. On the flip side of this, the bike's smaller size and sharper handling means that it's easier to get on and off of the bike in balancy situations and it's also easier to make line changes whenever I need to. Front and rear end traction is also very intuitive to achieve. I don't really have to think about keeping my weight balanced over both wheels. It just happens naturally and I can focus on just riding the trail.
The Spec I talked about the Knockblok in my first look video and while given the choice I would still rather not have it I almost didn't include it in this review because I honestly forgot about it. I can't find anyway to hit it no matter how tight the corner is so for me it's a complete non issue.
The suspension hasn't raised any complaints. The stuff from Rockshox is very smooth these days and both the shock and the fork firm up very well if you want them to.
The Guide R brakes are certainly not as powerful as codes but they have wonderful modulation and I have yet to have an issue with them.
The GX eagle drive train is really beyond reproach. The range is amazing. The 10-42 section is really all you need but having that 50 tooth low gear is really really nice on the big climbs and the 32tooth chain ring was a great choice in my opinion. Shifting is smooth an crisp, I really wouldn't want to run anything else.
A few changes I've made. I swapped the grips to the Ergon GD1s, I swapped out the black fork decals for Orange ones, I swapped in my ergon saddle and I put a mucky nutz fender on the fork. I've also been switching between flat and clipless pedals depending on the type of ride I am going on. The tires have been just fine but I'm still trying to decide if I want to upgrade them.
As always I will be doing a follow up regarding longevity and other questions you all ask in the comments later on but you'll be seeing much more of this bike in the trail ride videos I have planned throughout the rest of the year.
Have fun guys
