Trek Top Fuel 69er as a trail bike ?

[keen]

I found a Trek Top Fuel 69er frame for sale and wonder how it would work as a trail bike - XC to light AM use ? I'd run a Reba 120mm Maxle U-turn fork up front, 28mm rims and the rest of the components would be of XT quality. Is this a XC ride on is it capable with 90mm of rear travel ? Thanks.

[jayoutside]

exactly how I had mine set up ( just sold it- someone snagged it on mtbr for a smokin deal) - I loved it (had a higher spec RP23 shock on it which helped a bit too I guess). Longer fork raises the BB so pedal smacks are no worry. Slackens the front which is good. The Reba 120 Team easily outclasses the rear end suspension design, but the geometry in this setup is what made it amazing. Was really really fun on east coast slow speed super technical trails both up and down. As speeds get up there, the short travel rear shows its limits a bit - but I'm talking really really fast high speed chunky stuff. Fast and flowy stuff is amazing - steer with your hips. Flickable in back - stable up front - cool concept. Most who knock it haven't really spent time on one set up right. If you think of this as a kind of mix between a 4x bike and a long travel hard tail with something special in the back - you'll be VERY pleased (Its not a super plush 120 travel rear obviously). It rode much much much better than many 29er dualies I have tried - I'd take one any day over a RIP9 - and yes I had a RIP9 for a little while.

[blunderbuss]

I have to disagree with jayoutside. The head angle is already too slack and it steers way slow for an XC bike. With that fork you'll be at approx 68 degrees on a standard offset. That'll really make the front wheel flop over like a chopper. I actually contemplated reducing the travel on my fork in order to make it handle better, but the thought of a sub 12" bb height scared me out of it.

[jayoutside]

no worry! everyone has opinions on how they like a bike to steer. I like slack bikes, that's for sure. Using the little ipod/iphone app I got 68 deg up front and loved it. Wuldn't have wanted it any steeper if you asked me - obviously that is subjective. But I will say that i didn't ever feel any wheel flop - and I have on other bikes that I tried over-forked (both 26 ad 29 in wheels)

If this thing handled like a typical XC bike, I would not have liked it. Horses for courses.

[keen]

I looked @ a 69er a couple years ago and noticed it had a slack HA w/ the 52mm offset 100mm fork. I figured running @ 100mm w/ a 46mm offset (Reba) might get a hint of flop ? I don't expect a 71* XC feel but it seems like most 29er frames run 70*+ HA for the longest travel bikes.

[kdiddy]

I have mine with the 100 mm G2 F29 on it and it feels very quick steering to me. Since you are planning to spec it with a U-turn, you could always drop the front end for tight trails or climbing and extend it for fast DH.

[40hills]

I had typed up some long reply but got that damn "server is too busy" message when trying to post it and lost everything... so here is a shorter version...

I think it depends on how aggressive you ride. I am an XC rider and don't get much air and am careful about the lines I choose, and this bike is almost perfect for me on any kind of terrain. I blast over and through all kinds of stuff I never used to ride before, but you have to understand that it's a short travel bike and probably isn't the best choice if you seek constant air-time and the toughest chunky lines. If that's how you ride, maybe the Ventana El Chucho would be good. But like I said, this bike is great for me, and I ride some rugged terrain in the peidmont and mountains of NC.