7-2-07 // Online Exclusive: Trek's Sun Valley Launch

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The new Fuel EX 9.5 weighs 24.5 pounds and will retail for approximately $6,600, and aluminum frame models start around $1,750.

At a recent 2008 product launch in Sun Valley, Idaho, Trek Bicycles director of product development, Joe Vadeboncoeur, stood up in front of a crowd of assembled international media to address the state of the company’s mountain bike program.

The bottom line, he said, is “we’re spending a ton of money, and we’re going to be the best mountain bike company in the world, bar none, guaranteed.”

To illustrate Trek’s commitment to the sport, Vadeboncoeur rattled through a quick highlight reel of the company’s 15-year history making full-suspension mountain bikes. He also addressed the perception of Trek as another big company, which he countered by pointing out the mountain bike culture that has cropped up within the company over the last 10 years. He also cited the 180-acre parcel of land next to the company’s Waterloo, Wisconsin, facility that has been leased and built into miles of singletrack, a mini free ride park, dirt jumps and a pump track.

Pointing to a row of prototype bikes lined up at the back of the room representing the evolution of Trek’s newest suspension platform, found on the new Fuel EX bikes, Vadeboncoeur explained that each prototypes cost some $10,000, and is an example of how serious the company is in developing its mountain bike line.

The wholly redesigned Fuel EX platform uses a concentric rear axle/pivot and a floating shock link for much-reduced brake jack and better shock actuation throughout the bike’s 120 millimeters of travel.

The new EVO link is made from welding two forged halves for a superior strength at a lower weight than the older three-piece rocker link.