Trek Serves Up Its Remedy

By Vernon Felton

Is there life after Urkel? Well, for everyone who simply endured an episode or two of Family Matters, sure, the world is our collective oyster. For actor Jaleel White who actually played TV's only African-American suspender-bound nerd, life is no longer one long, lucrative film shoot. Hollywood has a way of pigeon-holing actors, which is why you’ve never seen Ron Palillo (Welcome Back Kotter’s Horshack) thrashing about on top of Demi Moore in one of those awkward Hollywood love scenes.

The same sort of pigeon holing occurs in the bike industry. Sure, Kona has a interesting line of road bikes, but when you think of that company, the odds are you’re envisioning some kid hucking off a ladder bridge on a monster freeride bike. Same thing holds true for Trek—only in reverse. The Wisconsin company has built its reputation on carbon road bikes and short-travel NORBA mountain bikes.

Trek, however, is doing its damndest to shake the XC-Geek-Only stink off its philosophical bed sheets. The Remedy is part of that effort. It’s Trek’s latest aim at gaining a foothold in the increasingly-popular All Mountain market.

So, here’s the deal: Remedy bikes (and there will be three models: Remedy 5, Remedy 6, & Remedy 66) will sport five or six inches of rear wheel travel, lightweight component spec, and a burly-but-sorta-light frame.

The frame looks like a cross between a Liquid (which the Remedy replaces in 2006) and Trek’s longer-travel Session models, and will feature sealed-bearing pivots, a bi-axial downtube and hydro-formed top tube, a lightweight welded swingarm, and (naturally) integrated disc mounts. The Remedy frame is made from Trek’s proprietary ZR9000 aluminum at the company’s headquarters, in Waterloo, Wisconsin, and will also boast enough rear tire clearance to accommodate 2.5-inch rear treads.

Though Trek partnered with RockShox for the rear shocks on their `05 Fuel EX bikes, you can expect to see Manitou SPV rear shocks on the new Remedy models. Four sizes will be available and the company predicts that the bikes will weigh less than 30 pounds.

Reader Comments

Posted Sat Sep20, 2008, 5:54 PM — By martin

Where can I get this bike in the uk?

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