Trek joins the 27.5 movement with Slash and Remedy
Originally posted on July 22, 2013 at 16:18 pm
Remedy 9.9 27.5
By Eric McKeegan
Hot on the heels of the new 29er Fuel EX and Remedy, Trek just released info on two 27.5 models, the Slash and Remedy. I first caught wind of these changes a few months ago from some insider info passed along at Dirt Fest, but didn’t have anything else to report until news broke from Trek’s European dealer event, and a recently arrived press release.
The Remedy 27.5 actually drops down to 140mm of travel, compared to the previous year’s 150mm (with 26-inch wheels). This is the same travel as the Remedy 29, for what that’s worth. There are also small geometry changes. The bottom bracket a half inch lower, the head angle a half degree steeper, but chainstays remain a reasonable 17.0-17.1-inches, depending on the geometry settings. Trek uses a small chip in the rear shock mount to create low and high settings, this “Mino” chip is easily flipped in a few minutes using a T25 wrench.
The 27.5 Remedy (and 27.5 Slash) uses the complete arsenal of Trek technology, including both carbon and aluminum frames. The suspension is Trek’s proven mix of ABP (active braking pivot), Full-Floater (variable shock mounting point for leverage rate changes) and DRCV (Dual Rate Control Valve).
Slash 9 27.5
The Slash retains its 160mm of travel front and rear, but geometry gets slacker and longer. Tope tubes are about 15mm longer in each size, the bottom bracket drops by half an inch, and head angles get slacker all around—in the low setting it’s a properly slack 65-degrees. Chainstays are the same 17-17.1 inches, and wheelbase stretches out to a DH level 46.9-inches for a 18.5-inch frame. For comparison, the wheelbase on a medium Session 9.9 is 46.6 in its slackest setting.
Considering the changes, it looks like the Slash is moving down the slack and low rabbit hole, and the Remedy is dialing it back a bit towards the trail bike end of the spectrum. This strikes me as a good move as these two bikes needed some separation. Also, good to see Trek spec’ing 34mm or 35mm forks on most models. Bikes like this deserve bigger forks—these aren’t bikes for weight weenies.
There are six models of the Remedy: the full carbon frame 9.9, the carbon everywhere but chainstays 9.8, and the carbon main frame 9.7. Aluminum framed models (Remedy 9, 8 and 7) will share the same Alpha Platinum Aluminum frame.
The Slash will come in three models (9, 8 and 7) all sharing the same Alpha Platinum Aluminum frame. No carbon Slash models right now, and no news about one in the future. All models of both Slash and Remedy will be available in the fall, with price forthcoming.