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2020 Trek Fuel ex

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#1,061 ·
Well I got my EX 7 on Thursday and did a little 5 mile ride on Friday to mostly set my suspension then I went out for 25 miles on it today, two things that stood out that I didn't like were the tires just seemed like they have too much rolling resistance but not horribly bad and then the dropper seems to fall down about 5mm or so while riding with it in up position, I'm pretty darn happy with this bike on the up side I was way less fatigued after riding compared to the HT bike.
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#1,062 ·
Im looking at a 2022 fuel ex 9.7 for trail riding. Im a little concerned about the knock block as some of my trails have some pretty tight hairpin turns. Has anyone here had any complaints about the knockblock restricting the turning radius of the bike? I have not test ridden one yet.
 
#1,065 ·
Thanks. What about switching out the factory stem? Is it a pita to fit a non proprietary stem to the knockblock headset and spacers? Sometimes I like to swtch to the narrower diameter bars and stem 31.8. The 35 mm can be rough on hands and writs.
 
#1,066 ·
DTL said:
Thanks. What about switching out the factory stem? Is it a pita to fit a non proprietary stem to the knockblock headset and spacers? Sometimes I like to swtch to the narrower diameter bars and stem 31.8. The 35 mm can be rough on hands and writs.
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I've never done it, but I believe Trek sells a little inexpensive adapter for this purpose.

I hear you on the 35 bars. Silly, unneeded concept. I've gone with the One Up carbon bars that have some flex engineered into their shape.
 
#1,067 ·
2020 Fuel Ex 9.8 GX owner here
Today I finally got fed up with constantly hitting roots and rocks with my pedals, compared to my other bikes on this one always have to be super careful to avoid hitting stuff when pedaling.
Mino Link was on low so changed it to high.
Should I pump up my rear shock? Pressure is about 190 with my weight 200 lbs
Buy slightly shorter cranks?
 
#1,068 ·
durask said:
2020 Fuel Ex 9.8 GX owner here
Today I finally got fed up with constantly hitting roots and rocks with my pedals, compared to my other bikes on this one always have to be super careful to avoid hitting stuff when pedaling.
Mino Link was on low so changed it to high.
Should I pump up my rear shock? Pressure is about 190 with my weight 200 lbs
Buy slightly shorter cranks?
Click to expand...
I prefer mine in high for a variety of reasons, including the pedal strike issue. I'm about your size, and run 195-200 psi, while the Trek suspension calculator says to start at 205.
 
#1,069 ·
durask said:
2020 Fuel Ex 9.8 GX owner here
Today I finally got fed up with constantly hitting roots and rocks with my pedals, compared to my other bikes on this one always have to be super careful to avoid hitting stuff when pedaling.
Mino Link was on low so changed it to high.
Should I pump up my rear shock? Pressure is about 190 with my weight 200 lbs
Buy slightly shorter cranks?
Click to expand...
I would just try it first with just one change at a time, I am 180 lbs my fork says to run between 185/190 psi I dropped it from 190 to the 185 today and noticed I got a few more peddle hits, my bike is also in the low setting on that Mino.
 
#1,070 ·
Ok so I've had this bike for two months now, I've had the cranks out and clean them up 4x's now the creaking has just got to go, I am going to call Wheels Mfg tomorrow and find out if they make a DUB compatible thread together bottom bracket, my Trek Stache had the same problem when I put the Wheels Mfg one on that bike it still creaked so heard somewhere about using the green or blue'ish bearings retainer, put it between the frame bb and the bb outside cups the part the goes into the frame bb. That fixed it on that bike. I had read on FB on a Trek EX page that guys were getting these bikes and the rear swing arm and shock were dry, so I ask the shop where I bought my bike if they lubed all that up thay said yes,,, hell no! they didn't. I heard some new creaking on Sunday and started checking and everything was dry, dry like it hasn't ever been done ever a few bearings are already getting a bit sticky at this point I'm on a quest to find what tools I'll need to take out the main lower swing arm bearings middle main pivot and the two at the rear axle, I don't want to have my bike at the shop right now they are backed up and I'd rather do the work myself.

At least I really like riding the bike.
 
#1,071 ·
idinomac said:
I would just try it first with just one change at a time, I am 180 lbs my fork says to run between 185/190 psi I dropped it from 190 to the 185 today and noticed I got a few more peddle hits, my bike is also in the low setting on that Mino.
Click to expand...
Tried a few things.
Bought the thinnest pedals I could.
Increased the pressure to 200 and switched the chip to high. Funny how such a tiny change affects the feel of the bike. Biked whole day and don't think I like the chip in high, but barely any strikes.
Kept pressure 200 (harder than I am used to but ok) and switched the chip to low, have to be more careful but I like the feel of the bike better.
 
#1,072 ·
idinomac said:
... ever a few bearings are already getting a bit sticky at this point I'm on a quest to find what tools I'll need to take out the main lower swing arm bearings middle main pivot and the two at the rear axle, I don't want to have my bike at the shop right now they are backed up and I'd rather do the work myself.
Click to expand...
Try using a dental pick to pop the bearing covers off, then repack the bearings and pop the covers back on. Not terribly difficult.

Because these are bearings theoretically designed for larger and faster rotation than experienced in an FS bike, I use Dumonde Liquid Grease. It makes it easy to completely fill the bearing.
 
#1,073 ·
Yeah I have some really sharp O'ring picks, I've been using that method for years on bearings.
I'll have to look that grease up.

I found that so far the only Wheels Mfg bb for DUB is a press fit like the Sram one I have in the bike now. So I'm thinking about changing out the crankset for a Shimano SLX then I can use a Wheels Mfg thread together in the middle bb.
What i do with those is I use the Permatex bearings retainer, I did that on my Stache and it fixed the problem.
 
#1,075 ·
Casq said:
I know that the info is somwhere in these forums, but I can’t find it…
Wat is the correct order to loosen en tighten the pivot bolts? I would like to give them a extra dab of grease…
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I didn't know that there's a sequence, I just went at and got it done everything was dry. Everything has been fine for over 250 miles except I had a little creaking for my seat post again.
 
#1,078 ·
Did anyone else catch the mtb yum yum review of the 2021 Trek Fuel Ex? Check it out here.

Bike reviews are almost always positive because either 1) it's a semi-professional reviewer who doesn't want to piss off any sponsors, or 2) it's an amateur reviewer who already bought the bike and doesn't want to admit they made a mistake. So it was surprising to see such a negative review. The reviewer really disliked the rear suspension.

Have other Fuel Ex owners experienced the same problems? Note that the reviewer tested a used bike from the Pro's Closet, so I wonder if he got a bad bike with a messed up shock.
 
#1,079 ·
bayposter said:
Did anyone else catch the mtb yum yum review of the 2021 Trek Fuel Ex? Check it out here.

Bike reviews are almost always positive because either 1) it's a semi-professional reviewer who doesn't want to piss off any sponsors, or 2) it's an amateur reviewer who already bought the bike and doesn't want to admit they made a mistake. So it was surprising to see such a negative review. The reviewer really disliked the rear suspension.

Have other Fuel Ex owners experienced the same problems? Note that the reviewer tested a used bike from the Pro's Closet, so I wonder if he got a bad bike with a messed up shock.
Click to expand...
Watched the review yesterday. He was rough on it for sure! I kept thinking the same thing about something being wrong with the bike.


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