- It works really well. - You're sitting on the fence.
- Fence-sitter!
(thumping music)
(relaxed music)
My name is Sarah Moore and we're here in my backyard
of Squamish, British Columbia, where we are wearing
spandex and pushing watts for the cross country field test.
We're here to talk about the Trek Supercaliber,
which Trek says is an entirely new kind
of cross country bike.
We'll say it's a modern reincarnation of the soft tail,
not quite a hard tail and not quite a full suspension bike,
whether or not that Goldilocks positioning
is just clever marketing there's no denying that
the Supercaliber is a cross country race bike
with 60 millimeters of rear travel, a hundred millimeters
fork and 29 inch wheels across all sizes.
In fact, this is the same bike that Yolanda Neff rode
to victory in the Tokyo test event last year.
Let's get into the frame details.
The Trek Supercaliber, like most of Trek's bikes
features the knock block, it also has integrated
cable routing and there's room for two water bottles
inside that main triangle.
With a 69 degree head tube angle the handling
on the Supercaliber is definitely on the sharper side.
Partner that with a 74 degree effective
seat tube angle, and you have a cross country bike
At five seven, I'm riding Trek's medium-large,
which is an 18 and a half size frame.
And that medium comes from the 440 millimeter reach,
which they've paired with a 70 millimeter stem
with that 69 degree head tube angle
and 430 millimeter chain stays.
This wheelbase is 1,121 millimeters,
which makes it the shortest bike we have here.
The Supercaliber 9.9 that we're testing here
is available in five sizes.
That's a 15 and a half through a 21 inch,
but if you look at some of the other Supercaliber models,
you can also get it in a 23 inch size.
And now let's talk about these suspension design.
There's definitely something different
going on with this bike.
This design doesn't have the complexity or the hardware
that a traditional suspension design does
because the shock is structural.
In theory, the design should have less lateral flex.
The size medium frame check claims weighs 1900 grams and the
size 18 and a half that we have here, the medium large
weighs in at 21 and a half pounds.
To control that massive 60 millimeters and squished.
There's a bar mounted lockout, which controls
both the fork and the rear shock at the same time.
Suspension duties are handled by Fox's 32 fork
on the front with a hundred millimeters
and they work with Fox on the IsoStrut design as well.
You're not going to find a budget version
of the Supercaliber, there's just carbon everywhere
on all of these different models.
The frame start at $3,699.
And to get a complete bike,
you're starting at $4,799 US.
For this test we've got the Trek Supercaliber, 9.9.
It retails for $9,499, US dollars.
And for that amount, you'll get Bontrager Kovee XXX wheels,
Level Ultimate brakes with carbon levers,
and you'll also get a SRAM XX1 Eagle drive train.
That's enough for the numbers.
Let's talk about how this modern soft tail
performs on the trail.
(energetic music)
- Okay, we're going to talk about set up of course.
And you installed the Schwalbe control tires
as we did on all the bikes and use Trek suggested
settings for suspension pressures,
but you did have a question when it came to sizing.
Tell me about that.
- Yeah. So as somebody who's five-seven, a 177 centimeters,
I can ride either the 17 and a half or the 18 and a half.
So I'm kind of right in the middle of those two sizes
and technically on paper, I can go either way.
So it's a little bit confusing
when you're trying to choose that bike.
Which one should you go for?
I was really happy that I went with the 18 and a half,
but if you wanted to put a dropper post
might not fit with the CP blanks.
- Why did you choose the bigger bike?
- I just figured looking at the numbers
that the reach would be a little bit more comfortable,
a little bit more stable on this bike.
- Especially for the terrain here.
It's fairly rooty
- Yeah.
- And relatively steep.
- And kind of compared with the other bikes
that it had in those geometry numbers and figured
that it would kind of fit in there.
(upbeat music)
- With just 60 millimeters of rear wheel travel.
The Supercaliber is the shortest travel bike here.
It looks like a hard tail as well.
It looks like it must've been a rocket ship on the climbs.
Was that true?
- Yeah.
- Was it all worked out?
- Yeah, I mean, you can like wind through anything you want.
It's super short wheel base super head tube angle.
- What is the head tube angle?
- It's 69 degrees on this one.
- So a degree slacker than the Canyon,
but the bike still feels quite short.
And like you could sneak around the things.
- Yeah, Like it's really easy to navigate
very technical sections of climbs.
You're in a really efficient position for peddling.
It just feels really compact and comfortable.
I mean, comfortable maybe is a little bit
of an exaggeration for this kind of race bike. (laughs)
- It is a race bike after all
But it's the position is just very natural feeling
and it feels like you can be at one with the bike easily.
- Okay.
So I'm going to ask you this question then,
who wins in the battle of tech, the Canyon Lux
or the Trek Supercaliber.
- I, for going with technical climbing, I would say,
even though the Canyon has more travel,
you would think it would be more subtle.
Would kind of get up over those roots and stuff
a little bit more easily.
This bike, I think has better climbing traction.
Like you can just make your way up things more easily.
- Yeah, same tires, - Yeah.
- same air pressure in the tire.
- Yeah.
Trek does it a lot with 60 millimeters of travel
and you know, it might feel like hard tail
when you take it on gravel climbs when you lock it out.
But when you take it onto more technical climbs,
it is a bit more subtle.
- Now there is one spot in particular on our climb.
It was pretty tricky wasn't, it?
I think on enduro bikes, I'm probably batting
about 200 on this spot.
- Yeah, so I, I call it like, when I'm on my trail bike,
it's like three in 10 climbs.
- She has to beat me, that's better than me.
(laughs)
(unintelligible)
So three times at a time. I'll actually make it.
And then these bikes honestly, on this Trek Supercaliber?
It was like a no brainer like Ten and Ten.
No problem.
Just like turn in tight.
Like didn't have to dab or hold onto the trees.
So you hold them under the tree a couple of times.
- My go-to move was the hold onto the tree
as you go around the tight twistback, there,
there is a slippery rock there.
- Ja, no, it's super narrow, it's super awkward.
And yeah.
- I was struggling with it on my slightly slacker,
cross country bikes, my down country bikes.
And I watched her every single time on the Supercaliber.
Just go whoop, all the way around it.
- Yeah, absolutely no problem.
Like super, super impressive.
- You didn't find that even on your other
cross country bikes, did you?
- No, I would say the Lux and the Trek Supercaliber
were the easiest bikes to make that kind
of super tight corner around a tree.
And then the other ones had to anticipate a little bit more.
- They took a little bit more brain power.
(upbeat music)
Okay, so Sarah, we know that your 60 millimeter
Trek hard tail or soft tail or whatever it is
climbs very well.
That's a given, but tell me about descending.
- Yeah, so six millimeters, yes.
But the handling is a little more similar to the Canyon
I would say for sure on the descents, you know,
a little bit more nervous.
You gotta be a little bit more on it
when you're coming down here.
- So it sounds like the Supercaliber and the Lux both
require a little bit more brain power
when things get technical and tricky.
But tell me about some other things.
Tell me what the cornering on this bike.
What's that like?
- Yeah so it feels like you're really kind of low
in the bike, it feels really easy to kind of make
quick movements on descends and it's pretty fun to ride.
Like it needs a little bit more brainpower, like you said,
and you need to be, it's a little bit harder work.
Like you're definitely working harder.
You're not resting on the descends on this bike at all.
- Yeah.
But it's really fun to whip around corners
and it's just kind of like a sporty feel'
it feels anything you put into it,
it'll react really quickly.
So that can be a good thing if you're, you know,
if you want that feeling
or it could be a bad thing, if you're tired.
And that's when crashes happen.
So I did manage to bottom out this bike,
six millimeters of travel, you know,
kind of went through the bike and then through the tires.
That being said, I think Trek did a really good job
of balancing out that small bump compliance
with that bottom out resistance.
- It felt good everywhere else, except for that one-
- Exactly. Yeah.
Like it wasn't like-
- I'd give you borderline choice, to be honest. (laughs)
- Probably a borderline choice, like when you're getting
tired and, you know, not filming.
And so yeah, they did a good job.
It wasn't, you know, like I was following this bike
everywhere all the time, it wasn't like there was
a harsh bottom out, definitely added more compliance
across the smoother, you know, little small bumps.
(cheerful music)
- All right.
We're not getting out of here without talking timed laps.
Sarah, how did the Supercaliber do?
- I had my slowest descending time, get that out of the way,
- Not off to a good start.
But then it tied for second fastest overall.
And it was actually one of the faster ones
on the technical part, the most technical part
of the climb, we kind of divided into two sections
and there was the whole climb and then
the technical climb and yeah,
it did very respectably there.
- Yeah. Tied for third overall in the efficiency test,
I was still a little over 10 seconds
behind the Canyon Lux though.
(upbeat music)
- Components like not a lot to complain about
here at $9,500 US.
- Right.
- It's got, carbon wheels XX1 drivetrain,
super lightweight suspension.
So yeah, pretty solid spec.
The one thing is maybe, oh, 720 handlebars,
a little bit narrow-
- Yeah, a little skinny.
- Little skinny.
- I mean it is an actual race bike but these days
I personally would like to see something
a little wider on there, but yeah.
- A little bit more modern and this is a project one bike
so if you wanted this exact same bike in Shimano XT,
or if you wanted to add a dropper post,
that would be super easy to do.
You can also choose pretty much endless colors.
So pretty wild looking.
- Yeah.
- Color scheme.
- Some really cool custom ones and you can
kind of just mix and match whatever you want.
So yeah, that's an awesome feature
that Trek offers as well.
(restive music)
- So pros. Yeah.
There's great slow speed handling on this bike,
especially when you're climbing.
It is kind of that good middle ground between a hardtail and
a full suspension at 60 millimeter.
- Right, like those places where
you don't really need a hundred millimeter bike.
- Yeah, so for the-
- The terrain is fast though. - right terrain.
because it can be tiring.
- Exactly.
(restive music)
- Tell us what you didn't like, Sarah.
- When things get a little bit steeper,
not quite as confidence, inspiring bike,
and when things are a little bit rougher,
it's also just, it's going to take you
a little bit more time to recover.
(restive music)
- Who is this bike for, Sarah?
- Yeah, it is for that pure racer.
So if you're looking to go fast and you're,
I'd say if you're a really good technical descender
this bike could really work in your favor.
So it might not be my number one choice for rougher terrain.
But if you want a bike that is, you know,
kind of that middle ground between a hardtail
and a full suspension, it definitely fits the ticket.
- That's it for Trek 60 millimeter travel, Supercaliber,
stay tuned for more reviews and round table discussions from
the CrossCountry field test.
In the meantime, Tara, can we change back into our Lycra?
All right, let's go of here.
(Soothing music)