The bike descends confidently as well, its tires clinging to and conforming around anything in its path. Southern California hasn’t seen much rain in four years so the dry trails lack any traction whatsoever, but the Stache grips like the drought is over. With the 3-inch tires hovering around 13psi, I was easily able to clean steep technical climbs, seated or standing, in a way I’ve never experienced on a hardtail before, and forget about the cornering. Minimal effort is required to lift the wheel up and over obstacles–you’ve got to try one of these things if you’re a fan of manualing. With the sliding drops set at 16-and-a-quarter inches, the Stache is very lively and maneuverable, which is shocking at first since the wheels rolling beneath you are massive. Riding the Stache 29+ brought an instant smile to my face evoking the same feelings of freedom and elation I had my first summer on a mountain bike. So, how does it ride? Frankly, it’s fun as hell. Only something called Project Weird could wind up with the largest production tire diameter and shortest chainstays on the same bike. It isn’t just another hardtail–the new Stache is an off-the-wall experiment gone totally…right. Finally, Bontrager refined the 29+ tire, and the Stache 29+ was born. Then Surly came in with the Knard, leading to the addition of Boost spacing, which Trek was already developing to make better 29-inch wheels. SRAM’s 1×11 drivetrains allowed designers to stick the chainstay where a front derailleur used to go. So, the Chupacabra was born–a 3-inch-wide tire weighing 860 grams, about the same as a 29×2.3 Maxxis Minion II.Īs it was being developed, Project Weird became a magnet for emerging technologies. Trek knew that this 29+ thing would never take off without a better, lighter tire that riders could accelerate and maneuver easily. The Surly Knard led the way as the first production 29+ tire, but it was heavy. Trek was also fortunate to have Bontrager, which Trek owns, helping out with tires. Luckily, Trek was already developing Boost 148 rear and 110 front axle spacing that could accommodate larger rubber. Larger-volume tires were added to the second prototype, but the bike had clearance issues.
#Stache 7 vs stache 9 full#
In the longest position, that’s a full inch shorter than the 2015 Stache 29.Īnother takeaway from prototyping was that short stays are fun, but the tight rear triangle creates a harsh ride. The range they settled on for production, however, is still astoundingly stubby: The sliding dropouts are adjustable from 15.9 to 16.5 inches. By elevating the drive-side chainstay and moving the downtube out of the way, they discovered that ‘too short’ is definitely possible.
#Stache 7 vs stache 9 update#
Needless to say, I was a bit taken aback when first laying eyes on this update of Trek’s popular trail hardtail.ĭevelopment began in the spring of 2012 with a project dubbed ‘Project Weird.’ Trek’s mountain bike group wanted to find out how short they could make the chainstays on a 29er, and if it was possible to go too short. Figuring that 29+ was ridiculous, I assumed that it’d be of the more reasonable 27.5+ variety. When Vernon Felton and I flew to Trek’s headquarters this past March to check out the brand’s secret new bike, all we knew was that it would have plus-size tires. RYAN PALMER | TEST LOCATION: SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
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