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Does anyone own or has tried the new Trek Slash 650b? Either the Slash 9 or 9.8. I'm looking to get one and am keen to get a real world opinion of what they're like.
I've seen some reviews online, notably pinkbike and mbr. Like a lot of pinkbike views, they said it was great at descending, but they seem to say that about everything. The mbr one said it was let down by the Fox 34, but I'm more interested in what the chassis is like, rather than the fork.
I've got a session so like the way treks work and love the fact that its got a 65 degree head angle. On the downside its a shame that its not frame only, as it seems to come with a Pike and a 15mm bolt through, whereas I'd prefer to have a bike with a Bos Deville. Also seems to come with bontrager wheels, I would have preferred stans/mavic.
Components can be changed in the long run I guess. So components aside, if you've had a go on one, how does it perform? I'm particularly interested in how it works for the downhills.
It's more gravity biased than all rounder, even Trek's EWS team prefer to use the 29er Remedy over the Slash....admittedly they ditch the standard 140mm fork on the Remedy and use a 160mm Fox-36 instead but that should tell you something.
I should imagine on an uplift day they're great but even viewed standing still they look a pig to climb on, I believe BPW have them as hire bikes...you'll have to pay but that's probably your best bet for a test ride.
Had a spin on one, it climbs well for a 160 bike and descends well. It's as good as any of the others on the market (nomad, patrol, etc). If you like how the Session rides it's probably worth getting over one of the others. I'm still not sold on 27.5/650b yet but as pretty much all new bikes are that's not really an issue.
Thanks both
Deviant - TBH if its more gravity biased then that's ok for me, sort of what I'm looking for.
I'm looking for something that rips downhill, 160mm travel but can be climbed back up if needed. I would go for the Capra, but I see that its not great for tall riders and I'm 6 2. So its a toss up between the Slash and the Orbea rallon so far.
Anyone else had a go on the new Slash? Keen to get some real world view points.