Every inch of the Top Fuel 9.8\u2019s frame is iconic in the field of mountain biking. With every bike we test from Trek we become even more blown away by the OCLV carbon layup and its performance levels. Thanks to years of refinement, the frame can maintain great stiffness under pressure, and you can really feel this come into action on tight corners, and steep climbs. Not to mention the overall weight reduction, even with Trek\u2019s carbon protection technology. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Its all about being practical when it comes to the extra benefits of owning a Top Fuel \u2013 you\u2019re getting Trek\u2019s Knock Block on the head-tube which prevents the handlebars from slamming into the top-tube of the bike. Then there\u2019s neat threading of the internal cable routing that will guide your drivetrain, suspension lockout, and dropper post cables in a clean and easily accessible manner. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s also\nworth mentioning the cool colourways you\u2019ve got available with the Top Fuel\u2019s\nframe. On the standard bike model for the Top Fuel 9.8, you\u2019ve got solid black,\nblack to teal, and viper red to choose from. However, if you truly want to make\nthe bike your own, you can opt for a customized paint scheme through Trek\u2019s\nIcon paint workshop. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The idea\nthat you should have to settle for one riding style, is evident with Trek\u2019s\nchoice of suspension for the 2020 Top Fuel 9.8. The fork \u2013 Fox\u2019s Performance 34\nStep Cast \u2013 with a GRIP 2-postion damper. The weight of the 34 StepCast forks\nare noteworthy, being lighter than the 32 StepCast on the current models. Its\nalso slightly more efficient in stiffness, and the most exciting thing is, its\ngot a 120 mm of travel!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fox\u2019s\nPerformance Float is a shock with a 2 position DPS damper, and it looks after\nsuspension at the rear well. Its also got a little more suspension travel than\none might expect \u2013 that being 115 mm. Both front and rear shocks can be\nlocked-out from the TwistLoc remote lever on the handlebars. <\/p>\n\n\n\n SRAM\u2019s GX\nEagle has become an icon on the market, representing a drivetrain that bridges\nthe gap between quality and affordability. While it doesn\u2019t have any carbon\nconstruction the GX Eagle still does a good job of shifting between the 12\ngears efficiently. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nWheels: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Trek Top\nFuel 9.8 comes locked and loaded with a set of mean and lean Bontrager Kovee\nElite 30\u2019s. With their carbon design and high durability, these wheels are hard\nto match up to. They add a lot of stiffness to the bike as a complete unit. In\nterms of rim width, you\u2019ve got about 29mm on the inside. Which will seat wider\nmountain bike tires easily. Speaking of which the bike comes standard with a\nset of recently launched Bontrager XR3\u2019s \u2013 the Team Issue with a 2.4inch tread\nwidth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Head-tube\nangle: 68-degrees on Mino Link High Setting and 67.5 on Mino Link Low setting<\/p>\n\n\n\n BB-Height:\n34.3cm on Mino Link High setting and 33.7cm on Mino Link Low setting<\/p>\n\n\n\n The 2020 Top\nFuel\u2019s build gives it muscular ride feel. With the carbon tubing of the frame\nseeming evidently thicker, and the chain-stay relatively stiffer, the bike can\ncharge through any type of terrain without breaking a sweat. I even had a few\nguys comment and mistake it for an e-bike \u2013 from certain angles it looks like\nyou can be hiding a battery pack in the downtube and running a motor in the\nbottom bracket. The bike has become a\npowerhouse on climbs, and a confident downhill shredder. The slacker geometry\nalso compliments the bike\u2019s new nerve for downhills; some will love it, while\nothers will hate it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Climbing is\nsolid, with the Sram GX Eagle 1×12 gear ratio, running a 32T chainring upfront.\nThe new an improvement frame stiffness, allows you to surge forward efficiently\nwith every stroke. For XC marathon racers this type of combo and symbiotic\nrelationship between the drivetrain and strong frame, create the ideal bike for\nefficient long-distance mountain biking. And essentially the handlebars don\u2019t\nstrain your hands in anyway. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019d like to\nsee a longer stem \u2013 on the bike I rode the Trek Top Fuel medium to large had a\n60mm stem, however Trek have got options available for longer 70mm and 80mm\nstems on hand, depending on your arm length and body length. None the less it\nwas still a comfortable ride on the longer distances. Even the Bontrager XR3 tyres\nhad a low rolling resistance, and that gave the bike a slippery, yet a targeted\nmarathon vibe. Almost everything about the bike is pieced together to be as\nefficient as possible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Downhills have\nbecome so much more fun aboard the Top Fuel. The longer suspension travel, and\nslacker geometry are perfectly matching up to the single track of today. And\nthe unique build and design of the Top Fuel provides immense stability on corners.\nIts as if Trek have embodied a complete downhill bike into a modern XCM race\nbike. The Bontrager Line Elite Dropper post which had 150mm of free-flowing travel\ngave the bike that divers edge to tackle larger trail drops, and of course the 115mm\nrear suspension didn\u2019t hesitate to get involved. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Looking back\nat my test rides with the Trek Top Fuel 9.8, I\u2019m happy to conclude that it\u2019s a brilliantly\nthought out and perfectly executed mountain bike \u2013 with its engineering, its\nride, and its components. The bike knows no bounds in efficacy, and I\u2019m keen to\nsee it in action at stage marathon races like the Cape Epic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n RRP: ZAR 95 999.00<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The 2020 Trek Top Fuel 9.8 has brought a new flavor to the XC marathon field. Its well-crafted frame has undergone a major face-lift, with the geometry getting slacker, the fork travel increasing and the long-anticipated addition of a dropper seat-post. Trek has brought the Top Fuel out of the \u2018for racers only\u2019 category and… Read More »2020 Trek Top Fuel 9.8 Review \u2013 The Icon Reborn<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8605,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":"","wds_primary_category":0},"categories":[1],"tags":[579,356],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8604"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8604"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8604\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IMG_8093-min-1160x985.jpg\")
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<\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe\nSuspension:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IMG_8015-min-1160x1740.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IMG_8040-min-1160x773.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe\nDrivetrain:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IMG_8031-min-1160x773.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/li>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IMG_8056-min-1160x773.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\nGeometry\nStation: <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The Ride \u2013\nExplosively Efficient: <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IMG_7917-min-1160x773.jpg\")
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<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IMG_7968-min-1160x773.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nVerdict: <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IMG_8276-min-1160x773.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n