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2011 Trek Top Fuel Carbon Locked In

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Few can argue that the 2010 Trek Top Fuel wasn’t already a potent XC race weapon. It is rare that a bike that is on the razor’s edge of speed, is also referred to as confidence inspiring. Clearly, the previous Top Fuel was a much loved bike with loads of technology so how do you make it better?

Trek’s slogan for their bike line is “Every Detail Matters,” which clearly shines through with the redesign of the Top Fuel. Everything from the lock outs, to carbon, to cable routing has been reviewed and adjustments were made where necessary.

The result? Simply one of the best full suspension race machines, just better.

Check out all the new additions after the break!

Inside Trek's OCLV Mountain.
Inside Trek's OCLV Mountain.

One of the biggest changes to the bike might go completely unnoticed unless you ride it. While Top Fuel Carbons stick with the made in Wisconsin OCLV carbon, they get Trek’s newest version of OCLV, OCLV Mountain. OCLV is Trek’s proprietary carbon manufacturing method which produces Optimum Compaction Low Void (no gaps or fillers in between layers of carbon). You can see up above just how clean a frame is produced both inside and out with their methods.

Why is OCLV Mountain so great? What’s your first response to a carbon mountain bike frame? It probably has something to do with what happens when a giant rock strikes your precious carbon frame on that next down hill. To address the issue Trek created an anvil strike test in which a triangular hammer slams down into a bike tube at roughly 38 miles per hour. When put to the test, both aluminum and standard carbon frames developed cracks that after further stress testing rendered the bikes unrideable. However, after impacting OCLV mountain, the bike was put through the very same stress tests and passed meaning OCLV mountain frames have a higher impact resistance than aluminum.

fox-lockout-1

More big news for the Fuel’s suspension is the inclusion of remote lockouts for both front and rear shocks for all the carbon Top Fuels. This makes sense as it is first and foremost a race bike, and fumbling for your lockouts mid race can cost you some time. The 9.9 and 9.8 both have Fox F-100 suspension in the front and Fox RP-2’s in the rear, while the 9.7 is equipped with a Sid up front and a Fox RP-2 in the rear.

fox-lockout

The Fox/Shimano lockout lever is a slim unit, almost like the flange on a bmx grip. The thumb lever is to lock it out while you can “bump” the release button with you’re index knuckle.

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The rear lockout assembly consists of a cable anchored at the bottom of the shock can, that actuates a cam mechanism to lock and unlock the rear shock.

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Up front is the nicely shielded entry point for the front lockout cable, in addition to the smart cable routing. The unique routing ensures two things, one that the cable stays off of the crown to prevent cable rub, but more importantly it provides a point of stress for the cable so crashes don’t rip the cable from the fork.

lock-out-cable

With even more cables than ever, special attention was paid to the cable routing of the new Top Fuel as well. When investigating internal cable routing, Trek’s engineers were concerned about noise of the cables inside the frame and the brake hose migrating. To take care of the brake hose issue, the “control” part of the Internal Control routing includes tiny clamps that hold the brake hose at both ends. The shift cable are all captured on the inside of the frame, which all adds up to an even more quiet set up than standard routing creating a stealth set up.

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So why go to all this trouble, especially with the internally routed brake hose which means bleeding your brakes if you want to remove it from the bike? For starters, one of the most prevalent warranty claims Trek fields for their carbon bikes is from customers that have had their cables or brake hoses rub holes through the frame. Cable rub is a fact of mountain biking, and affects aluminum frames as well. The new set up guarantees that there will no longer be the chance for cables to rub through the frame. Also internal cables clearly shield the cables from the elements creating a lighter weight system than full housing, but with all the same benefits.

internal-control

On the left side of the headtube in this picture are the front derailleur cable, the rear derailleur cable, and the rear lock out cable (the lockout is not just an add-on as they integrate it into the frame). The right side shows the brake hose routing with the two small allen bolts which clamp down on the brake hose keeping it from migrating inside the frame.

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Underneath shows the tidy removable window which houses the rear derailleur cable and the rear brake hose. The bolt up front is to remove the window, and the two bolts below are to again pinch down on the brake hose. The whole thing remains sealed and clean.

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The super clean front derailleur cable routing which pops out right under the integrated seat mast, directly into the cable stop. Notice how the cable stop is angles to provide better cable angle to the front derailleur, nice touch.

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All of the Top Fuels Carbon bikes get the Shimano Dynasys 10 speed treatment with the 9.9 of course receiving the brand new XTR 2×10 Group. The 9.8 and 9.7 get Dynasys 3×10 groups with XT and SLX respectively.

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Check out the current line of Trek mountain bikes on Trek’s website for more info.

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mtb-blog.nl
13 years ago

Beautifull bikes and interesting to see the 2×10 everywhere, i’m not too fond of the colourschemes though..

Gillis
Gillis
13 years ago

Gotta rant a little here. This isn’t specific to Trek, but they are included:

Why must these companies plaster their name 50 times on every frame? (I can guesstimate at least 10 on the trek in the first photo) Once on either side of the downtube and a headtube badge is enough. And a model name on the toptube. Back in my shop days we were a Bianchi dealer and they were the worst. It was on the frame at least 12 times, then the wheels, seat, seatpost, stem, bar tape. TOO MUCH.

Also, all these damn acronyms. Nobody gives a damn what the hell and “evo” link is. Put in the marketing literature, but leave it off the frame. EVO, OCLV, AB, E2, RL? I just want to ride the thing…not a vocabulary lesson. Not to mention the ones suspension companies (FOX!) use.

Okay, I’m done.

bk
bk
13 years ago

Gillis – Welcome to America!

Ever notice the back of US cars and/or the side for that matter? You’ll see manufacturer name, then the manufacturer ’emblem’ then the “name” of the car, then the engine size then GT or SL or SUX or BFD and I almost forgot the license plate frame then the dealer sticker….trashy, trashy, trashy.

Now look at the back of a Euro car and you’ll see that they’re on your side, and so am I.

With Marketing you often lose what would be considered by many as “tasteful”…fortunately I’ve learned how to remove stickers and paint w/out damaging plastic/carbon/aluminum etc and now my bikes don’t scream.

Stealth Mode!

I too am now done.

alloycowboy
alloycowboy
13 years ago

Actually being able to remove stickers is a great anti theft device as it makes your frame and components a lot harder to sell on ebay if some one five fingers it.

Richy
13 years ago

I’m assuming separate lockouts levers. If so, then shame they didn’t do something like Scott’s Twinloc system.

flip
flip
13 years ago

Holy @!*#

flemming
flemming
13 years ago

when a bike is this technologically advanced, they can put whatever the hell they want on it.

nobody cares what an evo link is? okay. LOL

you probably haven’t even ridden a full floater…which is unfortunate.

Dr Dan Batchelor
13 years ago

I have been racing the 2010 Top Fuel for the past 9 months and I did not think the bike could get any better until now. The 2011 Top Fuel rocks!!

roberto orozco resendiz
roberto orozco resendiz
11 years ago

hola yo tengo una trek top fuel 9.8 le cambie el amortiguador trasero por uno mas largo de 7 pulgadas el original tiene 6.5 pulgadas se rompio el basculante inferior de aluminio tendra que ver algo este cambio gracias de antemano por la respuesta

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