My new 2021 Trek Rail 5 Purple Flip

[Rob Rides EMTB]

Here it is. And the paint and finish is superb! New long term bike. Can’t wait to get it out ?

 

[Link]

looks great !, have you done a review on the Rail ?, interested to know (and glad to hear) how/why you picked it ?

 

[Rob Rides EMTB]

looks great !, have you done a review on the Rail ?, interested to know (and glad to hear) how/why you picked it ?

No review as such but I had a decent couple of weeks riding the Rail 7 when the Bosch 85nm update was released. But was super busy at the time and couldn’t get any more time with it due to other commitments.

 

[Link]

I have only had mine a couple of days and only ridden up the road to set the gears etc, and i am super impressed, not had an ebike before and was worried a bit about how noisey the motor might be etc, but really surprised how quiet it is both up and down hill. The motor is super impressive, even in Eco it's a really nice assist, Turbo is like riding a motorbike for someone coming from years of non-elec mtbs

Planning to get into Surrey hills at the weekend for a maiden voyage. Are you planning on changing anything on the bike from stock ? (apart from fork setup etc), the bars are too wide for me so will trim those, i will change the grips for foam jobs, have my X0 AXS mech and shifter on already. Will give the Bonty tires a try before i change them out.

 

[Zimmerframe]

I know I've already posted this in another thread .. but I thought it was nice you had a new theme tune .. and hell , I like the sound of my own keys ..

Rob Rides the Revolution - Purple Rail

[Verse 1]
I never meant to cause you any scratches
I never meant to cause you any flats
I only wanted one time to see you laughing

[Pre-Chorus]
I only wanted to see you
Sending the purple rail

[Chorus]
Purple rail, purple rail
Purple rail, purple rail
Purple rail, purple rail
I only want to see you
Washing my purple rail

[Verse 2]
I never wanted to be your weekend rider
I only wanted to be some kind of friend, hey
Baby, I could never steal your KOM from another

[Pre-Chorus]
It's such a shame our trail time had to end

[Chorus]
Purple rail, purple rail
Purple rail, purple rail
Purple rail, purple rail
I only want to see you
Underneath the purple rail

[Verse 3]
Honey, I know, I know
I know forks are changing
It's time we all reach out
For something new, that means you too
You say you want a dropper
But you can't seem to make up your mind

[Pre-Chorus]
I think you better close it
And let me slide you to the purple rail

[Chorus]
Purple rail, purple rail
Purple rail, purple rail, wooo!
If you know what I'm singing about up here
Come on, raise your wheel
Purple rail, purple rail
I only want to see you
Only want to see you on my purple rail

 

[Rob Rides EMTB]

I have only had mine a couple of days and only ridden up the road to set the gears etc, and i am super impressed, not had an ebike before and was worried a bit about how noisey the motor might be etc, but really surprised how quiet it is both up and down hill. The motor is super impressive, even in Eco it's a really nice assist, Turbo is like riding a motorbike for someone coming from years of non-elec mtbs

Planning to get into Surrey hills at the weekend for a maiden voyage. Are you planning on changing anything on the bike from stock ? (apart from fork setup etc), the bars are too wide for me so will trim those, i will change the grips for foam jobs, have my X0 AXS mech and shifter on already. Will give the Bonty tires a try before i change them out.

I went up on the bars, found the 750mm way too short! Also the dropper is 130mm so need to change that.

after that new fork (prob Zeb 170) and possibly a coil. Then a mullet ?

it’ll be good to experiment!

 

[Jamescoughlan]

Hi Rob, I'm mullet curious too. I have a coil conversion on my Lyriks to 170mm and a DPX2 rear shock, just umming and arring about mulletising my Rail....

 

[Rob Rides EMTB]

Hi Rob, I'm mullet curious too. I have a coil conversion on my Lyriks to 170mm and a DPX2 rear shock, just umming and arring about mulletising my Rail....

I’m definitely going to try it. The BB isn’t too low to give it a go.

 

[Nickolp1974]

Love the colour, nice looking ride Rob

 

[Four Flusher]

Any reason that you picked the alum 5 over a carbon 9? I'm close to ordering a 9.8 XT, so why did you chose the 5. Also is mullet going to be the standard?

thanks, love you're channel and blog>

 

[Rob Rides EMTB]

Any reason that you picked the alum 5 over a carbon 9? I'm close to ordering a 9.8 XT, so why did you chose the 5. Also is mullet going to be the standard?

thanks, love you're channel and blog>

Price and I think I’m starting to prefer alu over carbon. Literally zero real world benefit that I can feel on the carbon bikes that I’ve ridden compared to alu versions ?

 

[Four Flusher]

Price and I think I’m starting to prefer alu over carbon. Literally zero real world benefit that I can feel on the carbon bikes that I’ve ridden compared to alu versions ?

I was guessing that might be the case. After owning an Alum Levo and an alum Rocky Instinct, I'm happy with Alum, but bigger battery on 9 and spec was the attraction.

How about the question about mullet being the new standard?

 

[Doomanic]

I've got a couple of hundred miles on my Mullet Rail now and I'm not planning on going back to a 29er on the rear.

 

[Rob Rides EMTB]

I was guessing that might be the case. After owning an Alum Levo and an alum Rocky Instinct, I'm happy with Alum, but bigger battery on 9 and spec was the attraction.

How about the question about mullet being the new standard?

The 5 has the 625 battery, so guess the 9 has better spec brakes / drivetrain too?

 

[Link]

there are two versions of the 5, with 500 and 625 it seems

 

[Sean1.0]

Lovely bike Rob ... look forward to seeing it set up.

Never owned a Trek but the Rail is very much on my (now very) shortlist for my new ride. Love the Rootbeer Ano decal XT.

Yours reminds me of something... can't quite put my finger on it... ?

 

[Dano78]

I might try the mullit option on my trek rail 9.8 does it effect the bb height?

 

[Doomanic]

Yes. With a 2.6 rear tyre I run the Mino Link in the High position to get a bit higher (but still lower than the Low position with a 2.6 29er).

 

[enCrypt]

Ooh snap! I picked mine up last Saturday in XL. The colour is superb in the flesh, photos dont do it justice!
Took it out for a short ride on Sunday and love it so far.
One bit that impressed me was the fact you can turn the motor off on flat bits and it feels pretty much like an ordinary bike, I couldn't detect any resistance from the motor at all Same goes for when you hit the limit of assistance, I didn't even notice at first. I took a Levo out on test about a month ago and really noticed it on that. It felt like pedalling a tank once I got upto 15mph!

 

[Link]

Agree, I also noticed the apparent lack of resistance when totally off or above the 15mph. I was also really happy with the noise, was slightly worried about the potential motor noise when under load but you can barely hear it. Really impressed. Just need to get a proper ride in now !

 

[Beekeeper]

@Zimmerframe , you have had your Kenevo for a while I’m guessing. What will your next bike be? Any thoughts?

or is the Kenevo your ultimate bike?

 

[Zimmerframe]

@Zimmerframe , you have had your Kenevo for a while I’m guessing. What will your next bike be? Any thoughts?

or is the Kenevo your ultimate bike?

Tricky Question !

To stay on topic ... I've ridden a Rail 7 and really liked it. Only issues were that it was an XL an the brakes were the wrong way round so I had a few entertaining moments once upto speed ..

@Doomanic is rolling proof that it's also built like a tank as he's not destroyed his (other than the Bosch badge) and that really is unbelievable.

I think like many of us, I play bike top trumps with all the figures trying to work out what's the ideal bike for me, but then what we like on paper doesn't necessarily fit with what can work for us in real life, for example, Rob and the Stilus.

Our "Ideal bike" probably also changes as we change as riders and people. So that doesn't help .

I quite like the idea of lighter .. However, whilst the 1.3 Kenevo was considered a huge great lardy lump at 24.2 kg's ... for a 180/180 full fat bike put on parade with many of today's latest and greatest - it's starting to look quite skinny !

I think paired with the DH22's, whilst it lost a bit of acceleration, it does feel almost Incompetent Proof !

So basically ... I've no idea

 

[Rob Rides EMTB]

I've got a couple of hundred miles on my Mullet Rail now and I'm not planning on going back to a 29er on the rear.

Are you running a 2.6 or 2.8?

 

[Doomanic]

My new 2021 Trek Rail 5 Purple Flip

Here it is. And the paint and finish is superb! New long term bike. Can’t wait to get it out ?

www.emtbforums.com

 

[Doomanic]

I'm mulling over chucking my spare 2.8 MM on though; it's wetter than an otter's pocket in the FoD at the moment.

 

[Four Flusher]

bummer, no Rail 625 here

 

[Rob Rides EMTB]

Trek Rail 5 actual weight 24.72 KG (with tubes, no pedals, XL size). Seems XL adds 1.2 KG

Trek Rail 5 quoted weight 23.52KG (with tubes no pedals, medium size) lol


QUOTED WEIGHT:

IN REAL LIFE WEIGHT:

 

[enCrypt]

Trek Rail 5 actual weight 24.72 KG (with tubes, no pedals, XL size). Seems XL adds 1.2 KG

Trek Rail 5 quoted weight 23.52KG (with tubes no pedals, medium size) lol


QUOTED WEIGHT:

View attachment 46275
IN REAL LIFE WEIGHT:

View attachment 46276

Ahh, well done Rob, I was wondering the same about mine. I though it felt heavier than the quoted spec!
I suppose once I convert to tubeless it'll bring it back to closer to 24kg...

 

[Zimmerframe]

Trek Rail 5 actual weight 24.72 KG (with tubes, no pedals, XL size). Seems XL adds 1.2 KG

Did you turn it 180 degrees and weigh it again to account to any local gravitational anomalies ?

 

[Rob Rides EMTB]

Did you turn it 180 degrees and weigh it again to account to any local gravitational anomalies ?

I’ll repeat it again at the next full moon. Must’ve been when Trek weighed it ?