2022 Trek Rail 9.9 Review

[BTTF]

Great review- i second the motion to put it in the suspension sticky.

BTW I've got one on order (2022 Rail 9.8GX) since mid-Nov 2021 (in New Hampshire USA) and they said 364 day leadtime (!). Not a whole year, just a short 364 days... So it's good to hear they're starting to arrive in shops.

I've seen an mtb emag review where the 2022 Rail got slammed hard (worst in the group test) for rattling battery (also bad tires, but that's easily fixable). A bunch of other reviews don't mention it, though a couple talked about motor rattle, which may have been the same thing. I asked Trek about this and they said the battery is adjustable and that will take out any rattle. I asked the reviewers if they tried to adjust it but have heard nothing back.

Did you notice any of that, if so was it a big deal or not?

Thanks-
-Mike

Rob has pretty much LOLed at that review here in this thread…on page 5…. See link cc-Ed below
Also look at the thread titled “the loser of the test: trek rail 9.9”. Same discussion.
I asked Rob the same question on a YouTube vid and he said the same thing to me. Not an issue. Simple battery mounting adjustment to solve it.
Rob’s comparison of the 2021 vs 2022 summary information from that magazine says it all…… the new bike is not all that different yet the comparisons read like that are comparing two very different bikes from two unparallel universes. Perhaps Trek didn’t offer enough $$ to get up near the top of the list.

2022 Bosch Smart 750 Trek Rail Thread - EMTB Forums
I’m loving the bike with the new suspension

www.emtbforums.com

 

[SurreySteve]

Any updates or others personal experience on the new Rail (not specifically the 9.x)?
I'm looking for something to see how it really handles decent gnarly stuff (I'm pretty happy the motor will deliver uphill)

 

[JP-NZ]

Any updates or others personal experience on the new Rail (not specifically the 9.x)?
I'm looking for something to see how it really handles decent gnarly stuff (I'm pretty happy the motor will deliver uphill)

FWIW The only rails that changed Significantly in 2022 were the 9.9 and 9.8. If your wondering about experience on a Rail 5 or 7 or 9.7 the 2021 reviews will tell you pretty much all you need to know (bar a couple of spec changes).

 

[Swissrider]

I found the issue of the rattling battery puzzling in the E.Mountainbiking magazine and I wrote to the editor about this. I said "You made this bike “loser of the test” despite saying it performed really well both up and downhill. You criticise its 750 battery but are happy with other bikes with 700 batteries. Does 50 more make that much difference? Other testers didn’t think so. Also, you say the battery rattled. Rob’s didn’t so maybe you had a bad example. Was this a one off or are you claiming they all rattle? Even if it did, surely a few lumps of foam would cost nothing and fix the problem. It’s certainly less of a problem than geometry that doesn’t really work, mismatched components or dropper posts that are too short, all problems highlighted in other bikes on test."

To his credit the editor of Emountainbiking magazine replied to this point (and several others I made about the group test). He said "As for the Trek, let me reassure you that we don't take our decision lightly when we determine the loser of a group test. We got in touch with Trek, tested several bikes and tried several solutions. For liability reasons, I can not give you more information than that is written in the review, but as mentioned there, it is not about the 50Wh on top of other 700 Wh batteries, but it is about the battery integration that cannot be remedied with some easy solutions".

However, there are posts above which suggest that either adjusting the position of the battery or using foam can stop the rattling. I can understand that the battery rattling would be annoying, but it is hard to see how this would affect the bike either uphill or downhill. I have a lot of respect for Emountainbiking magazine and pay a voluntary subscription to it and they have done some great work putting pressure on manufacturers to make improvements, but this battery business is a bit of a mystery.

 

[Yoak]

Thanks for writing and posting the reply. It still seems a bit weird to drop a bike to the bottom of the list due to battery rattling, but I suppose one expects a bit more from a bike that is well north of 10K

 

[BTTF]

The reply from Swissrider now makes me really wonder about this battery rattling conundrum. Seems like that magazine looked hard at the issue. Yet none of all the other reviews mentioned this problem. Rob rides. Loam wolf, Guy K. , bicycling.com, And 2-3 other ones which I cannot remember off the top of my head.
Loam wolf must be close to dropping their 2022 ebike comparison review, along with their longer term review of the rail 9.9. They do some really good reviews and comparisons so their review of the rail 9.9 will be interesting and informing. Their test trails are pretty rough in places, so if there is a battery rattle issue, they should find it.
My 9.8 is not due until July, so a little more time to fret, get more anxious and get even more confused.

 

[JP-NZ]

I’ve got a 22 9.8XT due in 12 weeks. Battery rattle is not even a consideration or worry for me.

I have complete faith in Trek and the fact that one review mentions it doesn’t sway me from the many that don’t.

 

[SurreySteve]

FWIW The only rails that changed Significantly in 2022 were the 9.9 and 9.8. If your wondering about experience on a Rail 5 or 7 or 9.7 the 2021 reviews will tell you pretty much all you need to know (bar a couple of spec changes).

Thanks, any recommended ones especially personal experience rather than reviews by sometimes questionable magazines. ??
I'm not in any rush (at least until my old 2017 Powerfly is not economic to repair or my knee gives up) but keeping an eye out as it were.

At the moment I'm somewhere stuck in the middle between 3 bikes.. my analogue HT, analogue Enduro and Powerfly @160/150. The Powerfly is 2017 but feels a LOT older than my 2015 Enduro Frame... my local is the same as Robs and not really fun going down on a FS (I'd never bother taking my analogue FS to ride here).
On the other side it doesn't feel anywhere near as capable as my older Enduro bike on proper gnar... so I end up riding the Enduro when I'm doing proper DH laps. Not paying for uplift/lift pass would be a justification to buy a new bike sooner rather than later.

 

[Truckee Robert]

Rob, I have a 2022 Giant E Reign the suspension is almost the same as a rail. I ride a lot of enduro DH tracks in Lake Tahoe and some trail riding as well. I’m not a big jump guy but the trails are overall pretty rough here. I want to upgrade rear shock to a new Rock Shox ultimate coil (as you did) but not sure if coil is better than the new R S ultimate Air. I ride in high position with 155 cranks.

 

[SurreySteve]

Rob, I have a 2022 Giant E Reign the suspension is almost the same as a rail. I ride a lot of enduro DH tracks in Lake Tahoe and some trail riding as well. I’m not a big jump guy but the trails are overall pretty rough here. I want to upgrade rear shock to a new Rock Shox ultimate coil (as you did) but not sure if coil is better than the new R S ultimate Air. I ride in high position with 155 cranks.

Just casually picked up on this but the 2023 ultimate coil is essentially a completely different shock to prior model years

Everyone seems to be raving positively but really just pointing out it’s so different I’d not base comparisons of previous RS shocks