Rail 7 Wins Best Budget eMTB!

[Doomanic]

The best E-Mountain Bike under € 5,500 – 8 eMTBs in review | E-MOUNTAINBIKE Magazine

 

[Doomanic]

The sophisticated and high quality alloy frame of the elegant Trek Rail 7 seamlessly integrates the Bosch motor it’s built around. As soon as you turn its nose downhill, the Trek Rail 7, which retails at € 5,499, dominates the test field. The Trek lives up to its name and on both flowy and very technical downhill trails it literally carves its way through the trail as though it’s on rails, steaming past the competition and delivering a snappy yet comfortable ride. No other bike offers the same level of predictable, confidence-inspiring and yet direct handling. The Rail 7 is the only bike that feels incredibly composed and agile at the same time. This bike is the perfect tool for sporty riders to explore and push their limits, but will also be a loyal companion for tour riders who are after a comfortable ride. The Trek Rail 7 hits the mark with sensational versatility, excellent handling and a high-quality frame, winning the deserved Best in Test!

Oh yeah baby!

 

[Gary]

since when was € 5,500 considered budget?

for an aluminium framed FS Emtb?

 

[Ivan]

My last too bikes have been Treks, and the current one is a Remedy which I imagine is quite similar in geometry and feel to the rail.

I am not a fan of the Reaktiv shock, and it is enough to put me off buying another Trek that has that Technology.
The ReaKtiv shocks are either setup with too much or too little force required to breakthrough the Reaktiv valving, and little opportunity to tune them to your preference. This results in a ride that feels like it has way too much low speed compression or none at all.

I notice that the Rail 7 is the only one in the model lineup that doesn't get the Reactiv shock. It gets specced with a plain RockShox Deluxe RL (althought still with the non standard 57.5mm stroke). So that means that it is the most attractive to model in the rail lineup to me, and its nice that it is also the cheapest as well.

 

[Gary]

and the current one is a Remedy which I imagine is quite similar in geometry and feel to the rail.

it's not really.
I love the remedy.
The rail? not so much.
it might look similar but it loses a shit load of the agility/playfulness of the remedy with the additional weight and longer wheelbase (stays).

Try one and you'll see what i mean.

 

[Doomanic]

since when was € 5,500 considered budget?

for an aluminium framed FS Emtb?

Since Spesh (and others) decided that £10K+ was an acceptable price for a bicycle.

 

[Doomanic]

it might look similar but it loses a shit load of the agility/playfulness of the remedy with the additional weight and longer wheelbase (stays).

I do wonder what Trek would have come up with if they'd either stuck with 27.5 wheels or mulleted the bike. At 448mm the chainstays are pretty short for a 29er eMTB and I can really tell the difference over my Powerfly.

 

[Gary]

it's more the combination of all those things Dom rather than just the 19mm extra on the chainstay length.
i'm perfectly happy popping about on the 445mm stays my Session (26") DH bike or 2020 29" Mega's have.

I'm not saying it's not a great bike, just that in the same size as a Remedy it's way less agile/playful to ride.

 

[Gary]

I actually think mullets are pretty stupid. (unless you're too short for a 29" rear wheel).
If you genuinely want the advantages of the 29" wheel upfront. it'll be just as advantageous on the rear.
The whole "mullet" thing seems mostly a ploy to tempt die hard 27.5 riders (which is a joke in itself) over to 29"
29ers can actually still be fun/playful to ride... just not quite so much as a l'il 26" was

 

[Doomanic]

I'm not disagreeing with you. Wait. What?

I was just pondering what could have been.

I'd like to try a 27.5 on the back of the Rail, but my spare wheel isn't 12 speed compatible.

 

[Gary]

It'll lower it (around 12mm BB) and slacken it by over a degree but don't expect it to miraculously become a rear wheel happy slopestyle bike

The Rail actually has a nice amount of BB drop for an Eeb (borderline too low to run 27.5 f&r)

To try it out you can always run your spare wheel with the 11 speed cassette. just pick a (highish) gear you can use the whole ride and use higher assistance modes to help you out.

 

[Kiwi in Wales]

Since Spesh (and others) decided that £10K+ was an acceptable price for a bicycle.

And Trek don’t make £10k ebikes do they?

 

[Doomanic]

I did say (and others) but Spesh were first by several years.

Plus most of the reviews of the Trek say to buy the cheaper model as it's more than good enough, don't get that on Spesh reviews.

 

[Gary]

buy the cheaper model as it's more than good enough

Same deal with the Levo SL though.
The carbon comp being the one to go for for anyone with common sense.
for less than £100 that can be made pretty much as light as the 10k Sworx and it'd lose pretty much nothing in performance.
another £300 and it can be built lighter than the Sworx and be a more capable bike than the 10k TREK

 

[Doomanic]

Again, not disagreeing with you. What? Twice in one thread? Is delirium a symptom of Covid-19?

My point was that the reviewers are advising people to buy the cheaper Trek, I don't recall seeing similar advice on a Levo/Kenevo/SL review.

 

[R120]

I cant see the point in anyone buying a top end EMTB unless the cost is pocket change to the purchaser, maybe if you are a top level rider who can benefit and understand how to do the adjustment from any extra tweakability the top level components offer.

The difference these days between a mid level bike and a top end one is minimal IMO, and its easy to get lost in a black hole of adjustment with Fox Factory level kit for example.

 

[Gary]

maybe if you are a top level rider who can benefit and understand how to do the adjustment from any extra tweakability the top level components offer.

or the heated seats an leccy sunroof crowd

The amount of folk I deal with who have the highest end most expensive suspension that barely understand sag, nevermind leverage curves and damping is quite scary.
a few of them actually are top level racers. #Nonameshaming

 

[Hannibal]

Great review and great bike. I’m having a blast on my 7 especially now I’ve got a magic Mary on the front.And I still have only ridden in slippery rooty trails. Roll on the summer

 

[liv2ryd]

I've spent a couple months on my Rail 7 now. Its a solid package but needs a bit of help to get it dialed. Watch the front chainring, the cheap locking ring loosens up periodically and the dropper is a POS. Add a Meg Neg and 2.1 Charger damper, XT shifter and tougher tires/inserts and this bike really wakes up. I'm loving this bike now, it carries speed better than my Tazer and is almost as playful. I think the 7 is a sweet spot for price/performance. For roughly $700 worth of upgrades, this bike will out perform a LOT of much higher priced ebikes right now.

 

[Philly G]

And Trek don’t make £10k ebikes do they?

View attachment 27360

The difference is, at least here in NZ, 10k gets you a near-top model Rail, whereas for the Spesh... the cheapest ff Levo is 9k, up to 22.5k