Fuel EXe Trek Fuel EXe 9.5 Build

[Keith3007]

Hello

Purchased 9.5 in October for frame, battery and motor. Had all custom parts ready so converted bike straight away and been using since. Two small changes to do this week in Title seat-post clamp and Intend headset.

Thoughts on bike - Great handling and fun, can't fault once all bolts tightened properly.

TQ motor - Enough power but would like a bit more 10% of the time, you deff need to work harder, knew this would be the case when buying but willing to trade for the silence. Previous bikes had Shimano EP8/EP8 RS and Bosch Gen 4 but would not go back, motor whine not end of world but going downhill...

Range - Could be better will probably get extender for big days out in Alps etc...summertime.

Cheers

 

[wildsau2]

nice upgrades for a nice bike . what are these rims?

 

[Keith3007]

Cheers

Wheels are Mavic Deemax Sam Hill

 

[thomasbran]

I did more less the same: I ordered a 9.5 because I was just interested in the frame and my updates are as follows:
- Rock Shox Lyrik Ultimate Charger 3 RC2 in 150 mm
- Rock Shox super deluxe Ultimate RC2
- Syntace Vector Carbon Bar and headset
- Full Sram X01 Eagle drivetrain with maybe a small 30T chainring from Raceface or Garbaruk (this will be decided after the first rides if 30T really needed or if I stay with 32T)
- Acros Enduro Carbon rims mullet with Maxxis DHR 2.4 and DHF 2.5
- Kind Shock Lev Integra 200mm dropper post with Selle Italia Flite saddle
- Trickstuff direttissima brakes (I will move them from my actual Liteville 301 MK12)
- Syntace pedals number 9 Titan (also from my existing bike)

So I end up with the same price as a 9.8XT but with the components as I want them and an expected weight of below 18 kg.
Bike is expected to come in the next 2 weeks so by end of march I will show you the final result and givve you my feedback on the riding impressions.

Cheers
Thomas

 

[speed300]

I went this route as well because I wanted the matte color you could only get on the 9.5 and I wanted a specific config.

Heads up that if you start getting an annoying creaking from the bottom bracket area it could be one of either the TSB for re-torquing the motor mounts OR (as in my case) there is a specific sized bushing for the Fox Float X2 that wasn't installed when I switched out the Rock Shox. This leaves flex in the crankset that is the source of the creaking.

• Fox 36 Factory Grip 2 160mm
• Fox Float X2 factory shock
• XT 4-pot brakes and rotors
• XT drive train
• One-up Carbon 35mm bar
• Race Face 60mm stem for a little extra reach
• Atlas pedals and some fat grips
• i9 355 carbon wheels, hydra hubs, and maxxis dissector rubber

 

[thomasbran]

Your bike looks nice...how does it ride?
Thank you for the alert, but as far as I am staying with Rock Shox hopefully this is not going to happen.

 

[volts]

I ordered a 9.5 in the blue. I hope it looks good.

I'll be putting on a Mezzer Pro set to 160mm and a 65mm stroke float X performance I got for almost free and will make the hack to turn it into a float x performance elite.
203mm rotors, xt cassette, xt derailleur, slx shifter, 35mm stem with oneup bar, SLX brakes and a 210mm oneup dropper, DT Swiss XMC 1200 carbon mullet wheels and flip the chip to high and I should be set.
Can't wait for the bike to arrive, parts are ready. Most of the parts I already have, so all in all not an expensive build.

 

[Julie_X1]

I ordered a 9.5 in the blue. I hope it looks good.

I'll be putting on a Mezzer Pro set to 160mm and a 65mm stroke float X performance I got for almost free and will make the hack to turn it into a float x performance elite.
203mm rotors, xt cassette, xt derailleur, slx shifter, 35mm stem with oneup bar, SLX brakes and a 210mm oneup dropper, DT Swiss XMC 1200 carbon mullet wheels and flip the chip to high and I should be set.
Can't wait for the bike to arrive, parts are ready. Most of the parts I already have, so all in all not an expensive build.

My husband recently got the blue 9.5. It looks great in person and the folks at our LBS thought the color was beautiful too.

The 9.5 model has 2 nice colors.

Love this 9.5 thread by the way… giving me many ideas. Maybe too many, lol.

 

[irie]

My husband recently got the blue 9.5. It looks great in person and the folks at our LBS thought the color was beautiful too.

The 9.5 model has 2 nice colors.

Love this 9.5 thread by the way… giving me many ideas. Maybe too many, lol.

So you fancy the Fuel EX-e 9.5 in "Matte Dnister Black" I guess?

​

 

[Julie_X1]

So you fancy the Fuel EX-e 9.5 in "Matte Dnister Black" I guess?

​

I do like black as much as I like blue. But I picked the Deep Smoke color for mine. (I likely will be keeping mine stock, but have already started suggesting upgrades to my husband for his. )

 

[irie]

I do like black as much as I like blue. But I picked the Deep Smoke color for mine. (I likely will be keeping mine stock, but have already started suggesting upgrades to my husband for his. )

Mmm, nice bike.

 

[tolmie35]

Hello

Purchased 9.5 in October for frame, battery and motor. Had all custom parts ready so converted bike straight away and been using since. Two small changes to do this week in Title seat-post clamp and Intend headset.

Thoughts on bike - Great handling and fun, can't fault once all bolts tightened properly.

TQ motor - Enough power but would like a bit more 10% of the time, you deff need to work harder, knew this would be the case when buying but willing to trade for the silence. Previous bikes had Shimano EP8/EP8 RS and Bosch Gen 4 but would not go back, motor whine not end of world but going downhill...

Range - Could be better will probably get extender for big days out in Alps etc...summertime.

Cheers

View attachment 104234 View attachment 104326

Hi there, just seen you are glasgow like myself, is that photo from the Braes?

Thanks

 

[Keith3007]

Hi there, just seen you are glasgow like myself, is that photo from the Braes?

Thanks

Well spotted!

 

[tolmie35]

Well spotted!

I live near by, dont go to the trails often but cycle down the bypass a few times a week to work, will keep an eye out for you as thats a nice bike

 

[volts]

I'm far from done but I have a broken thumb so working on the bike is hard. Took the bike for a short ride today though.

The cables are a birds nest, the dropper is very short, the brake handles will be swapped to shimano, the shock will be swapped, new saddle, new grips, new shifter and different bottle cage coming up.
But so far so good.

 

[visionone]

I'm far from done but I have a broken thumb so working on the bike is hard. Took the bike for a short ride today though.
View attachment 108314

The cables are a birds nest, the dropper is very short, the brake handles will be swapped to shimano, the shock will be swapped, new saddle, new grips, new shifter and different bottle cage coming up.
But so far so good.

can you tell me what fender that is?

 

[volts]

can you tell me what fender that is?

https://www.bike24.com/p2469021.html

 

[Samo]

Love this thread..

Picked up a 9.5 myself. Was on sale and much cheaper than the other models.

I intend to upgrade parts. Trying to source some ideas on what too first, what would make the most impact to the riding.

Does anyone have any advice on where they would suggest the first upgrades should occur?

 

[volts]

Suspension and wheels make the biggest difference. The stock wheels on 9.5 are extremely heavy and are supposed to be quite soft too. The suspension is a no brainer, the MoCo damper on the stock fork is quite bad.
You can run the stock calipers and just swap the levers with shimano ones. That's what I did. Quite a cheap upgrade and very much worth it.
Drivetrain you can look at when you wear it out, but I'd recommend getting a xtr chain as they hold up better and reduce wear on the rest of the drivetrain.
In my opinion the tires are surprisingly good.
My bike is almost done now. I am just missing the LSC rebound upgrade for the shock from fox and a spacer for the shock to make it 62.5mm stroke. I hope it will arrive soon.

 

[Samo]

Great advice thanks

Was definitely thinking suspension and wheels first.

Perhaps a fox 36 160mm up front. Potentially leaving the stock rear.

And then some lighter wheels.

Will check out brake levers. Good tips.

I definitely thought the drive train felt clunky on my first ride... Comparing to my sram eagle on my old 2017 analogue bike (canyon spectral).

 

[volts]

I did also change the drivetrain on mine since I had it laying around and the cassette didn't fit my microspline wheels. The sunrace cassette is also very heavy so if you are going to switch wheels anyway maybe it's a good place to get a slightly lighter build and better shifting. The deore trigger and derailleur are quite good even though they are cheap I think.
I was considering leaving the rear as well but got a great offer on a used float x so I thought why the hell not although I would have liked a mara pro instead.
The cables were a total mess when I first got the bike, but in a sense it was good that the cables were so hilariously long becuase it meant I could trim the perfectly to my liking after I installed a 210mm dropper.

I opened up the display and wrapped a bit of foam around the cables with a zip tie near the headset to prevent them from rattling. I ended up reducing the amount of foam after taking this picture but you get the idea.

 

[Mteam]

I started with a 9.5 and then changed the following, i had a lot of this stuff either spare or on other bikes, so didnt cost much to do.

- dt swiss hx1501 wheelset - taken off another bike. the stock wheels are very heavy and very weak, these dtswiss wheels are not light, but are very strong, and are still a lot lighter than stock.
- XT cassette - the stock sunrace cassette is seriously heavy
- AXS gears - the stock derailluer is shimano xt which is great, but I had AXS that I could take off another bike so why not
- Magura Mt7 brakes - stock 9.5 brakes are awful - if on a budget just upgrading the levers to deore levers would be a significant upgrade. Had to buy these.
- Fox 36 factory 160mm fork - taken off another bike. The stock RS gold 35 is awful.
- Super deluxe ultimate shock - had to buy this. The stock deluxe select+ is actually ok though IMO, it feels a bit spiky over successive rapid bumps, but not bad at all really, but may as well do things properly.
- One up carbon bars and renthal stem - stock bars are too narrow for me
- Fabric saddle
- Maxxis Assegai Exo+ tyre on the front, DHR II double down on the rear.

The main things to fix on the standard 9.5 is the front suspension, the brakes and the wheels, in that order (IMO)

 

[volts]

- Magura Mt7 brakes - stock 9.5 brakes are awful - if on a budget just upgrading the levers to deore levers would be a significant upgrade. Had to buy these.

good post but IMO if you are going to buy levers go with SLX not deore since the SLX have the tool free adjuster and are just as good as the XT and XTR in all aspects that matters. The bite point adjuster does not work on any shimano lever so one might as well pretend it isn't there, making the SLX lever king of value.

 

[MikeP]

Some good ideas here. I got my 9.5 a couple of weeks ago. I picked up a Lyrik on eBay for a good price and got the bike shop to fit that before I picked it up. I've no idea how good/bad the 35 Gold fork is, but I am able to sell it on eBay as new and unused. @Samo you might want to swap yours out and sell it while it's still unmarked.

Mine came with TRP brakes which are plenty powerful but I don't like the feel. F*ckin noisy too. Hadn't thought about only upgrading the levers - good suggestion.

Wheels I guess I'll do when I decide whether to run it mullet (feels good as a full 29er I think) and find a bargain.

The Select+ shock is ok, but think I may go for a coil eventually.

 

[Mteam]

Mine came with TRP brakes which are plenty powerful but I don't like the feel. F*ckin noisy too. Hadn't thought about only upgrading the levers - good suggestion.

Mine came with some truly awful shimano brakes, cant remember what model they were but they had 4 pot calipers (which I think are probably ok), the main issue was the levers, they were some awful shimano 'trekking' levers that need 2 fingers to operate, I understand from various people that just replacing these levers with deore/slx levers is a massive improvement, but I never tried it, I just swapped the whole lot for magura mt7.

I had heard good things about the TRP brakes (and was hoping my bike would come with those) - so maybe you dont need to swap the brakes out at all?

 

[MikeP]

... maybe you dont need to swap the brakes out at all?

Maybe. Like I said, plenty of stopping power, but the feel/modulation isn't as good as the SRAM/Shimano brakes on my other bikes. Reckon I'll try some SLX/XT levers though, could be a good way to save some money.

 

[InRustWeTrust]

Love this thread..

Picked up a 9.5 myself. Was on sale and much cheaper than the other models.

I intend to upgrade parts. Trying to source some ideas on what too first, what would make the most impact to the riding.

Does anyone have any advice on where they would suggest the first upgrades should occur?

would say that the tires are the first thing you need to upgrade, I didn't like the ones that were on the original

 

[Samo]

All great tips.. Thanks!

I think Australian 9.5 (where I am) might have different components to elsewhere... This is what I have.

Frame	OCLV Mountain Carbon, removable battery, internal routing, alloy rocker link, 34.9 mm seat tube, upper chain guide mount, 55 mm chainline, Mino Link, ABP, Boost148, UDH, 140 mm travel
Fork	RockShox 35 Gold RL, DebonAir spring, Motion Control damper, lockout, tapered steerer, 44 mm offset, Boost110, 15 mm Maxle Stealth, 150 mm travel
Shock	RockShox Deluxe Select+ RT, 205 mm x 60 mm

Wheels
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Hub front	Bontrager sealed bearing, alloy axle, 6-bolt, Boost110, 15 mm thru axle
Hub rear	Bontrager alloy, sealed bearing, alloy axle, 6-bolt, Shimano MicroSpline freehub, Boost148, 12 mm thru axle
Skewer rear	Bontrager Switch thru-axle, removable lever
Rim	Alex MD35, tubeless compatible, 32-hole, 35 mm width, Presta valve
Tyre	Bontrager XR5 Team Issue, Tubeless Ready, aramid bead, 120 tpi, 29x2.50"
Tyre part	Bontrager TLR sealant, 180 ml/6 oz
Rim strip	Bontrager TLR

Drivetrain
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Shifter	Shimano Deore M6100, 12-speed
Rear derailleur	Shimano Deore M6100, long cage
Crank	E*thirteen E*spec Plus, 165 mm length
Crank arm	E*thirteen E*spec Plus, 170 mm length
Chainring	E*thirteen E*spec, 32T alloy ring, 55 mm chainline
Cassette	Shimano Deore M6100, 10-51, 12-speed
Chain	Shimano Deore M6100, 12-speed
Max. chainring size	Max: 34T Min: 30T

Components
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Saddle	Bontrager Arvada, steel rails, 138 mm width
*Seatpost	Size: S TranzX JD-YSI-22PLQ, 100 mm travel, internal routing, 34.9 mm, 346 mm length
Size: M TranzX JD-YSI-22PLQ, 150 mm travel, internal routing, 34.9 mm, 454 mm length
Size: L, XL TranzX JD-YSI-22PLQ, 170 mm travel, internal routing, 34.9 mm, 497 mm length
Handlebar	Bontrager Rhythm Comp, alloy, 31.8 mm, 15 mm rise, 750 mm width
Grips	Bontrager XR Trail Comp, nylon lock-on
Stem	Bontrager alloy, 31.8 mm, Blendr-compatible, 7-degree, 50 mm length
Brake	Shimano 4-piston hydraulic disc, MT4100 lever, MT420 calliper
Brake rotor	Shimano RT66, 6-bolt, 203 mm

 

[Julie_X1]

All great tips.. Thanks!

I think Australian 9.5 (where I am) might have different components to elsewhere... This is what I have.

Frame	OCLV Mountain Carbon, removable battery, internal routing, alloy rocker link, 34.9 mm seat tube, upper chain guide mount, 55 mm chainline, Mino Link, ABP, Boost148, UDH, 140 mm travel
Fork	RockShox 35 Gold RL, DebonAir spring, Motion Control damper, lockout, tapered steerer, 44 mm offset, Boost110, 15 mm Maxle Stealth, 150 mm travel
Shock	RockShox Deluxe Select+ RT, 205 mm x 60 mm

Wheels
expand_less

Hub front	Bontrager sealed bearing, alloy axle, 6-bolt, Boost110, 15 mm thru axle
Hub rear	Bontrager alloy, sealed bearing, alloy axle, 6-bolt, Shimano MicroSpline freehub, Boost148, 12 mm thru axle
Skewer rear	Bontrager Switch thru-axle, removable lever
Rim	Alex MD35, tubeless compatible, 32-hole, 35 mm width, Presta valve
Tyre	Bontrager XR5 Team Issue, Tubeless Ready, aramid bead, 120 tpi, 29x2.50"
Tyre part	Bontrager TLR sealant, 180 ml/6 oz
Rim strip	Bontrager TLR

Drivetrain
expand_less

Shifter	Shimano Deore M6100, 12-speed
Rear derailleur	Shimano Deore M6100, long cage
Crank	E*thirteen E*spec Plus, 165 mm length
Crank arm	E*thirteen E*spec Plus, 170 mm length
Chainring	E*thirteen E*spec, 32T alloy ring, 55 mm chainline
Cassette	Shimano Deore M6100, 10-51, 12-speed
Chain	Shimano Deore M6100, 12-speed
Max. chainring size	Max: 34T Min: 30T

Components
expand_less

Saddle	Bontrager Arvada, steel rails, 138 mm width
*Seatpost	Size: S TranzX JD-YSI-22PLQ, 100 mm travel, internal routing, 34.9 mm, 346 mm length
Size: M TranzX JD-YSI-22PLQ, 150 mm travel, internal routing, 34.9 mm, 454 mm length
Size: L, XL TranzX JD-YSI-22PLQ, 170 mm travel, internal routing, 34.9 mm, 497 mm length
Handlebar	Bontrager Rhythm Comp, alloy, 31.8 mm, 15 mm rise, 750 mm width
Grips	Bontrager XR Trail Comp, nylon lock-on
Stem	Bontrager alloy, 31.8 mm, Blendr-compatible, 7-degree, 50 mm length
Brake	Shimano 4-piston hydraulic disc, MT4100 lever, MT420 calliper
Brake rotor	Shimano RT66, 6-bolt, 203 mm

I’m in Canada, this is what’s on my husband’s 9.5 as well. So Deore cassette and brakes too.

 

[thomasbran]

Here is my beauty: