Trek Fuel EXe 9.5 Frame-up rebuild: “The Bleaken”

tehviking

New Member
Subscriber
Apr 5, 2024
11
9
Erie, CO, USA
IMG_0739.jpeg
I’ve had a Levo Gen 3 since last year and absolutely love it, but I wanted to build something that could play at the lift-serviced bike park (battery out) and do other lightweight eMTB stuff. My wife rides a Fuel EXe 8 GX AXS and absolutely loves it.

I decided the deals on the 9.5 were good enough that I could pull together my own build kit and have a bunch of take-offs left over for the same price as the higher end specs.

I broke my shoulder snowboarding like 6 weeks ago and this has been my sanity saver while recovering, to research and buy and build up from random parts until it became my dream trail/enduro rig.

I tore it down to the frame and rebuilt it with:
  • Frame
    • RideWrap done by the pros at their Golden, CO office (the only install I refused to do myself)
  • Suspension
    • Marzocchi Z1 Air 160mm fork
    • Marzocchi Bomber Air 205x62.5
  • Cockpit
    • OneUp carbon e-bar, cut to 780mm
    • Spank split stem, 35mm length
    • OneUp EDC tool (threaded, so I can use the big capsule to hold link pliers)
    • OneUp grips
    • OneUp dropper post lever
  • Drivetrain
    • SRAM GX AXS T-Type derailleur
    • SRAM AXS pod shifter
    • SRAM GX T-Type cassette
    • Wolf Tooth TQ T-Type 32T direct mount chainring
    • GX T-Type chain, waxed using Silca chain wax
    • PINND crank arms, 145mm (!!)
    • OneUp aluminum pedals
  • Brakes
    • SRAM Maven Ultimate Expert, red launch edition
    • 200mm rotors front/rear
    • Organic pads (giving those a try first as recommended)
  • Seat
    • Oneup v3 dropper post, 180mm
    • WTB Volt Titanium saddle
  • Wheels
    • Reynolds 309/347 (mullet) carbon enduro rims, upgraded the freehub body for SRAM
    • Specialized Butcher T9 front/rear
    • CushCore eMTB front/rear
  • Miscellaneous
    • Peak design OutFront v2 phone mount
    • Lezyne Hecto Drive 500XL headlight
    • Specialized Stix taillight
    • Lezyne GoPro adapter (for phone mount)
    • Invisiframe red Trek decals
    • Ordered spare battery, screws, and mounting hardware from Trek, and had to procure the battery handle install screws from Amazon 😆
Fully kitted out, this weighs 43.5 lbs (19.7 Kg), which is heavier than I’d like for this rig but I wasn’t gonna skip the cushcore or fancy electronic shifting.

All this and I still haven’t ridden it one inch, 🤞 for good news at the ortho in a couple weeks so I can get my season going!
 

Wilbur

Member
Dec 12, 2022
128
90
New Zealand
Looks great. Curious about the motivation behind the Marzocchi suspension? Had a good experience with it before or just trying something new?
 

tehviking

New Member
Subscriber
Apr 5, 2024
11
9
Erie, CO, USA
Looks great. Curious about the motivation behind the Marzocchi suspension? Had a good experience with it before or just trying something new?
I was gonna pick up used Fox 36 and float x stuff off pinkbike, but these were very similar and on sale, like under $600 for front + rear brand new, so I went for it. Also when I was younger my dream fork was a Bomber so nostalgia definitely factors in 😂
 

tehviking

New Member
Subscriber
Apr 5, 2024
11
9
Erie, CO, USA
Update: got good news from ortho and have about 1200 miles on the bike, and am up at trestle bike park this week with the motor off
 

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