Fuel EXe Trek Fuel EXe Megathread!

[gmoss]

Wanted to add, what seems to be the best match for rear shock. Looking for something not so down oriented. Really like the DB inline on my Reeb SST and would go that route if they made it. It gives good support and is very poppy. I had run the Kitsuma in coil and air and the smaller chamber in the inline just fit. Looking for similar performance. X2 looks like the best choice so far. I want adjustability on all circuits, high and low speed. Caveat, not a Rock Shox fan.

 

[Mteam]

One thing I noticed when I loaded the TQ app and added screens I now have to double tap the button to scroll. On touch changes power mode. ?

You have inadvertently enabled extended centre button functionality, in the TQ app you can toggle this behaviour on or off.

 

[Emailsucks98]

Really like the DB inline on my Reeb SST and would go that route if they made it.

Good call on that Reeb! I picked up a Steezl and have been loving it.

 

[gmoss]

Thanks. I guess I thought I had to do that to turn on the other screens.

 

[gmoss]

Good call on that Reeb! I picked up a Steezl and have been loving it.

The SST has been my fav so far. I have been back on Santa Cruz since 17 with a 5010, thwn Tallboy, to Hightower, to HTLT, new Blur TR, and newest HT before the Reeb. Awesome bike abd trying to get this Trek to a similar feel. It honetsly ain't bad! Got to get the shock changed though. Suggestions, experience would be great!

Current changes: Reserve 27's/I9 with XR4 Team tires, Fox Factory 36, Renthal Carbon Lite bars with I9 60mm A35 stem, Chris King Dropset 3 headset in Matte Rootbeer. Bike is Smoke, so that goes well.

 

[Mteam]

Thanks. I guess I thought I had to do that to turn on the other screens.

No, it's a separate setting, nothing to do with the other screens.

I think it's worth leaving extended center button functionality enabled for that day when your handlebar remote fails, you can still change power modes. Although I guess if you have your phone on you, you can just switch it on when needed.

 

[gmoss]

Better ride today. Had to try it. Stock tires must be really stiff, or combination of stock bars, shock, and tires. Much easier on the hands and shoulders. DVO is placeholder till my Fox gets here.

 

[Understater]

Hi all.
New member from Rotorua, New Zealand here. I bought my first e-bike, an EX-e 9.7 in May last year after reading and re-reading this thread, and I have about 2000km on it now. I really like the bike, and I would recommend it to anyone who fits the profile of a lightweight ebike, but it hasn't been all smooth sailing, so I thought it might be worth documenting my experience with it.
Before riding it I had the stock tires changed to Maxxis and the Vorsprung Secus moved over from my old Pike, so I don't know what the stock fork feels like without that mod. I cut the bars to 760, shortened the brake lines and cable housings and added conduit to tidy up the cockpit and had to drastically reduce the stack before I could get enough weight on the front tire.
After a few shakedown rides to get all that sorted (especially the stack) I was happy and all was going great except the crank bolts wouldn't stay tight. At about 200km it developed a noticeable creak so I took it in for a free service. They tightened everything up and it was good for one ride before the creak came back. It took the local shop a couple of goes, but eventually (on my suggestion based on this thread) they adjusted the motor mounts and stopped the creaking. It has never come back, but the crank bolts never stopped working loose. Eventually the shop replaced the useless alloy crank bolts with longer steel ones and red loctite. Every owner of an Ex-e should look into this fix. The stock bolts are crap. Speaking of stock bolts, I'm sure every owner has noticed the chainguide bolts rusting, and I eventually changed these out for stainless ones.
Somewhere north of 600km I noticed a light clicking sound occasionally coming out of the motor. It wasn't much at first, and not very frequent. It got worse over time and on one ride it started getting quite loud. I recorded it with my phone and showed the video to the shop where I bought it. They asked for the video and sent it to Trek NZ. Within a day I was told a new motor was on its way. I think it came from Australia, as it took several weeks, but that didn't matter as the motor still worked fine.
The new motor arrived, was installed and was noticeably more powerful and consistent in its power delivery than the old one. It also uses noticeably more battery and the rider input on the screen reads about 50 watts higher. The motor was changed at about 1,300km and the bike mileage re-set to zero. It's almost up to 800km again and the new motor has been flawless.
The rear hub bearings managed only one wet ride before rusting and developing play (and noise). I replaced them with Enduro bearings and no more trouble there.
The rear shock lower hardware was too narrow and over time it developed play. I noticed a bit of hollowing out of the carbon on the bolt head side of the frame. The hardware was replaced under warranty with wider hardware and I was told if the hollowing out of the carbon was a problem then the whole frame would be warrantied..... so far not required, and seems a bit of a waste as I could fab up an engineered solution in about 20minutes... which would void my warranty.

And so to the biggest headache I have had with this bike.... The Fox Float X rear shock.
First, I was a bit bummed to see it topped out with a mild clunk right from new. Coming off a DB inline on my old bike this felt a bit cheap. Then it lost quite a bit of air over the first few months. It was gradual, and I didn't notice until one day it bottomed out with a clunk. I checked the pressure, added about 40psi and kept riding. It kept bottoming out. I have a suspension tuner right over the road from work, so I took it in to him to ask about adding a token. He found that the bottom out bumper was destroyed and had gone right around the large washer behind it so now they were out of position. New bumper, one token, and one travel reducing spacer removed, and I was back in business with a 62.5mm stroke. Now the problems really started. On the first ride my shock started making a terrible sucking sound which had gone by the following morning. Then it developed a chronic knock, and this is the thing that has been plaguing me for months. My tuner (Jono at Suspension Lab) mentioned that he had seen a number of Float Xs had an issue with knocking, and he could see something weird was going on on his dyno. The usual fix (on a lot of different shocks) was to scuff up the piston surface to prevent surface tension blocking oil flow, so I got him to do this. I didn't want my shock to be away for weeks for warranty service, so I stumped up the cash.
This improved things, but didn't fix them. I persevered for a few more weeks, but the knocking was getting worse again and I was seriously thinking about buying a different shock. We discussed it some more and Jono suggested re-valving the shim stack for me. His opinion was that the tune specced in this shock is miles out of line with normal Fox tunes. It is just far too stiff. He re-valved it with something very close to a stock medium linear Fox tune in both compression and rebound. I only have one ride on it but the difference was immediately noticeable. It handles small bumps and chatter far better, and I was really surprised by a noticeable increase in rear grip. I'm glad I persevered with this shock as now I'm very happy with it.... oh, yes, and all the noise is gone, including the top out clunk.

Edit: I also had the fork extended to 160 and everyone should do this too. It should come this way from the get-go.

So yeah, that was a long post, but well, I thought it would be useful enough info for anyone looking at one of these bikes. They aren't perfect, but with a bit of patience the niggles can be worked out, and the warranty service here in New Zealand has been great. For the trails I like to ride in the time I have available it is a great bike.

 

[playboater15]

It's been a while since I've posted, having really enjoyed the bike. That said, like the poster above it's not been without issues. A seized rear axle and cracked rear triangle, replaced at the same time under "goodwill" rather than warranty. A couple of rides ago an error code and no power output led to the motor being replaced under warranty. Then the bike wouldn't turn off and a new display unit has been ordered by LBS for warranty replacement. Apparently old one was full of water. They cleaned it up and now it works OK, but latest issue this week is the bike intermittently registers no rider power output on the display, and thus no power from motor. I'm hoping the new display on order will solve this, but would welcome opionions as to whether there could be other issues looming ahead. Thanks!

 

[Mteam]

I'm hoping the new display on order will solve this

I'd doubt it - Sounds like the motor is broken to me, but I guess you'll find out for sure soon enough

 

[EnduroIntern]

Are any special tools needs to remove the e13 alloy cranks that come on the 9.7 (besides an ln key)? Or are they "self extracting”?

 

[Mteam]

Are any special tools needs to remove the e13 alloy cranks that come on the 9.7 (besides an ln key)? Or are they "self extracting”?

The e13 alloy cranks that came on my 9.5 are not self extracting, so I needed a crank extractor tool

 

[gmoss]

Has anyone tried a Cane Creek Kitsuma Air, or know if it will fit? If so, would like to hear your experience.

 

[gmoss]

No, it's a separate setting, nothing to do with the other screens.

I think it's worth leaving extended center button functionality enabled for that day when your handlebar remote fails, you can still change power modes. Although I guess if you have your phone on you, you can just switch it on when needed.

I keep my phone me, so I like not having to hit it twice to move screens. As long as the button works, will keep it simple.

 

[EnduroIntern]

The e13 alloy cranks that came on my 9.5 are not self extracting, so I needed a crank extractor

Can you recommend one? Also, any way to bodge this badly? Better take it to lbs?

 

[levity]

Can you recommend one? Also, any way to bodge this badly? Better take it to lbs?

This Park tool (or earlier CCP-4) makes it easy

 

[gmoss]

Good to know what was old is new again. Course I may not need it with the carbon cranks.

 

[edjerum]

Hello I have about 500 miles on my 23 9.7. Over the last few night I have noticed a "clacking/grinding" noise from the motor about 20 minutes into a ride. If I take a couple minute break, the noise will go away but will come back shortly after. It makes me think it has something to do with the temperature of the motor? I have no error messages and I mostly use the bike in the Medium setting. Has anyone experienced something similar?

Make sure your chain is clean and lubed. I've had that kind of noise when mine was not.

 

[Jazzii]

It's been a while since I've posted, having really enjoyed the bike. That said, like the poster above it's not been without issues. A seized rear axle and cracked rear triangle, replaced at the same time under "goodwill" rather than warranty. A couple of rides ago an error code and no power output led to the motor being replaced under warranty. Then the bike wouldn't turn off and a new display unit has been ordered by LBS for warranty replacement. Apparently old one was full of water. They cleaned it up and now it works OK, but latest issue this week is the bike intermittently registers no rider power output on the display, and thus no power from motor. I'm hoping the new display on order will solve this, but would welcome opionions as to whether there could be other issues looming ahead. Thanks!

Friend of mine had this prob few times. Switch it off and on helped. Finished with motor replacement.

 

[tony.c]

hello I need to change my e13 32T chainring and I have a sram gx groupset.
which chainring do you suggest ?
maybe this one ?

TQ HPR50 - Helix Race e*spec Chainring

LIGHTER WEIGHT. LONGER WEAR LIFE. Helix Race e*spec Chainrings merge cutting-edge design and performance. Designed for TQ HPR50 equipped e-bikes, this 1pc direct mount chainring is forged from 7075 AL for lightweight durability, impressive stiffness, and a standout technical aesthetic. The new...

ethirteen.eu

 

[Magnacus]

hello I need to change my e13 32T chainring and I have a sram gx groupset.
which chainring do you suggest ?
maybe this one ?

TQ HPR50 - Helix Race e*spec Chainring

LIGHTER WEIGHT. LONGER WEAR LIFE. Helix Race e*spec Chainrings merge cutting-edge design and performance. Designed for TQ HPR50 equipped e-bikes, this 1pc direct mount chainring is forged from 7075 AL for lightweight durability, impressive stiffness, and a standout technical aesthetic. The new...

ethirteen.eu

Yes and Wolftooth or SRAM will work too:

Direct Mount Chainrings for TQ E-Bike Motors

Wolf Tooth Direct Mount Chainrings for TQ E-Bike Motors are compatible with all Boost and Super Boost bikes that use the TQ Motor. This brings a lightweight chainring with patented Drop-Stop® technology to e-bike chainrings for the first time. Direct Mount Chainrings for TQ E-Bike Motors are...

www.wolftoothcomponents.com

XX Eagle Transmission DM E-MTB Chainring for TQ

Features - Sram XX Eagle Transmission E-MTB Chainring for TQ A perfect combination of lightweight ALU and the durability of a steel running surface Compatible with TQ HPR 50 motor systems AeroGuard Compatible that fufills EN...

www.bike-discount.de

 

[tony.c]

Yes and Wolftooth or SRAM will work too:

Direct Mount Chainrings for TQ E-Bike Motors

Wolf Tooth Direct Mount Chainrings for TQ E-Bike Motors are compatible with all Boost and Super Boost bikes that use the TQ Motor. This brings a lightweight chainring with patented Drop-Stop® technology to e-bike chainrings for the first time. Direct Mount Chainrings for TQ E-Bike Motors are...

www.wolftoothcomponents.com

XX Eagle Transmission DM E-MTB Chainring for TQ

Features - Sram XX Eagle Transmission E-MTB Chainring for TQ A perfect combination of lightweight ALU and the durability of a steel running surface Compatible with TQ HPR 50 motor systems AeroGuard Compatible that fufills EN...

www.bike-discount.de

the sram is maybe the best, but it says "12s T-Type". Is it ok with normal 12 speed chains as well?

XX Eagle Transmission Direct Mount E-MTB Chainring for TQ - CR-XX-TQ-A1 - SRAM

XX Eagle Transmission Direct Mount E-MTB Chainring for TQ, CR-XX-TQ-A1, SRAM. Designed specifically for use with TQ motor systems, this chainring is the lightest, most advanced e-specific ring ever designed. Pairing performance ...

www.sram.com

 

[Magnacus]

the sram is maybe the best, but it says "12s T-Type". Is it ok with normal 12 speed chains as well?

XX Eagle Transmission Direct Mount E-MTB Chainring for TQ - CR-XX-TQ-A1 - SRAM

XX Eagle Transmission Direct Mount E-MTB Chainring for TQ, CR-XX-TQ-A1, SRAM. Designed specifically for use with TQ motor systems, this chainring is the lightest, most advanced e-specific ring ever designed. Pairing performance ...

www.sram.com

The transmission chain has slightly larger rollers:
SRAM Eagle XX1 chain 7.67mm
SRAM Eagle T-Type XX chain 7.87mm
(even measured on new chains)
This is particularly important for the cassette. I also tried a normal (not T-type) chain for the transmission cassette. This works, but not that well. That's why I switched back to a T-type chain.

When it comes to the chainrings, it's not quite as dramatic.
The chainrings from Wolftooth, Garbaruk or e-13 are compatible with all 12-speed drives.
At Wolftooth, a distinction is made between chain manufacturers. "DROP-STOP B" can be used with all chains except Shimano HG+ and KMC.

I would look at the price and buy the cheapest (probably e-13).

 

[tony.c]

Thanks for the explanation!

 

[woodythecaddie]

Hello Emtb Forums,
This is my first post on emtb forums so I hope everyone is well. As my trek fuel exe has a gap in the headset top cover, I would love to know if a Hope IS42 headset top cover would fit if not please could someone advise me which product would. Still surprising a company like Trek would sell bikes with a gap in the headset cover.
Thank you all for a great source of information

 

[Quinterly]

Took my new 9.7 for its first ride on the weekend. Loved the bike and really liked the feel (as compared to my Rail). One thing that I found really annoying was the dropper remote. It seemed really hard to get my thumb to align properly and it would snap back before it had a chance to activate the seatpost (up or down).

I know there are other comments in this thread about the quality of the remote, but is it me or does it really suck? I had put a Wolf Tooth one on my Rail and it was great.

 

[gmoss]

Took my new 9.7 for its first ride on the weekend. Loved the bike and really liked the feel (as compared to my Rail). One thing that I found really annoying was the dropper remote. It seemed really hard to get my thumb to align properly and it would snap back before it had a chance to activate the seatpost (up or down).

I know there are other comments in this thread about the quality of the remote, but is it me or does it really suck? I had put a Wolf Tooth one on my Rail and it was great.

I have been using the light action WT on my other bikes for a long time. So, I moved it over to my Fuel. No more light action. The Bonty post is hard to engage even with the light action. Solution, I bought a shim and put my Fox 200 mm Transfer on it and all is golden again. It was wearing my thumb out before. And, the angle was terrible with the integrated system with the shimano. I have a 9.8, so equipment may be a little different. Really, the only thing I liked about my 9.8 was the drivetrain and brakes. I have swapped nearly everything else out. I like the seat ok too. Haha

 

[Quinterly]

I have been using the light action WT on my other bikes for a long time. So, I moved it over to my Fuel. No more light action. The Bonty post is hard to engage even with the light action. Solution, I bought a shim and put my Fox 200 mm Transfer on it and all is golden again. It was wearing my thumb out before. And, the angle was terrible with the integrated system with the shimano. I have a 9.8, so equipment may be a little different. Really, the only thing I liked about my 9.8 was the drivetrain and brakes. I have swapped nearly everything else out. I like the seat ok too. Haha

The 9.7 uses a TransX seatpost, not a Bonty but the remote lever just seems so hard to get purchase with ... it just snaps out from under my thumb so easy. Whether that's the angle, or the length of the lever, or the seatpost??

 

[njatherton]

The 9.7 uses a TransX seatpost, not a Bonty but the remote lever just seems so hard to get purchase with ... it just snaps out from under my thumb so easy. Whether that's the angle, or the length of the lever, or the seatpost??

First thing I replaced was that dropper lever with a WolfTooth from my previous bike. I have no issue with it & the Bonty seatpost, works fine. Lever is fiddly to fit tho.
I tried my old OneUp seatpost with a shim but felt it wobbled quite a bit so refitted Bonty.

 

[gmoss]

The lever was an improvement. The Bonty Elite I would assume to be a good post, it was just hard to actuate. The angle and shape of the lever was not good. I experienced a bit of what you speak.

Heck, you can get a Transfer post new for what it costs to service one. I bought another just because. Fox Transfer Performance Dropper Seat Post - 200mm Travel - Internal Route - Black | Components | Fox Factory | PlanetCyclery.com