Fuel EXe Trek Fuel EXe Megathread!

[Mteam]

I’ve noticed the same when just leaving my bike plugged & charging overnight. It’ll say 100%, but will go through the first 10% super fast.

Then doing the same route after charging for 4hrs, I get much better range.

People tell me I’m wrong and I’m no electrician, but I repeat the same local route and see a 15% variation.

I think it’d be ideal to use a timer so power to the charger cuts off just after a full charge.

I think there is something odd going on with the batteries on these. I haven't noticed what you have seen, but I do notice that the battery drains itself when not in use more rapidly than I would expect. For me, if i charge to 100% and then leave it for a few days, it seems to lose a few percent , then stabilise. Maybe that's the bms doing it's thing to protect the battery?

It wouldn't surprise me if Theres another battery firmware update soon, there's something weird going on.

 

[xcel]

Happy Xmas Guys! Question to the ones riding mullet - what tire combination are you riding? I'll probably replace the stock tires with trusty DHR2 MaxxTerra (back) / Assegai MaxxGrip (front) combo, but a bit unsure about the width. Stick to 2.4/2.4 or maybe 2.4/2.5(front)?

 

[xetal]

Shock bolt solution in Canada !

 

[jabar1975]

Happy Xmas Guys! Question to the ones riding mullet - what tire combination are you riding? I'll probably replace the stock tires with trusty DHR2 MaxxTerra (back) / Assegai MaxxGrip (front) combo, but a bit unsure about the width. Stick to 2.4/2.4 or maybe 2.4/2.5(front)?

All about your preferences (and tires availability)
Up to 2.6 fits on both ends of the bike.
Last season used WTB trailboss 2.6 on rear axle and only 2.5 on front (assegai).

 

[Whitehurst]

View attachment 152345
Shock bolt solution in Canada !

Sign me up. ;-) Is there a way to order three? [for me and my buddies] we're in portland, Oregon.

or was it a custom one-off fabrication request?

 

[Stihldog]

View attachment 152345
Shock bolt solution in Canada !

Are those titanium or stainless steel?

 

[xetal]

Are those titanium or stainless steel?

Stainless

 

[xetal]

Any of you guys found a descent way to charge off grid ? Car + inverter ? Battery pack ?

Thanks

 

[Stihldog]

Stainless

I heard, or read, somewhere that all the possible bolts were changed over to titanium. Other than a small weight savings, I’m not sure what the benefit would be? Could be expensive too.

 

[Magnacus]

I heard, or read, somewhere that all the possible bolts were changed over to titanium. Other than a small weight savings, I’m not sure what the benefit would be? Could be expensive too.

Corrosion resistance, weight and titanium is a bit stronger. In particular, it is significantly more expensive.

 

[Emailsucks98]

Any of you guys found a descent way to charge off grid ? Car + inverter ? Battery pack ?

Thanks

I have a pop-up camper with a 1000w inverter, (2) 100 amp-hr LiFePO4 batteries and solar panels. It's all 10yr old tech, but it is enough to recharge two full power ebikes. Long as the solar panels are getting some direct daylight, we can repeat daily.

I would think a 1000w battery box with solar panels would do the same thing and be more portable...

 

[tdeater]

Sign me up. ;-) Is there a way to order three? [for me and my buddies] we're in portland, Oregon.

or was it a custom one-off fabrication request?

I found this on their Instagram:

 

[Whitehurst]

I found this on their Instagram:

Thanks! Reached out to them by email.

 

[mctubster]

So my Fuel Exe has been clicking around the motor area. Based on other comments I dropped the motor out of the frame to see if there was any play between the motor and frame. It seemed pretty snug (btw I do t actually have motor compensation screws). Put the motor back in and torqued the motor bolts to be one as spec’d. Clicking worse than before.

So I just removed the cranks and chainring. The chainring locknut had been crossed threaded. Pretty pissed off.

Who would have fitted this part? Factory or bike shop?

Cheers

 

[Johannes]

I had the same happen to mine. As far as I remember the crankset was mountedin the box from the factory. So I assumed that mistake happened at the factory. The lockring got replaced by Trek with no issues.
But that thread pitch is so small that is easy to crossthread.

 

[mctubster]

I had the same happen to mine. As far as I remember the crankset was mountedin the box from the factory. So I assumed that mistake happened at the factory. The lockring got replaced by Trek with no issues.
But that thread pitch is so small that is easy to crossthread.

Thanks. They are warranty processing it, 2 week wait

 

[Prime_SKD]

you dont need to change the chain ring, cassette, or chain to use AXS. The AXS derailler works just fine with shimano (or pretty much any other for that matter) cassette, chain &chain ring as long as they are 12 speed to start with, which they are on the fuel.

So all you need is an AXS derailleur upgrade kit.

Oh really nice didn’t know that. Been wanting to upgrade my 9.7 to AXS but I havent any issues with Shimano XT drivetrain. I planned on waiting for them to wear out before swapping to AXS. Is there a difference between XO AXS and XO AXS Transmission?

 

[Mteam]

Oh really nice didn’t know that. Been wanting to upgrade my 9.7 to AXS but I havent any issues with Shimano XT drivetrain. I planned on waiting for them to wear out before swapping to AXS. Is there a difference between XO AXS and XO AXS Transmission?

Transmission is quite different to the original axs. My post was written before transmission existed and does not strictly apply to transmission. Using transmission axs with shimano stuff is potentially not straightforward, but there's a separate thread on sram transmission compatibility elsewhere on the forum.

 

[Magnacus]

A transmission rear derailleur absolutely requires a transmission cassette. All other cassettes don't work because the transmission cassette is 3mm further out than the other cassettes.
You also need the transmission chain because the inner rollers are larger than on all other chains.
Even the hacks you find on the internet are just poor compromises. Especially since the hack only works with the Sram Eagle cassettes.
Shimano is completely out of the question.

I always recommend using the items within a product range.

 

[Mtn Geezer]

New member here and I've just finished reading/skimming this entire thread. I recently bought a new Fuel EXe 5 alloy which I love, and after reading all the comments about play in the lower shock mounting I decided to check my bike. I found there was a whopping 0.013" difference between the bolt and the left frame hole, about the same between the oval nut and the right frame hole, and 0.008" between the bolt and the shock bushings. Even with a custom bolt of full 8mm diameter, I would still end up with 0.006" clearance in the frame holes. While I don't have enough miles on my bike to have seen a problem develop, I like to tinker so for fun I addressed the sloppy fit using brass shim stock. First I cut a small strip of 0.006" brass to line the left frame hole, first wrapping it around a small rod to form the circle then sliding it into the frame with a bit of red Loctite on the outside surface and pressing in place with a wooden dowel sized to match the shock bolt.

Next I cut some 0.004" brass and formed a sleeve for inside the shock bushings, again anchoring it with red Loctite and keeping the Loctite away from the joint in the brass so it would not lock the bolt in place. I first pressed the brass into place with a letter N drill which is a little smaller than the shock bolt, then carefully pressed the shock bolt in place and let it sit a couple of hours while the Loctite cured.

Lastly I used a thin aluminum shim to take up the gap between the oval nut and frame on the right side. The photo shows it before pressing all the way in.

This may seem like a bit of a barnyard repair but it was a fun little project and the shock bolt ended up with a precision fit to both frame and bushings.

 

[Kubiertas]

A transmission rear derailleur absolutely requires a transmission cassette. All other cassettes don't work because the transmission cassette is 3mm further out than the other cassettes.
You also need the transmission chain because the inner rollers are larger than on all other chains.
Even the hacks you find on the internet are just poor compromises. Especially since the hack only works with the Sram Eagle cassettes.
Shimano is completely out of the question.

I always recommend using the items within a product range.

I would expect the need to swap the casette and chain with the new transmission derailleur, but I read somewhere that you can use the existing chainring. This would be nice. I don't see a TQ specific transmission upgrade kit...

 

[Mteam]

Shimano is completely out of the question.

It's not completely out of the question, shimano 12 speed xt cassette and shimano chain can be made to work fine with transmission (as can others like garbaruk etc) but it's clearly not a supported Configuration, and it requires shimming the jockey wheels of the mech over towards the wheel slightly to line up with the shimano cassette. But it does work fine, or at least does for me.

Clearly an all transmission set up is best, but if you want to make a shimano chain and cassette work, you can.

 

[Magnacus]

I would expect the need to swap the casette and chain with the new transmission derailleur, but I read somewhere that you can use the existing chainring. This would be nice. I don't see a TQ specific transmission upgrade kit...

Some chainrings work, some ones don't.

This is due to the larger inner rollers of the transmission chain.

If you want to convert an existing system to transmission, the existing chainring will probably not be compatible. However, it will most likely still work because the chainring has already worn out and there is room for the larger inner rollers.

If you buy a new chainring, you should definitely make sure that it is also transmission compatible.

If you buy and use an incompatible chainring, the transmission chain will get stuck on the chainring. This is where we come to a small e-bike problem, because the power of the motor is so great that you hardly notice it. Nevertheless, the components wear out faster: the chainring and the chains grind against each other and the chain transfers this to the cassette.

None of this has anything to do with TQ, because TQ only manufactures the motor and defines the mount for the chainring, but not the chainring itself.

As I wrote, I would always use the items within a product group (or those that are compatible with the respective product group). That saves you trouble, nerves and money

 

[Magnacus]

It's not completely out of the question, shimano 12 speed xt cassette and shimano chain can be made to work fine with transmission (as can others like garbaruk etc) but it's clearly not a supported Configuration, and it requires shimming the jockey wheels of the mech over towards the wheel slightly to line up with the shimano cassette. But it does work fine, or at least does for me.

Clearly an all transmission set up is best, but if you want to make a shimano chain and cassette work, you can.

That's true so far.
But a transmission cassette only works poorly with a Shimano chain. And a Shimano cassette will probably (almost) not work at all with a transmission chain.

I tried a transmission cassette with an Eagle chain. It works... but it's not good. The transmission chains are brutally overpriced. In the end, SRAM did everything right and ensured almost the greatest possible incompatibility.
But transmission shifts so well... damn

With a washer you can move the cassettes further towards the frame. But then the thread on the freehub body only grips a maximum of half the thread.
If it works, it's fine, if not, you'll need a new freehub body.
Everyone can decide for themselves

 

[Mteam]

With a washer you can move the cassettes further towards the frame. But then the thread on the freehub body only grips a maximum of half the thread.
If it works, it's fine, if not, you'll need a new freehub body.
Everyone can decide for themselves

That's correct (about the threads not engaging fully) If you shim the cassette , but if you shim the jockey wheels on the derailuer instead of the cassette, you put the derailuer in the right place without affecting the cassette mounting on the hub. The shims for the jockey wheels only need to be about half a mm thick.

Besides, you can't shim a shimano 12 speed xt cassette because it's comprised of several individual cogs (unlike sram eagle or garbaruk etc) , and the smaller cogswon't engage with the spines on the hub if you shim it out a bit, hence you have to shim the jockey wheels to make a t type Derailuer work with an xt cassette.

 

[Magnacus]

That's correct (about the threads not engaging fully) If you shim the cassette , but if you shim the jockey wheels on the derailuer instead of the cassette, you put the derailuer in the right place without affecting the cassette mounting on the hub. The shims for the jockey wheels only need to be about half a mm thick.

Besides you can't shim a shimano 12 speed xt cassette because it's comprised of several individual cogs (unlike sram eagle or garbaruk etc) , and the smaller cogswon't engage with the spines on the hub if you shim it out a bit, hence you have to shim the jockey wheels to make a t type Derailuer work with an xt cassette.

Absolutely right. I forgot, since I've only been living in the SRAM world since 2017

The thing with the jockey wheels is a great idea
You have to shim on the right side to go further to the left..?
How many spacers do you use and by how many millimeters do you move them?
You probably also used a longer bolt screw. How long is it?
Actually you only need to shim the upper jockey wheel. Did you shim the lower one too?

Do you have any photos?

 

[Isworkinghard]

Hi folks

Thinking about picking up an Exe 9.7 as currently some pretty good deals out there.

Just a question as I see most of the colors look like 2023 models rather than the current models. The spec is basically the same but just wondered if anyone had any comments about buying older model year bikes?

Not really worried about things like a newer model coming out as I think the EXe is the kind of bike I’m looking for at the right price, but more are there concerns will older batteries that have been sitting around and motors?

The warranties would be the same and would cover any issues I’m sure.

Just wondered if there was anything to look out for.

Cheers

 

[Mteam]

Absolutely right. I forgot, since I've only been living in the SRAM world since 2017

The thing with the jockey wheels is a great idea
You have to shim on the right side to go further to the left..?
How many spacers do you use and by how many millimeters do you move them?
You probably also used a longer bolt screw. How long is it?
Actually you only need to shim the upper jockey wheel. Did you shim the lower one too?

Do you have any photos?

Yes, shims go on the right (or outboard side ) to move the jockeys in towards the wheel. I just used a single washer shim (probably half a mm thick, maybe. 75mm dunno) on each jockey wheel. I reused the existing bolts, they're long enough.

I did wonder about just shimming one jockey wheel, but figured I'd just shim them both, seems to work fine.

 

[bk12]

View attachment 152345
Shock bolt solution in Canada !

Another vote for the Pinner Machine bolt if you want to get a more precise setup. I worked with Pinner on the first ones a few months ago based on this thread. Have had them on two bikes for a while, and all is good. Good to see them commercialized The shop was great to deal with, and the workmanship was excellent.

 

[Emailsucks98]

Even the hacks you find on the internet are just poor compromises.

I always recommend using the items within a product range.

Some hacks do work better/worse than others.
I have a unique use case of just wanting to share a 27.5" wheel between my EXe (with GX transmission) and my Reeb Steezl, which has mechanical GX 12-speed. Just grinding the inner face of the UDH 2mm creates clearance for the chain, and the mechanical GX derailleur shifts great on the T-type cassette.
Everything else I tried was a mixed bag, but this combo works well for me.