Trek Fuel EXe (w/160 fork) shares Slash geometry!

richomtb

New Member
Jan 6, 2023
2
5
Syd, Aus
Hi all, I own a Trek Slash 8 M 2022 and a Trek Fuel EXE 9.8 M 2023. I've run some numbers that I'd like to share on how they compare geometry-wise. Spoiler alert, geo is the same but the travel is 10mm less both ends on the EXe.

The Slash (low) is 170/160 stock and the EXe (low) is 160/152 modified by fork air spring upgrade ($70) and shock stroke increase to 65mm ($0) and the geo has come out practically identical!!! See chart below. FYI the EXe shock mods aren't required and don't change the geo as the eye-to-eye remains unchanged, it's just the fork mod that creates this near-identical geo and trek says 160 is permissible!

Without shock mods it would just be 160/140 travel. And yes, there's a free simple mod to the STOCK SHOCK that anyone can do to change it from 60mm to 65mm but beware the clearance is crazy tight under frame flex and I should only be running 62.5mm stroke/146mm travel to play it safe (but thats a harder mod or a new shock so I'm risking it for now).

Screen Shot 2023-01-06 at 11.06.08 pm.png
 

Tomac boy

New Member
Nov 24, 2022
7
1
Gold Coast aus
Yup cutting the bottom out spacers off on the fuel exe I can confirm is an awesome mod.

Other mods I did on mine were a Megneg and token removal. This makes the rear end super plush and feel bottomless.

When Cutting the spacers out , seat tube/tyre clearance is tight for sure with 29x2.5 , but not crazy tight. I also mulleted mine (which I also recommend) and love it even more. This gives ample clearance between seat tube and tyre.
 
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Tomac boy

New Member
Nov 24, 2022
7
1
Gold Coast aus
I agree with some of what I’ll mate says, but you can tell by his style that he’s a b grader so I would be taking what he says as gospel. I put a 170mm zeb on mine and the front definitely pushes more, however this is because the weight bias has changed. To compensate you need to move your weight forwards. When you are cognisant of this it is definitely not a one trick pony like he says. There are plenty of top end bikes with with slacker head angles.

I have the 9.8 and the super deluxe is really really good. The new charger 3 lyriks are killer too. Tbh if I had my time again, I would have just :
- 160mm butter cup air spring in fork
-Truetune fork insert
- Meg neg on shock
- cut bottom out spacers with side cutters
- take out shock tokens
- 27.5 rear wheel with cushcore
- high position

This is a pretty cheap path to max performance .
 
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Mteam

E*POWAH Elite
Aug 3, 2020
1,868
1,807
gone
I tried my exe with a fox 38 170mm fork,it was pretty good, and gave you the usual smash through anything feel that a fox 38 gives on any bike, but didn't feel significantly better than the exe with a fox 36 160mm travel,so I put the 38 back on my orbea wild fs and kept the 36 160mm fork on the exe.

The 170mm fork on the exe does need a bit more of a weight forward bias,but it's not as bad as rob makes out in the video,it rides very well with 170mm, it just didn't really do anything better than it did with 160mm.

I haven't changed the rear shock,as I don't feel it needs more travel at the back.

I may put the 38 170mm on the exe for trips away to finale,Spain,France etc, and keep the 36 for local riding.
 
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GG123

New Member
Jul 7, 2023
1
0
Australia
Just got my new bike and had the first ride. Lots of fun. A few mods to start with, fox38, some carbon wheels, new stem and bars. X2 shock is coming and waiting on a shim to fit my Axs dropper.

IMG_5860.jpeg IMG_5862.jpeg
 
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mrhaboobi

Member
Sep 17, 2023
86
31
New Zealand
Hi all, I own a Trek Slash 8 M 2022 and a Trek Fuel EXE 9.8 M 2023. I've run some numbers that I'd like to share on how they compare geometry-wise. Spoiler alert, geo is the same but the travel is 10mm less both ends on the EXe.
This is one question i had as im running a Large slash and im keen on a ebike and EXE looks like a great option. i love the feel of my slash and would love if the EXE could get close to that. are you say it feels pretty similar ?
 

jaseskiwi

New Member
Apr 8, 2024
1
0
New Zealand
Hi all, I own a Trek Slash 8 M 2022 and a Trek Fuel EXE 9.8 M 2023. I've run some numbers that I'd like to share on how they compare geometry-wise. Spoiler alert, geo is the same but the travel is 10mm less both ends on the EXe.

The Slash (low) is 170/160 stock and the EXe (low) is 160/152 modified by fork air spring upgrade ($70) and shock stroke increase to 65mm ($0) and the geo has come out practically identical!!! See chart below. FYI the EXe shock mods aren't required and don't change the geo as the eye-to-eye remains unchanged, it's just the fork mod that creates this near-identical geo and trek says 160 is permissible!

Without shock mods it would just be 160/140 travel. And yes, there's a free simple mod to the STOCK SHOCK that anyone can do to change it from 60mm to 65mm but beware the clearance is crazy tight under frame flex and I should only be running 62.5mm stroke/146mm travel to play it safe (but thats a harder mod or a new shock so I'm risking it for now).

View attachment 104056
Hi do you have any videos or pics of how to remove the travel spacer. Is it blue? 🤔 Cheers Jase
 

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