Fuel EXe TREK's new lightweight trail ebike

GolfMaster52

Active member
Oct 19, 2020
64
68
Bentonville, Arkansas
Love the Matte Pennyflake colour, reminds me of my old Trek 69er
Yeah, she immediately knew it was her color. She still has a couple of weeks of recovery for a broken arm. So, she has plenty of time to get some accessories. I'm going to take it out a couple of times and see how it compares to my Orbea Rise M10. I'll report back if anyone's interested.
 

Cell4soul

E*POWAH Master
Jul 11, 2022
518
1,324
Mesa, AZ
Just put a deposit down on a 9.8 XT that will be here in November. It is the blue one. I’ll be selling the entire XT drivetrain as I’m going to run an AXS drivetrain with the XX1 cassette. I think I’ll be able to keep this at about 40 lbs ready to ride. Can’t wait to ride this bike.

4E9204FB-B8AC-4008-8D81-2D12505541EE.png
 

jwrx

Well-known member
Jul 22, 2018
206
243
Malaysia
Just put a deposit down on a 9.8 XT that will be here in November. It is the blue one. I’ll be selling the entire XT drivetrain as I’m going to run an AXS drivetrain with the XX1 cassette. I think I’ll be able to keep this at about 40 lbs ready to ride. Can’t wait to ride this bike.

View attachment 93266
i dunno in your country how the pricing is...but in my country XTR cassette is 1/2 the price of XX1, so we all run AXS RD with XTR chain/cassette, no issues.
 

Cell4soul

E*POWAH Master
Jul 11, 2022
518
1,324
Mesa, AZ
i dunno in your country how the pricing is...but in my country XTR cassette is 1/2 the price of XX1, so we all run AXS RD with XTR chain/cassette, no issues.

I ran the XT cassette on my Rise. It shifted great, but didn’t last very long, I’d say somewhere between 550 and 700 miles. I’d rather sell the entire XT drivetrain and run the XX1 cassette and chain from the start. I‘d like to see what kind of miles I can get out of the XX1. The XT broke a tooth with several others worn too much. I am easy on my drivetrain and shifting.

I am really waiting to see the new Shimano EMTB specific 11 speed Linkglide. I think 11 speed would be perfect on an EMTB and should be easier on the chain and cassette. Weight savings too. If that is good, I’ll run that eventually.
 

Dave_B

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
Aug 29, 2020
1,467
1,593
Newquay
when are we expecting these to be available in the UK? everywhere is pre-order at the moment.
 

GolfMaster52

Active member
Oct 19, 2020
64
68
Bentonville, Arkansas
Just put a deposit down on a 9.8 XT that will be here in November. It is the blue one. I’ll be selling the entire XT drivetrain as I’m going to run an AXS drivetrain with the XX1 cassette. I think I’ll be able to keep this at about 40 lbs ready to ride. Can’t wait to ride this bike.

View attachment 93266
Been traveling a lot for work. So, we took the Fuel EXe 9.7 (Shimano drivetrain) back to the Trek dealer to have the Sram drive train swapped from her Rail 9.8. They left a message saying they could swap the AXS shifter and derailleur, but the cassette wasn't compatible with the chainring on the EXe and Trek wouldn't have a solution until mid-winter. The EXe 9.9 models have all Sram drivetrains. So, are the chainrings drivetrain specific? I haven't looked at the specs yet. On the Rail, the chainring works with both. If it's possible they are different for drivetrains, maybe the "solution" means they will have chainrings to sell in the Fall. I haven't talked to the LBS yet, but thoughts?
 

Cell4soul

E*POWAH Master
Jul 11, 2022
518
1,324
Mesa, AZ
Been traveling a lot for work. So, we took the Fuel EXe 9.7 (Shimano drivetrain) back to the Trek dealer to have the Sram drive train swapped from her Rail 9.8. They left a message saying they could swap the AXS shifter and derailleur, but the cassette wasn't compatible with the chainring on the EXe and Trek wouldn't have a solution until mid-winter. The EXe 9.9 models have all Sram drivetrains. So, are the chainrings drivetrain specific? I haven't looked at the specs yet. On the Rail, the chainring works with both. If it's possible they are different for drivetrains, maybe the "solution" means they will have chainrings to sell in the Fall. I haven't talked to the LBS yet, but thoughts?

Others will probably have a lot more knowledge on this subject. I did not change my chain ring and it worked. I did a lot of research before I used the AXS shifter and derailleur with a Shimano cassette and chain. Everything I read indicated it would work. I tried it, and it did work. Bike shifted perfectly. My XT cassette wore a lot quicker than I thought it should have. I don’t think this has anything to do with mixing AXS and Shimano, but I am far from an expert. For this Fuel EXe, I figure I’ll just keep the entire XTdrivetrain brand new and sell it as a set to get back some of my costs for the AXS drivetrain.

Not sure I answered your question, but hope that helps.
 

Streddaz

Active member
Jul 7, 2022
300
427
Tasmania
Been traveling a lot for work. So, we took the Fuel EXe 9.7 (Shimano drivetrain) back to the Trek dealer to have the Sram drive train swapped from her Rail 9.8. They left a message saying they could swap the AXS shifter and derailleur, but the cassette wasn't compatible with the chainring on the EXe and Trek wouldn't have a solution until mid-winter. The EXe 9.9 models have all Sram drivetrains. So, are the chainrings drivetrain specific? I haven't looked at the specs yet. On the Rail, the chainring works with both. If it's possible they are different for drivetrains, maybe the "solution" means they will have chainrings to sell in the Fall. I haven't talked to the LBS yet, but thoughts?
You wouldn't be able to swap the cassette without changing the freehub as they are specific to Sram and Shimano but as for the chain ring, as long as it's the same "speed' of chain i.e. a 12 speed, they all should work. I've run Shimano, Sram and KMC chains on both Shimano and Sram chain rings with no issues. I think that running a Shimano chain with the Shimano cassette will make the most of the HYPERGLIDE+ shifting advantage but chain rings tend not to make any difference in shifting.
I would have thought that changing the cassette would have been the sticking point:unsure:
 

flash

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
Patreon
Nov 24, 2018
1,050
986
Wamberal, NSW Australia
Been traveling a lot for work. So, we took the Fuel EXe 9.7 (Shimano drivetrain) back to the Trek dealer to have the Sram drive train swapped from her Rail 9.8. They left a message saying they could swap the AXS shifter and derailleur, but the cassette wasn't compatible with the chainring on the EXe and Trek wouldn't have a solution until mid-winter. The EXe 9.9 models have all Sram drivetrains. So, are the chainrings drivetrain specific? I haven't looked at the specs yet. On the Rail, the chainring works with both. If it's possible they are different for drivetrains, maybe the "solution" means they will have chainrings to sell in the Fall. I haven't talked to the LBS yet, but thoughts?

1. Maybe they meant "driver" but said chainring? They'd have to change the hub driver to an XD one. The chainrings are cross compatible for 12 speed systems.

2. I the meantime run a Shimano chain and a Sram quicklink (you must do this) with you AXS mech. Personally I'd go XT or SLX unless you really need the weight savings of XTR. It works perfectly fine. I have this on two bikes and a full AXS (Sram cassette) on another two. Can't tell the difference. Obviously Sram frowns on this and says it's not compatible but it is. Your bike shop may have not done it before and be reluctant to set it up this way.

3. You could also use a Sram chain on the Shimano cassette but it wont shift as good as swapping the chain out as well.

Gordon
 

GolfMaster52

Active member
Oct 19, 2020
64
68
Bentonville, Arkansas
1. Maybe they meant "driver" but said chainring? They'd have to change the hub driver to an XD one. The chainrings are cross compatible for 12 speed systems.

2. I the meantime run a Shimano chain and a Sram quicklink (you must do this) with you AXS mech. Personally I'd go XT or SLX unless you really need the weight savings of XTR. It works perfectly fine. I have this on two bikes and a full AXS (Sram cassette) on another two. Can't tell the difference. Obviously Sram frowns on this and says it's not compatible but it is. Your bike shop may have not done it before and be reluctant to set it up this way.

3. You could also use a Sram chain on the Shimano cassette but it wont shift as good as swapping the chain out as well.

Gordon
The Rail 9.8 we wanted the drivetrain swapped from has a Sram cassette on it. I told him he could change the driver to the EXe. Would have just swapped the rear wheel, but it's 27.5 and the software isn't ready for the EXe to have a mullet setup. Technically it should work. I'm having a hard time believing the chainring v is the problem.
 

Chicane

Active member
Nov 11, 2020
364
317
SoCal
If you look on the Trek website and look at the EXe with the Shimano drivetrain the chainring is definitely different than the one on the Sram equiped models.
I’ve seen my bike shop build a mixed AXS drivetrain with an SRAM chain/Shimano cassette. You just loose the hyper glide shifting that you get when using a Shimano chain paired with a Shimano cassette.
 

GolfMaster52

Active member
Oct 19, 2020
64
68
Bentonville, Arkansas
Nope. The type of bike shouldn’t matter, should it? To me it sounds like the chainring is specific to the chain. Either chain can be run with either cassette.
I agree. I would think whatever chain you need to work with the chainring would work with the Sram cassette. I am going in today to talk to them. But, they did say they called Trek and they were told they would have a solution this Winter.
 

GolfMaster52

Active member
Oct 19, 2020
64
68
Bentonville, Arkansas
IME is a load of marketing BS. I've run SRAM and Shimano chains on SRAM chainrings without obvious issues.
Right? I am doing that right now on my bike. I'm just curious why Sram comes with a different chainring than the Shimano builds. Is that typical? That Rails I have purchased have all been Shimano with the E13 chainring. So, not sure if the Sram built Rails have a different chainring. I'll see what they have to say and can always just change it myself.
 

Doomanic

🛠️Wrecker🛠️
Patreon
Founding Member
Jan 21, 2018
8,729
10,395
UK
If you look on the Trek website and look at the EXe with the Shimano drivetrain the chainring is definitely different than the one on the Sram equiped models.
Are you sure? According to the Trek UK website, all the bikes run the same E*Thirteen E*Spec Plus, 34T, 165mm length cranks and chainring.

IMG_4750.PNG
 

GolfMaster52

Active member
Oct 19, 2020
64
68
Bentonville, Arkansas
Yes, I'm sure. On the US website it doesn't even list the chainring for the Sram builds, but lists the E13 for Shimano. You can see the differences in the pictures. The top, grey bike is the Shimano.

Screenshot_20220729-111151_QuickPic.jpg


Screenshot_20220729-111139_QuickPic.jpg
 

Doomanic

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Patreon
Founding Member
Jan 21, 2018
8,729
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UK
Fair enough. I have used both chainring styles on my Rail, with both Shimano and SRAM chains.
 

chrismechmaster

Well-known member
Subscriber
Dec 7, 2020
816
420
Newbury
Yeah, she immediately knew it was her color. She still has a couple of weeks of recovery for a broken arm. So, she has plenty of time to get some accessories. I'm going to take it out a couple of times and see how it compares to my Orbea Rise M10. I'll report back if anyone's interested.
Me to I have a rise m team and would love to hear how it compares
 

b45her

Member
Dec 1, 2019
94
87
wales
Yes, the EXe was designed to be easily switched to a mullet. Trek said they would release an update to accommodate it at a later date. You can do it now, but the speedo would be off.
I can't see that happening, if users have the ability to swap the motor settings between 27.5 and 29 wheels its going to be extremely easy for people to set the bike to 27 and gain extra assist speed from using a 29 wheel. granted it will only be a small gain but its still above the legal limit and will undoubtedly result in law suits and claims againt trek, especially over in the land of the free.
 

GolfMaster52

Active member
Oct 19, 2020
64
68
Bentonville, Arkansas
That is what I had seen in a review video. But, you make an excellent point. So, I found another review that said you can make it a mullet but you would not be able to change from the 29 and therefore have a slightly reduced top speed. Maybe Trek is working on software that automatically measures the wheel size and adjusts accordingly.
 

mak

🦷
Dec 27, 2019
445
493
uk
Yeah, she immediately knew it was her color. She still has a couple of weeks of recovery for a broken arm. So, she has plenty of time to get some accessories. I'm going to take it out a couple of times and see how it compares to my Orbea Rise M10. I'll report back if anyone's interested.
Any info with regards the two bikes, I'm tempted by the orbea but wont to hold out for the new trek , i guess your busy trying to swap out the drive train ;)
 

Supernils

Member
Jul 17, 2020
35
6
Norway
Could anyone chech the clearance between seatstay-bridge and frame when the shock is fully compressed? I am thinking of getting this bike and put on a shock with longer stroke to get more travel in the rear.
 

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