Componentry

Already boosted with a 148mm rear hub and 110mm front the Remedy is shod with Bontrager’s excellent Elite wheelset and SE4 tyres but everyone’s eyes will be on the Sram Eagle groupset that drives this bike, the Sram Guide Ultimate brakes and the impressive new Dropline seatpost with such an easy action lever.

Feeling

Grip, that’s the vibe the Remedy gives out, on the rear it’s a real searcher for bite without the bounce. We actually found the damper on the Remedy pretty close to the old Fox unit on the early bikes. This is a good thing. A very good thing. Still, you can load the rear when needed, it just needs a slightly more delicate touch than some of the more muscle bound dampers on some enduro bikes. It strikes an excellent balance in this respect.

DIRT MOUNTAIN BIKE | BIKE REVIEWS

The rear can offers good resistance in the hard setting to aid climbing and the Eagle enabled easy leg spinning on the climbs. The bike silently glided, cornered and dropped into steep terrain with perfect poise. It’s a beautifully figured out bike happy in its sinewy but well balanced build.

Limitations. Not much. Ugly bar?

Verdict

The Remedy offers a performance advantage that people will be considering especially now that they might well be lining this bike up against direct sales bikes. For £5600 this has never been more important. And its in the chassis integrity and the damper that the Remedy has pre-eminence. The bike has classy damping and the chassis intensity is excellent.

But there’s more to Trek bikes. And this is also where the brand scores over basic bikes, is the detail, the bits that cost a touch more to produce yet that give a performance advantage – ABP, Knock Block steerer, great chain/frame protection, E2 steerer, Mino Link and a fully loaded build – it’s a lot of money but a lot of bike also.

Yes the carbon on this bike is a masterclass but for a few thousand less the £2800 Remedy 9 Race Shop Limited will be a more realistic offering. This is because I’m happy to walk rather than ride at the gearing range Eagle offers, and as great as Trek carbon is the geometry on the aluminium bike is the same, and if you’re about to drop six to seven grand on a carbon enduro bike then I’d hold your horses a week or two anyway.

But as a high performance 27.5 wheel 150mm travel bike this bike is pretty much hard to fault. Bottom line, an easy to ride, upbeat and very capable bike.

Trek Remedy 2017 9.9 Race Shop Limited: £5600

trekbikes.com

New to enduro bikes? Check out our buyer’s guide HERE

see also

MARIN HAWK HILL 2017

NORCO OPTIC

TRANSITION PATROL

ROCKY MOUNTAIN SLAYER 2017

SPECIALIZED S-WORKS ENDURO 29