Reply To: Trek Top Fuel 9.7 or 9.8

#508171

The Top Fuels come with a short toptube and a long 60-70mm stem. If you do buy the Top Fuel (or any DC bike) which has somewhat XC-ish geometry consider doing a geo-fix. A geo-fix is when you buy a bike one or even two sizes larger than recommend for your height. You then slide the seat forward and install a shorter 35-50mm stem. Sliding the seat forward improves seated climbing. Riding a bike with a longer reach and a shorter stem improves descending. A long reach and a short stem is one of the hallmarks of modern progressive Trailbike geometry.

I did a geo-fix on the last bike I bought which had geo similar to the Top Fuel. Instead of buying the recommended for my height size ML(medium-large) bike, I bought the size XL, shoved the seat forward, and install a 35mm stem. This gave me a bike with about 40mm more reach. It still fits exactly the same (saddle to handlebar) as the size ML bike but it climbs better and descends better.