On the other hand, the geometry isn’t as radically aggressive as other contenders in this category. It is incredibly easy to feel right at home on it, right away, regardless of terrain. On the one hand, you’ve got a versatile, well-balanced 130-millimeter-travel bike that exists happily in the gap between XC and gravity sled it has impeccable manners up and down the hill, is built with an eye toward the burly side of its limited travel and has a neutral, light feel backed by contemporary geometry numbers that err on the conservative side.
In the case of the Trek Fuel EX 9.9, we had to argue through the details to come to some agreement about where exactly this old adage washed out. Saying that a bike “disappears under you” can be viewed as either the highest form of compliment, or damning by faint praise.
