
“I couldn’t spend that much on a hardtail” has been the rallying cry. At least thats the common thing I’ve heard from the people I ride with. Another wheel/tire standard, a new hub standard, mediocre spec, you’re forced to use a 1x drivetrain due to the weird frame and the elevated chainstay, and the pricetag. I get why a lot of people hate this bike. Even with an improperly set up fork, this thing had me grinning like a madman and whooping all over the trails, so I’ve got high hopes for it when the fork is dialed. Despite my reservations about the fork, I that shows how good this bike really is.
#2016 trek stache 5 update#
I’ll update the review when I’ve had time to reset it and play with the other adjustments. I’m going to be monkeying around with the fork settings in the next few days and hopefully will be able to really get this thing to come to life, but for now the fork does not feel great. The feedback I’ve received is that the setup figures from Manitou are no good and you need to put way less pressure in that is recommended. I set it to the correct pressure for my weight, but I have not been able to compress it more than 50%. The fork is the one thing I haven’t quite figured out. You buy this bike for the frame (which is gorgeous in purple, the pictures don’t do it justice) and the wheels/tires.
#2016 trek stache 5 plus#
Everything works well, the wide bars are great to handle the big tires and the drivetrain gave me snappy shifts and no issues, plus I just love the simplicity of a 1x. I think my complete bike with Shimano 520s probably weights right at 30lbs, maybe a little under. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t just a little butthurt that they didn’t put some decent lock on grips on bike right off the bat, but its a minor thing. Nothing that was a deal-breaker for me, but at this price you’d kind of expect some slightly higher end spec. The Stache 9 gets all the sexy stuff, and the 7 gets the basics alloy handlebar and seatpost (non-dropper) decent 1x11 drivetrain, cheaper grips, etc. So combine that with stupid amounts grip, rollover, and momentum from the 29+ tires and this bike just eats up trail.Īs far as the spec goes, it does its job but is nothing all that fancy. Other 29ers that I’ve ridden (Krampus, Remedy) didn’t feel anywhere near as.fun. And it feels really good in the air, totally balanced. I was having no problem airing off roots and rocks and laying it over for turns and tighter sections. Where the Krampus felt like a smooth, unflappable sedan, the Stache felt like a sports car. All of Trek's tinkering to get the shortest possible chainstays on this bike is NOT a marketing gimmick, this thing is extremely nimble, especially given the wheelsize. Got it out today by myself though and it was a different animal. I was riding with my girlfriend and only had a chance to really ride hard for a few miles. For background, I could have picked up a new Krampus for $1,450 whereas the Stache 7 ran me $2,399, so when I took it out I wanted to feel that extra grand. So I was sold on 29+ but not necessarily on the Krampus and decided to give a 2016 Stache a go.

A 3" tire that is set to the proper psi for your weight (10-13psi for me) will change the way you ride. Climbing grip is great and thats what everyone talks about with fatbikes and midfats, but I haven't heard many people talk about the insane cornering grip. What hooked me right away was the grip, especially when cornering. 29+ initially piqued my curiosity when I demo'd a Surly Krampus and absolutely loved it, but being on a fully rigid bike was a little rough, and if I'm honest I wasn't wild about the heavy steel frame (complete rigid it was over 30lbs) and the relatively long wheelbase.

Some moderately technical sections with log jumps, roots, rocks, and also lots of flowy singletrack, but obviously not a lot of extreme gravity terrain its Illinois. To give you an idea of what I was testing this bike on, this is my local trail system. Just got my second day in on the Stache 7 and figured I’d drop a review here, because when I was shopping around I only saw reviews of the Stache 9.
