Showing their commitment to huge tires and elevated chain stays, the Trek Stache is getting an upgrade. Even though Salsa beat Trek to the punch by showing us the carbon 29+ Woodsmoke at Saddle Drive, Trek has been catering to the 29+ crowd for some time with their aluminum Stache. Built with a elevated chain stay and a PF92 bottom bracket, the design allowed for ridiculously short chain stays that would still swallow a 29+ tire. In the mind of Trek’s designers and engineers, that was the key to making the bigger tires work in a trail capable hardtail.
Now, Trek is expanding on that initial Stache with the addition of two carbon frames. Built with the same features, the carbon bikes do offer improved geometry which will make them even more capable as all around rippers…
In terms of the frame details, the Stache 9.6 and 9.8 carbon frames are very similar to their aluminum counterparts. The elevated chain stay allows for a 405-420mm chain stay length while maintaining proper clearance for the chainrings and wide 29 x 3.0″ tires. Both bikes feature the Stranglehold adjustable dropouts which allow for multiple tire sizes or for the use of single speed drivetrains (even belt drive thanks to the elevated stay). Part of the tire clearance equation is Boost 148 dropouts matched with the PF92 bottom bracket. The only difference between the carbon and aluminum bikes out back is a 5mm lower BB on the new carbon frame for more aggressive handling.
The carbon frames also grow at the top tube with a 15mm longer reach. Both aluminum and carbon bikes now offer 120mm front travel with the top end Stache 9.8 (top) receiving the new RockShox Pike 29+ fork. The Stache 9.6 carbon (above) runs the RockShox Yari, both forks run Trek’s G2 geometry with a 51mm offset. The geometry of the aluminum Stache will remain unchanged.
Stache framesets will also be offered but only of the carbon variety. Compared to the alloy counterpart, Trek claims the carbon frames are almost a pound lighter, shaving 400g. That results in a claimed weight for the Stache 9.8 of 27.2 lbs (12.33kg).
While the aluminum bikes use unaltered frames, the new longer 120mm suspension forks join new color schemes for the Stache 5 (black) and 7 (green) Alpha Platinum Aluminum bikes. Trek points out that the maximum chainring size is 32t, though all bikes ship with a 30t. Carbon Stache will be available in 15.5, 17.5, 19.5, and 21.5″ frame sizes, while the Alloy Stache models add an 18.5″ size. Pricing will range from $1,579.99 for the Stache 5 alloy, to $4,699.99 for the Stache 9.8 carbon with a Bontrager Line Pro parts kit, SRAM X01 1×11 drivetrain, and Bontrager Drop Line post. Carbon frame sets will be offered for $1,579.99 and all models should be available by September with the aluminum models available now.
