Trek World has unleashed a host of surprises upon us. Not the least of which is the almost-cyclocross worthy Crossrip bike and the Cali 29er, a women’s specific hardtail and the forthcoming Lush 29er, Trek’s first use of the Full Floater ABP suspension design on a 29er mountain bike!
Equipped with disc brakes and looking the part, it’s designed to be a do-everything commuter-leaning road bike. It’s a solidly featured ride that should appeal to a great many cyclists, and a real bargain for daily riders looking to do a few ‘cross races in the winter. 700x35c tire clearance means you can throw just about any available ‘cross or touring tire on it, and Trek says it’ll even fit their 29×1.8 Bontrager MTB treads. It has Trek’s nifty hidden fender mounts, mechanical disc brakes, internal cable routing, a carbon fork and two spec levels to hit key price points at $1,269.99 (Elite, above) and $1,099.99.
They also showed off a few prototypes and concepts, some of which may make it to production and some that’ll likely continue on only in our dreams…
The Elite, at the top of the post, comes spec’d with a 2×10 Shimano Sora drivetrain, FSA compact cranks and Hayes’ CX5 mehanical calipers.
The base Crossrip, above, gets a 3×8 base level Shimano drivetrain and Avid BB5 brakes.
Here’s a prototype of the Crossrip…we’re kinda partial to the color scheme!
The Cali is a new women’s 29er hardtail mountain bike. It replaces the X-Cal and Mamba and is a true women’s specific platform. Spring rates are a bit softer and geometry and spec based on Trek’s research that showed women tend to ride in a more forward position, so they made the head tube steeper so the rider isn’t fighting to find her best position on the bike.
Prices range from $729.99 to $1,649.99, with spec that should perform well without being anything to write home about. The key feature here is likely the frame, components can be upgraded as necessary. The Cali SL, above, is the top of the range and gets a Shimano M552 crank, SLX rear derailleur and Deore for the rest. Wheels, tires and cockpit are Bontrager with a Rockshox Reba RL 100mm fork. Three models in all, each getting an Alpha Gold alloy frame with internal front derailleur cable routing.
Introduced as a 2012 model, the Lush is a women’s specific full suspension bike. (26″ Lush SL shown above, we’re waiting on a few sneak peeks of the 29er and will update as soon as we get them!). Soon, they’ll have the Lush 29er available as a base and SL model, both alloy frames. As of now, there’s no announced launch date…but it’s in their dealer’s system as a 2013 model with delayed availability.
Seems dealers at Trek World were pretty excited about the Lush 29er for a couple reasons. First, it’s a high performance suspension platform for women, something that doesn’t have a lot of competition in the marketplace right now. Second, showcases the future of Trek’s full suspension offerings…meaning you can expect more long travel 29er bikes using the Full Floater ABP suspension design to come. It’s impressive they put this on the women’s side first.
The new Superfly SL and Superfly 100 SL were announced already, getting some extreme makeover style weight loss. Part of their previously top secret Apollo Project, the frames were sent to two separate departments within Trek to see how each would pick it apart and make it lighter. Once they’d each done their respective best, the teams were brought together to take the best of each others work and combine them to make the frames lighter and stronger. Above is a little video on the project.
PROTOTYPES & CONCEPTS
At left, an integrated headlight on the head tube and side marker LEDs on the fork blades. At right, a tail light built into the integrated toolbox on the Speed Concept TT/triathlon bike.
One piece bar/stems are old hat. What we really need are one piece bar/stem/iPhone holders! If only they had placed the phone mount out in front, as is the style these days.
This one’s my favorite. Integrated garage door opening on your headset cap anyone?
