SOC16: Trek Farley EX full suspension 27.5″ fat bike crushes all seasons, hardtails get lighter

Fat bikes are Trek’s fastest growing category, and it’s not because there’s more snow. Surprisingly, they say Nebraska, Kentucky, New Mexico, Arizona and Tennessee are the fastest growing states for fat bikes.

So, the natural evolution to their line is full suspension with the all-new Trek Farley EX full suspension fat bike. It has an even broader usage range than the Farley hardtails. Trek’s calling it an all-season bike, something that’s super versatile and uses the same design and performance of their standard full suspension trail bikes, so it works just as well in the desert, the mountains or the snow.

Going with a pure fat bike rather than “plus” tires gives them even more traction in all types of terrain, and the 120mm suspension gives you more bump control. With fat bike tires, you essentially have uncontrolled suspension coming from the big, inflated rubber. Putting a tuned suspension on both ends of the bike lets them control the motion better, which further enhances traction. To cap it all off, they’re built around 27.5″ fat bike tires, not 26″, which puts an even bigger patch of rubber on the ground. Grip it and rip it.

For those opposed to suspension with their giant tires, there’s also a new top-of-the-line Farley 9.9 rigid carbon hardtail with custom HED carbon wheels that’s a lightweight race rocket…

The Farley EX gets their Full Floater suspension design with Penske designed Re:Aktiv Fox shocks on the back and a Rockshox Bluto up front.

It also gets their ABP concentric rear pivot/axle combo and Evo Link. The design and spec usage manages to build the pivots and tire clearance into a tight package, keeping the same Q-factor as their hardtail fat bikes. How? By simply flipping the Race Face direct mount chainrings around, moving the chainline out about 10mm without stretching the Q-factor. It uses the 121mm PFBB (100mm threaded equivalent) standard, and the mounting method means the bikes are 1x specific.

The Farley EX 9.8 gets an OCLV carbon fiber front triangle…

…and the Farley EX 8 has their Alpha Platinum Aluminum front end. They share the same alloy seat- and chain stay tail.

The 9.8 runs everything internally, but the EX 8 keeps brake and dropper lines outside the downtube. A port on the bottom of the seat tube lets the cable inside for a stealth dropper post.

Axle spacing is 197×12 rear and 150×15 front. Max recommended tire size is 27.5 x 4.0, but it comes stock with 3.8s.

The 9.8 will get their 2500g Bontrager Wampa Carbon SL tubeless ready wheels and Hodag tires, SRAM X01/X1 bits with Guide brakes, Race Face Next SL cranks and the new Bontrager Drop Line dropper seatpost (more on that in a separate post). The EX 8 gets Bontrager hubs with Sun Ringle Mulefut 80mm rims, SRAM GX 1×11 and Level brakes, Race Face Affect cranks and a KS eThirty Integra dropper post. Both get a Rockshox Bluto RL with 120mm travel. Retail is $/€5,499 and $/€3,499, available for order at dealers now, delivery in August. Complete bikes only, no framesets.

2017 TREK FARLEY HARDTAILS

Trek’s Farley hardtails have been on the market for a minute, but they’re getting a new all-carbon race version at the top of the line. The new Farley 9.9 is a 22 pound, North America-only build that gets custom 27.5 HED Big Half Deal wheels.

The wheels use 495g carbon rims laced to HED’s carbon hubs and comes in at just 1,877g for the set. Those combine with all-new Bontrager Barbegazi 27.5 x 4.5 tires that, on average, come in a little lighter than the 26 x 4.7 version (1240g versus 1305g, to be exact). The result is dramatically larger contact patch and better side knob-to-dirt engagement on the 27.5 tire that’s also lighter.

This, and the other carbon fiber Farley hardtails all get 27.5″ wheels with a max 4.0 tire recommended, or a 26 x 4.5, depending on brand. That figure was limited by the Bluto’s clearance, but the ability to run different size tires is thanks to their Stranglehold adjustable dropouts. Those let you tune the wheelbase or accommodate various tire sizes. It even lets you set the bike up as a singlespeed since the design is strong enough to prevent axle creep.

The carbon Farley 9.9 is 1900g for the complete frameset (frame, headset, fork) and will be spec’d with the new SRAM XX1 Eagle 1×12 group and a carbon Bontrager cockpit and foam grips. Retail is $7,500, available in August.

Below that are two more carbon models, the 9.8 (silver, $4,599) with SRAM X01 1×11, Wampa carbon wheels and the 9.6 (orange, $2,799) with GX1 and Mulefut wheels. The Farley 5 (blue, $1,729) and 7 (black, $2,399) are alloy and drop down to 26″ wheels and lower level spec, with the 5 using an alloy fork, too. All others get carbon fiber forks, and all get the new Barbegazi tires.

All are available for order now with delivery in August.

TrekBikes.com