Mountain Biking - Trek Fuel 100 or wat other bike?

Hello Everyone!

I am wonderign what bike should I get. Should I get a Trek Fuel 100 or any other bike along thoses lines or any other bike that is of great quality with good components...I'm mainly looking for a Dual or Hardtail. Whichever in those two categories that contain good bikes with decent components, please recommend!

I was kind of in the same boat as you not too long ago. I have spent the last 6 months building my bike from scratch. I spent a lot of time trying to decide between a hardtail and full suspension. My advise to you is to look at where you will be riding, how serious a rider you are, and what others who you want to ride with use. Dont believe the hype that hardtails are dead either. A lot of serious riders I ride with use hardtails. I chose a giant nrs 1 fs bike. Giant makes some great bikes and has great bang for the buck wheather you want a hardtail or fs. Trek fuels are good bikes too. You might be able to find a Klein on closeout this year, since they switched suspension designs for 2003.

What kinda riding you doing? Are you a serious rider? You do drops? Ride the cliffs? It all depends. I freeride and do XC. My freeride bike is a K2 Disco Monkey. LOVE IT. It's such a sick bike. I've cleared 7 foot drops with that monster and it's soaked every one up like it was nothing. I've done 25 foot rock walls and the bike still soakes them up too! No problems at all with this bike. It's a great deal too. There's no junk, and the frame is very sweet. Nothing cheap about it, and it's price is all worth it. I got mine complete for $1600+. If you want one, order now directly from K2. This bike is now out of production since the exact model has been successful in sales for over 3 years now. K2 said it's time to try something new. So grab one before they're all out. If I had to buy it again, I would. So if you want something serious that'll give you what you want, go K2.


http://www.k2bikes.com/images/bikes/disco_monkey_sm.jpg

Hey Truonger, it all depends wat kind of riding you r gonna do. Are u new to this hobby? If u are new, i would stick with a hartail, then step up 2 at dual.

Well, I mainly do typical mountain biking-hills, dirt paths, etc. I also bike to and from school. Money is no option at this point. But please keep in mind, that I would not want a bike that everyone will stare at, nor a bike that thieves would want to steal. Yet, I still would like a nice bike that runs and would last and survive paths of grueling dirt.

Sadly, thieves will want to steal just about any decent bike, so it's just a matter of thinking about whether or not your bike is secure each time you leave. $15 for a good lock is a lot better than $1500 for another new bike.
Sounds like you don't want the same style bike that freerider biker rides. It's designed to take hits people like me don't even think about. That leaves you looking at high end hardtails or XC style full suspension bikes. The Trek Fuels and Giant NRS are two great examples of the XC FS.
Personally, I ride a Trek hardtail that I have been pretty happy with for the $420 that I spent on it. I ride pretty much whatever dirt trails I can find as well as to run errands around town. I think you will be perfectly happy on whatever hardtail you buy with "money is no option" but a FS will give you a little more comfortable ride and more room to expand you riding style

maximaboy1,

well, as some people have already asked, you should say more about what kind of riding you do --- lots of climbing and fast riding, extreme downhills, or more "freeriding" just looking for the coolest jumps and drops...

i personally am an XC rider/racer who also likes downhill. for me weight was #1, as well as quality and the chose was between XC FS (like the Trek Fuel) or a hardtail. The more "Enduro" or "freeride" style bike will be heavier with more suspension travel, heavier components (brakes, frame, shocks, etc).

i personally decided to buy my first FS after considering them for about 3 years and always deciding they were too heavy and i stuck with hardtail. this time my final decision was between the Trek Fuel 98 (i don't have the money for the 100), the Specialized FSR XC and the Giant NRS. i think all three are great bikes for XC and i've been really happy with my Specialized. all three use a 4-bar suspension which minimizes "bob" and in most cases actually IMPROVES climbing ability. if you do lots of climbing or distance, i would really recommend a 4-bar and NOT a single-bar suspenion (more downhill style)

as for hardtails, anything in the this price class (> $1500) is probably decent... the Specialized in particular are nice ( i like Specialized if you can't tell)

if you're going into the heavier "freeride" zone, i don't have as much advice.

but in the XC FS realm: between the Trek, Specialized and Giant (all 3 off different levels of components for range of $1500-$3500), in MY opinion the Giant is a little less good (but cheaper) and the Specialized and Trek are great with the Specialized being more bike for the $$$. i have the '02 FSR XC with the Fox Float RL front fork and it is aewsome!

We have the same bike. Gotta love the Fox Fork.

No wonder why we both love Specialized so much. God Bless the FSR (and fox fork)

I currently have my eye on the Trek Fuel 100, which as the previous poster stated, has a 4-bar suspension. I typically ride long distances-10 miles on any trail and 10 back. I also do some minor off road, such as dirt roads or gravel. People may think that an XC Hardtail would be suitable for my riding style, but I would just like to buy a nice bike that is more than enough for me just in case I were to ever change my riding style. For those who have a Trek Fuel 100, please elaborate on its features. Thank you. Also, if you have any other recommendations on bikes based on my riding style, please share!

Actually, the trek fuel is not a four bar suspension design, because it has no pivots at the rear dropout. It is a single pivot design with a swinglink to help anchor the rear triangle. That being said, it is still considered to be an efficient design.

VINER
FANTASTICO!
http://www.rlaenterprises.com/cycling/viner/index.html

Originally posted by maximaboy1
I currently have my eye on the Trek Fuel 100, which as the previous poster stated, has a 4-bar suspension. I typically ride long distances-10 miles on any trail and 10 back. I also do some minor off road, such as dirt roads or gravel. People may think that an XC Hardtail would be suitable for my riding style, but I would just like to buy a nice bike that is more than enough for me just in case I were to ever change my riding style. For those who have a Trek Fuel 100, please elaborate on its features. Thank you. Also, if you have any other recommendations on bikes based on my riding style, please share!

I just finished my Fuel 100 build. I got a frame used, good condition and just built it from some used parts i had on my hardtail but mostly new parts i got from online retailers. Total cost about $1200 for everything. I dont miss my hardtail at all. The trek is fast accelerates well and the rear lock out is not even needed. I dont feel the susp working, everything just feels smoother :) Its a great feeling. Total weight of my RIG is a hair over 25 lb...Xt cranks/bb (new), XT brakesv (had), xt hubs (new), velocity aeroheat rims/dt comp spokes (new), ROCK Shox Psylo SL (new), Maxxis high roller 2.1 tires (new).

Here is a pic

http://www.l8apex.50megs.com/bike/fuel100built.jpg

Originally posted by knobbymojo
Actually, the trek fuel is not a four bar suspension design, because it has no pivots at the rear dropout. It is a single pivot design with a swinglink to help anchor the rear triangle. That being said, it is still considered to be an efficient design.

you were somewhat right knobbymojo. While the trek is not a 4-Bar it is nowhere being a single pivot design either. It has a pivot at the bottom bracket area, but behind the bottom bracket, then a pivot on the down tube that the rear triangle moved over and i consider the first point of contact on the triangle an active pivot too, so all in all it's got 3 pivots and 2 main ones. But in no way is it a single pivot design. The single pivot design has one large rear triangle that pivots inside of the front triangle on a massive bearing to the shock connected to the top tube. Both the Trek and Single Pivot bikes(santa cruz) are great designs in their own right, and even though the trek doesnt have the 4-Bar like you saud knobbymojo it's still a pretty decent design, allbeit a less active one it's still pretty good

Originally posted by maximaboy1
Hello Everyone!

I am wonderign what bike should I get. Should I get a Trek Fuel 100 or any other bike along thoses lines or any other bike that is of great quality with good components...I'm mainly looking for a Dual or Hardtail. Whichever in those two categories that contain good bikes with decent components, please recommend!

If you're looking for a good bike with decent components, it is my opinion that a Trek Fuel 100 is a bit overboard. However, if money is no object, then you can't go wrong with the Fuel 100. I've only test ridden a Fuel 90. I loved it. But, I am a bit if a simplest, so I didn't buy it.