200+ Mile Review Trek Top Fuel 8

I wanted to start this post with a picture from one of the many adventures I have taken with this bike. This picture was taken at Raystown Lake, which fortunately for me is about a 1.5 hour drive away. Its great to be able to ride epic trails like that so close to home! I wrote my initial review back in September. I know to most of you only having a little over 200 miles on a bike in 6 months is pathetic but for me being a father of 2 young boys and having a job with alternating shifts as well as my military obligations I am happy with that!

I can say that everyone of those miles have been great! Even the grinding out of the climbs we have here in the mountains of WV and surrounding areas. Speaking of climbing, I had always rode a hardtail in the past. I had some reservations spending up for a full squishy...NOT ANYMORE! This bike climbs better then my hardtails. Maybe some of that is because my legs don't take the blunt of the descents anymore but I'll get to those later. I am running a 1X set-up on this bike. Yes I am in the stone age it seems only running 10spd with a normal sized cassette but may upgrade soon! My fitness has improved so I am able to pedal more consistently on the climbs. With the geometry of this bike and the stiffness I do not get the "hops" while climbing. Its tuned well for me by the awesome guys down at EPBC so I don't need to worry about locking/unlocking at all. I can just go ride this bike!

T.H.U.M.B MTB Club

I have started this post many different times but have yet to finish it...this needs to stop. It has been a long time coming so I might as well start the story from the beginning...

Many years ago, Brian and a handful of friends of EPBC decided that we needed more sweet singletrack in our area. There are quite a few places to ride here in the Eastern Panhandle but not a whole lot of good trails besides rogue trails. We decided that we needed to start an IMBA (International Mountain Bike Association) chapter to get things going. We had started laying down some trails in Poor House Farm Park outside Martinsburg and wanted to everything official. I took on the task of looking into the IMBA Charter. In doing so I discovered that a club needs to be in place with standing membership first. So we started to meet at the shop to grease the wheels and get something going. Needless to say that since I am writing this years later things didn't go too well. I am not ready to give it all up yet. I am ready for the second push!

THUMB stands for, "The Hillbillies Unite to Mountain Bike." That was a quick name I thought up, we can gladly change it but I know that some others like it too...My main goal here is to get a group of outdoor enthusiasts to come together to help create more outdoor recreating space not only for cyclists but also trail runners, hikers, and equestrians. Another obvious reason is to build a group of people to ride with! One of the problems that we are having is a unorganized effort. It is awesome that we are getting anything done in the woods but I believe we need a clear organized plan. I believe this club will help us be more productive and create great spaces to recreate.

I know a long term goal that many of us share is a trail system in Sleepy Creek. So much good riding up there already but its not what it can be...If we show our community that responsible trail building can bring so much good to our area I believe many doors can be opened for us in the Eastern Panhandle. I have been in contact with the regional director of IMBA and with a little effort on our parts we may be able to get them to help us with a presentation to our local government as well as help with our Poor House Project.

Trail work by THUMB

I will try my best to get some stuff going after the holidays, its such a busy time for everyone I know but I am passionate about this and want to get things going. I hope you will join me in trying to make the Eastern Panhandle more bike friendly, we do live in West Virginia, its a shame we don't have more places to enjoy riding our bike!  Stay tuned for news about a meeting...click the link below to our Facebook page!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/thumbmtb/

Please drop me a note below with any feedback or ideas, thanks and have a Merry Christmas!

Trail work by THUMB

Inital Review of 2016 Trek Top Fuel

Well I have done it again...I have sold my Superfly and purchased a new Trek Top Fuel. I am a little behind on this post but unlike other blogging bicyclists I haven't gotten too many miles on the bike yet so I believe an initial review is still appropriate. I would like to preface this review by saying that the Trek Superfly was a great bike...light, handled great, looked awesome, but the geometry was off for me. The suspension set up would be better suited on a little smoother trails then the gnarly rock croppings and the constant pounding from the West Virginia hills.

(Ill be honest, I was pushing the weight limit for that suspension setup)

Now that we got that out of the way; as soon as Trek dropped the news about the new and improved Top Fuel I had the blinders on. I loved everything I was reading about this bike! The styling was great, the reviews that were out so far were awesome, not to mention the promo videos from Trek. I would say that everyday I was doing more and more research on the bike and with every passing day I wanted it more and more. I was a little skeptical of the Boost setup but I also read all there is out there on it and I was digging that as well. I love the 29er wheels and getting a stronger wheel with widening the hub to allow for a steeper spoke angle to strengthen the wheel impressed me even more!



I would say by the second day of research my "old" Superfly was up for sale. I had originally decided to try to just get a frame and use my 15' Superfly Fork and components which would also force me to buy a new rear hub for the boost. After a little consideration I decided to just order a complete bike and set it up the way I wanted. I knew I wanted to run a 1X setup. I have always been a sucker for Black bikes with clean lines so the Top Fuel 8 was the perfect fit for me. Didn't take long to sell the Superfly and the next day the Top Fuel was ordered from the great crew down at EPBicycles.

After waiting for a couple days the new bike had arrived. Once assembled I already started a few modifications. I set it up with a Race Face 30T ring and removed the front derailleur. Also changed out the grips and cut the ugly decals off the wheels for a more custom look.

I tooled around the neighborhood for the first couple weeks. It was hard to find time to go out to the mountains to ride. I did sneak out to the local trail project at Poor House Farm Park and get 5 miles on actual singletrack.  Even though it was only a few miles I could tell this was the best bike I had ever ridden. I have ridden quite a few bikes too...

I felt so comfortable on the bike, the suspension responded so well. I climbed everything there without locking anything out. I didn't get the bobbing while turning the pedals with decent force. I told my wife when I got back from the ride that it was a good thing I bought the bike, because it I was just doing a test ride I would have been doing all I needed to get one. That all being said, the wider hubs and beefier 29er wheel led to better control on the trail. The bike rides like a all-mountain bike. The 30T 1X setup makes climbing fun and enough gearing for bombing the downs. I cannot wait to get more miles under the tires of this bike. I will try to write another review when I get 50+ miles.