Trek Top Fuel 9.9 XX1 AXS // Bike Review

After reviewing a slew of big bikes this summer—each seemingly heftier and slower uphill than the last—it was refreshing to hop on the Trek Top Fuel, a spry 5-inch bike, and start enjoying climbs again. The Trek Top Fuel is a bike with cross-country origins now redesigned to cater to a more aggressive subset of riders. The revamped geometry makes for a longer package overall with a 480-millimeter reach in the low setting on a size large and a 435-millimeter chainstay. This new length, paired with a slightly slacker 66-degree headtube angle, gives the Top Fuel a surprisingly capable feeling at speed, even down steeper trails that the traditional cross-country bikes of yesteryear would balk at. The Top Fuel is a case study in what’s possible for a bike that’s light on overall travel, but heavy on modern geometry and suspension technology. Enduro rigs keep getting chunkier and slower uphill and this polychromatic, peppy Trek seems to have arrived to show us just how capable a featherweight package can be. While