SKIP TO THE END FOR A JUNE 2014 UPDATE:
I have spent the last two day doing some 16 mile laps on the trails at Mid Michigan Community College. I have to say it was freaking awesome to be out in the woods, which are blossoming into a golden shower of autumnal leaves, and awesomer [word?] still to have the chance to ride through that crunchy golden shower on a bike that is very much NOT mine, but would NOT mind at all if it were.
The bike in question is the Trek Superfly 100 9.8 SL. It belongs to my friend and local bike shop owner Mike. He’s racing this upcoming weekend on his hard tail singlespeed and knows my love of bikes and my love/hate relationship with full suspension 29ers, so he offered me the chance to borrow his Superfly 100 for the week and see what I thought. I hate him, because I KNOW deep down the only reason he’s letting me borrow it is to get me hooked on it and want to buy one. He’s like a crack dealer and sadly, I am like a crack head.
The bike is light (for being a 21″ full suspension 29er with a 200+ lb. rider on top) and comes in at a bit over 25 pounds ready to ride (set up as my friend has it with XTR pedals, cage, computer, Thomson post/stem, Ergon grips and Salsa carbon riser bar). The frame is Trek’s OCLV carbon (main frame/seatstay) with alloy chainstay and the wheels are Bontrager Race Lite Tubeless Ready, wheels that in my opinion are more than light enough for real world riding and racing and they’re NOT Stan’s rims (I have had a LOT of issues with Stan’s rims).
I was suspect of the size, thinking it was too big, but my buddy assured me it would be fine and he was spot on. His cockpit set up is WAY taller than mine and more like a trail bike which took some getting used to, but the bike rode so damn good I barely thought about it.
I cursed Mike loudly over almost every one of the 32 miles I have on the bike so far. I am falling in love with the Superfly 100 and I hate him for that.
What I Liked:
- Did not feel sluggish…. at all!
- After YEARS of Grip Shift, the XT triggers felt surprisingly better and I found myself shifting more often.
- The thru axle Fox Evolution Series 32 Float felt better than any crap Reba I’ve used. LOVE Fox shox!
- The XT brakes are so much better than my Avid Juicy Ultimates that I can’t put into words. I love them.
- The 2 x 10 drive train worked very well and would be more than adequate for Michigan singletrack riding.
- The bottom bracket area is nice and stiff. Even compare to my Ti hard tail with vintage XTR crank and Hope bottom bracket.
- The bike is quiet! Part of that is surely because it’s new, but I was getting no chain slapping from the drivetrain, no squealing from the brakes and no creaking from the suspension. I like that in a bike.
The So-So
- Carbon fiber. It’s great… until it breaks. I fear it breaking and since the bike is not mine I fear it more. BUT if the bike were mine I would feel a LITTLE better about it given Trek’s warranty and the fact I have a swell relationship with my LBS.
- The tires seem narrow, but rolled fast and have posed no real problems so far.
- Having front and rear shock lock outs is pretty sweet, but over the past 2 days of riding I only locked it out once.
- Also note, Mike (the bike’s owner) opted for two separate lock out levers rather than the one. His reasoning was that sometimes he likes to have the rear as firm as possible yet still have the front shock soaking up some bumps.
- The weight is pretty darn good, but I think with some upgrades down the road it could be just a tad lighter. Obviously you could get the 9.9, IF you have $9,000 freaking dollars lying around– I don’t, if I were buying one it would be the 9.8 and full XT for sure.
The Bad
- The lockout cable for the rear shock interferes with water bottle access (I go right). BOO! I wonder if it could be rerouted someway?
- The price. Even if this bike was one dollar (it’s several thousand more), that would be more than I could spend on a bike now, especially since I am jobless and Wifey works for the U.S. Government and is currently going to work every day, working her ass off and NOT getting paid. USA! USA! USA!
The Bad (Not the Bike’s Fault)
I missed my flat bar, stubby bar ends and ESI grips. I think I might be the only person in the world who gets numb hands from Ergon grips. The cockpit is built up a little too upright for me. If the bike was mine I would lose the riser bars for sure. The upright position had me popping the front wheel on a couple short, steep climbs on Wednesday but today I adjusted my riding style a bit and had no issues. I also stood and hammered a couple climbs as if I were on my hard tail; with the rear locked out it motored up hill just like my El Mariachi and with it on Trail Mode it had some minimal bobbing but soaked up the lumps, rocks and roots so I call it even. I don’t mind a bit of bounce if it means the trail is getting smoothed out.
The best?
I have ridden 32 miles on it thus far and have had little to no back pain at all. Was it from the more upright position or from the bump and root munching travel? I’m not sure, but I know that at the end of each ride I felt fresh and wanted to ride more, something that haven’t felt in a long time, I call that a win. I have had two full suspension 29er and had love/hate relationships with them. Most of that was due to weight and what I perceived as sluggish handling. I have no such complaints about the Superfly 100 9.8 SL. The past two rides rank up there as the best I have felt on a bike in a LONG time. I really thought that I would need to go to a 650b FS to get any full suspension satisfaction… it turns out I was wrong.
The Worst
It’s not my bike, I have to give it back. I am thinking of robbing a bank to get one or turning tricks in the park to get one. Maybe I should just up my job search?
JUNE 2014 UPDATE:
I am not much of a blog stats guy, but the post that you just read above seems to be one of the most read posts that I have ever written. Thanks for reading! I feel I owe you all an update of sorts since I ended up buying this bike from the dude that let me borrow it a month after I wrote the post above. I knew that was his motivation, yet I couldn’t say no (mostly due to the so-not retail, semi-used price I paid). Jerk! Anyway, here is the update eight months later:
- Cut to the chase: I still LOVE this bike. I surely have hundreds of miles on it by this time and only seem to ride my hard tail mountain bike on dirt and gravel road ride these days.
- I have crashed it hard once and there was no issue with the carbon fiber at all. I wish I could say the same for my back.
- I am running it with a flat bar, ESI grip and stubby bar ends.
- The XT 2×10 drivetrain has been AWESOME!
- The XT brakes are still super grabby (too much sometimes).
- I am still not thrilled with the bottle cage and for my racing and riding I now usually ride with a small hydration pack for ease of hydration.
- Like the bike as I tested it above I have also switched to a Thompson layback post.
- The bike is one of the quietest bikes I have ever ridden.
- The wheels have held up fine and have needed no truing. I thought I had a wobble once, here it was just a tire seating issue after I added more Stan’s goo.
- The stock tires have held up great and have been fine for (mostly dry) Michigan singletrack.
- I really hardly ever use the lock outs. Once in a while on a climb I will lock out but the climbs around here are so short it’s not really worth it.
- The price? I did not pay retail for this bike and I don’t know if I ever would. It is a GREAT bike, but I would have had to make do with the perfectly fine aluminum version had I not got a deal and also sold and old frame along with that deal.
- I tried to ride my hard tail on singletrack last month. I lasted about a mile. This bike has spoiled me rotten.
- I mentioned the lack of back pain when riding this bike. That was very true until I crashed a month or so back. Since then my back has not been the same on ANY bike. I can’t blame the bike for that. It is getting better though.
- I am no weight weenie, but there are surely those who would think the 26ish pound weight of this bike would be too much. I can see that, but those bikes cost more and I need to cut about 40 pounds from my frame, so that would probably be cheaper.
Hope some of this helps any of you looking into a Trek Superfly FS. Thanks again for reading.