Aluminium full-suspension mountain bike Trek Fuel EX 8 Eagle 70 speckled grey: 2.50 tyres, Fox, 16.58 kg

Trek Fuel EX 8 Lithium Grey: the trail bike for every weekend

Designed to go anywhere, the Trek Fuel EX 8 Gen 7 combines an Alpha NEXT Platinum aluminium frame, 150 mm of travel at the front with a Fox Rhythm 36 and 145 mm at the rear with a Fox Float X. 2.50-inch Bontrager Brevard Pro tyres and a SRAM Eagle 70 T-Type drivetrain complete a bike weighing 16.58 kg in size M according to Trek. The Lithium Grey/Trek Black Splatter finish keeps things understated with a dark lithium grey flecked with black.

Technical specifications

Who is it for?

For the mountain biker who wants one bike to do it all: Sunday rides with friends, day-long outings, a few bike park sessions and even a regional raid. It is aimed at riders who prefer a versatile, reliable bike to a specialised machine.

The LVR workshop view

Alpha aluminium, Trek's expertise. On Trek's alloy scale, the Alpha NEXT Platinum of this Fuel EX 8 sits above the Alpha Platinum of the Procaliber and Slash 8, and well above the Alpha Silver of the Marlin. The frame takes the ideas of the carbon version: interchangeable rocker, adjustable lower shock mount, adjustable progression and down tube hatch. It keeps a threaded BSA 73 bottom bracket and ISCG 05 tabs for a chain guide.

Put simply: aluminium costs 1.64 kg on the frameset compared with OCLV Mountain carbon (4.95 kg versus 3.31 kg in M), but it copes better with rock strikes and car-park tip-overs. On a trail bike that goes out every weekend, it is a sensible choice we are happy to stand behind.

The dual-compound 2.50-inch Brevard Pro tyres offer a good contact patch without being too slow on smooth tracks. Set up tubeless at low pressure, they grip on the red earth and rock slabs of the Salagou as well as on the dry, dusty ground of the garrigue.

The Rapid Drive 108 rear hub engages almost instantly: on a technical climb, every quarter turn of the pedals is transmitted with no dead time. On the maintenance side, the Eagle 70 drivetrain shares the T-Type principle of more expensive groupsets, with simplified derailleur adjustment.

Which Fuel should you choose?

Our take: compared with the Fuel EX 5, this Fuel EX 8 gains the Fox 36 fork and Brevard Pro tyres while weighing 300 g less. For finer suspension adjustment, the Fuel EX 9 XT and its Fox Factory units take over.

Your questions

Why buy from LVR Cycles? At LVR Cycles in Béziers, we set your Fuel EX 8 up tubeless, adjust the suspension and carry out the annual fork and shock service.

Please note that the specifications may be changed without prior notice by the manufacturer, based on the availability of components and other factors.