For 2008, 3 mass bicycle production companies are releasing a redesign version of their current trail bikes. From USA, Trek and Specialized and from Taiwan, Giant (although the R&D is made in the US). The changes for 2008 is soo interesting that it has made me regretted buying a bike this year. Anyway enough of unnessary speech and straight to the point.
2008 TREK
Trek offering for next year is a revised version of their Fuel EX line, the travel remains the same which is 120mm but for 08 They offer a redesign rocker link dubbed the EVO link which is made out of Magnesium (Fuel EX 9.5 and 9.0), Aluminium (rest). Trek states that the weakest part of their 07 Fuel EX lineup is their R1 rocker link. It caused the rear triangle to flex, although this flex is more noticable on larger/heavier rider.
Besides that, for 08, Trek also release 2 new technology, which is the floating shock mount and ABP. Instead of a traditional fixed shock mount (like previous EX's where the shock is fixed to the frame) the new shock mount is mounted on the rear triangle bottom linkage, TREK claims that they would be able to fine tune the linkage ratio giving better small bump absorption and bottomless feeling, you can think it as a improved leverage ratio of the current R1 suspension.
Lastly for 08, is the new ABP technology, this is certainly a new suspension design, instead of locating the pivot on the seat stay or chain stay, the pivot is now located on the the intersection of the chain and seat stay. This new design is very similar to Dave Weagle newly released split pivot design. Trek says their new design would eliminate problems that are faced by other 4 bar systems, since the brake caliper is now fixed on the seatstay. Surprisingly, nothing is said about eliminating pedal bob. Because of the ABP design, Trek made their own QR Release axle which fits normal hubs. This QR axle is different from the normal QR axle.
More info at Official 08 Fuel EX website
2008 Specialized
For 2008, Specialized offer a completely redesign Stumpjumper. The new Stumpjumper has a very close resemblance to its longer legged brother, the Enduro SL. Its also lighter and the top of the link S-Works Stumpjumper is reported to weight around 10kg straight out of the box. This means its only slightly heavier then the Epic which would make it a better choice for riders who races are not their priority.
S-Works Stumpjumper comes with Specialized own fork, the new fork is reportedly to weight only 1.4kg, the new fork comes with Spesh own custom steerer, Spesh steerer has a bigger diameter at the bottom and becomes smaller at the top, this caused their S-Works Stumpy not to accept any other fork except for Spesh own fork which caused some riders to be disappointed. The fork has no travel adjust and the fork internals is only on the driveside (similar to Cannondale Lefty fork), the fork uses post mount for the brake calipers and its not V-Brake compatible.
Other changes besides the frame is a redesigned Brain unit which is slightly lighter, a new shock which promises more linear spring rate. More info can be found at cyclingnews.com .
A vid of Ned Overend riding the new Stumpjumper
2008 Giant
Previous year's Trance line receive a very common complaint, which is its weight, the Trance is one of the heaviest 4" trail bike on the market which made it to lose out to its competitors. So what have Giant done for their 08? A longer travelled Trance called Trance X (5" rear travel) and Trance, the Trance X is only 200g heavier then Trance which would make it a better choice then the Trance. 2008 Trance's receive a completely redesign frame, gone are the through downtube and the new design is lighter, its only slightly heavier then Giant's competitive XC Full Sus, Anthem.
Also for 08, The redesigned Trance has a new rear triangle design and the lower link pivot is now mounted with the shock mount on a single axle to reduce weight.
Giant has also take note of their paint issue, for 08 the bikes painting process will go through, brushing, bead blasting anodizing and decal application, this means you can expect a better quality on the bike looks. Also the cable has be rerouted for simpler cable routing.
Feel free to head over to Giant's site for more info about the new Trance line Giant Trance X0 link
Trance X Rerouted Cable and Better Paint Quality
Well so as you can see, it seems for 08, Trek, Specialized and Giant has improved their Trail bike ranges. Im very interesting in test riding the new Fuel EX and Stumpy. Anyway below are the pic of this year and next year's trail bike offering.
*Most pictures were taken from cyclingnews.com
A better quality of this post can be found at my old blog
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