FAST BIKE FRIDAY – TREK SUPERCALIBER 9.8 XT 2021

This week we’re taking a look at the striking and rather unique Trek Supercaliber 9.8 XT 2021 Cross Country mountain bike which is packed full of lightweight componentry along with a Shimano XT groupset and 29” carbon fibre wheels making it a race-ready bike straight out of the box. BUT hold on, what’s going on underneath the top tube?! Is this a hardtail or a full-suss bike? Or something in between?! Well, lets start with a quick history lesson; this bike has already been around for a couple of seasons and as we all know the bike industry doesn’t stand still for long, but it’s worth a quick look back at the Supercal’s design and development at the highest level of World Cup Mountain Bike Racing and how this unique bike caught everyone’s attention when it launched…

What’s under the covers?…

The Trek Supercaliber first appeared early mid-season in 2019, being piloted by the men and women of the international Trek Factory Racing Team, with each bike carrying a rather un-subtle black covering over whatever was going on beneath it. A shrewd marketing manoeuvre by Trek to draw attention to a soon-to-be-launched model? Or a necessary part of the design process to allow prototype bikes to be tested within the most demanding MTB races in the world? Probably the former, but either way the world’s bike media sat up and took note with lot’s of speculation and spy-shots being published around the world.

The Supercaliber meets the demands of modern World Cup racing…

When all was finally revealed we discovered that Trek had taken on a whole new approach to rear suspension design with a solution that fell somewhere between their Iso-Speed Decoupler found on the Trek Procaliber hardtail and their Top Fuel full-suspension mountain bike with 120mm of rear wheel travel. Trek’s exclusive IsoStrut integrated shock with 60mm of travel suddenly gave their racers the option of running a new short-travel cross country mountain bike that could handle sprints and climbs faster than a full-susser but could also descend faster and in more control than a hardtail.

The IsoStrut is revealed…

The Trek designers have integrated a fully-tuneable Fox Performance rear shock into the structure of the carbon fibre frame eliminating any extra moving parts normally associated with full suspension bikes, producing a simple suspension platform with minimum weight gain. The IsoStrut shock is encased in the frame’s structural stanchion which helps prevent any potential for twisting or flex while giving the feel and behaviour of a conventional carbon hardtail UNTIL you hit an obstacle and activate the shock.

IsoStrut shock is integral to the structure of the frame…

Built to meet the brief of being a world-class cross-country mountain bike capable of not only handling tough, technical and rocky descents but also gaining an advantage on long singletrack climbs as well as being able to win a desperate sprint for the line the Supercaliber utilises years of Trek’s expert engineering and development in carbon fibre frame manufacturing. Pivotless seatstays eliminate the need for extra linkages and the potential for excess lateral movement which can sap the power being put through to the rear wheel. With a clever carbon layup and sensitive shaping Trek have created wide, flat seatstays that are designed to flex and bow giving 60mm of plush suspension travel while being just as responsive to pedalling input as a conventional hardtail.

Lightweight, no-nonsense pivotless seatstays…

The Fox Performance air-sprung shock is fully tuneable using a standard shock pump, allowing you to tune the spring rate to suit your weight and riding style; it also features a dial for rebound adjustment. Fitted with a remote lockout this shock can be quickly shut off on the fly. Coming straight off a steep, demanding descent into a long fire-track climb? Need to put the power down quickly to gain a gap? No problem, the lockout is at your fingertips.

Lockout the rear shock on the fly…

OK, so that’s the frame. What about the components and groupset? Well, Trek have spec’d the Fox Performance 32 Step-Cast suspension fork up front with a Float EVOL air spring.

100mm of travel from the race-ready Fox Performance 32…

This lightweight Boost 110 fork balances brilliantly with the Supercaliber’s rear shock giving 100mm of travel which can be tuned with a GRIP 2-position damper and locked out when you need to via the handlebar mounted lever.

Fox Performance 32 Step-Cast fork, remote lockout…

Trek offer the Supercaliber 9.8 model in two guises – GX or XT giving you the choice of groupset between Sram GX and Shimano XT. This is a really good approach from Trek as we all know that the spec of a particular groupset can make or break the popularity of a bike and riders generally seem to feel strongly on whether they’re a Sram fan or a Shimano fan.

Shimano XT chainset with 32T chainring…

As the name suggests the Supercaliber 9.8 XT we’re looking at here features Shimano full XT groupset with a 1×12 speed drivetrain consisting of a single 32T chainring up front combined with a wide-ratio 10-51T cassette out back. An XT M8100 long cage, clutch rear mech partnered with XT M8100 12-speed shifter guarantees crisp, predicable gear shifting even when you’re under mid-race pressure.

Full Shimano XT 12 speed groupset…

The finishing kit of the Supercaliber 9.8 XT reflects Trek’s focus on creating an out and out race-ready MTB with a pair of Bontrager Kovee Pr0 30 carbon 29er wheels fitted as standard; these lightweight hoops come fitted with fast-rolling Bontrager XR2 Team Issue 29×2.20” tyres. Both the rims and the tyres are tubeless ready so straight out of the box you’ve got everything you need for a fast, light and durable race wheel setup.

Tubeless ready Bontrager Kovee Pro 30 carbon 29er wheelset…

Continuing the theme of lightweight high-performance components Trek have finished off the Supercaliber 9.8 with a Bontrager Kovee Pro handlebar made from their own Trek OCLV carbon which features a 5mm rise and is 720mm wide. Similarly the seatpost is a 0mm offset Bontrager Pro OCLV carbon post fitted with a Bontrager Montrose Elite saddle with lightweight titanium rails.

Lightweight OCLV carbon handle bars and seat post…

So who is this bike for? Well, cross country racing snakes is the obvious answer; everything has been spec’d with this in mind, however, it would be a shame to pigeonhole the Supercaliber 9.8 as a bike that only comes out on race day. This bike is fast, lightweight AND extremely versatile mirroring a lot of the qualities found in a typical gravel bike, which more and more cyclists are now drawn to. Arguably as fast and responsive, the difference with the Supercaliber is that when things get more rowdy and you swing off the fire track onto tight, rough singletrack this bike really comes to life and can handle the extra demands of riding technical mountain biking terrain – it’s World Cup proven after all. If you’re the type of rider looking to cover some significant distances over a diverse mix of terrain and surfaces and tend to chase ever faster Strava times then the Trek Supercaliber 9.8 XT mountain bike is for you.

Trek Supercaliber is too good to save just for race day…

Check out Trek’s video for even more information on their IsoStrut suspension platform….

Currently in stock at Wheelbase:

Trek Supercaliber 9.8 XT 2021 £5,300.00

Trek Supercaliber 9.7 NX 2021 £3,950.00

 

Blog written by Johnny Dodgin

Bike Photos by James Vincent