TREK ROSCOE 8 – PRODUCT FEATURE

 

Who loves a hardcore hardtail? We certainly do! If you’re on a tight budget or simply can’t get your head around the potential maintenance and extra workshop hours of a complex, multi-linkage full-suspension mountain bike then a tough little hardtail designed to handle the rigours of aggressive, gravity-focused trail riding is a great option. TREK’s Roscoe 8 may be a little late to the hardcore hardtail party compared to some of the smaller British brands but the delay was worth it. With TREK no-doubt biding their time and watching how this corner of the MTB market evolved they had the opportunity to let the great wheel-size debate play out before committing to fast-rolling 29” wheels and building a very capable trail bike around them.

The new-gen TREK Roscoe has joined the hardcore hardtail party and we love it!

 

First off, to be clear, this generation of Roscoe is VERY different to its predecessor which featured smaller 27.5” wheels with super-wide plus-sized tyres. The previous range of Roscoe was aimed squarely at the entry market, with those wide tyres giving plenty of traction and control, providing confident handling to riders just starting to explore further on their bike for the first time; the previous Roscoe also featured more traditional, less progressive frame geometry too. This new Roscoe 8 and all of the other Roscoe’s in the range leave all that behind, giving the new models more travel, bigger wheels and progressive geometry to reinvent it as a legit hardcore hardtail trail bike.

The Roscoe 8 is part of a new sub-range of bikes that are very different to the previous generation Roscoe.

 

The new TREK Roscoe has more travel, jumping up from 120mm on the previous model to 140mm on the new 2022 model; with a longer-travel suspension fork the Roscoe becomes a more versatile trail-focused bike that’s ready for aggressive riding and the extra demands of high-speed descending on steep, rocky terrain. Big drops, hard landings, rock gardens, the extra capacity of the 140mm travel fork opens up the possibilities of what the Roscoe can handle and simply makes your riding more fun.

The Roscoe 8’s alloy frame has been designed around a capable, long-travel 140mm fork.

 

It’s impossible to talk about trail bikes without talking about progressive geometry – the buzz words around modern trail bike design; progressive geometry basically means that the chassis of the bike has been designed to excel on the descents, giving a confidence-inspiring ride on tight, steep technical trails as well as fast, wide-open terrain. How is this done? Well to achieve a stable-feeling at speed the TREK designers keep the bottom bracket low and make the top tube longer for an increased reach and more room to move around on the bike without feeling pitched forward and combine this with a shorter stem to keep steering sharp and helping to keep your weight back on steep drops. Trek have slackened the headtube angle on the Roscoe 8 moving from a fairly steep 67 degrees on the previous version to a nice slack 65 degrees; this helps to keep you in control on the steepest descents and really lets that long-travel RockShox 35 Gold RL fork go to work.

The TREK Roscoe 8 boasts exactly the sort of progressive geometry numbers you’d expect from this sort of hardtail trail bike.

 

The Roscoe 8 features a nice steep seat angle too which is another feature we see on modern trail bikes. The 74.7 degree seat tube comes into its own when the Roscoe is pointed back uphill, putting you in exactly the right position to be able to pedal efficiently in the saddle with the dropper seatpost up, allowing you to distribute your weight evenly over the front and rear wheels and helping you to maintain traction and control. In some kind of Jedi design trick TREK have been able to shorten the chainstay length of this new-gen Roscoe compared to the previous version despite the increase in wheel size from 27.5” to 29”. This helps to give the bike a more agile feel which encourages you to throw the Roscoe around the most tight and technical trail you can find.

The Roscoe 8’s seat tube is steep at 74.4 degrees and really helps you climb effectively in the saddle.

 

As well as the alloy Roscoe 8 frame boasting that great progressive geometry there’s another few details worth noting. First off, in an acknowledgement to how TREK expect you to ride this hardcore hardtail, there’s a dual-density downtube guard and a full-coverage chainstay guard which does a great job of protecting both the upper and underside of the chainstay. Trek have also included more downtube armour with their dual-density downtube guard and a full-coverage chainstay guard that protects the upper and underside of the chainstay. Internal cable routing is neat and rattle-free and there’s a new design for the bottom bracket shell to allow for neat internal cable routing for the dropper seat post. Speaking of the bottom bracket the Roscoe 8 sees a return to a threaded bottom bracket, making it more user-friendly and opening up the possibility of relatively quick servicing at home.

The return of a threaded bottom bracket is a very welcome feature.

 

The alloy Roscoe 8 frame boasts plenty of clearance for wide tyres like the 2.60″ Bontrager XR4 Team Issues ones fitted.

 

As we’ve already mentioned, the new TREK Roscoe 8 comes with a nice long-travel suspension fork to help really open up the capabilies of this hardcore hardtail. The Roscoe 8 features a RockShox 35 Gold RL fork, providing 140mm of plush travel facilitated by their popular DebonAir spring; a Motion Control damper keeps the fork in control while the fork’s lockout (without a remote lever) means you can quickly lock the fork out for the long climb back up to the top of your favourite trail. With Boost 110 spacing and a 15mm Maxle Stealth thru-axle the junction between the fork and the front wheel hub is stiff and secure, enhancing steering precision and ultimately giving you more control as you blast through the rough stuff at speed.

The RockShox 35 Gold RL fork provides 140mm of plush travel and helps you blast through technical, rocky terrain in total control.

 

The burly RockShox 35 Gold RL fork is built to match the demands of a bike like the Roscoe 8.

 

The fork’s lockout will quickly come into play when you point the Roscoe uphill.

 

The TREK Roscoe features a magic mix of SRAM and Shimano components to make up the complete groupset. Why a magic mix? Because TREK have done that clever thing where they spec a SRAM drivetrain but with Shimano hydraulic brakes; TREK deem the Shimano brakes at this price point to be more effective than their SRAM equivalents so that’s why you’ll see a mix of component brands on the Roscoe. It’s another reflection on just how focused TREK are on getting the spec of each and every bike in their range as competitive as possible.

The Roscoe 8’s groupset consists of a SRAM drivetrain and a Shimano brake set.

 

The Roscoe 8 features a simple 1X drivetrain consisting of a single 30T chainring upfront combined with a wide-ratio 12-speed cassette on the rear wheel consisting of 12 cogs ranging from 11T to a whopping 50T. This huge spread of gears will mean you’ll never be left wanting a suitable gear ratio; the drivetrain includes super-low gear to help you climb almost any gradient and clear technical uphill sections without any problems. Moving the chain over all of those gears with consistent precision and control is a 12-speed SRAM GX Eagle rear derailleur featuring a clutch mech which adds tension to the chain and prevents it from unshipping on the front chainring or on the rear derailleur. A simple SRAM NX Eagle 12-speed trigger shifter provides crisp, precise gear selection every time you go to change gears, regardless of what’s going on in front of you; if you’re barrel-rolling downhill and are on the very edge of control those definite, positive gear shifts from the SRAM NX Eagle shifter really give you confidence to surf through the gears.

The 12-speed SRAM GX Eagle provides flawless gear selection in all riding conditions.

 

A 30T chainring works well as part of this simple drivetrain; note the small eThirteen chain catcher to help keep your chain securely located.

 

A 12-speed SRAM NX Eagle shifter provides precise and positive gear selection every time, regardless of how hard you’re riding.

 

OK, so as we’ve mentioned already, TREK quite often spec their mountain bikes with Shimano hydraulic brakes alongside a SRAM drivetrain rather than going all-in on a complete SRAM goupset, the end result being you get a really dependable pair of hydraulic brakes simply because Shimano’s braking technology has filtered further down their component range. A hardcore hardtail like the Roscoe 8 needs a pair of anchors that will quickly and effectively scrub off speed to keep you in control even when the descents get particularly steep and technical; to achieve this TREK have spec’d powerful 4-piston hydraulic brake calipers with a large-diameter 203mm rotor upfront and a 180mm out back. The Shimano MT4100 brake levers have a great feel, with just the right amount of pull and a confidence-inspiring bite every time you grab them.

Powerful 4-piston Shimano MT420 calipers will slow down the Roscoe quickly and effectively.

 

There’s a 180mm rotor on the rear and a larger-diameter 203mm rotor upfront to help scrub speed off when you need to.

 

Shimano MT4100 brake levers have a great feel and just the right amount of pull.

 

Big brakes for a super-fast big-wheeled bike.

 

When the all-new Trek Roscoe launched one of the significant headliners was the bigger 29” wheels; swapping from 27.5” to 29” means that this progressive trail bike encourages you to go big, carrying more speed into and out of tight, technical terrain. As we’ve seen over the past few years every form of mountain biking from cross country racing to downhill and enduro have embraced the larger diameter wheel for their capacity to carry their momentum, handle rougher terrain, reduce fatigue and increase control. Throw in those 2.6” wide tyres and you gain even more control thanks to a larger surface area of the tyre being constantly in contact with the ground through tight turns on unpredictable trails. It’s great to see that Trek have setup the Roscoe 8’s tyres tubeless already, straight out of the box; if the tyres and rims are tubeless-ready it makes sense to do so and means you’ll be able to get out for your first ride with a little less faff beforehand!

29″ Bontrager Line Comp 30 wheels are fast-rolling, strong and durable, making them perfectly suited to the Roscoe 8.  

 

Those wide Line Comp 30 rims help to give the 2.60″ Bontrager tyres a larger footprint and more contact with the ground.

 

Large square side-knobs provide plenty of traction and control on loose terrain, while shallower central knobs will help the wheels roll fast.

 

You’ll get plenty of bite from those Bontrager XR4 Team Issue tyres.

 

Rounding out the TREK Roscoe 8 is a collection of TREK-owned Bontrager-branded components including stem, handlebars and grips; it’s interesting to note that TREK size those components according to the frame size of the bike, a small but significant attention to detail that will make all the difference to how your chosen bikes size will feel and handle. Finally there’s a capable TranzX dropper seatpost on the Roscoe 8. A large proportion of the popularity and success of hardcore hardtails is down to the humble dropper seatpost; without one this sort of bike would just not work. With the saddle out of the way, that long-travel fork and that very sorted frame geometry all come together to give you a confident trail bike that can handle high-speed descents and steep drops, leaving you able to move freely around the bike.

The TREK Roscoe 8 is a versatile hardtail that is more than up to the challenges you’ll no-doubt throw at it; the bike comes to life on tight, technical descents, on flowy singletrack or rocky terrain packed full of boulders and drop offs. If you’re the sort of rider who wants to spend more time riding and less time in the workshop tinkering with your bike then the Roscoe will certainly fit the bill.

The Trek Roscoe 8 RRP £2,000.00 is available in-store and online now at Wheelbase.

 

Full Specification:

• Frame: Alpha Gold Aluminium, tapered head tube, internal derailleur & dropper post routing, ISCG 05, threaded BB, Boost148, 12 mm thru axle
• Headset: FSA IS-2, 1-1/8″ top, 1.5″ bottom
• Fork: RockShox 35 Gold RL, DebonAir spring, Motion Control damper, lockout, tapered steerer, 44 mm offset, Boost110, 15 mm Maxle Stealth, 140 mm travel
• Derailleur: SRAM GX Eagle
• Shifter: SRAM NX Eagle, 12-speed
• Cassette: SRAM PG-1230 Eagle, 11-50, 12-speed
• Chainset: SRAM X1 Eagle, DUB, 30T steel ring, 52 mm chainline, 170 mm length (175mm for size XL)
• Bottom Bracket: SRAM DUB, 73 mm, BSA threaded
• Brakes: Shimano MT420 4-piston hydraulic caliper
• Brake Levers: Shimano MT4100
• Rotors: Front – Shimano RT66, 6-bolt, 203 mm Rear – Shimano RT66, 6-bolt, 180mm
• Rims: Bontrager Line Comp 30, Tubeless Ready, 28-hole, Presta valve
• Spokes: 14g stainless steel
• Front Hub: Bontrager alloy, sealed bearing, alloy axle, 6-bolt, Boost110, 15 mm thru axle
• Rear Hub: Bontrager alloy, sealed bearing, 6-bolt, Rapid Drive 108, Shimano 10 freehub, Boost 148, 12 mm thru axle
• Tyres: Bontrager XR4 Team Issue, Tubeless Ready, Inner Strength sidewalls, aramid bead, 120 tpi, 29×2.60″
• Stem: Bontrager alloy, 31.8 mm, Blendr-compatible, 7-degree, 50 mm length (35mm length size XS/S)
• Handlebar: Bontrager Rhythm Comp, alloy, 31.8 mm, 15 mm rise, 780mm width (750mm width size XS/S)
• Grips: Bontrager XR Trail Comp lock-on
• Saddle: Bontrager Arvada, steel rails, 138 mm width
• Seatpost: TranzX JD-YSP18, 100 mm travel, internal routing, 31.6 mm.
• Seatpost Lengths Per Frame Size: 361mm – XS, S. 425mm – M. 470mm – M/L, L, XL

 

Written by Johnny Dodgin

Photos by James Vincent

 

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