Introduction:
Bike evolution is a wonderful thing. Despite the conspiracy theories that bike manufacturers just try to pry your hard-earned dollars with useless gimmicks and new standards every year, progress is actually being made. Just five years ago, the Trek 8000 and the Gary Fisher Ferrous were the highlights of the Trek hardtail line at the $2500 price point. They were decent bikes but really more of a mid-level bikes that did not have a strong sense of purpose.

Enter the Trek Stache, the rally hardtail. It has the 29er wheel size and a bevy of at least twenty innovations of substance. But the real magic is this bike has a purpose which is to maximize your fun per dollar. 29ers now dominate the hardtail scene simply because they are more comfortable, are fast and can go long distances. But fun and agility were never their #1 attributes as those were still the domain of 26ers on full suspension platforms.

But here comes the Trek Stache with its short stays, slack head angle, dropper post eagerness and it is wagging its tail and ready to play. This is the fun hardtail 29er and it is ready to rally. It will climb, corner, drop and jump and do things beyond the traditional 29er hardtail comfort zone. It is agile, capable and it looks darn good too. And although some folks might think the pricing of $1760 for the Stache 7 and $2420 for the Stache 8 is a lot of money, I will make the argument that these bikes offer a heck of a deal.


The reason is these bikes are dialed! They have the latest technology with components that work perfectly together. CTD front fork, clutch type rear derailleur, tubeless ready, internal cable routing, ISCG chain guide mounts are just some of the features of the Stache 8. All your really need is to do is add the dropper post of your choice and some sealant for a tubeless conversion and you are ready to get rad with this hardtail.

The Basics
Price: Trek Stache 8 is $2420 and the Trek Stache 7 is $1760.
Weight: 25.8 lbs without pedals



The Ride
The bike has a stiff bottom bracket area and the wheel is tucked underneath the rider with shortish stays of 17.5 inches. While not leading edge short for a hardtail, this translates to an agile and responsive climber. Some say that 29ers accelerate slow. This does not as it will scoot forward when you spin, mash or pounce on the pedals. It achieves good traction with with the capable Bontrager 29-3 tires when running low pressure. It is still a hardtail so rocky and climbs have to be tackled with finesse as there is no rear suspension conforming with the trail for traction. Achieving the minimum air pressure on the rear tire is key for getting traction and minimizing getting bounced around on tech climbs.

When it comes to handling and quickness the G2 geometry, lateral stiffness and 142 mm rear thru axle deliver a bike that likes to carve. We are not certain what the 142 mm rear axle contributes to an already stiff hardtail but this blend of G2 geometry, slack head angle and shortish stays blend together to create an agile and balanced bike.



Jumps and Drops
Ok, this is where the fun begins as this bike loves to play. It is like a trail dog that like to run all over the forest, jump over rocks and splash through the water. This is the greatest asset of this bike and it is a great revelation since this not the assumed habitat of the hardtail 29er. We all know that the peers of this bike are taking over the XC racing circuit and winning races both of the short and endurance variety. But to actually hoot and holler while riding an all mountain trail on a hardtail 29er is somewhat new ground.

We rode this bike without a dropper post for a couple of weeks and were impressed. But then we put a KS Lev on it and the bike's attitude transformed along with ours. All of a sudden, this 29er hardtail felt a little bit like the 650b all mountain bikes we've been riding lately. The riding position and wheel base now felt similar. Of course there was no travel in the rear so letting the brakes go on a rock garden was not a good idea. But every berm, every undulation and tree root jump looked like a target for this eager trail dog to pounce on. This bike felt like a dirt jump bike for the forest.

We believe that in five years, most bikes, even hardtails will have a dropper post. But we're not quite ready for that paradigm shift as none of our hardtail steeds sport one. But this bike has expedited our exodus from the world of rigid posts. The dropper post completely transformed the Trek Stache in to a trail bike. And the the Stache was ready for it with its wide bars, slack head angle and playful geometry. The stock 90 mm stem had to go of course for a 60mm but everything else was dialed.



Looks
The Stache 8 is drop dead gorgeous if you like the lime green theme. That frame itself is a nude-bronze polish with green graphics. This green theme is then carried on to the seatpost hardware, seat, rims, fork headset spacers and grips. Everything is just a hint of the theme until you get to the centerpiece lime green Race Face cranks.Then the bike is finished off with internal cable routing throughout. And the leading edge idea here is the built-in internal Sram Reverb Stealth cable routing. In the end we don't think many folks will use the Reverb Stealth routing since that requires bleeding the cable to install this specific dropper post. But it is a bold statement to say that this hardtail was designed for a dropper post.

Details:
There was a good vision for this bike but it's always won and lost in the details. All the Bontrager parts are dialed. The two-bolt seatpost, the wide 9-degree sweep bars are dialed for this rig. The 90 mm stem is a bit long for this kind of bike but that's usually swappable between the buyer and local bike shop. The SLX brakes and shifters are awesome!!! These are probably the best value components available today as we cannot really detect the difference between these and their XTR counterparts in a blind usage test. The Race Face cranks are stiff and shift well. And finally, the contact points of the saddle and the grips work well. The grips are lock-on type but only locked on in the inside so they don't interfere with your hands. And the saddle may look flat and wide but they roll down the sides just soon enough to make them comfortable for short and long hauls.



The Bontrager 29-3s are again remarkable. These are the latest Frank Stacey designed tires following the success of the beefier 29-4 tire. What they wanted to achieve is a faster tire with lower knobs for a better all-around riding and pedal efficiency. With the long footprint of the 29er tires, these tires are very confident in cornering and descending. In loose and slippery conditions, we might opt for the 29-4 in the front to complement the speed of the rear 29-3 in the rear.

This system is tubeless ready and the build comes with tubeless strips and valves. Since this is a hardtail, tubeless can really add to the formula since the rear tire pressure can be dropped 3-5 psi without pinching a tube. This lower pressure can deliver some extra relief to the rider's tail. It's a 29er of course but it's still an aluminum hardtail so optimizing or running the lowest pressure you can get away with is key. Bontrager has the best tubeless in the business since the rim tape is molded just for this rim profile and the valve hole area is reinforced to prevent leaks and valve problems. Finally, Bontrager has a new sealant that seems less damaging than Stans. It also has more particles in the solution and it was able to seal tire leaks that Stans could not.



And let's call out the chainstay guard since it is a nice piece of engineering. Chainstay guards are often overlooked as it is often a piece of padded tape on top of the drive side chainstay. Our local bike shop will artfully wrap an inner tube around the stay to achieve good padding with a good fit. Bontrager trumps everyone by putting in a molded rubber piece that actually routes and hides the rear derailleur cable.

Downsides?
This is a great package but a discussion on possible improvements is always healthy. Here's a few:

- It would be great to have a singlespeed option for this bike. Folks will be curious as we are how this would perform as a singlespeed.

- Color options would be good. The lime-green color for the Stache 8 is dialed but what if green is not your thing? What if three other guys in your group already have this bike?

- The chainstays could be shorter! 17.5 inches is good but is not on par with the shortest in this category of playful hardtail 29ers. They should have pushed that rear tire forward as there seems to be a ton of room available between the downtube and the big 29-3 tire.

- Finally, this is still a beefy aluminum bike with a stiff rear end. It is not 'Banshee Paradox' stiff so it can be controlled by a big tubeless rear tire. But what if it was carbon with thin stays? What if it was steel with a lively rear end?

Bottom Line
The bottom line is this is a fun, capable and agile bike. We expect to see this bike in all sorts of applications and cofigurations from jump bike to race bike to slalom or endurance bike. But we think its most fitting use is the one bike a rider with a limited budget to rally on. But hey, we think it's good enough that even the person with $5k to spend might covet this one too.

Buy the Stache 8, set it up tubeless, put a Reverb Stealth or KS Lev on it and get ready to rally.



Trek Stache Promo Video



Specifications
Release Date2013
Price$2419
ForkFox Evolution Series 32 Float w/CTD (climb-trail-descend) damper, rebound, E2 tapered steerer, 15QR thru axle, custom G2 Geometry w/51mm offset, 120mm travel
HeadsetFSA NO.57E, E2, sealed bearings
CassetteShimano HG62 11-36, 10 speed
CrankarmsRace Face Turbine, 38/24
Rear DerailleurShimano Deore XT Shadow Plus
Front DerailleurShimano SLX, direct mount
Shifter PodsShimano SLX, 10 speed
HandlebarBontrager Race Lite Low Riser, 31.8mm, 5mm rise, 9 degree sweep
StemBontrager Rhythm Pro, 31.8mm, 7 degree
GripsBontrager Race Lite, lock-on
BrakesShimano SLX hydraulic disc
WheelsetBontrager Duster Tubeless Ready 28-hole disc rims
HubsBontrager sealed cartridge bearing 15mm alloy front hub, Bontrager sealed cartidge bearing, alloy axle, alloy freehub, 142x12 rear hub
TiresBontrager 29-3, Expert, 29x2.3"
SeatBontrager Evoke 3, hollow Ti rails
SeatpostBontrager Rhythm Elite, 31.6mm, zero offset



Geometry

15.5 in17.5 in19 in21 in23 in
Actual Frame Size14.5 in16.5 in18 in20 in21.5 in
ASeat tube36.8 cm41.9 cm45.7 cm50.8 cm54.5 cm
BSeat tube angle73.0 °72.5 °72.0 °72.0 °72.0 °
CHead tube length10.3 cm10.3 cm10.3 cm11.8 cm11.8 cm
DHead angle68.3 °68.3 °68.6 °68.6 °68.6 °
EEffective top tube56.8 cm60.0 cm62.0 cm64.0 cm66.1 cm
FBottom bracket height31.6 cm31.6 cm31.6 cm31.6 cm31.6 cm
HChainstay length44.5 cm44.5 cm44.5 cm44.5 cm44.5 cm
IOffset5.1 cm5.1 cm5.1 cm5.1 cm5.1 cm
JTrail9.2 cm9.2 cm9.0 cm9.0 cm9.0 cm
KWheelbase110.2 cm112.8 cm113.9 cm116.1 cm118.1 cm
LStandover76.0 cm77.7 cm79.4 cm82.4 cm84.4 cm
MFrame reach38.8 cm41.4 cm42.7 cm44.3 cm46.4 cm
NFrame rise61.0 cm61.0 cm61.1 cm62.5 cm62.5 cm

Other bikes to Consider:
Diamondback Mason
Canfield Yelli Screamy
Kona Honzo
Banshee Paradox V2

User Reviews:
Read what others have to say and post your own review HERE.

Forum Discussions on the Trek Stache:
Lets see your Stache official thread - Mtbr Forums
Thread: Trek Stache.