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.