2023 Trek Slash 8 Gen 5 – Specs, Comparisons, Reviews – 99 Spokes (2024)

A great excuse to make poor choices

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Trek gives the 2024 Slash a high-pivot linkage with 170mm travel and mixed wheels, making a capable and well-rounded long-travel bike.

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The 2024 Trek Slash looks nothing like the old one. So how do all the changes play out on the trail? Read on for our Trek Slash review.

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Trek did a very good job making the Slash a quiet bike, then seemingly lost the plot when they specced a hard rubber chainslap protector that does little to mitigate the drivetrain noise in bumpy terrain.

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The all-new Trek Slash is beefed up in celebration of its sixth iteration. This fresh design features an oversized, 19-tooth idler pulley and a high-pivot rear suspension configuration for the first time in the model’s lineage. Travel has been increased to 170 millimeters, pushing it further into the all-out, winch-and-plummet ethos that so many enduro bikes seem to be gravitating to. Our 9.9 version was spec’d with Bontrager’s RSL integrated handlebar and stem, a SRAM T-Type XO drivetrain, and the all-new RockShox Vivid Ultimate rear shock. The previous Slash was an impressive bike. It was impressively light for an enduro bike and was surprisingly efficient to pedal around all day. The new Slash Gen 6 leans more heavily toward the chairlift and shuttle culture side of the mountain bike world with some extra heft and additional pulleys in the drivetrain. However, with the oversized pulley and lighter casing tires, I found the Slash to climb the most efficiently of any high-pivot bike I’ve reviewed thus far. I attribute this mostly to the large, 19-tooth upper idler.

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A first look at Trek's high pivot idler-equipped sled for 2024.

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The Trek Slash 9 9 shines on the steeps and excels in the rough, making it an almost perfect rig for enduro racing. Read the full Trek Slash 9.9 XO1 Review here.

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The Trek Slash 9.8 XT is an enduro bike with progressive geometry and 29er wheels and 170/160mm of travel, and offers a performance that seriously impressive. Good enough to make it on our list of the best enduro mountain bikes? Absolutely. It’s good enough to score a 10 out of 10; a rare feat. Trek Slash 9.8 XT need to know: Mino Link geometry adjustment allows for a 27.5in Mullet setup KnockBlock 2.0 offers an increases the steering angle from 58º to 72º and can be removed if needed A bash guard on the MRP chain guide helps protects the 30t XT chainring RockShox Super Deluxe Ultimate shock sports ThruShaft technology to control the 160mm travel We took the Trek Slash 9.9 XO1 for a first ride when it launched last year, and while the 2022 bike looks remarkably similar, right down to the frame colour of the bike we featured last time, there are several differences. The main one being that the XT equipped bike is £1,500 cheaper and there are changes to the specification that reflect its lower price. You get a full Shimano XT drivetrain and 4-piston XT brakes, rather than SRAM XO1. You also get a RockShox Zeb Select+ fork rather than the Ultimate, while the Bontrager Line Carbon 30 wheels switch to the alloy version. Downgrades? Yes, but none that should detract from the underlying ride quality of the Slash. The most important thing is that the OCLV carbon frame remains unchanged, so you still benefit from all of the advances in the frame geometry and suspension that Trek introduced last year. Updates that saw the addition of downtube storage, the head tube angle getting slacker, the seat tube steeper and the reach longer. Trek also made the suspension more progressive, and increased rear travel by 10mm to 160mm. All positive changes then. Trek Slash 9.8 suspension Trek has always been a big proponent of proprietary suspension components. As such, the RockShox Super Deluxe Ultimate shock on the Slash 9.8 XT features Trek’s ThruShaft technology and it’s the exact same shock that comes on the flagship model. This design eliminates the need for a high pressure IFP (internal floating piston) and in simple terms, this allows for lower breakaway resistance and improved sensitivity. And because the damper shaft passes straight through the shock body, it needs an extender mount and a small hole in the frame to accept the ThruShaft at bottom out. Sounds complex? Well it is, but thankfully setting up the suspension on the Slash is as easy as 1, 2, 3. Sag gradients make it simple to dial in the correct air pressure, and in the open setting the shock has three low-compression settings for fine tuning the response to pedal inputs or the style of terrain you’re riding. Also if you ever want to fit an aftermarket shock, that’s still possible as the Slash uses a 230×62.5mm metric shock size, you’ll just need different lower mounting hardware. Setting up the suspension …Continue reading »

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