It’s the bike of choice for cross-country champions like Yolanda Neff and Evie Richards, who have Olympic and world titles under their respective belts. In this week’s blog, we look at Trek Supercaliber, a light and smooth ride that’s fast over the flats but whose full sus set-up will look after you on the trails.
There’s been a blurring of lines recently between trail and cross country bikes. We still have the long travel full sus rides at one extreme and, at the other, the hardtails built for speed and pedalling efficiency on the flat and uphill. But over the past few years there’s been a tendency to favour versatility where trail and XC overlap, with shorter travel giving riders the best of both worlds. After all, how many of us only ride one type of terrain?
This can been seen in the new iteration of the trail-oriented Fuel EX, and in the Top Fuel, which Trek counts among its cross country line-up. Sitting a little further towards the XC side of things is the Supercaliber, the higher specification full sus big brother of the hardtail Procaliber and X-Caliber.
Trek tells us this ride delivers the speed of a hardtail but with the control of a full suspension rig. What sets it apart is Trek's game-changing IsoStrut rear suspension, a structural, frame-integrated shock created in partnership with FOX suspension engineers.
Supercaliber is for riders who want something that’s capable on the trails but spend most of their time at speed on the flats and covering longer distances out in the country and on gravel tracks. With IsoStrut providing 60 mm of damped, tuneable rear travel, it delivers the ideal suspension solution for cross country racers.
Supercaliber runs from the 9.6 which starts at £3,850 up to the new-for-2023 9.9 XX1 AXS. We’ll look at the mid-range 9.7, which starts at £4,600.
A keen roadie who has ridden at national level, Tom (pictured above with his Supercaliber and with partner and Team Boompods rider Keri) wanted to upgrade the hardtail he used for cross country and trail centre rides near his Cheshire home, at places like Llandegla, Coed y Brenin and Cannock. He’s now the proud owner of a Trek Supercaliber 9.8 GX, which he christened with a ride to the top of Mount Snowdon (pictured top), the highest peak in Wales, where he proposed to Keri (she said “yes”).
Tom said: “I’m not technically gifted and I want something that’s pretty light and nimble, something that gives you a bit of support on the rougher stuff and a few drops without anything that’s too demanding. I was looking for a bike for trail centres and cross country riding, a bit of fire road and gravel as well, plus a bit of cross country racing, more in the sport category than elite. I don’t want to be at the pointy end! I’m also planning to do three or four mountain bike marathons this year.
“Supercaliber is a lightweight and fast cross-country bike so the appeal was that I had a light 29er hardtail which was great but when you’re spending a couple of hours on it at a trail centre you feel like you’ve been through the wars with it. The Supercaliber gives you some suspension and comfort but it’s not at the expense of speed. The thing about having the rear travel is you don’t have to be too choosy with your line and it helps you out with rocks and bumps.
“I’ve been to the top of Mount Snowdon on it; that was its christening. It was a tough climb and the descent was pretty challenging but it handled it beautifully. It’s a lovely bike. I’m really glad I made the purchase. It suits me down to the ground.”
Alex, our Bike Manager, said: “This is a bike that’s fast and capable, comfortable for gravel riding and technically able on the trails. I use my Top Fuel for this kind of riding but Supercaliber is a great option too, as its more efficient and comes into its own if you lean more to cross-country riding or you’re thinking of taking the plunge with competitive riding.”
If you’re looking for a bike that can eat up the miles out in the country but can also handle trails, come and talk to our team in store at Big Bear Bikes in Southgate, Pickering.
