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2013 Trek Stache

Late last Summer I began riding a Trek Stache 8 29er mountain bike. Aesthetically, the Stache is a very cool looking bike. The clear coated raw aluminum and bright green accents oppose each other really well while the internal cable routing gives a real sleek appearance. In my opinion this bike has the aesthetic attention to detail usually reserved for full suspension and race bikes. The first thing I noticed about the ride quality was the front suspension; The Stache is equipped with 120mm of travel, Fox’s new CTD 3 position damper system, and a tweaked geometry that allows more stability at high speeds. 120mm is long for a typical hardtail and the bike feels great floating over the more technical, obstacle-ridden trails that had always bogged down my old 90-100mm bikes.

I found the Stache’s frame able to handle tougher trails and take more punishment than your run of the mill hardtail. Both axles are oversized to 15mm (front) and 142x12 (rear) and the steerer tube is tapered to a wider 1.5 diameter giving the Stache stupid (in a good way) stiff and responsive steering and handling. Both Stache models come with Shimano’s chain tension increasing Shadow Plus technology allowing for less ride noise (chain slap) and practically no chance of your chain coming off (chain drop) under normal riding conditions. If “normal riding conditions” isn’t your thing the frame is also equipped with internal cable routing for on the fly height-adjustable seat posts and ISCG 05 mounts for chain guides and bash guards.

Hami's custom Stache Build

Hami's custom Stache build

I am very happy with my Trek Stache mountain bike. It’s a 29er hardtail that tackles obstacles usually reserved for the full suspension bikes. With its 120mm of travel, tweaked geometry, and oversized axles/headtube the Stache is stiffer and more responsive with the toughness to handle rougher terrain and trails.