Trek released a new singlespeed mountain bike this year. Since I’m taking a break from racing Xterra and focusing on endurance singlespeed mountain bike racing, this was the bike I selected for 2008. While there was a slight delay in receiving the bike, it was well worth the wait.
This singlespeed hardtail bike is called a 69er, since it has a 26” rear wheel, and a 29”front wheel. It was developed by mountain bike Olympian / alternative MTB legend Travis Brown, who I’ve had the misfortune of racing against at Sea Otter (there’s nothing quite like getting beaten by 4 minutes, well actually there is - more on that later). It’s the first of Trek’s 69er line, in 2008 they will be producing geared hardtail and full suspension versions as well. The original 69er will remain largely unchanged for 2008.
Frame: The frame is aluminum, which works great for this application. Since singlespeeders spend a lot of time climbing out of the saddle and reefing on the handlebars, a stiff frame is key. If I may dream for a minute, I’d love to see Trek make this in Carbon Fiber, especially since no other manufacturers are doing it…
It may sound strange to have a 29” front wheel and a 26” rear wheel, and the bike indeed looks different. However, there are sound reasons behind this, and after riding it all season, I’ve become a believer.

1. The 29” Front wheel rolls better. The larger contact area, and larger wheel diameter cause the wheel to roll faster and not get deflected as easily as a 26” wheel, most noticeable on rocky descents. The bike descends SO well, I feel almost as fast as I do on my full-suspension.
2. The 26” rear wheel accelerates faster than a 29” wheel and allows for shorter chainstays, which climb better (I’ve never ridden a full 29er, but both points sound reasonable).
3. The sliding dropouts are just about the coolest thing ever. They allow the user to run a standard quick release hub as well as a normal BB. This facilitates tire changes and chain adjustments. Speaking from experience with all singlespeed options, the sliding dropouts are so much better than horizontal dropouts or an eccentric BB that I can’t imagine either of those will be around for long..
4. The rootbeer brown color is terrific. It looks very cool. (though this year I’ve certainly done my best to scratch a tremendous amount of paint cartwheeling the bike across the rocks)
5. The geometry is perfect. Since I ride a medium, I was concerned the handlebar would be too high and it would be difficult to weight the wheels optimally while climbing. Turns out, it climbs as well as it descends.
6. It sure gets a lot of attention! It’s a unique and new design, and I get comments and questions on every ride and at every race.
7. The Bontrager Race X lite wheels are stiff and light. I don’t notice any wheel flex, whether climbing out of the saddle, or hard cornering on descents.

While I sincerely like the bike, I feel there are a few minor areas for improvement (of course I pretty much feel that way about everything in life:

1. The whole thing should be lighter. 25 lbs is too heavy for a singlespeed. It’s pretty easy to lighten it up, but it would be nice if it came that way, though that would make it more expensive…
2. The bike should be a little cheaper. I realize this is in direct contradiction to my quest for it to be lighter, and I understand this is surely a result of a small production run of a new product, but feasibly this will change when they start mass producing it.
3. As mentioned, the frame would be ridiculously cool if it were carbon, though I’m not sure how that would stand up to my recent rash of crashes…
4. The fork should be toned down (see pt 1). The bike comes with a 3.75lb Maverick dual-crown fork. While the travel is nice, as a traditionalist I find the thru-axle a little inconvenient and the double crown over spec’ed. A Rock Shox Reba Race would be 0.25lb lighter.
5. The rear disc rotor should either come spec’ed as 140mm, or allow an adapter. Most racers are running this to save weight, since most braking power comes from the front anyway.
6. It needs a second bottle cage mount. Since I train and race for the longer endurance events, I need to carry more fluids, and don’t want to carry a camelback.

Interestingly, the complaint I hear most from non-believers is you have to carry 2 tubes. Before I go any further on this, I should state that EVERYONE should be running tubeless. However, if you get a front flat, simply inflate your 26” tube to the point where it fits in the 29” tire, mount it the rest of way, and inflate it the rest of the way, and you’re good to go!

In conclusion, I really like the 69er’s ride, and definitely recommend this bike to anyone shopping for a singlespeed.