2017 Trek Remedy 8 Bike

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What is The Remedy 8

I live in Southern Utah and ride a variety of terrain. From buff BMX style hard pack, to the slick rock ledges and drops of Gooseberry and the other Mesas. I'm not a racer now days but I need a bike that I could saddle up and ride in a 24 hour relay or pony up to ride an enduro. I also need a bike that won't break the bank (is there such a thing anymore), so aluminum is usually my choice. I was looking for an updated long travel trail bike to replace my 2015 Cannondale Jekyll. The Remedy 8 ticked all of my required boxes. 150 mm of travel, Sram GX 1x11 drivetrain, Pike RC fork, Boost spacing, and a KS Lev dropper post. All at a reasonable price.

Spec

As I mentioned above the spec is pretty solid for a $3200 bike. Here are some of the highlights:

Sram GX 1x11 drivetrain- still trying to find out why people spend more money for anything less than Eagle.

Rock Shox PIKE RC- Yes I know it not the top of the line but what more do you really need.

Bontrager XR4 2.4 Expert tires- These are brand new. They use a similar tread pattern to the previous XR4's but have an added level of sidewall protection. I ran the old version on my previous bike and these are even better.

KS LEV Dropper post- Now this is an OE model post that I was skeptical about and was debating switching out for a different model but decided to give it a try. It a 120 mm model (which is plenty for me) and has internal routing. I have been quite pleased with its performance and KS has a 2 year warranty.

Bontrager Duster Pro Wheels- These wheels are nothing fancy. They are sealed bearing hubs, have a solid engagement and use asymetrical rims to keep the spoke tensions more even. They have a 24 mm inner width and weigh over 2000 grams. With all that being said they have taken some sharp hits on low PSI and have yet to ding, dent, or wobble.

Bad Spec

Not all was peaches and cream with the spec of the bike, most notably the cockpit. The Line knock block stem is fine but I have had to replace everything else.

Bontrager Line 35 bars- All Bontrager Handlebars I have found have a funky sweep that pinches my wrists. I replaced then with Race Face SixC 800mm bars.

Bontrager Saddle- 2 gripes here. 1. Shape too narrow in the prostate region. Aint nobody like a numb dingy. 2. it has this shinny, very sticky black insert that grabs hold of your shorts when you are moving around the saddle on technical climbs.

KS Dropper remote- The bike comes as a 1x so should come with an under bar remote. But this OE model remote provides no leverage and makes changing saddle height in tough sections of trail difficult, especially latter in the ride when your hands are fatigued. I replaced it with a Race Face remote.

The Ride

Coming off my Jekyll several things have really pleased me with this bike.

1. The short Chainstays- This bike is so snappy and fun and it loves to get airborn. The manual point is so easy to reach, I have almost looped out coming off of drops. It changes the way I pick lines through techy rock sections, not because it can't handle plowing through them, but because it is so fun to find creative ways around and over them.

2. The active suspension- I have notice a significant increase in rear wheel traction when climbing rocky/ledgey climbs. The suspension also stays working under hard braking and allows me to take harder lines through the rough corners.

Other than that the bike is what you expect from a long travel bike. The rear shock has a 3 position switch. I leave it in open 70% of the the time. I will put it in the trail mode if I'm on an extended climb but the suspension is fairly efficient even in the open mode.

I did not mention the Deore Brakes above. The performance has been quite good. On higher speed trails, where more brake force is needed I had noticed some lever flex and my hands getting a bit more tired than usual. It was here that I realized the Deore brakes come with low end rotors and resin pads. This severely limits the potential of these stoppers. I will be switching out the rotors to some beefier models and putting in some sintered pads, which I figure will greatly increase the performance of the brakes.

Overall Impression

I was a hard sell going into this bike. I have been a longtime Cannondale rider, and if the new Trigger would have come out 2 months earlier I probably would have gotten it instead of trying out the Remedy. But all things work out and I am sure glad they did. The bike is not perfect, It has some creaks, and some of the pivots have come loose, but I have loved this bike and would recommend it to anyone as an all rounder with a nudge to the rough side of things. It's not the lightest, 31 lbs as it sits now, but when I upgrade the wheels and cranks I will be at a sub 30lb bike that rips!