Here is my personal review about the Trek Session 10,details & ride impressions that i did riding for almost 2 weeks on the DH tracks on this awesome bike from Trek bicycles.
The Trek Session 10 was launched back in 2006 and was the top of the line long travel bike that Trek offerd before the new generation Sessions came,the frame was made from strong ZR9000 Alloy and it has adjustable drop outs for changing the BB height,Head angle & Geometry. These adjustments will raise or slacken the head angle by 1 degree from 65,5 degrees to 66,5 degrees. How ever the weight of the bike killed it for world cup racing since it was a bit on the heavy side.
For me the overall bike was a bit on the heavy side but i didn't whanna sell it to buy a much lighter DH bike from a other brand,so i whanna give this bike a real make over and shed some real weight out of it soo it will be more suitable for DH racing only. After 2 years of hard work i hit the nail and manage to complete it for Racing only.
The lightest Trek Session 10,new rear suspension for even better suspension package for better traction and handling on the DH tracks
Trek Session 10 details:
- Small frame
- 66,5 degree head angle in this setting
- 13,5'' to 14,5'' BB height
- Adjustable Geometry
- 10'' of rear wheel travel
- 10,5'' x 3.5'' Rock Shox Vivid 5.1 with D Tune
- Obtainium Ti spring
- Solid 1.5'' headtube
- New Matt black finish
- Light weight components
The biggest changes compaired to the stock bike is weight and suspension,the stock bike came with Bontrager components,Manitou suspension,Hayes brakes and Sram Drivetrain and E-13 components for keeping the chain on the bike and that resulted in 47lbs package strait out of the box.
Suspension:
The biggest change in rear suspension preformence on the Trek Session 10 is the switch to the Rock Shox Vivid 5.1 shock,this replaces the Manitou Revox shock and the diffirence was pretty much noticedable on the DH tracks,the rear wheel stays more on the ground for better traction and the faster the bike goes the better the shock feels. The Obtainium 250lbs Ti spring is ideal for my body weight and gives this bike a realy plush feel.
Rock Shox Boxxer WC to match the rear shock is pretty much a solid combination,super plush and good range of adjustments and 45psi to match my weight.
Brakes:
Stopping this DH bike is done by Formula's R1 brakes,these super light weight brakes may not be suitable for the more heavier riders but for my weight they are awesome,great modulation and excellent stopping power with out fading or overheating.I run 203mm rotors front/back with full Ti bolt hardware.
On the Trail:
All new suspension,light weight brakes and light weight package how does it ride on the DH trails?.Must admid i needed to get used to it since i never rode a light weight DH bike before but after a view runs i noticed it right away this is such improvement over the stock bike i head,this bike is build to go very fast and cornering was great with the bikes smooth angles and comming out of the turns was not hard,good ecelleration out of the turns and then when things get wild the suspension kicks in and keeps everything smooth & controlled.
Hitting the jumps was not hard and the landings where butter smooth,fork is amazing and i never bottomed out on the bigger hits i never head this much fun on the trail.I was first a bit skeptical on the brakes for being a XC race brake but in the end i realy like them and stopping power was always there with out cooking the brakes.
24 hour DH race,the ultimate test
After hammering hours on the DH tracks in the bikeparks to get a feel for the bike,nothing was such a big test for this bike as the 24 hour DH race this puts the bike and it's components to their very limits of DH racing.I was well prepaired and head spare parts with me in case i needed them and luckly i needed them after all.
I dialed the suspension setup to match to the track,bike felt awesome in the corners and the suspension made everything butter smooth on the rougther stuff.Taking the berms was fast and smooth and pedaling wasn't much but everything was high speed on the track my bike felt a bit like a MX bike while i was drifting thrue the corners and getting loose on some parts.Couple of jumps where fun and 1 jump i hit with almost 70km/h which was the fasted section the track.
In the end of the race i finished 4th my best result i ever head so far,i was stoked with the result and my bike worked fantastic to get me this result.
Conclussion:
The Trek Session 10 has proved to me it can tackle the downhill tracks with no problems and can preform on a DH race level with out having any troubles.The new rock shox suspension improved the suspension allot over the manitou suspension in both handling and traction making the bike feel allot better & faster.The diffirence in 9lbs from stock to this new light weight race package is noticelable in handling,riding and throwing this bike into the corners.
For me i will ride this bike as long as i will ride it,soo far pretty impressed how the bike rides.
The Trek Session 10 was launched back in 2006 and was the top of the line long travel bike that Trek offerd before the new generation Sessions came,the frame was made from strong ZR9000 Alloy and it has adjustable drop outs for changing the BB height,Head angle & Geometry. These adjustments will raise or slacken the head angle by 1 degree from 65,5 degrees to 66,5 degrees. How ever the weight of the bike killed it for world cup racing since it was a bit on the heavy side.
For me the overall bike was a bit on the heavy side but i didn't whanna sell it to buy a much lighter DH bike from a other brand,so i whanna give this bike a real make over and shed some real weight out of it soo it will be more suitable for DH racing only. After 2 years of hard work i hit the nail and manage to complete it for Racing only.
The lightest Trek Session 10,new rear suspension for even better suspension package for better traction and handling on the DH tracks
Trek Session 10 details:
- Small frame
- 66,5 degree head angle in this setting
- 13,5'' to 14,5'' BB height
- Adjustable Geometry
- 10'' of rear wheel travel
- 10,5'' x 3.5'' Rock Shox Vivid 5.1 with D Tune
- Obtainium Ti spring
- Solid 1.5'' headtube
- New Matt black finish
- Light weight components
The biggest changes compaired to the stock bike is weight and suspension,the stock bike came with Bontrager components,Manitou suspension,Hayes brakes and Sram Drivetrain and E-13 components for keeping the chain on the bike and that resulted in 47lbs package strait out of the box.
Suspension:
The biggest change in rear suspension preformence on the Trek Session 10 is the switch to the Rock Shox Vivid 5.1 shock,this replaces the Manitou Revox shock and the diffirence was pretty much noticedable on the DH tracks,the rear wheel stays more on the ground for better traction and the faster the bike goes the better the shock feels. The Obtainium 250lbs Ti spring is ideal for my body weight and gives this bike a realy plush feel.
Rock Shox Boxxer WC to match the rear shock is pretty much a solid combination,super plush and good range of adjustments and 45psi to match my weight.
Brakes:
Stopping this DH bike is done by Formula's R1 brakes,these super light weight brakes may not be suitable for the more heavier riders but for my weight they are awesome,great modulation and excellent stopping power with out fading or overheating.I run 203mm rotors front/back with full Ti bolt hardware.
On the Trail:
All new suspension,light weight brakes and light weight package how does it ride on the DH trails?.Must admid i needed to get used to it since i never rode a light weight DH bike before but after a view runs i noticed it right away this is such improvement over the stock bike i head,this bike is build to go very fast and cornering was great with the bikes smooth angles and comming out of the turns was not hard,good ecelleration out of the turns and then when things get wild the suspension kicks in and keeps everything smooth & controlled.
Hitting the jumps was not hard and the landings where butter smooth,fork is amazing and i never bottomed out on the bigger hits i never head this much fun on the trail.I was first a bit skeptical on the brakes for being a XC race brake but in the end i realy like them and stopping power was always there with out cooking the brakes.
24 hour DH race,the ultimate test
After hammering hours on the DH tracks in the bikeparks to get a feel for the bike,nothing was such a big test for this bike as the 24 hour DH race this puts the bike and it's components to their very limits of DH racing.I was well prepaired and head spare parts with me in case i needed them and luckly i needed them after all.
I dialed the suspension setup to match to the track,bike felt awesome in the corners and the suspension made everything butter smooth on the rougther stuff.Taking the berms was fast and smooth and pedaling wasn't much but everything was high speed on the track my bike felt a bit like a MX bike while i was drifting thrue the corners and getting loose on some parts.Couple of jumps where fun and 1 jump i hit with almost 70km/h which was the fasted section the track.
In the end of the race i finished 4th my best result i ever head so far,i was stoked with the result and my bike worked fantastic to get me this result.
Conclussion:
The Trek Session 10 has proved to me it can tackle the downhill tracks with no problems and can preform on a DH race level with out having any troubles.The new rock shox suspension improved the suspension allot over the manitou suspension in both handling and traction making the bike feel allot better & faster.The diffirence in 9lbs from stock to this new light weight race package is noticelable in handling,riding and throwing this bike into the corners.
For me i will ride this bike as long as i will ride it,soo far pretty impressed how the bike rides.
