BIKING

Were Semenuk and Edwards riding a secret new Trek trail bike?

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Parallel II is a jaw-dropping video, but slow things down a bit and both Kade Edwards and Brandon Semenuk appear to be riding an as-yet unreleased Trek. What could it be?

Is it possible to come up with a more perfect dream team for a shredit than Brandon Semenuk and Kade Edwards? Probably not, and this week’s Parallel II edit delivered on its promise with synchronised style and ludicrous speed. But look beyond the action for a moment and there’s something intriguing about the bikes they’re riding. Take a few screen grabs and compare them with Trek’s current line-up and there’s nothing that matches. So what are Semenuk and Edwards riding?

Brandon Semenuk in Parallel II

Brandon Semenuk in Parallel II

The most obvious giveaway that this is a new bike is the reinforcement strut between the top tube and the seat tube. Most current Treks use a web at this point, but the bike in the video has a strut. The shock is still driven by a rocker link, like most Treks, but it’s anchored to another pair of struts linking the down tube and the seat tube. In that respect the new bike has a very similar silhouette to the new Fuel EXe, but there’s no motor.

The new Trek Fuel EXe electric mountain bike MY22

In terms of travel, both bikes are running RockShox Lyriks, which has a recommended max travel of 160mm. So this is likely to be a trail bike rather an enduro bike, which would use a Zeb. That points to this being a new Fuel EX or Remedy rather than a Slash.

Brandon Semenuk in Parallel II

Brandon Semenuk in Parallel II

And then we have the frame material. It’s hard to work out whether the front end is alloy or carbon, as Trek has some seriously impressive smooth welds on its alloy bikes, but the back end – or at least the seatstays – are definitely alloy as the bridge uses a cut-out web on the underside.

When can we expect this mystery to be solved? Well, the bikes Kade and Brandon are riding look production-ready, so out guess would be very soon.


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