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2023 Trek Procaliber 9.7 Review

Are you looking for a mountain bike that can live up to your intense practice sessions and heavy duty mountain biking? Look no further than the 2023 Trek Procaliber 9.7, which is designed for maximum performance.

The 2023 Trek Procaliber 9.7 is an incredibly lightweight cross country bike that has been specially engineered to deliver top-notch performance even in tougher terrains.

Designed with a carbon fiber frame, front suspension and modern components that make it an ideal choice for both beginner and experienced riders alike.

In this review, we will take a closer look at the features of the 2023 Trek Procaliber 9.7 and how its strong points and weak points can point you in the right direction when making your next mountain bike purchase decision.

The Trek Procaliber 9.7 is the latest hardtail mountain bike from Trek, offering an aggressive and adept off-road ride and featuring advanced technology that sets it apart from the competition.

With 100mm of travel and a super lightweight OCLV Mountain Carbon frame, this bike is ready to shred any terrain. Here is a detailed review of the Trek Procaliber 9.7:

The Trek Procaliber 9.7 is a high-performance cross country mountain bike built for speed and agility on challenging terrain.

Featuring an ultra-light weight carbon fiber frame with 100mm of travel, this hardtail all-mountain machine puts you in trademark Trek performance, while the SRAM GX Eagle component groupset provides precise shifting and top-notch performance, no matter the trail.

With Bontrager XR2 Team Issue tires for unparalleled grip and stability over rocks and roots and hydraulic disc brakes, stopping power is always within reach.

A RockShox Reba RL, Solo Air spring shock providing predictable travail through bumps and drops, the 2023 Trek Procaliber 9.7 gives riders total control of their riding style while they explore new trails with confidence.

– Ultra lightweight OCLV Mountain Carbon frame with IsoSpeed, tapered head tube, Knock Block, and internal control routing

– RockShox Reba RL, Solo Air spring with 100mm of travel, Motion Control damper, and remote lockout

– SRAM GX Eagle 1×12 drivetrain; 10-52t cassette paired to a 32t chainring on a SRAM X1 Eagle crankset

– Bontrager XR2 Team Issue, Tubeless Ready, 29×2.20” tires for superior grip and stability

– Bontrager Kovee Elite 23 carbon wheelset

– Shimano hydraulic disc brakes provide reliable stopping power

– Only 23lbs!!

Frame & Suspension

The Trek Procaliber 9.7 features a lightweight and incredibly stiff OCLV Mountain Carbon frame, which is up to 21% lighter than aluminum frames of comparable design.

Combined with Bontrager Kovee Elite 23 carbon wheelset and RockShox Reba RL forks, this mountain bike has precise steering and ensures efficient power transfer with every pedal stroke.

The 100mm of travel helps keep the front wheel planted on rougher tracks while providing enough traction over jumps and bumps in the trail.

Drivetrain & Brakes

The Trek Procaliber 9.7 offers reliable shifting performance powered by Sram GX Eagle 12-speed 1x drivetrain.

This drivetrain features low friction seals for smooth gear changes even through mud or snow and gives excellent control over all riding surfaces thanks to it’s 10-52 range cassette with one-way clutch derailleur, and 32t chainring.

The Sram hydraulic disc brakes deliver reliable all-weather braking power that travelers can rely on in any situation.

Riding Experience

The handling of the Trek Procaliber 9.7 is outstanding no matter what terrain you take it onto as its wider 29″ wheels rolls fast over tight corners, while its suspension setup keeps your center of gravity low so you can stay in complete control at all times; especially at higher speeds when the heavy terrain gets rough!

And with its 23lbs total weight, the bike feels like an extension of yourself when accelerating out of tricky switchbacks or shooting off huge jumps!

All in all, if you’re looking to feed your need for speed while keeping things under control on steep trails, then the Trek Procaliber 9.7 is perfect for you!

Based on our detailed review, we think it offers great value for money without sacrificing performance for durability or aesthetics – this mountain bike truly ticks all boxes!

Order online and have it shipped to your local dealer for final assembly!!

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First Ride: Trek's New 2021 Procaliber

Cool Features

Trek Procaliber 9.6 Review

by Ben Haworth June 11, 2023 0

Sure, you can ride the Trek Procaliber 9.6 whenever and wherever you like but the raison d’être of the Trek Procaliber is to perform between the race tape.

• Brand : Trek
• Product : Procaliber 9.6
• Price : £2,550.00
• From : trekbikes.com
• Tested by : Benji for Singletrackworld Magazine Issue 149

The other two hardtails in our ‘ Double Yer Money Hardtails ‘ test are all-rounder Traily McTrailface mountain bikes. This Trek Procaliber is decidedly not an all-rounder.

Rather than include a £2,400+ all-rounder trail hardtail, of which there are legion, we think it’s more illuminating and useful to go niche. To highlight the option of buying a very specific tool-for-the-job type of mountain bike.

The job for this Procaliber tool is cross-country racing. This is the sort of machine where the rides that aren’t actual races are called ‘training rides’.

The USP of the Trek Procaliber 9.6 is Trek’s IsoSpeed feature. First seen on Trek’s road racing bikes designed for the cobbled ways of Flanders, IsoSpeed basically detaches the seat tube from the top tube, allowing it to flex fore-aft. It’s a very modern take on ye olde soft-tail designs that did the rounds in the nineties and noughties.

Whereas those older designs typically had some sort of spring placed inside a wishbone seat stay arrangement, the Trek Procaliber has a fixing placed just in front of the seat tube and below the top tube and a wedge of elastomery material in the join. I’ll get into how it feels on the trail shortly.

The frame is made from Trek’s OCLV Mountain grade of carbon and, quite frankly, it looks really rad. The waspish black and yellow colourway is particularly pleasing. The aesthetic helps offset the relatively unexciting build kit. The own-brand finishing kit, mid-tier Shimano stuff and fairly nondescript RockShox Recon fork are all fine but hardly set the pulse racing.

In some ways all these rather uninspiring black bits actually help the bike (frame) look as great as it does. The bars are suitably cross-country narrow. The stem is similarly cross-country-tastically lengthy (80mm). The Bontrager XR2 Team Issue tyres are thrillingly bald. The MT410 brakes and the Recon fork are the two main disappointing spec choices. It just looks a bit too cost-cutting on a bike that otherwise looks so fine.

Looking at the rest of the Procaliber range you’d have to spend £3,775 to get a spec that looks suitably snazzy (Procaliber 9.8 with Fox fork, carbon wheelset, Shimano XT and so on).

The geometry of the Procaliber is on the less progressive side of things, even for a cross-country bike: steep 68.8° head angle, short 450mm reach (Large), dinky 90mm head tube length (Large). Oh and no, there is no dropper seatpost.

It can be hard to explain what makes a bike good at cross-country. It’s not just about being light and stiff. For trail riders, the geometry of cross-country race bikes is often entirely baffling. Steep head angles? Long stems? Narrow bars? Haven’t we left all that sort of stuff behind us?

The thing is, such geometry is not meant to be all-round effective. Cross-country geometry is principally meant to feel fast on climbs (the key word there being ‘feel’; racing is almost as much a mental exercise as physical). The narrow bars are arguably mainly there for aerodynamic reasons as much as anything. And if you have narrow bars (with a steep head angle) you need a lengthy stem to keep the front end from flailing madly when you’re redline drooling.

Why not put a slacker head angle on to cure everything? It’s hard to explain. The best explanation I can say is that it’s about pumping the terrain for even more speed. Cross-country races are won on anything that isn’t a descent. Descending speed is very much not important. Being fast downhill doesn’t win you races really. You can certainly lose races by being poor downhill, but you can’t win ’em. As such, the steep head angle is there to keep the front tyre contact patch nearer to you (usually a Really Bad Idea for Normal MTBing) so you can work the terrain underneath it for increased momentum.

Cross-country races are won primarily on the climbs, but the flatter and contouring stuff also matters a lot. Cross-country race geometry is a very specific system and the Trek Procaliber is more specific than most. And the Trek Procaliber is fast AF where and when it has to be. Sure, the downhills are more an exercise of holding-on rather than grinning-through, but the Procaliber’s grins can be found on race day podiums or (whisper it) Strava leaderboards.

All the boring black bits bolted to the Trek Procaliber 9.6 work fine. The fork is surprisingly active and combined with the IsoSpeed ‘rear suspension’ (when seated) actually makes for a remarkably un-punishing ride feel. There’s a reason the Procaliber is used by a lot of marathon endurance racers instead of a full-suspension bike. Also, by judicious use of the fork lockout, the Procaliber does the whole stood-up stamp-attack mode thing very well too.

I did think overall it would be even better with a dropper seatpost. Just a little one. The IsoSpeed system seems serendipitously perfect for dropper posts; droppers have zero fore-aft flex to them (unlike static seatposts) so IsoSpeed means you can run a dropper and still have a flexy perch experience.

This Trek Procaliber 9.6 is a great example of how an increase in budget can gain you access to a world of specificity. I wouldn’t recommend the Procaliber for everyone. It’s not a bike I personally would have. But if anyone is looking for an effective weapon for cross-country racing (whether real world racing or imaginary online Strava racing) then this is very probably one of the best bikes for going as hard as possible for as long as possible on the tracks and terrain that the stopwatch unsparingly demands.

It is a bike that can attack tracks with the best of them, yet it is perfectly capable of having a recovery breather on when you need one. The active fork, supple tyres and undoubtedly the IsoSpeed ‘soft-tail’ feature afford you a pleasing respite from the sheer brutality of the bike’s out-of-the-saddle efficiency of propulsion. It’s something of a Lycra-clad Jekyll and Hyde creation. Sat down, it’s comfy and polite. Stood up, it’s a freaking monster.

• Frame // OCLV Mountain Carbon
• Fork // RockShox Recon Gold RL LockOut, 100mm
• Wheels // Bontrager Kovee Comp 23
• Front tyre // Bontrager XR2 Team Issue 29×2.2
• Rear tyre // Bontrager XR2 Team Issue 29×2.2
• Chainset // Shimano MT611, 30T, 175mm
• Drivetrain // Shimano SLX/XT, 12-speed, 10–51T
• Brakes // Shimano MT410, 180/160mm
• Stem // Bontrager Rhythm Comp, 80mm, 31.8mm
• Bars // Bontrager Rhythm Comp, 750 x 15mm, 31.8mm
• Grips // Bontrager XR Trail Comp Lock-on
• Seatpost // Bontrager Comp, 31.6mm
• Saddle // Bontrager Arvada
• BB // Shimano MT500 PF92
• Size tested // L
• Sizes available // S, M, ML, L, XL, XXL
• Head angle // 68.8°
• Effective seat angle // 73.8°
• Seat tube length // 470mm
• Head tube length // 90mm
• Effective top tube // 625mm
• BB height // 60mm BB drop
• Reach // 450mm
• Chainstay // 432mm
• Wheelbase // 1,133mm
• Weight // 11.7kg

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Review Info

Orange Switch 6er. Stif Squatcher. Schwalbe Magic Mary Purple Addix front. Maxxis DHR II 3C MaxxTerra rear. Coil fan. Ebikes are not evil. I have been a writer for nigh on 20 years, a photographer for 25 years and a mountain biker for 30 years. I have written countless magazine and website features and route guides for the UK mountain bike press, most notably for the esteemed and highly regarded Singletrackworld. Although I am a Lancastrian, I freely admit that West Yorkshire is my favourite place to ride. Rarely a week goes by without me riding and exploring the South Pennines.

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Trek ProCaliber 8 Hardtail Review

The Trek ProCaliber 8 features a Decoupler and Isospeed and those make this hardtail a ‘fully’. Riddles? Read the review and watch the video!

• Price: € 1799,00
• Weight:  11,98 kg
• Sizes  13,5″ t/m 23″

The Netherlands is a truly hardtail mountain bike country. Not so strange because until recently the mountain bike trails weren’t really a challenge for a fully. But that changes quickly: trails become more technical and certainly on the hard routes of, for example, the Utrechtse Heuvelrug is a little damping behind quite comfortable. The Trek ProCaliber 8 plays on it: it is a hardtail with a little suspension at the rear. How is possible ?  

The Trek ProCaliber series came in late 2016 for the first time on the market, but the technique behind the ‘ springy ‘ hardtail is already somewhat older. The idea – conceived by the engineers of trek in collaboration with the now retired cyclist Fabian Cancellara – dates from 2012 and came in that year for the first time on race bikes of trek. But what is the idea behind that ‘ sprung ‘ back?

Isopeed Decoupler Part I

The Isopeed Decoupler ‘ disconnects ‘ – hence the word Decoupler-the seat of the rest of the frame. Thanks to a piece of ‘ plastic ‘ the seat can move slightly and the vibrations are muted from the back of the frame. Now the seat of course is not completely loose; With a bolt the two are still connected because otherwise the stiffness would be compromised. The operation of the system is difficult to portray while cycling and also still the flex of the seat is barely visible. Trek has stopped the Isospeed decoupler a nice animation in a video on the ProCaliber. The video is at the bottom of this story. The animation starts at 33 seconds.

The Isopeed Decoupler on the tensile procaliber 8 ‘ decouples ‘ the seat from the rest of the frame.

Frame: Three Flavors

The frame of the Trek ProCaliber series is made in Korea – Frame Bouwland by Excellence! -and there is in three flavors. The ProCaliber 6 and the 8 (which I test here) have an aluminum frame. The bare frame weighs in the 17.5 “inch size 2 kg. The tensile ProCaliber 8, which I test, does not bring just 12 kg on the scale. The more expensive 9-series has a carbon frame and is about 500 grams lighter. From that carbon frame there is also another SL-variant: The superlight whose frame weighs a skinny 1.13 kg. of the 6 and 9 is also another ladies model with a frame with a lower entry level. A pity is that the real Middenmoter – the 8 – is not available as a ladies variant.

The frame of the tensile ProCaliber 8 is of aluminum weighs in the 17.5 “inch size 2 kg.

Draw ProCaliber 8 Cable guidance

The bulk of the cables on the pull ProCaliber 8 runs neatly through the frame to the spot of destination. The rear derailleur cable comes out below the bottom frame tube and runs under the rear bridge to the derailleur. The cable of the rear brake is the only one that runs completely reachable from. Or I like that mix nicely? It will be a result of not wanting to make too many holes in a frame because that could have consequences for the firmness. Well, however, there is still a hole in the seat to conduct a cable for a hydraulic seatpost. The frame has two places to screw a bottle cage.

The tensile ProCaliber 8 has a RockShox Reba RL fork. The fork has 100 mm of travel and underneath on the right fork leg is a large rotary knob with which you can set the rebound. The rebound controls the speed at which the fork responds to unevenness as it were. Too fast and you get a bouncy bike, too slow and you get a rocking fork that always responds too late to bumps. On top of the left fork is a valve with which you control the pressure in the fork. This pressure depends on your weight and your personal preference whether you prefer to have a slightly harder or softer fork.

On the right fork leg, the pull ProCaliber 8 has the lockout, on the left the valve for the air pressure.

On the right fork is the mechanism of the Lockout; The system that allows you to lock the fork, so that it drives as a bike without a suspension fork. This is pleasant when climbing or long stretches over tight terrain because you can deliver a lot of power without getting a ‘ heaving ‘ fork and thus wasting energy. About the operation of the fork nothing but praise. If properly adjusted, it smoothes unevenness. The control of the lockout is easily accessible on the handlebar next to the left handle.  The lockout is not 100% lockout; You always have something damping when you unexpectedly go into the lockout booth against a hard tree root.

The tensile ProCaliber 8 has a RockShox Reba RL fork with 100 mm of travel and a lockout.

Wheel Size: 27 ‘ 5 “or 29-er?

The Trek Pro caliber 8, which I test here, is a 29-er. Trek makes depending on the frame size the choice for you whether you get a 29-er or the smaller 27.5 “(650B) wheels. The frame sizes Ladies 13.5 “and men’s 15.5” have these “small” wheels. The frame sizes 17.5 “through 23”-have the big wheels. This choice is logical. As you get smaller, big wheels are a disadvantage rather than an advantage. The bike is not only disproportionately much heavier, but large wheels in a small frame make a mountain bike less manoeuvrable as well.

Rims and hubs

The rims and hubs come from Treks house brand Bontrager. The rims are Duster Elite 23 and they are tubeless Ready. For you can find a Bontrager boost 110 hub and behind a boost 148. And those numbers stand for the width of the hub. With the advent of 29-ers it was important that naven became wider to achieve a similar stiffness as with a 26 inch wheel. But that’s on the side.  The axle for is of course of Rockshox and is 15 mm and behind sits a 12 mm copy of Bontrager.

For the Trek ProCaliber 8 you can find a Bontrager boost 110 hub and behind a boost 148. The axles are 15 and 12 mm thick.

Pull always mounts tires from own home and with the tensile ProCaliber 8 that is no different: front and rear you will find Bontrager XR2 Team Issue tires in size 29 x 2.20. Also these are tubless Ready so you can drive without inner tubes and that saves weight again. Now I’m not always a fan of Bontrager’s ties. I often find them heavy and do not have enough grip on Dutch paths. With the XR2 Team Issue ties that is different. The weight is along (about 630 grams) and the tyres generally offer good grip. Also when I make a mistake, the front band is again biting into the sides of the trail. I do have the idea that the dots in the middle wear out reasonably quickly.

The Trek Pro caliber 8, which I test here, is a 29-er. Trek makes depending on the frame size the choice for you whether you get a 29-er or the smaller 27.5 “(650B) wheels.

Bontrager Assembly

The House brand Bontrager does not only find you back at the wheels. The saddle – a Bontrager Montrose Comp-, the carbon seatpost, the Bontrager Race Lite handlebar and the Elite stem are all from Bontrager. The stem has a length of 70 mm and makes an angle of 7 degrees. In my case, he stands down what a sportier is giving. If you want something more upright then you can turn it over.  The stem is also suitable for the Trek blender: a holder on which you can attach a cycling computer, your mobile, a headlight or a Garmin GPS.

The Trek ProCaliber 8 is a ‘ hardtail ‘ mountain bike with a little suspension at the rear.

Seating position and comfort

Behind is an 11 speed cassette where the smallest sprocket has 11 teeth and the largest 42 teeth. Now you might wonder why that big tooth blade is black and the rest pretty shiny steel. To save weight is that large sprocket made of aluminum. Yes, that is more wear-resistant but that large leaf use – if it is good – relatively little. The crankset comes from race face: The race face Next R. It is made of carbon and that gives the Trek something extra. The sheets for have 26 and 36 teeth. The combination of cover pages and cassette produces a resistance that is of course very useful in the Netherlands and in the mountains of the Ardennes and the hills of the Sauerland. Now you come with a 1 x 11-Speed also a very end. With the 2 x 11-speed of the Trek ProCaliber 8 You will also come a long way in the Alps.

The crankset is a Race face Next R. It is made of carbon and that gives the Trek ProCaliber 8 a little extra.

Shimano Switching system

The complete switching system comes from Shimano. For has a Shimano SLX derailleur mounted and behind a Shimano XT with Shadow Plus technique. On the arm of the derailleur there is a lever. Get it over and the derailleur is locked. As a result, it moves less during cycling and the chain tension is more constant. This prevents the chain from riding over bumps to go too much back and forth and flies off (and between your front blades and the frame comes). Loosening is really only necessary if you want to take the wheel out.

The rear derailleur on the tensile ProCaliber 8 is a Shimano XT with Shadow Plus technique.

The shifters are Shimano SLX-en. They are mounted on the fastening of the brake levers which gives you a nice clean handlebar. The shifters are equipped with a set knob to change the cable tension, should there be some adjustment on the road. It is also good that the position of the shifters relative to the handles can be adjusted. It is a matter of a inbusboutje loosening and you can steer the whole shifter direction or move the directional handles correctly. In short: good for small and large hands. The operation of the Shimano group is flawless.

The fastening of the brakes, shifters and lockout provides a clean handlebar for the tensile ProCaliber 8.

The tensile ProCaliber 8 features Shimano Deore MT500 hydraulic disc brakes and levers. The front disc has a diameter of 180 mm and behind it you find a disc with a diameter of 160 mm.  The calipers have a single piston and are mounted directly onto the frame and the front fork. Something we call in jargon. If you want to tinker with the brakes and pull the claws loose, turn them on with a torque wrench. If you do not do this then you have a chance of damaging the thread in frame and fork and then you are far from home.

The tensile ProCaliber 8 features Shimano Deore MT500 hydraulic disc brakes: For a 180 mm and rear 160 mm disc.

The brake levers have short grips that are very good in the fingers. The distance from the lever to the handlebar is with a inbusboutje to adjust. Handy, but not as handy as a rotary knob that you can just adjust with your fingers. And that Inbusboutje is size 2.5 and it doesn’t sit on every bike tool. Something to bear in mind.

The brake levers ProCaliber 8 have short grasps. The distance from the lever to the handlebar is with a inbusboutje to adjust.

The brakes are nice on average and in this case this is a pre. They intervene well, brake nicely and the delay is good to dispense. They are never too toxic so you suddenly get lost with a blocking front wheel.

Isopeed Decoupler Part II

Back to the right of the draw ProCaliber 8 and the whole series: the Isospeed decoupler story. Last year I tested all the ProCaliber 9.7 SL. A great bike that I couldn’t tell if the Isospeed system works. With the Trek ProCaliber 8 I have that feeling for sure. After two weeks of frolic – of which the necessary times on the hard route of Amer eyes – I feel I have less bounced off the bike step. Also the back feels ‘ quieter ‘ about washboards in my ‘ backside ‘. I also tried the system with hard-pumped tyres on cobblestones and that experiment confirms what I feel on the trails. Incidentally, I realize that I have now tested a totally different bike; Aluminium frame versus carbon, 17.7 “versus 15.5” then and so also 29-er versus 27.5 “.

With the ProCaliber 8 does pull in my eyes something very handsome. The bike performs well on Dutch singles rails and is fast enough to compete with them. The Isospeed comes right into the aluminium 17.5 “frame with its large 29” wheels. Although it is very difficult to measure, I feel that washboards and tree roots are really less hard to get through. Also the installation with a fine RockShox Reba RL Fork and the mix of Bontrager and Shimano parts fits the price of the ProCaliber 8. What does it cost? €1799.00 euro and that is a very neat price for an XC-mountain bike that, like a Korean Kia, drives a class richer. 9.6/10 points!  

Information: www.trekbikes.co m

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Trek Procaliber 9.7 review

• Alan Muldoon
• April 7, 2020

Crosses the finish line first because it’s the fastest bike. Simple.

Trek Procaliber 9.7 Credit: Future PLC

Product Overview

Overall rating:, trek procaliber 9.7.

• Speed with comfort
• No dropper post

Manufacturer:

Price as reviewed:, editor’s choice 2020.

Since the dawn of mountain biking, engineers and enthusiasts have been trying to make the humble hardtail more compliant. We’ve had suspension seatposts, soft-tails, flex stay, curved stays, mono-stays and box stays. You name it, someone has tried it. No approach however, has been as effective as Trek’s IsoSpeed decoupler; first developed on its road bikes designed to race across the gruelling cobbles of Paris Roubaix.

And while the execution of the design is complex, like all good ideas, the concept is elegant in its simplicity. By decoupling the seat tube from the top tube, Trek is able to let the seat tube flex more easily, which in turn transmits less vibrabration to the rider. Or, to think about it another way, the seat stays run into the top-tube, instead of the back of the back seat tube.

Whatever way you slice it, Trek’s IsoSpeed decoupler offers a noticeably smoother ride when seated. So even though the Procaliber 9.7 isn’t one of the new breed of progressive XC hardtails with slacker geometry, we were still able to ride it faster with less fatigue than any other XC hardtail in test. It’s incredible turn of speed enhanced further by the Bontrager Kovee Elite carbon rims. They also tipped the balance of the scales in Trek’s favour too, as the Procaliber 9.7 was also the lightest bike in our XC hardtail test.

The Trek Procaliber 9.7 crossed our finish line first because it’s the fastest bike on test. And in XC racing, that’s all that counts.

>>> MBR Trail Bike of the Year 2020

Modern XC race hardtails aren’t just designed to be ruthlessly efficient on the climbs. The best composite frames also use custom carbon layering, unique fibre alignments and sculpted tube profiles to engineer in compliance. And while the Procaliber 9.7 incorporates all of the above, Trek takes it one step further with its IsoSpeed technology.

First designed to improve the comfort of its road bikes, IsoSpeed decouples the seat tube from the top tube, which in turn allows the seat tube to flex more easily and transmit less trail buzz to the rider. The simple idea being, less systemic rider fatigue leaves more energy for turning pedals. Sounds great in theory, right? Well, the good news is, it’s even better in practice.

Yes, the extra tech involved in IsoSpeed adds a few grams to the frame weight, but Trek has still managed to produce the lightest bike in the test, even if it’s only 110g lighter than its closest rival, the Mondraker Chrono Carbon R. Most of the savings are rotational weight – the carbon Bontrager Kovee Elite wheels guaranteeing that the Trek is lightning fast off the start line.

IsoSpeed decoupler is a game-changer

In fact we were so surprised to see carbon hoops on the Procaliber 9.7, we actually double-checked that Trek hadn’t sent a more expensive model by mistake. As it turns out it couldn’t have, even if it had wanted to, as the Procaliber 9.7 at is actually the most expensive XC hardtail that Trek offers in the UK.

RockShox reba fork is responsive but also offers decent support

In the RockShox hierarchy, the 100mm-travel Reba on the Trek sits below the SID on the Mondraker but above the Judy on the Specialized Epic HT . It strikes a great balance in terms of performance too. On high-speed chatter it’s more forgiving on your hands than the SID, but it still offers more support for cornering and cranking hard than the Judy.

And if you really want to tighten up the response of the suspension fork for a spot of black-top blasting, the RockShox under-bar remote lockout is always within easy reach. It feels plastic-y compared to the remote on the Scott Scale 920, but thanks to the super-light cable action it’s effortless in use. And, because the release lever sits proud of the lockout lever, you always open up the fork when you reach for it in a moment of panic.

Silicone grips save weight as well as your hands

Have we mentioned the Trek’s lightweight carbon wheels? Well, we should also highlight that they were the only wheels in the test to come set up tubeless. All you have to do is add sealant, which Trek kindly provides.

The contact points on the Procaliber are sorted too, and we particularly liked the ESI Chunky silicone grips . Granted the 12-Speed Eagle drivetrain with its 11-50t cassette doesn’t give you as wide a gear range as the Scott, but the SRAM XG-1230 cassette still offers a marked improvement in shifting performance over the Specialized.

Performance

When we first set eyes on the Trek, it wasn’t love at first sight. If anything, we thought the size large bike looked a little ungainly with its inverted 95mm stem and taller top tube. We even went as far as to peg it ‘the roadie’s mountain bike’.

Then we rode it. From the first pedal stroke the Procaliber took the lead in this test and never faltered. We were instantly won over by its effortless turn of speed, in part thanks to the carbon wheels, but it’s also about the more forgiving ride quality of the frame. Bumps just didn’t chip away at our speed as much as they did on the other bikes on test. And even when we were out of the saddle, the Procaliber was still the smoothest bike here. So much so, that the real limiting factor on rougher more technical terrain is saddle height. So while the weight savings of the OCLV carbon seatpost aren’t to be sniffed at, we’d swap it for a short-travel dropper in a heartbeat.

Stablemates

Trek procaliber 6, £1,400.

This is the entry-level bike in the Procaliber range. It gets an Alpha Platinum aluminium frame rather than carbon, but it still sports the IsoSpeed design that decouples the top tube from the seat tube to offer a smoother, faster ride. The geometry and sizing also mirror our test winner, so handing should be on point too.

Trek Supercaliber 9.7, £4,000

If you want the look of a hardtail but an even more forgiving ride than the Procaliber 9.7, how about the new Supercaliber? With its IsoStrut design delivering 60mm of travel, it could well be the perfect balance between hardtail efficiency and weight saving, with full-suspension comfort and control.

What’s new for 2021?

Depending on personal preference and course conditions, Trek wanted to make it easier for riders or races to swap between the Procaliber hardtail and the Supercalibrer suspension bike. So for 2021 the sizing and geometry of the Procaliber has been brought inline with the 60mm travel Supercaliber. The end result is that the Procaliber gets a half a degree slacker head angle for improved steering stability. The reach measurement has also increased by 10mm, while the stem shortens by the same amount so the fit remains the same. All positive changes, that should guarantee the 2021 Procaliber retains its winning performance.

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Six-Month Review: Trek Procaliber SL

With the Procaliber SL, Trek has reengineered the race bike with a modicum of comfort and revived our interest in hardtails

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The Takeaway

The Good:  The IsoSpeed decoupler takes the hard edge off trails and makes it possible to go faster for longer. The combination of Boost hub spacing and the excellent new DT Swiss XMC 1200 Carbon makes for some of the lightest, stiffest, hardest-driving wheels we’ve ridden. RockShox’s RS-1 fork is the fork benchmark for small-bump compliance and XC performance.

The Bad:  The 2.0-inch Bontrager XR1 tires might be fast, but they are too skinny to provide any compliance, tore easily in our desert environment, and were the first things we replaced. At $8,000, this is a machine only for the rarefied ranks of World Cup racing (though Trek offers carbon Procal models down to $2,400).

The Verdict:  If cross-country racing is your thing, you’d be hard pressed to find a better machine than the  Procaliber 9.9 SL . It’s stunningly light at 19.2 pounds, as fast and nimble as you’d expect for a fully tricked-out hard tail, yet the rear triangle design ensures that it doesn’t beat you up like most other race bikes. 

If you asked me a year or two ago, I’d have told you that hardtails were dead. Suspension and carbon layups have gotten so good and light that there’s almost no weight or efficiency penalty for picking full-squish.

But two developments have changed my opinion. First, the rise of plus-size tires has made hardtails comfy and capable in ways that they have never been before. And second, several companies, most notably Trek with the Procaliber, have taken to re-engineering race hardtails with some semblance of comfort.

Which means that if you race, or if you live in a place with smooth, fast trails, hardtails are once again worth considering. (Note: Unless you’re five foot or smaller and can’t fit on a 29er, forgo the 27.5-inch hardtail models, which I consider the worst idea to have surfaced in years: small wheels plus rigid frame equals worst-of-both-worlds harshness.)

• Price: $8,000
• Weight: 19.2 pounds
• Drivetrain: Shimano XTR

Two things make the Procaliber SL frame stand out. First, and most obvious, is the IsoSpeed decoupler, a design the company debuted with great success on its Domane endurance road bike (which won Paris-Roubaix and Flanders), and then incorporated into its Boone cross bike and now this XC weapon. The design disconnects the seat post from the down tube with a pair of bearings, which allows the saddle to move in a rearward arc so the bike absorbs road roughness instead of your body. It works exceptionally well  not only because it provides vertical compliance, but also because it simultaneously keeps the bike laterally stiff for pedaling and handling.

The Procaliber’s other notable characteristic reflects Trek’s increasing aptitude with carbon forming, as the company’s high-end frames are getting lighter and lighter while remaining stiff and strong. (The debut of the Top Fuel , for instance, saw Trek’s four-inch race bike lose nearly a pound in frame weight from the previous year’s Superfly FS.) What this means is that the Procaliber frame is as light and snappy as a road bike but still strong enough for constant trail abuse.

The frame sports Boost hub spacing, too, a good upgrade for a 29er since the wheels get stiffer with the additional width. And despite the frame’s featherweight, Trek also added clean internal cable routings and ports, making the Procaliber able to accommodate everything from a dropper post and/or a lockout button, as well as brakes and shift cables.

The Components

On an $8,000 bicycle, I expect everything to be completely dialed. That’s sometimes surprisingly not the case, but on the Procaliber 9.9 SL, Trek got it right. Also, incidentally, looking down the Procaliber line, Trek’s spec choices, even on the less-expensive models, are very good. 

Other than the cutting-edge frame design, my favorite part of this bike is the fork and wheel combo. The RockShox RS-1, while costly, is a step above everything else out there, in terms of performance, for a short-travel bike. The full carbon crown design, with the stanchions at the base, makes for best-in-class stiffness, which you notice when carving hard turns or climbing and sprinting out of the saddle. The fork damper provides incredible small-bump sensitivity, too, but still soaks up the big bumps. Trek wisely spec’d a remote lockout, which is a must, in my opinion, on hardtails, where turning the bike rigid and back is a constant switch. And even though the RS-1 is a bit heavier than comparable standard forks, thanks to Trek’s carbon prowess, the bike is still astoundingly light.

Meanwhile, the DT Swiss XMC1200 Carbon wheels are a revelation from a company whose hoops in previous years have left me cold. I have ridden these wheels on numerous bikes this year, including on an 850-miles sojourn on the Arizona Trail, and not only do they feel like cheating because they're so light and spin up so quickly, but they also proved tough enough for rugged trails with big loads. The Boost spacing (110mm up front, 148 rear) helps with the stiffness, and the wheels also set up tubeless without issue.

As already noted, the pinner tires, while maybe okay for short, fast races, were too skinny for my liking and also too flimsy for the rocky, poky trails we have in New Mexico and Arizona. Instead, I upgraded almost immediately (well, once I’d shredded one sidewall, which took under a week) to Maxxis Ikons —2.35-inch front and 2.2-inch back—which made for a much cushier and more durable ride.

Other spec notes: The Race Face Next SL crank is awesome, and the gold standard when it comes to lightweight, stiff, race machines. And I love the XTR brakes and drivetrain, but Shimano is overdue for a bigger XTR-level cassette. It’s true that the 11-40 cogs worked fine in this super-lightweight race application, but if you buy the top level goods, you should be able to get an 11-42 without downgrading to XT parts, which is what is necessary now if you want the bigger range. Oh yeah, and the cheap foam grips, while ridiculously light, are total throwaways.

A couple of years ago, I shunned hardtails when Specialized unveiled the World Cup edition Epic . At under 20 pounds, the price you’d pay in weight over a hardtail was far exceeded by what gained in comfort from this bike. And more importantly, when I rode a rigid frame for the endurance events that I was so keen on doing, I’d end up pummeled, wishing I’d gone full squish.

So it was with trepidation that I opted to ride the Procaliber earlier this year in a 12-hour race. It was a mostly smooth, fast 16-mile loop, with a few miles of rock and ruts thrown in to keep you honest. From the get go I enjoyed the power transfer, immediacy, and snappiness of being on a hardtail. This bike corners and leans over like a road racer, and the wheels and super stiff bottom bracket give it rocket ship acceleration. All day, I felt good and fast, making clean passes on climbs because of the bike’s light weight and even smashing past people on the one swerving, rocky descent, which was a testament to the bike’s capabilities.

No hardtail is ever going to be as comfy as full suspension, but the IsoSpeed coupler actually kept my back, neck, and shoulders in line for all 12 hours, and I didn’t feel like I’d gone a round with Jon Jones the next morning. There are a lot of gimmicks out there that claim to make bikes more comfortable, but Trek’s IsoSpeed design is not one of them. With a little fatter tires than come on the bike, the Procaliber was as forgiving as a hardtail race bike will likely ever be, but gave up nothing in terms of speed and agility.

The Competition

There are too many hardtail race 29ers on the market to mention, but the inevitable comparison is with this year’s BMC Teamelite TE01 , which, like the Procaliber promises added compliance out back, but accomplishes that feat with elastomers on metal rails embedded into the seat stays. Both bikes are excellent, and it’s exciting to see more than one company taking on the task of making hardtails more forgiving.

Our testers felt that the BMC was a bit more comfortable out back, though the Trek had a more linear feel in the rear-end movement. The Procaliber was also more laterally stiff, which is why most people agreed it would make a better, flat-out race bike. You can’t go wrong with either bike, and the BMC will best suit the rider after the most comfort in a hardtail. But the fact that the Trek came with an RS-1 fork and still tipped the scales a pound less than the BMC made it the overall favorite.

Buying Advice

Trek has almost singlehandedly reawakened my interest in hardtails. First came the Stache 9 , which is arguably the rowdiest, most capable hardtail I’ve ever ridden, thanks to those meaty, 29+ wheels. And now the Procaliber rethinks the XC hardtail.

This is simultaneously the fastest mountain bike I’ve ridden in years, as well as the most comfortable hardtail race bike. For those after a fleet, hard-charging machine that punishes the competition and not your body, it’s the inevitable pick.

Yes, it costs a small fortune and only dedicated racers will opt for the 9.9 SL model. But the 9.8 SL is the exact same frame in a build package that’s more democratic ($4,800), and the 9.7 and 9.6 use slightly lower grade carbon layups to bring the IsoSpeed decoupler advantages to everyone.

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Trek Procaliber w/ IsoSpeed flex becomes a faster, nimbler race mountain bike

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Building on it’s IsoSpeed equipped predecessor’s comfort and the modern geometry of the short-travel Supercaliber, the all-new Trek Procaliber hardtail gets all the right updates. Modern geometry, cleaner cable routing, and improved steer-ability make it faster than ever.

What’s new about the 2021 Trek Procaliber?

The geometry’s the biggest change you’re likely to feel. Based almost exactly on the Supercaliber (which has 60mm of unique IsoStrut rear travel ), the new Procaliber has:

• 68.75º headtube (0.75º slacker)
• 8mm longer reach across all sizes
• 432mm chainstays (3mm shorter)
• 72.75º seat tube (1.65º steeper)

Here’s the full geometry chart:

And all six sizes, from Small through XXL roll on 29″ wheels now, so all sizes roll faster. And it gets a shorter offset fork to increase trail for more stability.

The cable routing runs everything through full length tubes, all through the downtube, and only has what you need: Rear derailleur, rear brake, and dropper seatpost.

The Knock Block headset now allows for a wider 62º turning radius per side (up from 58º). So, those slow speed maneuvers and tight, twisty corners will be easier to negotiate. Not only does this protect the controls or fork crown from cracking into the top and down tubes during a wreck, Trek says it also keeps the cable from getting yanked too hard.

Theoretically, we’re thinking this means you could run slightly shorter hoses and cables for a cleaner (lighter) look without needing all the extra to accommodate excess bar spin.

There’s also more tire clearance, fitting up to 29×2.4″ treads inside the frame. And those tires com setup tubeless out of the box with TLR strips, valves and sealant.

As for the IsoSpeed decoupler, it carries over unchanged. It creates a pivot point between the seat tube and top tube, with flex designed into the seat tube. This gives the rider more compliance when seated without giving up any lateral rigidity.

It means you lose any of that bump-damping comfort when you stand up, but at least you’ll be able to power through the rougher stuff in a more efficient position than on a standard hardtail.

2021 Trek Procaliber models and pricing

Starting with the most affordable model, the Procaliber 9.5 gets a Rockshox Judy air fork, Shimano Deore 12-speed group and MT200 brakes for just $2,099.99.

Next up is the Procaliber 9.6 with an SLX/XT mix, MT4100 brakes, Rockshox Recon Gold fork and upgraded Bontrager Kovee Comp wheels for $2,779.99.

The Procaliber 9.7 gets the latest SRAM GX Eagle group with Shimano MT501 brakes, a Rockshox Reba RL fork, and Kovee Elite Carbon wheels. Retail is $4,199.99

There’s carbon everywhere with the top model Procaliber 9.8 , from it’s Kovee Elite 30 carbon wheels to the e13 carbon cranks. The rest of the drivetrain and brakes are full Shimano XT 12-speed, and it gets a lightweight Fox 32 StepCast Performance fork.

Price is…well, it’s not available in North America. But in Europe it’s about €3,499-3,599 depending on the country. Or £3,100 in the UK.

Complete bikes and a frameset are available now at all Trek dealers and direct through their website. No word on alloy models yet, but if they follow the prior path , maybe look for those in a few months.

Learn more at TrekBikes.com .

Disclosure: Some of these links are affiliate links that may earn a small commission for Bikerumor if you click on them and buy something. This helps support our work here without costing you anything extra. You can learn more about how we make money here . Thanks!

Tyler Benedict is the Founder of Bikerumor.com . He has been writing about the latest bikes, components, and cycling technology for almost two decades. Prior to that, Tyler launched and built multiple sports nutrition brands and consumer goods companies, mostly as an excuse to travel to killer riding locations throughout North America.

Based in North Carolina, Tyler loves family adventure travel and is always on the lookout for the next shiny new part to make his bikes faster and lighter.

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Is there/ will there be a frame only option? When will there be North American availability?

@Tyler Benedict Benedict, can Trek make their Logo any bigger on these frames???

Are these frames all the same or do the lower builds get correspondingly heavier carbon?

Sounds like all the same carbon

AKA unforgivably heavy at 1.6kg for an XC race frame. Isospeed and kockblock add lots of weight.

Yes, there will be. At least here in Germany, no idea if it’s the same everywhere else. It’s btw. the white/black/red frame of the 9.8.

Sad to see the 27.5” option for small frames disappear. Do riders on Small and Extra Small MTBs really need 29” wheels? Seems like a compromise where smaller riders lose out to accountants. I was considering this and the Orbea Oiz M10 27.5”. No longer considering either.

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High Performance and High Value Meet in the Trek Procaliber 9.7

This hardtail is a lightweight and dependable mountain bike with a carbon frame and wheels.

The Takeaway: The Procaliber 9.7 is one of the best hardtail mountain bikes you can buy for less than four grand.

• OCLV Carbon frame
• Tubeless-ready carbon wheels
• Incredibly light

The tradeoff for a killer carbon frame and carbon wheels on a sub-4K bike is the drivetrain. The SRAM NX Eagle is reliable but doesn’t offer the crisp shifting of pricier component groups like Shimano XT or X01 Eagle. It’s also notably heavier than those groupsets, with most of that weight in the cassette and crankset.

IsoSpeed Decoupler

The IsoSpeed decoupler, unique to Trek, is an interesting feature. It adds vertical compliance by creating a hinge of sorts between the seat tube and the top tube, allowing the former to move independently of the latter. If you’ve never ridden a bike with this decoupler, you might be inclined to think it’s snake oil. Given that we live i n a world flush with companies touting frames with vertical compliance and lateral stiffness (with varying levels of success), I’ll forgive you that assumption. But make no mistake, this is no snake oil. The IsoSpeed adds so much compliance you can actually see the seat tube moving under you if you bounce on the saddle. To be fair, some of that flex comes from the carbon seat post, which further adds to the vertical compliance. Together they make a bike that’s surprisingly comfortable for long, hard hours of trail riding .

Fast Wheels

Tubeless-ready carbon wheels are a rare find at this price.

Remote Lockout

The RockShox Reba RL fork has a handlebar-mounted remote lockout.

XR2 Team Issue Tires

These tires are wicked fast on dry trails and hold their own in the mud.

NX Eagle Drivetrain

An 11-50 cassette and 30t chainring provide all the gearing you need.

Vertical Compliance

The IsoSpeed decoupler makes this bike comfortable over long, rough trail rides.

Initially I was put off by that soft feeling. I tested the Procaliber right on the heels of the very lively Specialized Epic Hardtail Pro . By comparison the Procaliber 9.7 felt subdued, almost boring. In early test rides, I misdiagnosed this bike as dead and lifeless. However, once I became more familiar with the Procaliber 9.7, I realized I was feeling the effect of the decoupler. The claims of vertical compliance were real. The more time I spent banging around the rough and rocky trails of my test track, the more I realized this bike was still just as lively as other hardtails, but the rough edges I was accustomed to were gone.

Procaliber Family

The Procaliber line consists of three bikes, and the 9.7 resides at the top of the list. At $2,600, the 9.6 is laced with the nicer but more expensive Shimano XT drivetrain, but the cost is balanced by cheaper alloy wheels and a RockShox Recon Gold fork (noticeable steps down from the 9.7). This bike is a super deal for anyone who already has a nice set of wheels they really like. If aluminum frames are your jam, the Procaliber 6 warrants consideration.

.css-1hhr1pq{text-align:center;font-size:1.1875rem;line-height:1.6;font-family:Charter,Charter-roboto,Charter-local,Georgia,Times,Serif;}.css-1hhr1pq em{font-style:italic;font-family:Charter,Charter-styleitalic-roboto,Charter-styleitalic-local,Georgia,Times,Serif;}.css-1hhr1pq strong{font-family:Charter,Charter-weightbold-roboto,Charter-weightbold-local,Georgia,Times,Serif;font-weight:bold;} Trek Procaliber 9.7 Details

Style XC Material Carbon Wheel Size 29-inch Fork 100mm RockShox Reba RL Drivetrain SRAM NX Eagle Cranks Truvativ Stylo 6k Eagle Dub Chainring 30t Cassette 11-50 Brakes Shimano MT500 hydraulic disc Wheels Bontrager Kovee Elite 23 Carbon Tires 2.2-inch Tubeless-ready Bontrager XR2 Team Issue Saddle Bontrager Montrose Comp Seatpost Bontrager Pro OCLV Carbon Handlebar 720mm Bontrager Race Lite Alloy Stem Bontrager Elite

Geometry That Bucks The Trend

On paper, the Procaliber 9.7 thumbs its nose at the current trend of long, low, and slack mountain bikes. A 69.5-degree head angle is as steep as you’ll find on an XC bike, half a degree steeper than the already aggressive Cannondale F-Si and a full degree steeper than Specialized’s Epic Hardtail. A slack 72-degree seat angle also runs against the grain, especially next to the aggressive 74 degrees of the Specialized. It stands in stark contrast to modern XC bikes that are trending towards slacker head angles and steeper seat angles. The reach is short (457mm), stack is low (628mm), and the bottom bracket is high (311mm).

However, it would be foolish to pass this bike over because it doesn’t conform to a trend. The slack seat angle was apparent before I even looked at the geometry because I had to slide my saddle farther forward than I’m accustomed to, as was the short reach, amplified by the narrow 720mm handlebar. After a few hours, I was comfortable on the bike, accustomed to the sharp steering that required a light touch, and riding as hard and fast around my test track as I’ve done on any other bike.

Smooth, Steady, And Fast

As I alluded to earlier, I was slow to warm up to this bike. My last tester was the Specialized Epic Hardtail Pro, which I described as lively, wild, and exciting. Compared to the Specialized , this Trek initially appeared dull and uninspiring. Like a fine wine, it took its time to open up to me. Still, there was no spark.

If the Epic Hardtail Pro is the wild affair, the Procaliber 9.7 is the safe bet, the one you invite to Thanksgiving. And costing just under two thousand dollars less, it's also a cheaper date .

It’s hard to find a fault with this bike. It’s shockingly light—my XL test sample weighed in at only 21.6 pounds. Considering the Epic Hardtail Pro tipped the scales at 21.3 pounds, benefitting from lighter SRAM X01 groupset, carbon cranks, and a carbon handlebar, you’ll see it’s very easy to drop major weight off the Trek if you're a weight weenie. Of course, the NX Eagle drivetrain doesn’t shift as smoothly as SRAM’s higher-level groupsets, but it’s a fair tradeoff for the top-flight frame and carbon hoops. This bike is everything you could ask for from a cross country hardtail: light, fast, responsive, and compliant. At $3,780, it’s not cheap, but it offers incredible value.

procaliber Procaliber 9.7

.css-1t6om3g:before{width:1.75rem;height:1.75rem;margin:0 0.625rem -0.125rem 0;content:'';display:inline-block;-webkit-background-size:1.25rem;background-size:1.25rem;background-color:#F8D811;color:#000;background-repeat:no-repeat;-webkit-background-position:center;background-position:center;}.loaded .css-1t6om3g:before{background-image:url(/_assets/design-tokens/bicycling/static/images/chevron-design-element.c42d609.svg);} Bike Reviews

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• Procaliber 9.7

Trek's Procaliber 'softail' gains a geo update

Trek's innovative Procaliber has some frame changes for the 2021 model year

Trek has upgraded its IsoSpeed-enabled Procaliber MTB range, a bike that has long been considered one of the best hardtail mountain bikes around.

Essentially the hardtail version of Trek’s Supercaliber dual-suspension XC race bike, the Procaliber features improved geometry and some industrial design changes. 

The entire Procaliber range now roll 29er wheels, even on the smaller frame sizes, which had previously offered 27.5-inch wheels. Balancing the big wheels are more progressive geometry numbers, with a slightly slacker head angle and stretched reach.

Design engineers at Trek have managed to slacken the Procaliber’s head angle from 69.5- to 68.75-degrees, allowing for better rider weight distribution during technical descents.

• Best hardtail mountain bikes
• Best lightweight mountain bikes under 10kg

Leveraging that more relaxed head angle are 100mm forks, featuring a 42mm offset for all frame sizes. Riders who wish to slightly overfork their Procaliber will note that the frame’s head tube is now rated for up to 110mm of front suspension travel.

The 2021 model year Procaliber might be more confidence inspiring on technical descents, thanks to its combination of slacker head angle and greater reach (up by 10mm on a size large), but its climbing geometry has not been sacrificed. With a 73.75-degree seat angle, which is nearly a degree steeper, riders will be perched in a position best suited to attacking those steep off-road climbs.

Better agility

One of the design objectives for this new Procaliber was improved agility, especially when navigating tight singletrack. To achieve this, Trek’s product team settled compact 432mm chainstays, giving the bike a compact and responsive rear end that will accommodate a 29x2.4in size tyre.

Steering responsiveness is also enhanced, thanks to a more generous angle of possible handlebar leverage. The Knock Block headset, which prevents handlebar over-rotation and potential frame damage during a crash, has seen its arc of limitation increase by 4°. This should greatly improve the Procaliber’s handling in extremely slow and technical terrain.

A valued design feature of the Procaliber which remains unchanged from the 2020 model year bike, is Trek’s Isospeed decoupling pivot. Located at the juncture between seat and top tube, this frame design detail allows for excellent pedalling efficiency and the quality of terrain compliance that would be impossible with a conventional rigid rear triangle hardtail.

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Trek is marketing its 2021 model year Procaliber in four build options. The entry-level Procaliber 9.5 retails for $2,000 and runs a 12-speed Shimano Deore drivetrain and RockShox Judy fork.

At $2,650 the Procaliber 9.6 upgrades to a combination Shimano SLX/XT drivetrain, Rockshox Recon Gold fork and Bontrager Kovee wheels.

Procaliber 9.7 is a significant jump in price, to $4,000. It is specced with SRAM’s GX Eagle 12-sped drivetrain, Rockshox’s Reba SL fork and Bontranger’s Kovee Elite 23 carbon wheels.

Trek’s 2021 Procaliber range peaks with the 9.8 derivative, which will only be available to European riders for the time being.

Retailing for £3,100, the 9.8 shifts via a Shimano XT 12-speed drivetrain receiving pedalling input from e*Thirteen carbon cranks, whilst up front there is a Fox 32 Stepcast Performance fork. The 9.8 also rolls Bontrager’s wider Kovee Elite carbon 30 wheels and decelerates courtesy of Shimano’s latest XT brakes.

All Trek’s 2021 model year Procalibers run 29x2.2in tyres and all but the 9.5 have remote fork lockouts. There is a frame only option too, priced at $1,499.

Lance Branquinho is a Namibian-born journalist who graduated to mountain biking after injuries curtailed his trail running. He has a weakness for British steel hardtails, especially those which only run a single gear. As well as Bike Perfect , Lance has written for MBR.com , Off-Road.cc and Cycling News.

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Issue 09 takes readers on trips through time—one to the early days of bicycles—and offers several reminders to be grateful for supportive friends and family, and strangers we meet along the way...

For Issue 08, we invited several contributors to return and pick up where earlier trips and ideas left off and also feature a handful of first-timers whose perspectives we’ve long been eager to share...

2020 Trek Supercaliber “full” suspension with a Massive Frame Triangle

Previous Dispatch From Thu Sep 5, 2019

New Marin 2020 All-Road Bikes

The 2020 Trek Supercaliber offers full suspension plus a full frame triangle, making it an interesting option for rides like the Tour Divide. What do you think?

The 2020 Trek Supercaliber was no doubt developed for cross country racing. However, we’ve seen a few sprinkled in our Tour Divide Rig roundups, so folks are using them for ultra-endurance racing as well. The 2020 model features a new IsoStrut integrated rear shock, making it all the more interesting for bikepacking—think full-suspension with a full-sized frame bag. The Supercaliber is built around an ultra-lightweight, full OCLV Mountain Carbon frame with pivotless seat stays and Trek’s exclusive IsoStrut Fox Performance shock to offer 60mm of travel. It also has dual remote suspension lockout is equipped with a lightweight Fox 100mm fork.

Trek offers several models ranging from $4,800 to $11,000. The mid-range $5,900 Trek Supercaliber 9.8 shown here is trimmed out with a 29 x 2.20″ tires, SRAM GX Eagle drivetrain, carbon cranks, wider Bontrager Kovee Elite 30 carbon wheels, a Bontrager carbon seatpost and handlebar, and a 54T quick engagement Rapid Drive rear hub. Learn more about the 2020 Trek Supercaliber in the launch video below, and over at TrekBikes.com .

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