I'm lucky enough to be spending a few months on a Top Fuel at the moment. It's a 9.8 with a few different spec choices which round out it's price from a bit off $9000 CAD all the way to around $11,000. It's a very nice bike. I'm used to riding pretty nice bikes. But my main takeaway?
Bikes are so expensive it's offensive. I have insurance on all my bikes, and I'm grandfathered on the policy so it costs me a few dollars extra a year on a home insurance plan. But it's up to a max of $6000 per bike. This used to be enough - I enjoyed riding the top end alloy spec or the lowest/second lowest carbon spec. Not that long ago a Trek 9.8 level bike was in the realm of $6500. Now, the replacement cost of the bikes I already own, for some of them, is approaching double that? Crazy. Don't get me wrong, the Top Fuel 9.8 is a hell of a build without changing anything, but whenever I ride it I just can't get over the fact that I don't think the experience justifies the cost. I don't think my experience is really much better than a Top Fuel 8, particularly if you shelled out for a little lighter wheelset to match the acceleration somewhere down the line.
The bike is great, by the way. It has incredible get-up-and-go acceleration and the rear end/middle descends extremely well for the travel. I really liked the tires early season, but now that it's dry and dusty where I am they leave a lot to be desired, particularly out front. I think the frame is held back by the SID, perhaps intentionally. I'd love to try it with a slightly longer Pike or 34 (and maybe a 9.8 Slack-R, but don't tell Trek) and more aggressive front tire and see how close in feel it gets to the Optic I had or my Instinct.
July 23, 2022, 9:09 a.m. - Lu Kz
I'm lucky enough to be spending a few months on a Top Fuel at the moment. It's a 9.8 with a few different spec choices which round out it's price from a bit off $9000 CAD all the way to around $11,000. It's a very nice bike. I'm used to riding pretty nice bikes. But my main takeaway? Bikes are so expensive it's offensive. I have insurance on all my bikes, and I'm grandfathered on the policy so it costs me a few dollars extra a year on a home insurance plan. But it's up to a max of $6000 per bike. This used to be enough - I enjoyed riding the top end alloy spec or the lowest/second lowest carbon spec. Not that long ago a Trek 9.8 level bike was in the realm of $6500. Now, the replacement cost of the bikes I already own, for some of them, is approaching double that? Crazy. Don't get me wrong, the Top Fuel 9.8 is a hell of a build without changing anything, but whenever I ride it I just can't get over the fact that I don't think the experience justifies the cost. I don't think my experience is really much better than a Top Fuel 8, particularly if you shelled out for a little lighter wheelset to match the acceleration somewhere down the line. The bike is great, by the way. It has incredible get-up-and-go acceleration and the rear end/middle descends extremely well for the travel. I really liked the tires early season, but now that it's dry and dusty where I am they leave a lot to be desired, particularly out front. I think the frame is held back by the SID, perhaps intentionally. I'd love to try it with a slightly longer Pike or 34 (and maybe a 9.8 Slack-R, but don't tell Trek) and more aggressive front tire and see how close in feel it gets to the Optic I had or my Instinct.