2012 Trek 8000 Hardtail Mountain Bike
Although the pendulum over the last 2 seasons has well and truly swung towards 29ers, the lightweight Trek 8000 is still the choice for riders after a super fast, responsive and nimble race hardtail. Sure a 29er rolls well, but if you're after maximum lateral rigidity, razor-sharp handling through tight switchback corners and near-instant acceleration, you still can't beat a well made 26" hardtail. To bring the 8000 into todays modern mountain bike market, Trek have employed some very sophisticated Alloy manufacturing techniques to achieve the desired ride quality their engineers were after, much like designing a carbon frame. Trek's own special blend of alloy is titled Alpha Platinum and it uses all kinds of hydroforming, butting and complex shaping to sculpt away unnecessary material to improve ride quality and decrease weight. A press fit BB86 bottom bracket uses press-in bearings instead of the traditional thread-in types used on older models. Being 86mm wide, the bottom bracket shell provides a wider platform for the downtube / seat tube / chainstay interface, and this massive intersection is the heart of the 8000's frame stiffness and rigidity, lending the frame its snappy feel under power. A semi-integrated head tube keeps the front end low for an efficient riding position while a Fox Float RL fork connects the frame to the front wheel, with 100mm of smooth Fox suspension and a lightweight air spring that can be adjusted to any rider weight. The fork gets adjustable rebound and an external lockout lever for locking the suspension on smooth fire roads or sections of bitumen. 

All of that whiz-bang frame technology is nothing without a quality set of wheels, and the 8000 delivers with a handbuilt set of Bontrager wheels that utilises the lightweight Mustang rims laced with DT Swiss spokes onto Shimano XT hubs. Perhaps not as fancy as a set of Mavic or Fulcrum wheels, the Bonty wheelset is super reliable, surprisingly lightweight, fast accelerating and with the privateer XC racer in mind - easy to maintain too. The Mustang rims are compatible with Bontragers TLR tubeless rimstrip system if you want to drop some rotational weight, and the 32-hole spoking pattern ensures the wheels are laterally stiff to match the responsive alloy frame.
Although Trek have packed a lot of R&D dollars into the 8000 frame, Fox Fork and wheels, they have managed to deck it out with a 10 speed Shimano XT/SLX drivetrain and the brand new Shimano SLX hydraulic disc brakes. As you can imagine with Shimano, everything shifts flawlessly and the brakes dish out plenty of power with lots of control too - none of that on/off feeling here. The 8000 still gets a triple crankset as lets face it, if you're racing you'll be wanting that 42t chainring, and the wide-range 10 speed cassette means you can stay in that chainring for longer. For the XC rider and racer, there is nothing as responsive or as lightweight as a well-engineered hardtail like the Trek 8000 and thanks to the clever parts spec, this race bike will last for many seasons to come.
 

Our favourite features of the 8000

	Alpha Platinum Trek'shigh-performance lightweight aluminium alloy is continuously cold extruded and butted at multiple points for ultimate weight reduction and superior strength. Frames built with Alpha Platinum feature a high degree of hydroforming to create the most complex industrial designs for the lightest weight, and are finished using Trek's smooth-weld finishing process
	3x10 With a 10-speed cassette and a 3-ring crankset, 3x10 delivers a closer-ratio drivetrain, a wider range of gears, and increased efficiency and durability. You will also find the ratio of change between each gear very consistent all the way across the cassette. Something you will appreciate when pushing hard up steep climbs.