Trek Session 88 FR – Freeride Mountain Bike In for Review

For 2009, Trek Bikes completely redesigned their full suspension mountain bike lineup. With the introduction of the Active braking Pivot, EVO link, Full Floater linkage and E2 headtube, the new bikes out of the Trek Bikes stable bring more competition to the high end cross country, all mountain, freeride and downhill segments. On Thursday of last week, I came home to find a beautiful brown box on my doorstep. Within this large container is one of Trek’s completely designed rigs…the Session 88 FR. The Session 88 FR is one of two new bikes in the FR/DH market from Trek Bikes. The other version of the Session…the Session 88 DH…comes better equipped for full on DH race duty. This FR edition is ready for every big hit and trick booter you can throw its way.

The Trek Session 88 FR Specs

Frameset
Sizes 15.5, 17.5, 19.5″
Frame Alpha Red Aluminum w/ABP, Full Floater, alloy EVO Link, E2 head tube, oversized bearings, 203mm travel
Front Suspension RockShox Totem Coil w/E2 alloy steerer, rebound, high/low speed compression, Mission Control, 180mm
Rear Suspension Fox DHX 5 Coil, custom “gravity tuned” w/external rebound, 15-click Pro Pedal, boost valve; 8.75×2.75″
Wheels
Wheels Bontrager Big Earl wheel system, 20mm front, 12mm rear w/150mm spacing
Tires Bontrager Big Earl w/Stability Control Casing, 26×2.5″; 60 tpi
Drivetrain
Shifters Shimano “New” Saint, Rapidfire Plus
Front Derailleur MRP System 3 Chainguide w/Party Crasher bash guard
Rear Derailleur Shimano “New” Saint “Shadow” SS
Crank Shimano “New” Saint, 83mm bottom bracket, 36T
Cassette SRAM PG970 11-32, 9 speed
Pedals Bontrager Big Earl platform
Components
Saddle Bontrager Big Earl
Seat Post Bontrager Big Earl
Handlebars Bontrager Earl, 50mm rise, 31.8mm
Stem Bontrager Big Earl, 10 degree, 31.8mm
Headset Custom Cane Creek E2; 1 1/8″ top, 1.5″ bottom
Brakeset Shimano “New”Saint w/Servo Wave; 203mm front rotor, 180mm rear rotor

Initial Thoughts On The Trek Session 88 FR

Out of the box, the new Trek Session 88 FR is a beautiful bike. The subtle graphics combined with the high quality welds and tubing make for a bike that is very well put together. Just like any Trek frame, the Session 88 FR build kit comes in custom color coded for Trek’s needs. At an MSRP of 6,049.99, you would expect the industry has to offer in range of components. The Session comes kitted with the new Shimano Saint groupo and Bontrager Big Earl components. Round the kit out with a Fox Racing DHX 5.0 coil shock and a RockShox Totem coil fork and you are left with a 39.50 lbs (light for a FR bike) freeride rig that is ready for big hit madness.

Over the next 5 weeks, the Mountain Biking by 198 crew is going to put this new freeride sled from Trek Bikes through some serious abuse. It will see everything from freeride drops to downhill races in the quest to find the bikes limits. For those of you that are already on previous generation Session 77’s…we will be comparing the two back to back as well. It’s time to see if this full floater, active braking pivot with a solid EVO link is ready for the DH/FR crowd…and if all of the preliminary reports on these new sleds from Trek Bikes are true…this should be a fun test period…

In the meantime…here are more high quality pictures of the new Session 88 from Trek Bikes than you will see anywhere else on the web. Enjoy…

For more on the Trek Session 88 FR, visit TrekBikes.com

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Not enough Trek Session 88 media for you? Here’s a video on the Session 88 release straight from Trek…

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