The Trek Slash 8 took top honours in last year’s affordable enduro bike group test. Rather than retire quietly, the Slash 8 has dusted off it’s championship belt and is back in the ring again. But, one year on, can the middle-weight still go 12 rounds with the big-hitters?

In 1981, Bill Gates supposedly once made the statement “640K ought to be enough for anybody.” Today, the latest iPhone 11 has nearly 10,000 times that capacity in its RAM. The same goes for bikes. When Trek launched the Slash back in 2016, with an (at the time) massive 160 / 150 mm of travel (for a 29er), we were blown away. It was a monster. Times have changed and in this test the Trek Slash 8 looks a little undergunned. However, there is life in the old dog yet and the Trek isn’t quite ready for retirement. After winning our test last year, we thought we would bring the Trek back for another round to see if it can hold onto its title. The carbon Slash was arguably the bike that started the long travel 29er movement, but it was the affordable aluminium version that attracted the masses with more aggressive geometry (8 mm longer reach and 0.8° steeper seat tube angle) and attractive € 2,999 price point. The Slash 8 features a 160 mm RockShox Yari RC fork and RockShox Deluxe RT3 RE:aktiv shock with Trek’s proprietary Thru Shaft technology. A SRAM GX Eagle drivetrain does the shifting, while SRAM Guide R brakes with 200/180 mm rotors reign in the fun (in more ways than one). The rest of the cockpit comes from Trek’s own Bontrager brand, as are the 150 mm dropper post and XR4 tires.

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