After it was spotted at several early-season European races, fuelling rumours that there might be a new Fuel in the works, Trek is finally pulling back the curtains on its Trek Unbroken\u2019s new team-only bike.<\/p>\n
This new team-only bike is different than last year\u2019s team-only bike that what was then called Trek Factory Racing rode through the latter half of the 2025 season<\/a>. I guess with the fresh name<\/a>, Trek thought the team needed a fresh prototype to match.<\/p>\n Not a Supercal, but not yet a Top Fuel<\/p>\n The new prototype, which we\u2019re going to nickname the Super Fuel for its position between the Supercaliber and Top Fuel, doesn\u2019t really look like either design. The shock is mounted to the top tube, unlike the Top Fuel. But it\u2019s a linkage-driven design, unlike the Supercal. Like many, many cross country bikes these days, it relies on a flex-pivot in the rear triangle instead of a pivot at the rear axle.<\/p>\n If you want a really long explanation of how Trek ditched the Supercaliber and Top Fuel to end up with something that looks, well, a lot like a lot of other cross country bikes do these days<\/a>, the brand\u2019s happily spilled a lot of digital ink on providing that explanation.<\/a><\/p>\n The short version is Trek couldn\u2019t continue adding incrimentally more travel to the Supercaliber platform<\/a>, which had already bumped up from an original 60mm to a whopping 80mm. At the same time, the Top Fuel\u2019s 120mm travel was too much. (Trek doesn\u2019t get too into the flex-Fuel prototype we spotted TFR racers on in 2025\u2026).<\/p>\n The result is a linkage driven design connecting to a top-tube mounted shock. It\u2019s a not just a different shock layout than the Top Fuel. Trek also ditches its ABP rear end for a flex stay desgin. After much testing (again, detailed in an incredibly long description of the prototype process<\/a>), Trek landed on the ideal travel. Less than the Top Fuel by\u2026 a whole five milimetres. Yes, this new \u201cSuper Fuel\u201d (Top Cailber?) has 115mm of rear wheel travel.<\/p>\n Not available any time soon<\/p>\n Before you get too excited about this new prototype, Trek mentions several times that this new team-issue prototype \u201cmay never hit shelves.\u201d<\/p>\n Trek closes this non-product annoucement with this tease:<\/p>\n \u201cYou may not ride this bike, but rest assured that something even bigger and better is in the works.\u201d<\/p>\n Given that almost every other story about cross country race bikes for the last six months has revolved around a new, even bigger wheel size, we can\u2019t help but speculate that Trek\u2019s being a bit tongue-in-cheek with that line. Especially considering how close to production-ready this prototype looks for using an all new frame.<\/p>\n Compared to the \u201cnot-quite-Top Fuels\u201d the team raced last year, these purple prototypes look completely new. Last year\u2019s bikes used a flex-pivot rear triangle with a closer-to-standard Top Fuel frame. While those bikes obviously went fast, Isabella Holmgren won a world championship on one, it didn\u2019t look as polished as these do.<\/p>\n Not just a frame<\/p>\n