Trek Slash vs Trek Rail 9.8 XT: E-bike VS Mountain Bike 

*Great **Latest.Bike** with amazing quality and speed…I’m in love with it and strongly recommend it. It looks a bit pricey but absolutely worth it.*

I have a trek rail 5 highly modified and ride with my friends that have regular bikes and I just slow it down a little. But watching you huff and puff your way up those rocky climbs makes me glad I have a trek rail. On an ebike makes climbing as much fun as descending. Cool video.👍

you are a great presenter with thoughtful and original comments! thanks for the video - please make more comparison videos. im lucky to have the trouble of deciding between getting another levo while they're on sale or going with the fuel exe (9.5). my analog bike is currently collecting dust.

I just bought a Trek Slash 8, and haven't had a chance to get it out on the trails yet. My first bike in 2.5 years, and I am even more excited watching your videos. Thanks from up in BC!

Riding the eeb uphill 👍 I can get the heart rate in the right training zone on technical uphill challenges, whereas on the muscular bike, I was redlining the HR too much. The ride dynamics of regular mtb don’t make sense to me anymore, 70% suffering for 30% downhill reward. That’s just me. But I get the idea of pure mtb, no motor… Heck, I’ve been doing it for years. Thanks for the nice video! 👍

Awesome stuff Jared! Great review and editing! Let’s do it again for some black technical descents!

Rail owner for past +1.5 years from +20 years of riding aggressive trail bikes prior. Eeb’s the ticket is want max amount of DH in a given time and makes climbs much more enjoyable/tolerable of course. Rail does come with some limitations vs regular bike. Due to much added weight, my Rail weighs 52 lbs vs my Hightower at 32 lbs, the Rail wears down parts at much faster rate due to higher loads and demand, such as lower bearings, shocks, forks, wheels, tires, drivetrain. Due to much added weight, my motor mounting bolts always come loose lr shear off completely and I wore out the stanchions of coil shock and blew damper of Zeb in one season of riding. Many, many worn and badly torn tires, crack and badly bent rims. So full 2-ply casing for me with CushCore and DH rated rims. On Hightower can get away with much less. So for ultimate fun and max DH, Eebs the way to go. For simplicity, less overall maintenance costs and headaches, regular bikes have it beat. Eebs will continue to get better and more reliable/efficient over time of course, but not fully there yet

I love hitting uphill berms on my Trek Rail 5, so much fun.

Towee best thing for mtb and emtb riding together. Can easily use on almost all climbing trail other than super tight switch backs or that technical section you showed. Great video guys!!

Dude that jump line looks so dope. I would like an ebike for climbing long trails but I feel like it would be as playful and light like a regular bike

I rented a 2021 Rail 7 in Bentonville for a day (after three solid days on my analog bike) to take a rest, and I have to say it was the most fun I have had on a bike for a long time. Uphill flow!!! Now I'm very interested in the new Rail 9.8 XT...

Had my Rail 9 GX 2022 a couple of months now and I wouldn’t go back to a normal bike that’s for sure. Love it so much! I used to hate riding up steep hills but now it’s actually fun! Edit: I still ride with my mates who haven’t got ebikes and just ride in Eco mode. Still easier than normal. Downhill trail centres are a bit of a nightmare if they don’t let you ride up. The bike is well heavy! 🇬🇧🇺🇸

Great video

Just the video I wanted to see this year. Thank you. Super happy with my 9.7 as well. The rail would be so sick to have as a second bike. I just couldn’t live with myself if I ONLY had the Ebike to clean trails and climbs with. I would have to come back on my regular bike and prove to myself that I can “actually climb it” unassisted hahaha just who I am.

Just did a 23 mile ride with a friend on an ebike. He didn't even break a sweat. I had a go on some of the technical climbs and it was ace. I can do them on my slash but there no fun and I have to rest. As for going down hill ebiks certainly shift and are a different kind of fun. Jumping too, feels a bit strange at first especially when trying a 25 ft jump but with a bit of practice they start to feel natural. I'm deffo getting a rail for longer rides and will keep my slash for uplift days

Thanks for the review, what height you are guys? Don't you feel the 490 reach is too long?

Great video I have the exact same Rail 9.8XT on order. How tall are you both?

In considering the purchase of an e-bike (specifically the one in this video), one thing that concerns me is the life of the e-bike for the money. I worry about the battery or the motor going bad in 2-3 years, then stuck having to spend more money for those or getting a new bike. Any thoughts on those concerns? I kind of thought that could be considered a con but idk...

got a rail 9.7 last fall, best $$ I ever spent. Nuthin like grabbing a handful of brake on uphill switchbacks. Feels just like my Slash on the way down. The only downside so far is goin thru brake pads a lot faster. Keeping my Slash for those no e bike trails.

Have a trek slash 9.8 2020 and i just love this bike, but know already that will came the day that i want to changr for an ebike and it will be a rail for sure. The dream would be to keep my slash.

I’m 5’9” with long arms (+4 ape index) and 30 inch inseam. Just sold my old geo rail 9.8 large. Bike always felt big but comfy, and the medium felt right sized but cramped. Was wondering what size that rail is, what size you guys are, and if the new geo feels even bigger? Thanks!

When you try an eb and you don't want to go back to analog. Having said this, I love analog bikes, is just that I love eb's more :D

ive ridden both and i love both the rail is just funny as hell cus you dont have to do anything but its heavy af slash is lighter and you have to more or less work for your decent comparing a slash to a rail in my opinion more or less like remedy and slash rail is faster slash is more playfull then rail but anyway there both fun rail is more fun for the speed but i still like my slash

Riding with eebbss buddies is cool it pushes me to pedal harder .

Hi im 5.8ft 176cm high what size rail you would recommend?

Speed queen a pretty sweet trail.

I would love to get the Trek Trail e-bike but none of my friends want to get e-bikes. I am faster then them uphill than downhill. If I get one and they don’t then I’d lose the feeling of being better than them uphill. I need two sets of friends LOL!

How tall are you and what size is your Slash?

It is tough to convince your friends to get an ebike because their ego gets in the way. I tactfully convinced a couple of my friends that even though I still love riding my Specialized Enduro, my Levo allows me to ride much longer and explore more trails, which in turn allows me to have more fun. I have more fun climbing, especially steeper tech trails, and I have just as much fun, if not more, going downhill. I still have one more friend to convince and he's a tough nut to crack because he doesn't like spending money on himself.

How about a Trek Slash ebike conversion for an extra $1,000? Then you can have your two bikes for the price of one Rail.

Cant argue with power assist . HOWEVER ,,, I'm not ready to get a slipped disc in My back and a double hernia picking that tank up and over the tailgate pad of My truck . I will stick with My 2021 9.8 Slash .