Braking & Pedaling Efficiency
Trek’s Active Braking Pivot is, as the name implies, designed to keep the bike’s suspension active during braking, and it seems to do so well. The Session 9.9 did a good job of remaining stable under braking through bumpy, rough terrain.
The Saint brakes were strong, trouble-free performers. They provided excellent stopping power and reliability with great lever feel. A bit more modulation would have been appreciated, but this isn’t a serious gripe.
The Saint shifter performed well, but the release lever was quite short and a bit hard to reach at times (for DH use, I definitely prefer SRAM shifters as they’re easier to find quickly).
The derailleur was quiet and kept the chain in place when I decided to stomp on it.
The Session 9.9 pedaled as well as the Specialized S-Works Demo 8 and a bit better than the Knolly Podium. As mentioned above, its rear suspension stayed fairly active while pedaling, but its light weight gave it a fairly nimble and quick feel (for a downhill bike).
Tires
The Bontrager G4 tires on the Session 9.9 were good. Their side knobs are placed farther down the sides of the casing than on the Maxxis Minion, yielding a more rounded profile, but while the G4’s cornering knobs didn’t offer as much bite, the tires still felt nice and grippy.
With respect to grip when cornering, they also didn’t have the “On / Off” feel that the Minion can. (Though their design is slightly different, give our review of the Bontrager G5 tires a read if you’re interested in the G4).
Cockpit
In my opinion, the Bontrager bar on the Session 9.9 was the weak point of the whole build. It was quite swept with low rise (which some people may like, and others may not), but the kicker for me was that it felt really narrow. The bar is said to be 750mm wide, and the bar on the Session 9.9 I tested may have been cut down a bit, because it felt more like 710mm. And even if it were 750mm, many riders would still prefer a wider bar on a downhill bike.
Bottom Line #1
Of all the downhill bikes we tested in Whistler, I thought the Trek Session 9.9 stood out as an especially responsive, playful bike that was very well balanced. Its fork and rear shock match each other nicely and the suspension’s tune works in concert with bike’s geometry and light weight, allowing it to slice and dice through technical terrain.
Some downhill bikes can feel big and cumbersome, especially in tight terrain, but the Session 9.9 never did. In fact, it handled more like a big trail bike, and I mean that as a compliment. It’s slightly slack head angle, relatively short chainstays, and low overall weight made it easy to sling back and forth across roots and through quick turns. In this respect, it should feel familiar to anyone used to riding a lot of 6” travel pedal bikes.
As for sizing, I’d recommend going up on the Session 9.9, and I don’t think this would have much of an affect on its handling. In a larger size, the head angle, chainstay length, and weight don’t change much, and the Session 9.9’s wheelbase is far from a limiting factor in tight terrain in the first place, so I don’t think an additional inch there would amount to much.
But Wait! Bonus Thoughts From Noah Bodman on the Session 9.9
I didn’t get as much time as Tom on the Session 9.9, but I’ll add my $0.02 here mainly to reiterate some points; I agree with pretty much everything he’s said above.
Prior to riding the Session 9.9, I spent most of the day on the GT Fury, a freight train of a bike with very different sizing and a distinct geometry. We tested both bikes in a size Medium, but switching from the Fury to the Session 9.9 felt like I was dropping two frame sizes; the Trek is way, way smaller. I’d frequently hit my knees on the Trek’s handlebar, because I’d grown accustomed to the amount of cockpit space that the Fury affords.
But like Tom has said, the Session 9.9’s compact size makes it really maneuverable in tight spots, more than any of the other downhill bike we tested in Whistler. I could breeze through a tight, technical section at the bottom of A-Line on the Session 9.9 at speed, where the GT Fury was more of a handful. If I were to buy a Session 9.9, I think I’d probably size up to a Large, even though pretty much every bike I’ve ever owned has been a Medium.
Another advantage to the small size of the Session 9.9 is that it is pretty fun through jump lines. The frame and rear shock popped pretty well, and the small, light frame was super easy to throw around.
The trade-off here, in my experience, is that the Session 9.9 feels noticeably less stable at speed—more like a long travel (~6”) trail bike than a downhill bike, as Tom says. This isn’t a knock on the Session 9.9, it just means it’s not a mach-looney kind of machine. It’s more of a precise scalpel, while bikes like the GT Fury or Specialized S-Works Demo 8 are large, blunt instruments of straight line destruction.
Changes to the Session in 2015
For 2015, Trek is releasing both a 27.5”, DH version of the Session, and a Park version with 26” wheels.
It looks like both bikes should ride similarly to the Session 9.9 we’ve reviewed here, with only slight tweaks. The sizing of the Park edition stays about the same, while the DH version grows a little longer, maybe enough to eliminate the need to size up—but I wouldn’t count on it.
If you prioritize speed, you’ll probably want to go with the 9.9 DH. If you’d rather log air time, get the 9.8 Park.
Bottom Line #2
If you are 6’2” or taller, I’d steer you away from the Session 9.9, since if you typically need an XL frame, you probably won’t find the Session 9.9 to be big enough in an XL.
And if you’re looking for a bike that prioritizes straight line charging, there are better plow bikes out there, like the Specialized S-Works Demo 8 and the GT Fury.
Having said that, it’s easy to see why the Trek Session 9.9 is such a popular bike: a lot of riders ought to get along with it really well. Its handling is nimble, natural, and intuitive, the suspension is dialed, and the build kit is well thought out.