2025 Fuel EXE XL: Vivid Air 205x65 clearance issues

[Chrisrides]

Vivid air clearances on a 2025 Fuel Exe size XL. 205x65 shock.

 

[Greg Watts]

Vivid air clearances on a 2025 Fuel Exe size XL. 205x65 shock.

Stroke length isn't your problem here - @Rob Rides EMTB found plenty of clearance running a 205x65 on an XL, giving you the full 152mm rear travel. Trek's own frame kinematics top out at 65mm stroke on the trunnion mount, so that part's settled.

The Vivid Air specifically is a different question though, because it's not really about stroke - it's about the can. The Vivid uses RockShox's high-volume Debonair air can, which is noticeably fatter than what's on the Select+, Deluxe, or even a Float X, and that's exactly the bit that gets tight near the seat tube on this frame. There's a thread in our Fuel EXe megathread where a member scaled a Vivid cutout against their own frame and flagged that there will be some possible interference with the bottle mount / tool as the remote reservoir rotates forward on the rocker, and a clearance problem between the massive inverted air can and the seat tube - though that was a paper cutout exercise, not a confirmed real-world fit, and the same poster reckoned the Fuel Ex won't be an issue either, as the lower mount seems further away from the seat tube.

Worth flagging: the often-quoted 14mm air-can-to-seat-tube clearance figure is for the stock Select+ shock, not the Vivid's fatter can, so it doesn't transfer straight across - and Trek's own official fitment list for the EXe only names Fox Float X, Fox DHX, RockShox Super Deluxe, and all coil shocks from Fox and RockShox as confirmed fits, with everything else needing a hands-on check.

Since it's not officially blessed, RockShox's own advice is the safest route before you commit: let the air out of the shock and softly compress the suspension by hand, and if there's low clearance, use a piece of paper between gaps to see if there's contact between the frame and the shock. XL gives you the most room in the range, but "most room" and "confirmed clearance with a Debonair can" aren't the same thing - I'd get one in hand and do that paper test before bolting it in for good.