Bad <Link> performance on large datasets

Which project does this relate to?

Router

Describe the bug

when rendering a lot of <Link>s at once, some take up to 8ms to render, resulting in ui stutters

Your Example Website or App

https://stackblitz.com/edit/vitejs-vite-q4irqygh

Steps to Reproduce the Bug or Issue

1. open the linked repro
2. click "show many"
3. notice how it takes a bit of time for stuff to render
4. try replacing tanstack router links with simple manual <a> links, notice how everything becomes instant

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/3726e37f-7dd3-4878-bbf8-f0238cf041d9

Expected behavior

i expect tanstack router to not have that much of overhead over manual <a> elements with an onClick

Screenshots or Videos

No response

Platform

• Router / Start Version: 1.135.2
• OS: macOS (M3 Max)
• Browser: Chrome
• Browser Version: 141
• Bundler: vite
• Bundler Version: 7.2.2

Additional context

trace from chrome performance tab: Trace-20251112T014637.json

Start with the linked StackBlitz reproduction, click “show many,” and compare TanStack Router rendering with manual links. Review the supplied Chrome performance trace to identify the rendering overhead; done means large Link datasets render without the reported stutters or substantial overhead compared with manual links.