trek emonda slr 6 etap review

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The New Trek Émonda Is Faster Than Ever

Already one of the fiercest climbing bikes available, the new Émonda is even faster thanks to a dose of aero.

The Takeaway: The Émonda SLR is a benchmark pro race bike—and it’s surprisingly rider friendly.

• It has 183 grams less drag than the previous generation, but the frame is only 33 grams heavier
• There are 10 models starting at $2,699
• SL models ($2,699 to $5,999) have the aerodynamic shaping and features but in a frame that’s about 400 grams heavier than the SLR
• SLR models ($6,699 and up) use a new carbon fiber composite that’s 30 percent stronger than Trek’s previous top-of-the-line carbon.

Price: $11,999 as tested (Émonda SLR 9 eTap) Weight: 14.75 lb. (54cm) View Gallery

Update: On August 25, 2022, Trek Bicycles and the CPSC announced a recall of this Émonda SLR model to address an issue with the Bontrager Aeolus RSL VR-C handlebar and stem. The bike's carbon handlebar/stem can crack if overloaded, causing the rider to lose control of the bike. Customers are asked to stop using the bike and to contact their local Trek dealer.

For Émonda SLR bicycles, Trek will provide an individual handlebar and stem until an updated handlebar/stem combo is available.

Additionally, all customers who bring in their handlebars for replacement will also receive a $100 in-store credit that can be used toward any Trek or Bontrager merchandise through December 31, 2022.

Remember professional road racing ? It’s that thing where super skinny people go unbelievably fast up and down hills and fly over flat roads for hours at a time. It’s been a while since the pros have beat up on each other for our entertainment, but there might, hopefully, be some races on the horizon. When the races do resume, Trek’s pro riders will be aboard its new third-generation Émonda climbing bike. The new Émonda isn’t lighter, but it is faster thanks to a dose of aerodynamic tuning.

—Five Cool Details—

Now With Aero

The new Émonda gets a major drag reduction with a tiny weight gain.

Simple Seat Mast

The seat mast has lots of adjustment range, and an easy-to-use saddle clamp.

Light and Slippery

The new Bontrager Aeolus RSL 37 wheels are light, sleek, and stable.

Wide and Threaded

The T47 bottom bracket has a wide stance, and user-friendly threads.

A built-in chain watcher prevents unwanted derailments.

Making the new Émonda frame more aerodynamic wasn’t exactly a tough hurdle as the previous Émonda had virtually zero aerodynamic optimization. But adding meaningful aerodynamic benefit while achieving the frame stiffness expected of a pro-caliber race bike, maintaining the well-regarded handling properties of the previous Émonda, and adding rider-friendly features like a threaded bottom bracket—all with adding only 33 grams (SLR frame, claimed)—is quite a feat.

Below you’ll find my review of the Émonda SLR—I’ve been on it since early March—followed by a dive into the technology and features of the new bike, and a brief model breakdown.

Ride Impressions: Émonda SLR 9 eTap

The Émonda SLR is a tool made to fulfill the needs of some of the world’s best road racers. This bike will never be as comfortable or versatile as a gravel bike. Going fast on pavement and climbing performance are its only goals. These are obvious facts, but that’s the lens through which it must be viewed. And through this lens, it is one of the very best.

The new Émonda was born out of a request from Trek’s pro racers and pitched as the company’s “fastest climbing bike ever.” So little surprise they set me up with the lightest model (the SLR 9 with SRAM Red eTap ), which also has a build kit almost identical to the team’s bikes. It’s also, excepting customized Project One builds, the most expensive model at a buck under 12 grand.

That massive pile of clams gets you an aerodynamic frame with disc brakes, power meter, and wireless electronic shifting that weighs less than 15 pounds (54cm). And that’s with a hefty T47 threaded bottom bracket unit, lustrous paint , clincher wheelset, a chain-watcher, standard butyl tubes, 37mm deep rims, 160mm disc rotors front and rear, and SRAM’s largest Red cassette (10-33). That’s “Holy shit!” impressive.

By cutting drag a ton without adding much weight, it’s hard to argue with Trek’s claim that the new Émonda is faster than the outgoing generation. But if you have any doubts, they’ll be erased when you ride it. This is an explosive bike: it feels as light as a feather and as solid as a steel girder at the same time.

Trek’s Émonda has always been a raw and rowdy bike that feels a little wild and a bit dangerous in precisely the ways you want a race bike to feel: That’s not lost with the added aerodynamics. If anything, the new Émonda is even crisper and punchier than before, which is saying something.

A small downside to all this fury is the Émonda’s smoothness. Light and stiff race bikes aren’t a smooth-riding lot to begin with, but even measured against a stiffer riding genre, the new Émonda is on the firmer end of the scale. Still, it escapes harsh or punishing labels—I did a six-hour ride on the Émonda on the stock 25 tires and didn’t feel worn down by its ride. Swapping to 28s helped a lot (no surprise) and were on the Émonda for the bulk of my testing. I’d suggest reserving the lighter and more aerodynamic stock 25s for racing or PR attempts—assuming good roads—and use 28s as daily drivers.

The Émonda’s handling is excellent. Well, let me caveat that: Road racing geometry is pretty uniform, so whether I’m on a current race bike from Trek, Specialized, Cannondale, Cervélo, Canyon, Colnago, Wilier, Pinarello, BMC, Giant (etc., etc.), I find the broad strokes of their handling feel and performance quite similar. There wasn’t anything about the Émonda’s handling or cornering performance that set any new benchmarks for me, but there wasn’t anything to dislike either.

It was quick and accurate, diving into corners with a light touch. It offered great feedback, so I always knew where I was relative to its and my limits, and I could count on it to be consistent and predictable. It was maybe a touch less settled in bumpy corners than the Specialized Tarmac, but the Émonda never broke traction or skipped. Overall, for such a light bike, the Émonda is remarkably solid and drama free. I’d have no qualms barreling down a technical alpine descent on the Émonda.

I received this test bike in early March, giving me plenty of time to ride it back to back with its primary competition—a Specialized S-Works Tarmac , what I consider the benchmark for aero-ized lightweight bikes. The Tarmac is smoother over the bumps and has a silkier feel overall, but the new Émonda feels more efficient, like it can go faster more easily.

I’ve also ridden a good slice of the Émonda’s competition, including the Canyon Ultimate CF SLX , Colnago V3Rs, Cannondale SuperSix Evo , Cervélo R5, Wilier Zero SLR , Pinarello Dogma F12 . These are all superb bikes, but I feel the Émonda is the class leader. It feels sharper and more explosive than all of them. It feels faster, and that’s what matters most in a race bike. But I also like that the Émonda is pretty straightforward and rider-friendly.

For example, I swapped the stock one-piece bar/stem for a standard stem and round bar. One, I could run a standard bar and stem on this bike, which you can’t say about every modern race bike. And two, I didn’t have to pull any cables, wires, or hoses to make the swap: Again, something you can’t say about all race bikes. For the record, the shape of the one-piece Aeolus bar/stem is great, and the tops are the most comfortable to grab of all the aero-topped bars I've used. The only reason I swapped is my preferred length and width combination (110x40) wasn't available yet.

The BB is threaded, which makes it easier to service and replace than a press-fit (however, I was getting some noise out of the BB area, which I never resolved). The wheels employ standard offset, and it uses regular thru-axles. It’s compatible with pod-style power meters and mechanical shifting. Its signature seat mast is pretty much the only non-standard thing about this frame, and even then, it’s pretty user-friendly. There’s no cutting necessary, height adjustment is ample, the saddle clamp is easy to use, and it’s travel-case friendly.

I expect so much from a modern high-end pro-level road racing bike that it’s hard to exceed those expectations. It’s rare when a bike does: The Émonda SLR is one of those rare bikes.

Team Request

The new Émonda is partially a result of a request from the Trek-Segafredo race team. “They are one of our primary customers,” said Jordan Roessingh, Trek’s director of road product. “And they started to realize that it’s not just weight, it’s not just stiffness and responsiveness, there’s this other thing—aerodynamics and speed—that’s also really important to be competitive and be faster on the bike. They had been one of the loudest voices saying, ‘We need the lightest-weight, stiffest bike possible.’ And now they started coming back saying ‘We need those things, but we also need the bike to be faster in order for us to be really competitive.’ ”

It is (comparatively) easy to make a light frame, it is easy to make a stiff frame, it is easy to make an aerodynamic frame. Making a frame that’s two of those three things is more challenging: Making a bike more aerodynamic usually makes it heavier, making a bike lighter typically makes it less stiff, etc. Making a frame that is light AND stiff AND aerodynamic enough to satisfy the demands of a top-level professional race team is extremely difficult.

But not impossible. Many brands already make a light, stiff, and aero bike. The Specialized Tarmac is one, as are the Canyon Ultimate, the Cannondale SuperSix Evo, the Cervélo R5, the Wilier Zero SLR, the Pinarello F12, the Scott Addict, and the new Giant TCR . All of them seek to balance the three qualities—light, stiff, and aero—in the pursuit of the ideal race bike, and they all manage the balance differently. The common thread between these bikes: They’re all used by teams that compete against Trek-Segafredo.

Still Light, Now With Aero

The previous generation Émonda SLR Disc , launched in 2017, was an extremely light frame at 665 grams (claimed). But when a frame is already that light, it is much harder to make it even lighter. At least lighter enough to make a meaningful difference.

So, Trek took a different approach to making its climbing bike faster—instead of lighter, it made it more aerodynamic. The new Émonda frame is a touch heavier—yet still extremely light at 698 grams—but the bike has 183 grams less drag than the previous generation.

The important thing to note here is that, though the frame is more aerodynamic, the 183 gram drag reduction is not from the frame only. New wheels and a new aero bar (more info on both below) play a role. The specific setups Trek used to get that 183 gram number are: 2018 Émonda with 28mm-deep Bontrager XXX 2 wheels, and Bontrager XXX Bar/Stem Combo compared to the 2021 Émonda with 37mm deep Bontrager Aeolus RSL 37 Wheels and Bontrager Aeolus RSL Bar/Stem Combo.

Another drag saving upgrade: the housing, hoses and wires for the controls are almost fully inside the frame. They dive into the frame at the head tube passing through the upper headset bearing. The front brake hose runs into the fork steerer and down the left leg before popping out just above the brake caliper. The fork steerer’s flattened sides provide room for the rear brake hose and derailleur control lines to travel down and into the frame. Though it has flattened sides, the fork steerer is still compatible with standard 1 1/8” stems.

The overall drag reduction results in a bike that is 18 seconds per hour faster when climbing an 8.1 percent grade (the average grade of Alpe d’Huez ), and 60 seconds per hour faster on flat roads than the previous Émonda. Trek also claims the new Émonda is 13 seconds per hour faster than a Specialized Tarmac when climbing an 8.1 percent grade (all assuming the rider maintains a constant 350 watts).

Eight Point One Percent

With three qualities—aero, stiffness, weight—that work in opposition to each other, how do you decide how much to optimize one quality when you know it will negatively affect the other two? How aero is aero enough? At what point is improved aerodynamics offset by the weight added to get there?

The team behind the Émonda used a legendary climb to help them decide: Alpe d’Huez. “It represents an extreme example of what most people see on a regular basis when they’re doing a big climbing ride,” said Roessingh, “It’s around an 8 percent grade, and it’s about an hour-long climb for the pros—amateurs might go a little slower. It gives us a good understanding of what the benefit of a drag savings is relative to a weight savings.”

By optimizing the weight and aerodynamic balance around this climb, Roessingh claims the Émonda is faster on Alpe d’Huez and also faster on everything shallower than the famous climb, “which is the vast majority of the environments that most riders are going to ride in, including the team,” said Roessingh. “So if we can say it’s faster up Alpe d’Huez, it’s going to be significantly faster everywhere because the flatter it is, the more aerodynamics benefit you.”

Computer-Aided Optimization

Achieving the weight to the aerodynamic balance of the new Émonda required careful design of each tube shape. Aiding the Émonda’s team was supercomputing horsepower. The abridged and simplified version of the process goes like this: into the computer was fed a rough draft of the shape based on Trek’s aerodynamic experience and other information like UCI regulations. The program then varies the tube’s parameters within a predefined range and spit back several iterations of the shape, each with a different weight to aerodynamic balance. The Émonda’s team evaluated the alternatives and picked the one most suited to its location in the frame and best able to help the frame achieve its overarching goal.

Roessingh says that Trek cannot afford to buy the computing hardware necessary to run the CFD and FEA optimizations (in a timely manner) that helped shape the new Émonda’s tubes. The processing happens in the cloud where Trek rents time on Google, Microsoft, or Amazon’s supercomputers. It’s more affordable than buying a supercomputer. Even so, it is not cheap, “Cloud computing is becoming a relatively significant budget line item for us because we’re doing so many of these optimizations in CFD and FEA and all that processing happens in the cloud.”

The new Émonda’s fork legs, head tube, down tube, seat tube, and seat stays all use a variation of a truncated airfoil. The top tube and chainstays, which have virtually no effect on drag, are optimized almost entirely for stiffness to weight.

In Trek’s line, the new Émonda’s aerodynamic performance is equal to the third generation Domane ; the Madone is still significantly more aero. But while the more aerodynamic Madone is faster in flatter terrain, once the climb hits about 5.5 percent, the lighter Émonda becomes the faster bike. And for many of the Trek-Segafredo team riders—and many amateurs—that means the Émonda is fastest when it matters most: the hardest part of a race or ride, which is almost always on a steep climb.

OCLV 800 Carbon

Getting the new Émonda SLR to be as light as it is while adding aerodynamic shaping would not be possible without employing a new carbon-fiber composite, said Roessingh. The new OCLV 800 composite is 30 percent stronger than Trek’s previous top-of-the-line composite (OCLV 700). Because it is stronger, they can use less: By using OCLV 800, Trek’s team was able to make the Émonda SLR frame 60 grams lighter than if they used OCLV 700.

The Émonda SLR is very cool, but it’s also very expensive (bike prices start at $6,699). For the 99 percenters, there’s the Émonda SL (models start at $2,699).

The SL uses OCLV 500 composite, and the frame is quite a bit heavier than the SLR’s. The SL’s frame comes in at 1,142 grams, with a 380-gram fork (SLR fork weight: 365 grams).

But material (and weight) are the only difference between the SL and SLR.

Aeolus Bar Stem

While a ton of work made the Émonda’s frame tubes faster, a big chunk of the new bike’s drag savings comes from the one-piece Aeolus bar stem. It alone is responsible for 70 grams of the Émonda’s 183-gram drag reduction. This means that if a traditional stem and round bar are installed on the new Émonda, its drag advantage over the previous-generation bike drops to 113 grams. And it means that you can make any bike with a round bar and traditional stem significantly more aerodynamic by merely installing the Aeolus. Retail price is $650.

The integrated Aeolus is made of carbon-fiber composite, of course, with a claimed weight of 297 grams (42x120). It’s offered in 14 length and width combinations, from 44x120 to 38x80. Hoses, housing, and wires run externally for easier service and repairs, but in a groove that keeps them out of the wind. A bolt-on plate keeps the control lines tucked and organized where they turn off the bar tops to run in line with the stem.

The Aeolus employs a mount that works with Bontrager’s line of Blendr accessories for mounting computers and lights.

Aeolus 37 Wheels

Another new Bontrager product rolling out with the Émonda is the Aeolus 37 wheelset. It comes in two models: the Aeolus RSL 37 (1,325 grams/pair, $2,400) and the Aeolus Pro 37 (1,505 grams/pair, $1,300).

The RSL 37 is claimed to be lighter than Zipp’s 32mm-deep 202, yet more aerodynamic and more stable than Zipp’s 45mm-deep 303. Both wheels are disc brake only (only Center Lock interface), tubeless compatible, use DT-Swiss internals, have no rider weight limit, and come with a lifetime warranty.

Surprisingly Rider Friendly

Though the new Émonda is clean and integrated looking and uses high-performance standards, it is also remarkably rider-friendly. Cables, hoses, and housing run externally on the one-piece Aeolus bar/stem for easier repair and service (with one exception: wiring for a Shimano Di2 or Campagnolo EPS bar-end junction box runs partially inside the bar). If you prefer a more traditional cockpit, it can be run with a standard bar and stem with 1⅛-inch steerer clamp.

The bottom bracket uses the threaded T47 standard , which is compatible with almost all common crank-axle standards.

Front and rear thru-axles are standard 12x100 and 12x142mm, and the wheels employ a standard dish. The standard flat mounts for the brake calipers are compatible with 140, 160, or 180mm rotors.

Tire clearance is officially 28mm, but that’s with a ton of extra space. I fit 32mm tires in the Émonda with ease.

And though all models do use a seat mast, it’s a no-cut variety with lots of adjustment range.

H1.5 Geometry

Trek did offer its top-of-the-line race bikes in the aggressive H1 geometry for riders seeking an ultra-long and low geometry, or H2 which was an endurance fit. The new Émonda is offered only in H1.5, which splits the difference between H1 and H2. The result is pretty typical dimensions for a modern race bike—a 54cm Émonda H1’s geometry is remarkably similar to a 54cm Specialized Tarmac.

There are eight sizes starting at 47cm and topping out at 62cm.

There are 10 models of the new Émonda. SL models start at $2,699 and are priced up to $5,999. SLR models start at $6,699 and go up to $11,999.

Only SLR models come with the Aeolus integrated bar/stem stock; and only the Émonda SL 7 ($5,499) and up come with the Aeolus 37 wheelset.

The new Émonda is a disc brake-only platform.

Project One

The new Émonda is in Trek’s Project One paint and parts personalization program. If that’s not luxe enough for you, Trek’s Project One Ultimate program allows you to work with a designer to come up with a one-of-a-kind finish, and Trek will source any parts you want for your new bike.

Trek Émonda SLR 9 eTap

A gear editor for his entire career, Matt’s journey to becoming a leading cycling tech journalist started in 1995, and he’s been at it ever since; likely riding more cycling equipment than anyone on the planet along the way. Previous to his time with Bicycling , Matt worked in bike shops as a service manager, mechanic, and sales person. Based in Durango, Colorado, he enjoys riding and testing any and all kinds of bikes, so you’re just as likely to see him on a road bike dressed in Lycra at a Tuesday night worlds ride as you are to find him dressed in a full face helmet and pads riding a bike park on an enduro bike. He doesn’t race often, but he’s game for anything; having entered road races, criteriums, trials competitions, dual slalom, downhill races, enduros, stage races, short track, time trials, and gran fondos. Next up on his to-do list: a multi day bikepacking trip, and an e-bike race. 

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Trek Emonda SLR 6 review

The superbike frameset in a (slightly) more affordable package

Robert Smith

Matthew Loveridge

Launched last year and claiming to be the world's lightest production bike at the time, the Émonda is a proper race machine built to weigh as little as is humanly possible.

While the Madone has some aero features and the Domane places an emphasis on comfort, the Émonda is a is single-minded design for the weight-conscious rider.

• Highs: Incredible weight; sensible spec with no real weak links
• Lows: Firm ride quality won’t suit all; 23mm tyres as standard
• Buy if: You’ve got climbs to conquer and smooth roads to ride

We'd be remiss if we didn't discuss the name. The keen-eyed will have noticed that "Émonda" is an anagram of both Madone and Domane. It's also claimed, rather neatly, to be drawn from the French verb émonder, meaning "to trim down", or prune – certainly appropriate for a design focused on extreme weight savings. We do wonder how long Trek can keep this up, is there perhaps a Daemon on the cards? (The US company would neither confirm nor deny.)

Frame and equipment: superbike chassis and watertight spec

The SLR 6 gets the same chassis that's at the heart of the bonkers 4.5kg SLR 10 superbike . It uses Trek's 700 Series carbon, while the cheaper SL and S version use lower grades, and the newly-launched ALR is alloy. The SLR's frame weighs a claimed 690g in size 56, and given that our 52cm test bike came in at just 6.5kg with Bontrager alloy clinchers, an alloy cockpit and a Shimano Ultegra groupset, we can believe that.

That’s not to say there’s anything seriously lacking in the equipment department. Said wheels have a useful 23mm wide rim section and are tubeless-ready to boot, while the Ultegra shifting kit is as flawless as ever and the funky Bontrager brakes perform well.

The Bontrager Paradigm RL saddle sits on an integrated seatpost, which saves a few precious grams over a standard item

The finishing kit is functional and good looking too, with a svelte Bontrager Paradigm RL saddle bolted to the ‘seatmast cap’ that sits on the integrated seatpost. This is a design shared with other high-end Treks which offers similar weight savings to a full-fledged seatmast without the need to chop bits off your frame.

Elsewhere the frameset is equally modern, with fully internal cabling, direct-mount brakes, and Trek’s trademark BB90 bottom bracket. In tube profiles however, it’s reminiscent of Madones from years past; there are no Kamm tail sections or aero tweaks, and Trek makes no claims in that department. Instead, it’s all curves, and it’s rather nice.

Ride and handling: weightless wonder – but don't come here to relax

Trek offers the Émonda in both its ultra-aggressive H1 geometry and the slightly more moderate H2 version we tested here, which gives you a 534mm top tube and 140mm headtube on a 52. Either way, we’re in the realm of racers, and on the road the bike is eminently flickable, changing line effortlessly. The frame is hugely stiff from end to end, and power transfer is fantastic, making climbing an absolute joy.

You never forget you’re riding a race bike though. Perhaps it’s a consequence of the integrated seatpost and the straight bladed fork, but the Émonda isn’t what you’d call forgiving – you can really feel the surface beneath your wheels and potholed lanes can be quite wearing. Trek hasn’t helped matters by fitting 23mm rubber (there’s room for slightly fatter specimens), but in any case it’s a machine that will suit those who aim to ride fast all of the time, not cruisers looking to be cossetted.

Ultegra weighs a tad more than Dura-Ace but it’s close to it in performance

Ours is a weight obsessed sport, and yet there are countless nine and 10 kilo bikes that are absolutely delightful rides. Nobody needs to spend their life savings on a UCI regulation-challenging road bike, but at the same time it is a real pleasure to ride something truly light.

When you're out of the saddle and throwing the whole bike from side to side in your worst impression of Alberto Contador, the Émonda feels almost massless, and it’s hard to put a price on that.

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2021 Trek Emonda review: the semi-aero, ‘faster everywhere’ climbing bike

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First introduced in 2014 , the Emonda has always been Trek’s premier climbing bike, with a keen focus on low weight and high stiffness. However, we now have a much better understanding of the role aerodynamics play when it comes to going fast — even when climbing — and, as expected, the brand-new Emonda SLR and Emonda SL bikes have undergone an aero makeover. The Emonda is still light, and it’s still stiff, but now there’s an extra dose of free speed included, too.

Story Highlights

What it is: The latest iteration of Trek’s premier climbing-specific road bike. || Frame features: Mild aero tube shaping, OCLV 800 carbon fiber construction, internal cable routing, T47 threaded bottom bracket. || Weight: 698 g (claimed, unpainted 56 cm frame only); 365 g (claimed, unpainted fork only); 6.81 kg (15.01lb), complete 52 cm Emonda SLR 9 eTap model as tested, without pedals.|| Price (as tested): US$12,000 / AU$15,800 / £9,700 / €11,000 || Highs: Low frame weight, excellent chassis stiffness, superb handling, intelligently designed internal routing system, traditional shape, no more BB90. || Lows: Somewhat chattery ride quality, no rim-brake option, long-term headset hassles.

The three-legged stool of performance

It has long been the prevailing mainstream sentiment that aerodynamic efficiency is only important when you’re moving fast — and given the non-linear way aerodynamic drag holds a rider back with increasing speed, there’s some truth to that. However, even moderately fit riders are still often going fast enough on most climbs that aerodynamic efficiency can play a measurable role, and given the “free speed” that the existing Emonda left on the table, Trek saw fit to make use of that potential with the latest redesign.

As Giant recently did with its TCR range of light-and-stiff road racing bikes, and Scott before them with the latest Addict RC , the new 2021 Emonda now sports truncated-airfoil tube profiles on the down tube, head tube, seat tube, seatstays, and fork blades. The no-cut integrated seatmast remains round, as does the telescoping seatmast head.

Upper-end Emonda SLR models also get a new Bontrager Aeolus RSL integrated carbon fiber stem and handlebar, the latter with notably flattened tops. Unlike the integrated setup on the full-aero Madone SLR , this is a true one-piece design with no angle adjustment so as to save weight.

Just like that Madone cockpit, though, the previous Emonda’s once-exposed cabling up front has been replaced with a fully hidden setup in the interest of more cleanly slicing through the air, with derailleur and brake lines now entering the frame at the head tube, immediately in front of the stem. Several new Emonda models will come with revamped Bontrager Aeolus aero carbon clincher wheels, too (and you can read about those in more detail here ).

So, just how aero is this thing?

According to Trek, if you were to take two identical riders, each putting out 350 watts, and put one on an old Emonda and the other on the new one, the one on the new Emonda would have a minute lead after an hour — on flat ground, that is. But the Emonda is supposed to be a climbing bike, no? Well, if you took those same two riders and sent them up L’Alpe d’Huez (a 13.85 km-long climb with an average gradient of 8.1% and maximum gradient of 13%), the rider on the new Emonda would finish 15 seconds ahead. On the Stelvio? Twenty-one seconds. And on something as long as the Taiwan KOM Challenge, Trek says the rider on the new Emonda would have 80 seconds to kick their heels up before the other rider showed up.

“We expect the vast majority of riders are going to choose Emonda,” said Trek’s director of road and Project One, Jordan Roessingh. “Madone is still significantly faster, but you’ll see a lot of Emondas under riders.”

Trek says the engineers behind the shape of the new Emonda obviously had to tread a very fine line between making the new bike more aerodynamic and sacrificing the traits that make the bike what it is, supposedly going through hundreds of CFD (computational fluid dynamics) and CAD (computer-aided design) models of various individual tube and frame shapes before arriving on the final form.

In the end, the new Emonda SLR is still primarily a light-and-stiff machine in the classic sense, and claimed weight for an unpainted 56 cm frame is just 698 grams, with the matching fork adding 365 g (the Emonda SL is 1,142 g and 380 g). In either case, paint adds another 25-100 g, depending on design. Overall, the figures are hardly heavy, but still slightly heavier than the previous model nonetheless. Likewise, stiffness figures have fallen off a bit as well, although supposedly not enough to make any difference.

“The key stiffness numbers – Trek Full Frame, Tour BB, and Vertical Compliance — are all within 5% of the old frame,” Roessingh said.

Potential buyers shouldn’t expect any improvement in ride quality, either, which is perhaps a touch surprising given how much Trek has emphasized rider comfort on other performance-minded platforms — including the Madone.

“The [ride quality] goal was to match the vertical compliance of the old bike,” said Trek road product manager Anders Ahlberg. “We were really close, within 7%, so most people shouldn’t notice a difference.”

One nice surprise is an apparent boost in frame durability. For the Emonda redesign, Trek developed a new carbon blend for the higher-end SLR models, dubbed OCLV 800. As expected, it’s lighter than the OCLV 700 mix that was used last year, with Roessingh saying the new frame shape would have been about 60 g heavier otherwise given the increase in surface area. However, OCLV 800 is also said to be 30% stronger than OCLV 700 and absorbs more energy, thus offsetting the brittleness that usually accompanies increases in fiber modulus.

Fewer geometry options, no more rim brakes

Trek has resisted temptations to follow other industry trends like dropping the seatstays (doing so apparently would have added 50 g of weight), and the Emonda retains its semi-classic double-diamond configuration with just a modest slope to the top tube. Although it’s a very different machine than the one it replaced, it still sports a traditional aesthetic, which plenty of potential buyers will appreciate.

More controversial will be Trek’s decision to only offer the new Emonda with disc brakes ; there is no rim-brake option, even for Trek-Segafredo team riders. According to Trek, its mainstream customers haven’t expressed any interest in “investing in old technologies”, and with an increasing number of pro teams and riders already making the switch, there was seemingly less motivation than ever to develop parallel models.

That said, it’s worth mentioning that the vast majority of Emonda buyers will never see a race (and, thus, will never be subject to UCI minimum weight rules), so the loss of a true ultralight climbing bike from a major brand is kind of a bummer. It wasn’t long ago, after all, that Trek offered the ultra-premium rim-brake Emonda SLR 10, with a claimed weight of just 4.6 kg (10.25 lb). Weight-weenies looking to save every possible gram will, of course, be able to build for themselves a custom bike that’s lighter than the stock Emonda SLR 9 flagship model, but being locked into disc brakes will obviously limit potential on the scale.

Somewhat expectedly, Trek has also decided to merge the existing H2 and H1 frame geometries into a middle-of-the-road H1.5 variant across the entire Emonda family, just as it did with the Madone a couple of years ago. As the name suggests, H1.5 is not as long or low as the H1 variant (which was only offered with Project One custom builds and bare framesets), but it’s more aggressive than the H2 geometry that graced every complete stock Emonda previously.

“None of our pro riders needed anything lower than [H1.5],” said Roessingh. “If they can get aggressive enough, the vast majority of consumers should also be able to achieve their fit.”

Trek has also done away with women-specific models for the Emonda range entirely, which is an especially intriguing move given how much time, energy, and money Trek has invested in its Women Specific Design project in years past.

Just as Specialized (and others) have changed tack in recent years on the same subject, Trek’s position now is that the Emonda’s H1.5 geometry is sufficiently accommodating so as to work for nearly everyone, regardless of sex or gender. To Trek’s credit, each Emonda is offered in a generous eight-size range — from 47 cm up to 62 cm — and there are a decent number of stock color options, too. Perhaps more to Trek’s point, the revised geometry supposedly hasn’t been an issue for the Trek-Segafredo women’s road team, either.

Smaller sizes nevertheless get some slightly adjusted spec, and Trek says it has programs in place with its dealer network that allow customers to swap various fit-related components (such as saddles) at little-to-no cost.

Here’s to the mechanics

There are several other updates on the new Emonda, a few of which will warm the hearts of home and professional mechanics alike.

First and foremost, Trek is continuing to transition away from its problematic BB90 press-fit bottom bracket design, opting to equip the Emonda with the same slightly modified T47 threaded shell that already graces the Domane endurance road bike and Crockett cyclocross bike. This should not only reduce the incidence of creaking, but will also make regular maintenance much less of a headache. The move to T47 will also finally allow the use of oversized spindles in a high-end Trek road bike, whereas BB90 would only work with 24 mm-diameter setups like Shimano Hollowtech and SRAM GXP.

According to Trek, the move to T47 did increase the frame weight by about 30 g relative to what it would have been with BB90 given the metal sleeve required. However, the convenience factor more than outweighed that nominal gain — pun intended — and when you consider that most cranksets with oversized spindles are actually lighter than their non-oversized counterparts, the total system often actually ends up lighter, anyway.

Trek’s interpretation of T47 is admittedly a millimetre narrower than the wide-format T47 system that was already on the books so as to provide better tool purchase, but it nevertheless doesn’t present any real compatibility headaches since existing T47 bottom brackets will still work just fine here.

It’s also worth mentioning that while the Emonda has moved to a fully concealed cable system, the way Trek has accomplished this is far easier to live with than most. Instead of routing the lines internally through the handlebar and stem, the Bontrager Aeolus RSL cockpit on the Emonda SLR tucks the brake hoses and derailleur housings (or wires) into channels molded on the underside of the bar and stem. Bar tape holds everything in place further out on the tops, while a single profiled clamp secures the whole lot underneath the stem. Combined with the conveniently split headset spacers, there’s no need at all to disconnect the brake or derailleur lines if you need to swap a stem length or bar width, therefore keeping a 15-minute job from turning into one that potentially takes a few hours.

Those lines do still run down through the middle of the upper headset bearing, however, and the front brake hose also takes a detour into the inside of the steerer tube just above the lower headset bearing. As a result, swapping either headset bearing will be anything but a quick job. The front brake hose also needs to be cut quite precisely for a proper fit as there isn’t a whole lot of wiggle room inside the front end for excess length.

“[There’s] not as much as we would like — maybe about 2 cm?” admitted Ahlberg. “That’s the one downside to the serviceability of an externally grooved system.”

Models and availability

Trek will offer five models each of the Emonda SLR and Emonda SL (specifics vary based on region). The former will feature the top-end OCLV 800 carbon fiber blend and Bontrager Aeolus RSL integrated cockpit, while the latter will use the same frame shape — but a lesser OCLV 500 carbon fiber mix — and a more conventional handlebar and stem combo. According to Trek, the weight difference between Emonda SLR and Emonda SL models with comparable build kits is about half a kilogram or so (1 lb).

Not pictured are the following models:

– Emonda SL 6 Pro, built with a Shimano Ultegra mechanical groupset and Bontrager Aeolus Elite 35 wheels; 8.06 kg / 17.78 lb; US$3,800 / AU$5,500 / £3,350 / €3,880-4,000

– Emonda SLR 6, built with a Shimano Ultegra mechanical groupset and Bontrager Aeolus Pro 37 wheels; 7.26 kg / 16.0 lb; US$6,700 / AU$9,300 / £5,450 / €6,200

– Emonda SLR 7 eTap, built with SRAM Force eTap AXS and Bontrager Aeolus Pro 37 wheels; 7.35 kg / 16.2 lb; US$8,800 / AU$11,850 / £6,850 / €7,800

– Emonda SLR 9, built with Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 and Bontrager Aeolus RSL 37 wheels; 6.78 kg / 14.95 lb; US$12,000 / AU$15,800 / £9,700 / €11,000

Trek will also make the Emonda SLR (but not the Emonda SL) available for purchase through its Project One program, which will allow buyers to customize the build kit and paint to better suit their taste (and budget). Going along with the addition of the Emonda SLR model to the Project One ecosystem are several new Icon-level paint jobs, as well as new KOM variants with more minimal finishes to save precious grams. Both of these come at a more premium price than the more standard finish options, but they’re also quite stunning to behold.

The Emonda SL and Emonda SLR will also be offered as bare framesets, with pricing and availability to be confirmed.

Forget about all the tech talk — what’s it like to ride?

Trek may only just be officially launching the new Emonda range today, but the company was actually able to provide me with an early sample of the top-end Emonda SLR 9 eTap model several weeks ago — which I’ve been riding since then. Actual weight for my 52 cm sample without pedals or accessories was a feathery 6.81 kg (15.01 lb), complete with a SRAM Red eTap AXS wireless electronic groupset, Bontrager’s new Aeolus RSL 37 lightweight carbon clincher wheels, the new Bontrager Aeolus RSL one-piece carbon fiber handlebar-and-stem, a carbon-railed Bontrager Aeolus Pro saddle, and 25 mm-wide Bontrager R4 320 tires.

Just as you’d expect, the bike is a superb climbing companion. The low weight is certainly noticeable, as is the impressive chassis rigidity. It’s more of a hot-air balloon on the climbs rather than an anchor — especially on steeper pitches — and there’s a tangible sense of efficiency when you push on the pedals. Gaining altitude just feels easier relative to something heavier and/or less rigid than what Trek has produced here.

I know, I know. A light and stiff bike is good for climbing? Big surprise. And while the Emonda SLR 9 eTap is light, it’s not exceptionally so, so a more exotic setup would obviously feel even better in this respect.

What goes up must come down, of course, and what was far more impressive to me is how the Emonda SLR 9 eTap behaves at high speeds. Some lightweight bikes I’ve ridden — especially ones with lightweight wheels — can feel nervous or jittery when charging down descents, but that’s certainly not the case here. In fact, I found the bike to feel just as calm and composed at 80 km/h (50 mph) as it does at 18 km/h (11 mph). With a 58 mm trail figure, the front end is still appropriately quick and darty, and just as I’ve enjoyed on the Madone, the Emonda is a joy to snake down twisty canyon downhills. However, there’s also a reassuring sense of stability and solidity when all you want to do is hold your line.

The ride quality is a little on the chattery side, but that’s to be expected, not only given the genre, but also the bike’s emphasis on structural efficiency. It’s not unusually rough, however I still found myself wishing for a bit more tire clearance here. The stock 25 mm tires work well on well-maintained asphalt, but riders regularly finding themselves on rough tarmac (or even dirt) would be advised to max out the Emonda’s tire clearance.

Speaking of which, Trek’s track record of being conservative in terms of what will fit and what won’t seems to be holding up here. Although Trek officially only approves the Emonda for 28 mm-wide treads, there’s still more than 42 mm of space in between the pinch point at the chainstays. As for what will actually squeeze in between there … well, that’ll depend on how much leeway you want to leave for yourself.

But is the bike really more aerodynamic than the old Emonda? Unfortunately, I can’t really say since I didn’t have an identical previous-generation model to compare against. However, if you take Trek’s claims at face value, what I like is that they’ve managed to infuse a fair bit of aerodynamic efficiency into the equation without taking away what people really like about the Emonda family — including the traditional appearance, which is much easier said than done.

As a result, the aero bit will be more of a nice bonus to most buyers with no significant downsides that I can see, and I mean that in quite the literal sense as this is a really good-looking machine with refreshingly traditional lines and proportions. I personally could do without the giant Trek logo on this particular paint job, but so be it. Thankfully, Trek’s Project One program gives you more than a few options for choosing something more subtle, and according to Trek’s figures, a shocking percentage of high-end customers go the custom route.

Kudos to Trek, too, for investing some time and energy into making the new bike easier to live with over the long haul.

I didn’t experience any bottom bracket creaking issues on my test sample, but then again, it’s only been a few weeks, and the bike hasn’t seen any water, either. However, if it does occur — let me remind you that even threaded bottom brackets are prone to creaking — it’s a far more straightforward process to take the assembly apart for a quick cleaning, greasing, and reinstallation. There are also heaps more aftermarket options available here as compared to what you could do with the old BB90 setup. Good riddance, I say. Trek can’t introduce T47 on to the rest of the road range soon enough.

As someone who regularly takes things apart for a living, the channeled external routing setup on the integrated handlebar-and-stem combo is not only a huge sigh of relief, but a solution that’s so obvious in hindsight that it’s a wonder why more brands don’t do something similar (for the record, Canyon has long used this approach for its integrated cockpits). Yes, it’s visually perhaps not quite as clean as fully internal setups, and yes, you can feel the housing a bit when you wrap your fingers around the bar tops (which, on my sample, were only partially wrapped, although I’d personally opt to wrap the bars the usual way for a surer grip and improved comfort). However, both of those compromises are exceedingly minor relative to the massive headache that internally routed handlebars can often bring on.

Conversely, though, the fact that the control lines are routed through the headset bearings will eventually be a pretty big pain in the rear end for riders that regularly head out in the wet. At minimum, replacing the lower bearing will require you to disconnect the front brake hose (in addition to removing the fork as usual). If you need to replace the upper bearing, you’ll also need to undo all of the cables completely. In either case, there’s a decent chance you’ll need to rebleed the brake(s) after you’ve got everything back together, too.

It doesn’t exactly help, either, that there’s no supplemental rubber seal between the fork crown and lower head tube, meaning the lower bearing is perilously exposed — a scenario that’s become very common since bike brands started molding crown races directly into the fork crown.

Such is the cost of progress, I suppose.

That said, I’m a big fan of the somewhat unusual dimensions of this integrated setup even with the non-adjustable tilt. Most companies these days have committed to a compact bend, which is nice in the sense that it makes the drops more accessible for more riders, but somewhat silly in the sense that your posture actually changes very little when you move your hands back and forth between the various hand positions.

The drop dimension on the Bontrager Aeolus RSL is pretty average at 123 mm, but the reach is quite long at 93 mm (80 mm or so is far more typical), and Bontrager’s trademark Variable Radius bend lets you utilize every bit of that length instead of forcing your hands further rearward. As a result, there’s ample room to really stretch out your back when you need or want to, and there’s far more real-world position variation than what you usually find on most modern setups. How much do I like it? I’m actually considering using one of these on my personal Seven road bike.

Overall, Trek has done a solid job here of updating the Emonda, infusing meaningful improvements in several key areas, but without breaking the basic formula that has made the bike so popular. I could obviously do without the long-term headaches associated with the headset bearing situation, but aside from that, there’s not much to complain about here, and an awful lot to like.

Just don’t be shy with the grease down there, eh?

www.trekbikes.com

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