trek madone h2 geometry

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Trek’s Seventh Generation Madone Blends Radical Design and Performance

Trek's new Madone is made to go fast and win races.

Takeaway: A pure-bred road race bike designed to win at the WorldTour level. With its latest Madone, Trek ditches the IsoSpeed decoupler for the new lighter weight, more aerodynamic, and visually radical IsoFlow seatmast.

• Drops weight and gains efficiency.
• Proven geometry remains unchanged from the gen-6 model.
• Flared bars for reduced drag.
• Three SRAM and three Shimano build kit offerings.

Trek Madone SLR 9 eTap Gen 7

Trek’s Madone is an iconic bike. First launched in 2003, the Madone has evolved massively over the past two decades. The platform’s most significant technological leap came about in 2014 when Trek debuted the Emonda, its dedicated lightweight bike. The Emonda freed the Madone from having to strictly be a light bike, allowing aerodynamics to become its primary focus.

To deal with the notoriously stiff and uncomfortable ride of early aero bikes, Trek’s engineers incorporated an IsoSpeed decoupler, similar to the one used on the brand’s Domane endurance bike. With IsoSpeed, the bike’s seat tube moved independently from the top tube and seat stays, allowing it to absorb road chatter and small bumps. The resulting sixth-generation Madone was incredibly fast against the wind while also receiving praise for its ride quality. But the downside was the added weight.

With the new seventh-generation Madone, Trek set an ambitious goal of reducing weight without sacrificing the comfort and aerodynamic properties of the old bike. The most obvious place to shed grams was the IsoSpeed system, now replaced by the visually striking IsoFlow.

According to Trek, function drove IsoFlow’s development. Aided by computational fluid dynamics (CFD), Trek sought to overhaul the entire aerodynamic package of the Madone. The result was a new generation of Trek’s Kammtail tube shapes, including a smoother head tube, a down tube better optimized for use with and without bottles, a taller bottom bracket area, and the radically designed seat tube.

The new Madone is bold and will not be mistaken for any other bike. But it definitely won’t please riders who prefer a more traditional aesthetic. Trek deserves props for pushing the design language of a bicycle forward. Though its looks won't please everyone, I’m happy to see something other than a cookie-cutter, dropped-stays, aero-ish, all-around-er that seems so popular amongst bike designers.

The new seat mast set-up is well-designed, offering easy and consistent height adjustment. But the best detail was in the seat clamp, which allowed for fore and aft adjustment independent of saddle tilt. It’s a small detail that makes setting up the bike much easier, as it allows for minor saddle angle tweaks while leaving it clamped in place.

These changes account for roughly half of the aerodynamic improvements of the new bike. Trek claims that the new Madone saves riders 19 watts of pedaling energy at 28 mph, but just half of that savings (9.3 watts) is from improvements to the frame. The remaining watt savings come from changes to the rider position due to the new flared handlebar design. The Madone SLR handlebar measures a traditional width in the drops, but the bar's flare positions the hoods inward by 30mm. This narrower hood location puts the rider in a more aerodynamic position when riding, thus saving watts.

Thankfully for riders that are particular about their contact points, Trek made the new bike compatible with standard 1-⅛” stems so riders can set up their cockpit however they like. However, changing to this would give up a large chunk of the Madone’s claimed aero benefits unless riders choose a narrower-than-normal bar width.

More importantly for pro riders and weight weenies alike, the new frameset is now two-thirds of a pound lighter than its predecessor. Our 56cm test bike came in at 16.2 pounds which is pretty svelt for an aero bike with 51cm deep clincher wheels and disc brakes. A big part of the weight saving comes from the new IsoFlow design. The cantilevered design of the seat tube and IsoFlow allows for engineered flex in the new Madone. This design is how Trek maintains the Madone’s celebrated ride quality.

Trek stuck to its H1.5 geometry as used on the previous generation Madone. It conceived this as a meeting point between Trek’s old racing-focused H1 geometry and its more relaxed H2 angles. The wheelbase on our 56cm bike was only 983mm, nearly a centimeter shorter than the Specialized Tarmac SL7 and Giant’s TCR, and 13 mm shorter than Canyons Ultimate. Combined with a relatively steep 73.5-degree head tube angle and a 58mm trail figure, you get a bike that will dive into corners as hard as you’re willing to push it.

Pricing and Build Options

There is no getting around the fact that as the top-of-the-line road racing bike from Trek, the Madone is not cheap. The move to electronic-only groups on all builds of the Madone does the price no favors as well. While equivalent new models of the Madone only get $200 more expensive for 2023. The entry-level build for the 2023 Madone SLR 6 (with Shimano 105 Di2) comes in at $8,000. That is a $1,100 increase over the 2021 Madone SLR 6 equipped with mechanical-shifting Shimano Ultegra. Top-of-the-range Dura-Ace and Red eTap builds retail for $12,750 and $13,200, respectively.

Trek offers the new Madone in six builds, three with SRAM (Red, Force, and Rival eTap) and three with Shimano (Dura-Ace, Ultegra, and 105 Di2). All of the Madone builds ship with the new integrated cockpit; Dura-Ace and Red-equipped Madones ship with Bontrager Aeolus RSL 51 wheels, while all other builds get the slightly heavier Aeolus Pro 51.

Ride Impressions

The new Madone has an exceptionally smooth ride, lacking the characteristically dead and harsh feel of past aero bikes. But the mellow ride is not without an edge. The Madone does an exceptional job of balancing all-day comfort with the agility and aggression needed to be a top-tier race bike. Under sharp accelerations, especially at speeds under 25 mph, the Madone felt impressively stiff. But accelerations from the high 20s into 30+mph territory felt a bit more muted, which is not inherently a bad trait. A twitchy bike is not helpful when you’re going that fast.

Once the Madone is up to speed, it just wants to stay there. I was impressed with how quickly and easily the bike would get rolling up to 20-22 miles per hour. Combined with the gentle ride quality, it felt like the new Madone would constantly surprise me with how fast I was going. The sensation of speed on this bike is almost sneaky, you get used to what 25mph feels like on a road bike, but on the Madone, the same pace feels calmer and less frantic, at least in a straight line. Throw the Madone into a corner, and it instantly feels sharp and aggressive.

As a racer, I very much enjoyed the Madone’s willingness to corner aggressively, but it did expose one of the bike's faults. The 25mm tires shipped on our test biker are simply too narrow. Trek claims that the Madone can fit tires up to 28mm, but this feels short-sighted. Wheel brands such as Reserve, Enve, and Zipp now design around a 28mm tire as the default width. There is plenty of space in the frame for wider tires, so Trek is likely very conservative in its stock tire choice and maximum tire width recommendation.

Even riding the stock 25mm tires with pressures as low as 65 psi front and 75 psi rear, the narrow rubber still felt like it was missing grip, with the back end stepping out multiple times when exiting a corner. It was also discouraging that a road bike selling for over thirteen thousand dollars does not ship with tubeless compatible tires or the proper bits to easily set up the Bontrager Aeolus RSL 51 wheels as tubeless.

Another thing missing from the bike was a computer mount. Usually, it is not something I would expect a brand to include, but the bars require a Trek-specific part. Given the complete bike’s price tag and Trek’s integrated cockpit, it should come with a computer mount. I sourced a Blendr mount from my local Trek store, but it was not without its issues (it rattled loose during a training crit and fell off). It is possible to entirely avoid this proprietary part by using a standard 1-⅛” stem and handlebar but making this swap would involve cutting hydraulic houses and would not be cheap.

I was also pleased to see Trek continue using the T47 bottom bracket standard on this bike. A threaded bottom bracket shell is a win for mechanics everywhere. However, the latest Madone is now only compatible with electronic shifting. We can argue whether it's bike brands like Trek (releasing electronic-only high-end bikes) or component brands like SRAM and Shimano (no longer developing high-performance mechanical road groupsets) or if consumers are just voting with their dollars. But the result is that we are witnessing the death of mechanical shifting from high-end racing bikes. And that's a little bit sad.

Ultimately this Madone, like the versions that have come before, was conceived and designed to meet the needs of World Tour professionals. Everything about the bike, from how it rides, to how much it costs, reflects that niche design requirement. Aside from a small pool of professional racers, very few people will likely make the most of this bike’s capabilities. It’s analogous to the way most drivers will not benefit from driving a Formula One car. It’s a pure-bred race bike designed to win at the highest level. If that’s what you’re looking to do—or you just want to own a bike with that ability—then the Madone should be on your shortlist.

Test Editor Dan Chabanov got his start in cycling as a New York City bike messenger but quickly found his way into road and cyclocross racing, competing in professional cyclocross races from 2009 to 2019 and winning a Master’s National Championship title in 2018. Prior to joining Bicycling in 2021, Dan worked as part of the race organization for the Red Hook Crit, as a coach with EnduranceWERX, as well as a freelance writer and photographer. 

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Trek Madone long-term review: Hyper-aero, surprisingly comfy

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The Madone is the oldest model name in the current Trek road lineup, with the first dating back to 2003. That nameplate has worn several hats in that time, but it’s always represented the best that road bike Trek had to offer. The latest generation is no different, offering cutting-edge aerodynamics, an incredible level of integration, and a level of comfort that is unmatched by its competitors.

But what’s it like to live with a Madone over the long haul? CyclingTips US technical editor James Huang sought to answer just that, spending nearly two full years of quality time on a workhorse Madone 9.5 model. The honeymoon ended long ago, and there have been some rocky moments since then. But for the most part, it’s been a pretty solid relationship.

Aero performance without compromise?

The science of bicycle aerodynamics has greatly matured in recent years, and it seems like every major industry player has cracked the code on how best to reduce drag. While it could easily be argued that aero road bikes from different brands are looking increasingly derivative, it could just as easily be argued that it’s because there just aren’t many ways known to do it well without sacrificing other performance metrics, such as chassis rigidity and weight, and staying within the stringent UCI technical guidelines for frame design.

As a result, the never-ending fight to save watts is increasingly a matter of splitting hairs, but even independent third-party tests have confirmed that Trek’s latest Madone is one of the absolute best in this regard. It’s fast when pointed straight into still air, but also posts enviably low drag numbers at a wide range of wind angles, meaning that it also maintains that aerodynamic edge in more realistic outdoor conditions.

Trek was one of the earliest proponents of the flat-backed, Kamm-tail tube profiles that are now so common; its original Speed Concept time trial/triathlon bike debuted the concept almost 10 years ago, at the 2009 Tour de France. It’s not surprising that Trek has continued to refine the idea, incorporating the philosophy fully in this latest Madone. While the down tube, seat tube, head tube, seatstays, and fork blades all look conventionally deep in profile, a closer look reveals that they all have clipped tails, with the theory being that the truncated shapes maintain the aerodynamic efficiency of full airfoil sections, but with the weight and stiffness advantages that come from the rounder cross-sections.

Details matter as always, and Trek has complemented the frame’s basic shape with similarly well thought-out ancillary components. The front and rear rim brake calipers are nicely integrated into the surrounding structures, and Trek has gone the extra step of partnering with TRP to create dedicated units specifically for the Madone. They blend in so well, in fact, that were they painted to match, they’d almost be invisible at first glance.

Up front is a proprietary one-piece carbon fiber cockpit; the steerer clamp is matched with profiled headset spacers for a cohesive surface contour. Save for very brief appearances at both derailleurs and the rear brake, cable routing is fully internal from tip to tail, running inside the flattened bar tops, through the bulbous molded carbon-fiber stem, and down the sides of the unique square-profile steerer tube before making their way inside the frame. On the down tube, just aft of the head tube, is a small hatch with either a holder for a Shimano Di2 junction box or a barrel adjuster for a cable-actuated front derailleur. It’s very slick.

Overall, the layout is strikingly clean, and it makes other aero bikes with exposed cabling look comparatively unfinished and cluttered.

Other examples of integration include proprietary bolt-on accessory mounts for computers and front and rear lights, a pocket in the non-driveside chainstay for a wireless speed and cadence sensor, and Trek’s now-commonplace BB90 press-fit bottom bracket shell , whereby the crankset bearings are pressed into seats that are molded directly into the shell; no separate cups are required. A chain keeper is mounted to the base of the seat tube, too.

Such deep-section tubing would normally produce an unyieldingly stiff ride quality, but it’s here where the Madone shines brightest.

Trek has incorporated its ingenious IsoSpeed “decoupler” into the Madone, which places a pivoting axle at the seat cluster to promote movement on rougher roads. Even adding a pivot axle and a pair of cartridge bearings isn’t going to make a deep-section seat tube flex much under load, however, so Trek has instead developed a rather brilliant tube-within-a-tube design. That aero-profile extended seatmast necks down at the seat cluster to a much smaller, round-profile seat tube that is hidden inside the seat tube. In this way, the main frame can still be shaped to cheat the wind, but the ride quality is akin to a more traditionally shaped frame.

As on the previous three generations of Trek’s flagship road racer, this latest Madone features a clever semi-integrated seatmast design that requires no cutting. Although it looks cool (and omits many of the hassles of full-length integrated seatmasts), it’s also what makes the IsoSpeed concept possible since more traditional designs with overlapping frame-plus-seatpost layouts would make that area too stiff.

It makes little sense to report a traditional frame-only weight here since there is so much integration on the Madone and so many proprietary parts that must be included for it to function. Instead, it’d be more telling to describe the “module,” including the frame, fork, headset, headset cover, seatmast head, cable hardware, front and rear brake calipers, and bottom bracket. Actual weight for that configuration is 2.27kg (5.00lb).

A different approach toward bike reviews

It’s commonplace for us here at CyclingTips to test bikes for several weeks — or sometimes, several months — before sharing our impressions. The current Madone iteration had already been around for a couple of seasons by the time I took delivery of my review sample, and since I was unlikely to add much to the existing conversation, I decided to take a different approach. Savvy readers may notice that the Madone model pictured here is thoroughly out of date, but that’s because I’ve been evaluating it for the past two years .

Piling on miles quickly is obviously one way to get to know a bike, but there’s no substitute for simply living with the thing over an extended period of time: winter, spring, summer, fall, repeat.

For this unique ultra-extended test, I went with a workhorse Madone 9.5 model, built around Trek’s second-tier 600 Series carbon frame and its standard H2 semi-upright geometry. The bike arrived with Shimano’s now-previous-generation Dura-Ace mechanical groupset, Bontrager aluminum/carbon aero clincher wheels, and Bontrager finishing kit, with a total weight of 7.26kg (16.00lb, without pedals). Nearly every component was traded in and out over those two years, but that’s just as well; I was mainly trying to get thoroughly acquainted with the frameset.

And let’s just say that after two laps around the sun, I got to know the thing quite well.

For more information on current Madone models, visit Trek .

A sleek shape, a comfy ride, and lots of integration

Having already spent several months on a flagship model prior to starting this review, I was already familiar with most of the Madone’s salient performance traits, and am happy to report that most of them carry forth on this more affordable version.

Aerodynamic efficiency is always a dubious thing to evaluate from the saddle, but the Madone indeed feels fast on the road, especially when fitted with matching aero wheels. The bike accelerates just like non-aero bikes of similar weight and stiffness from a standstill, but it’s when you’re moving at higher speeds that you notice how much easier it is to do so. Scoff at the concept of aero gains all you wish, but the effect is real — and tangible, in this case.

More striking is the bike’s surprisingly comfortable ride. Most carbon fiber aero road bikes do a decent job of filtering out high-frequency road buzz, but kick back hard on bigger impacts. However, the Madone’s pivoting seatmast even manages to quell those handily. Whereas you’d normally brace for impact when approaching ugly-looking bumps on more traditional aero road bikes, you quickly learn on the Madone that you can simply stay seated and pedal through.

IsoSpeed is now featured on Trek’s Madone, Domane, and Domane SLR road platforms, and it’s perhaps worth noting how the ride quality differs between the three. Whereas the original Domane — with its rear-only IsoSpeed design — offered a pillowy ride out back, the fully rigid front end was comparatively harsh, and the feel was markedly unbalanced as a result. Trek corrected this on the Domane SLR with its new Front IsoSpeed device and newly adjustable rear IsoSpeed design, and the ride quality is decidedly more cohesive as a result.

Like the original Domane, the Madone features IsoSpeed only at the rear end, but it doesn’t suffer from the same mismatched feel. Whereas the first-generation Domane (and current second-tier ones) are plush out back, but very firm up front, the Madone’s stock IsoSpeed tuning is firmer to begin with, and feels more balanced overall. It strikes a pleasant balance between bump isolation, road feel, and efficiency with no noticeable saddle movement during normal pedaling. A plush endurance machine the Madone is most certainly not, but it’s still a striking improvement over the vast majority of aero bikes on the road.

If you want an even smoother ride, bear in mind that Trek officially approves the Madone for use with tires up to 28mm-wide (and rims up to 30mm-wide). Two years ago, Trek equipped the Madone 9.5 with 23mm-wide tires on 17.5mm-wide rims; today, the Madone 9.5 comes with 25c tires, which actually measure closer to 27mm when mounted to 19.5mm-wide rims. Especially in that configuration, the Madone is far more comfortable to ride than you’d expect based on appearances alone.

Such clearance would be meaningless without brakes that can handle the extra width, but the Madone’s proprietary calipers are up to the task. Integrated set screws individually adjust each arm’s position and spring tension, and handy quick-release levers are incorporated into the design as well for fast wheel changes. The direct-mount, center-pull design is also impressively rigid and yields excellent lever feel.

I found the calipers easy to control, but overall power is a bit lacking as compared to standard Shimano direct-mount calipers. Most of this difference was eventually sourced back to the stock TRP pads, however, which seemed overly hard and lacking in initial bite. Switching to SwissStop’s purple BXP compound helped tremendously, as did installing a set of HED Jet 6 Black aluminum/carbon clinchers with their aggressively textured sidewalls.

As I’ve come to expect from the Madone family, handling was unflappably capable. Years of refinement have produced a geometry that simply goes where you want it to, when you want it to, with no drama or objection, and with minimal input required of the rider at either the bars or hips. It’s not overly twitchy or stable, but rather as middle-of-the-road as could be for a high-end, everyday road racer; basically the embodiment of neutral handling.

While some might classify that sort of quiet competence as boring, I’d say it’s the perfect scenario for day-to-day riding.

Some will find the fit to be much more polarizing, however.

All of Trek’s aero road bikes wear the same “Madone” label, but there are essentially two different bikes on tap here. Not long ago, Trek offered many of its Madone models in two fit variants: the aggressive H1 version with its pro-friendly long-and-low rider positioning, and the masses-friendly H2 fit, with its taller head tube and slightly shorter top tube. These days, however, the only way to get the H1 fit is to go with a bare Madone 9 Race Shop Limited frameset and build it up from there; every complete Madone is now offered solely in the H2 version.

For my preferred 52cm size, the difference in reach is only 3mm: 379mm vs. 382mm, which basically just takes into account the head tube extension and still offers plenty of room to stretch out. The difference in stack, however, is a much more substantial 552mm vs. 523mm, for a whopping 29mm gain. For the sake of comparison, it’s not far off from what Specialized does with its Tarmac vs. the Roubaix families of road bikes.

Whether that’s a good or bad thing will depend on your personal setup, but Trek has obviously opted to favor the majority of the bell curve here. Truth be told, I was perfectly happy height-wise on the H2 setup just by removing all of the headset spacers. But that said, riders interested in the Madone who want or need a more aggressive position will either need to remove all the headset spacers or start from scratch.

Compounding the fit issue is the aero carbon fiber integrated cockpit. The effective stock stem length on my 52cm sample size was a stubby 90mm, and I definitely needed to go longer; other sizes are equipped with similarly short cockpits as well. Trek supplied me with a longer cockpit per my request, but the internally routed cabling doesn’t make the change remotely quick or easy.

I’ve noticed several Trek Factory Racing team riders opting for more conventional stems and bars for various reasons. However, I would encourage most Madone buyers to invest the time to get the properly sized one-piece cockpit installed because it’s very good once you get the right size. The flattened tops have more rounded edges than many other designs I’ve used, so they’re surprisingly comfortable to hold on long climbs (although I would recommend against leaving them bare as Trek supplies from the factory). And while I would have preferred a bit more wrist clearance when sprinting, the variable-radius drops offer a wide range of comfy hand positions. The monocoque design is also impressively stiff without being overly so, and as long as you’re running one of the supported brands, the slick Blendr bolt-on computer and light/camera mounts make for an ultra-clean setup.

I anticipated all of these fit issues right from the start, but what I didn’t anticipate was the difference in stiffness between the H1 and H2 frames.

Trek builds the top-end, H1-fit Team Issue frames with its premier 700-Series carbon fiber blend; the H2-fit versions get the lesser 600-Series mix instead (and are also made in Asia, not Wisconsin). The modest increase in weight isn’t a big deal, but the softer feel is harder to ignore.

I’ve never found Madones of any generation to be unusually rigid, but I’ve usually been happy to accept that given their balanced ride qualities. The 600-Series frame squirts forward with pedaling pressure well enough, but front triangle torsional rigidity is particularly lacking as compared to the stouter-feeling 700-Series Madone. The chassis feels a little soft when climbing or sprinting out of the saddle, and is especially distracting when hitting bumps in mid-corner, where the sudden out-of-plane twisting can knock you off-line and disrupt your rhythm through a series of turns. No matter how much time I spent on the Madone 9.5, that sudden wiggle was something I never grew accustomed to, and it ultimately sapped my confidence on fast downhills.

After the honeymoon period

It’s relatively easy to gauge a bike’s overall personality after just a handful of rides, but long-term issues often only rear their ugly heads over time.

Trek does its best to make the internal routing setup more liveable, including cleverly split headset spacers that allow for bar height alterations without having to re-run all of the cabling, and built-in adjustments on the brake calipers that can accommodate a reasonably wide range of cable tensions. As with many internally routed bikes, there’s also a big port at the underside of the bottom bracket to help guide everything through. Indeed, just changing inner cables is only mildly anger-inducing.

It’s usually better to replace both the cables and housing at the same time, however, and there’s no point in sugarcoating the process — it’s a royal pain in the ass. Trek thankfully provides guidelines and tutorials for the process, including detailed housing lengths, but there’s still a lot of fishing and disassembly involved. Whereas a reasonably experienced home mechanic could do a complete cable and housing replacement on an externally routed bike in the time it takes to watch a single episode of Game of Thrones (new bar tape included), it’s best to set aside a half day or so here.

Repeated rides in wet weather revealed a few more chinks in the armor.

Cable exit points are reasonably well sealed, but the slot for the semi-integrated seatmast topper is basically open to the elements. Water spraying off of the rear wheel easily gets in, but at least can drain out through the holes in the bottom of the bottom bracket shell. That said, any associated dirt or mud isn’t likely to flow out as well (and yes, I mostly stuck to asphalt for this one).

That’s a good thing in terms of the bottom bracket bearings, which on some frames can corrode from within. There’s an internal plastic sleeve that does a decent job of shielding the Japanese NSK cartridges from that sort of water exposure, but they’re not wholly immune to weather. And from the outside, the supplemental bearing shields — don’t you dare call them “seals” — do little to protect the bearings from road spray. And unlike a more conventional design that uses separate press-in or threaded cups, the molded carbon-fiber structure doesn’t provide as much flexibility for updating those seal designs.

It’s predominantly dry here in Colorado, so this Madone didn’t see nearly as much foul weather as it would have under someone who would ride it day-in and day-out in a wetter climate such as the U.K. Perhaps as a result, my bike stayed pleasantly creak-free during its stay in the Rocky Mountains. But nevertheless, periodic inspections of my bottom bracket bearings revealed a surprising amount of grime behind those plastic shields, and if dust and dirt can weasel their way in there, so can water.

As it turns out, it doesn’t take much online sleuthing to find heaps of Madone owners reporting premature bearing wear. Sure, the cartridges are relatively inexpensive and easy to replace if you have the correct tools, but even that reveals a more critical downside to the BB90 design.

BB90 is extremely efficient from an engineering standpoint since it eliminates every redundant part from the assembly. But since the bearing seats are molded directly into the carbon fiber structure, it’s the frame itself that gradually wears with every bearing removal and installation. Eventually, the bearing seat dimensions will change to the point where a bearing no longer fits tightly, which leads to creaking and even faster bearing wear. Trek’s solutions include oversized bottom bracket bearings for a tighter fit, as well as a factory repair of the bearing seats to restore their original dimensions.

Trek has been using BB90 (and its BB95 analogue) on a huge portion of its higher-end bikes for over a decade now, and these problems aren’t exactly ubiquitous. But when they do arise, neither of those “solutions” are particularly palatable for those affected. Without question, the design is extremely elegant and does save weight, but as with most press-fit bottom bracket systems, I’m left to question whether the performance gains made on paper are worth the real-world costs.

Where the Madone goes from here

I once welcomed with (relatively) open arms the engineering advantages that the BB90 press-fit bottom bracket shell design promised. That was back in 2007, when it first debuted. But the long-term ramifications after a decade of accumulated owner data are impossible to ignore. It’s time for this design to either go away, or at least get a major update in the form of more durable (metal?) bearing seats and/or compatibility with modern oversized cranksets. The new T47 threaded fitment seems like it could be an excellent alternative, and the wide-format version of that would retain much of the current Madone’s existing frame design, too.

I’d also like to see Trek re-introduce the once-plentiful range of H1 and H2 fit options. Trek clearly doesn’t feel it has the demand to support offering H1 and H2 variants of the Madone as it did before — and indeed, the road market has softened to the point where it probably isn’t economically viable — but that doesn’t mean that I don’t miss having the choice. For me, it seems that an H2-fit Madone built with the stiffer 700-Series carbon blend would have been ideal, but alas, such a combination doesn’t exist. At the very least, Trek needs to bolster the front end of the 600-Series frames to lessen the performance gap.

And will we see a disc-brake version soon? That seems inevitable, but it’s anyone’s guess when that might happen.

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Trek madone 5.2 – review.

The Trek Madone 5.2 was overhauled for 2013 and combines low weight and aerodynamics with the ride quality and dependable handling of the previous iteration of the US firm’s race bike.

The Madone 5.2 is perhaps the last model year 2013 machine to pass through RoadCyclingUK. As the calendar flicks over to MY2014, the Madone 5.2 will get Shimano’s new 11-speed Ultegra groupset, rather than the 10-speed version on our test bike, and a new lick of paint, but otherwise the spec and, most importantly, the frame remains the same.

The chassis

And what of the frame? Bikes in Trek’s high-end Madone range – that’s 5-Series, 6-Series and 7-Series machines – received a radical frame update in June 2012, when we first spotted it being ridden by the Radioshack-Leopard-Trek team at the Criterium du Dauphine.

The Madone 5.2 is based around a frame which utilities Kammtail Virtual Foil tube profiles and integrated brakes to help boost its aerodynamic prowess.

We ran through both features in our first look but, in short, the KVF tubes follow an airfoil shape but with the tail chopped off in a design which Trek say saves weight and improves stiffness while also complying with UCI rules. The KVF shape is most noticeable on the downtube but has also been applied to the fork, headtube, seattube and seatstays.

As for the integrated brakes, the Madone 5.2’s rear stopper has been moved to the chainstays – a design first applied to time trial machines but now regularly used on aero road bikes – and the front brake is cut into the fork crown. By removing the rear brake from its traditional position, Trek say they have been able to further tune the seatstays for weight, comfort and aerodynamics. The Madone 5.2 is certainly a smooth ride – but we’ll talk about that more soon.

Trek say the KVF tube profiles and integrated brakes result in 25 “free” watts when riding at 40km/h compared to the previous Madone. That’s a bold claim, and, like any aero machine we test, one we’re not able to confirm without heading into the wind tunnel.

The frame and fork are made from 500-Series OCLV carbon fibre. Bikes in the 6 and 7-Series range (which, incidentally, were tweaked in July to shed a little more weight) are made from higher grade (lighter, stiffer) 600-Series OCLV and 700-Series OCLV respectively, while 4-Series bikes (which share the KVF tube profiles – but not the integrated brakes – for MY2014) are made from 400-Series OCLV, and so on.

Finally, as far as the chassis is concerned, a Bontrager DuoTrap wireless speed and cadence sensor is incorporated into the non-driveside chainstay, and the presence of an integrated chain catcher is another impressive detail.

How have those changes affected the ride of the Madone 5.2?

Comfort can often be sacrificed by manufacturers in the hunt for aero gains (the Wilier Cento1AIR recently reviewed offers a harsher ride than the Cento1SR ) but the Madone 5.2 remains an impressively supple ride, particularly through the back-end. The Madone isn’t designed as a ‘comfort’ bike – the Domane occupies that position in Trek’s range – but it does an excellent job of taking the sting out of rough roads while remaining connected with the tarmac and keeping the rider in tune with what’s happening beneath them.

The Madone’s neutral handling has almost become its calling card and the 5.2 is no different: planted and completely in-tune with the rider. I prefer a little more va-va-voom but the Madone is an undeniably confidence-inspiring ride, whether that’s riding in the bunch, when descending or removing a jacket with your hands off the handlebar. Trek’s E2 headtube tapers from 1-1/8″ to 1-1/2″ and, combined with the straight-legged, KVF fork, the result is a reassuringly stable and planted front end.

The Madone 5.2 uses Trek’s proprietary BB90 bottom bracket – said to be the widest available for use on a road bike – and that results in a ride which is plenty stiff enough. The relatively low weight – 7.64kg for our test bike – ensures the Madone 5.2 is eager out of the blocks and climbs well, though it could easily shed significant weight by upgrading the Bontrager Race hoops that come as standard.

As for fit, the Madone 5.2 is based around Trek’s H2 geometry, which they say is “right for most riders” – most riders being those on the club run on a Sunday morning, riding sportives and perhaps dabbling in a bit of racing. As a result, the H2 fit is a little more relaxed than the racier H1 fit offered on 6 and 7-Series bikes. The key difference is the height of the headtube, which at 170mm is a little tall for me but by no means extreme.

The components

As we mentioned at the start, our 2013 Madone is dressed in 10-speed Shimano Ultegra, so with the 2014 Madone, now available through Trek dealers, equipped with the updated 11-version, we won’t say much other than it performed as we’ve come to expect from Shimano’s second-from-top group. The compact chainset and 11-28t cassette combine to provide a wide spread of gears.

A quick word on the new 11-speed setup, however. The revamped groupset borrows heavily from the top-end Dura-Ace setup, with a new four-arm chainset which is said to boost stiffness and sharper shifting thanks to a shorter leaver throw.

Trek’s house brand, Bontrager, provide the dual pivot, integrated brakes. Initial bite is good but we felt they lacked top-end power. We didn’t notice the rear brake accumulating dirt any more than it would have done if in its traditional position on the seatstays, but what did bug us, however, was that the screws which hold the brake pads aren’t easily accessible and require the removal of the whole shoe when swapping pads. The matte finish of the brakes also leaves them trailing other in terms of aesthetics.

The Race wheels are Bontrager’s entry-level hoops and come wrapped in Bontrager R3 tyres. While at 1,720g the wheels are far from the lightest, they’re stiff, roll well and are tubeless ready. They’ll make for good training wheels if you choose to upgrade the stock hoops.

Bontrager also supply the aluminium Race X Lite stem and Race Lite Aero handlebar, which has a KVF-inspired profile, and a compact, ergonomic shape which – for this reviewer at least – made it more comfortable to ride in the drops for long periods. A Bontrager Affinity 3 saddle completes the build.

Trek have combined low weight, stiffness, aerodynamics and comfort to good effect with the Madone 5.2, providing a helpful dose of each. As a result, and brake issues aside, the Madone 5.2 is a fine all-rounder.

Discuss in the forum

Price: £2,800 Sizes: 50, 52, 54, 56, 58, 60, 62cm Website: Trek

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Trek Madone range: Which model is right for you?

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Despite being named after Lance Armstrong’s favourite training climb , the wind cheating Trek Madone is destined for flatter terrain. The aero bike within the brand's wide ranging collection received a major overhaul in its sixth iteration, launched for 2019.

Whilst the outline of the bike does not look dissimilar to the 2015 launched fifth version, a lot has changed when we explore the top end Trek Madone SLR in greater detail.

In the past, the Madone models were split into SLR (top end), SL (middle) and 9 Series (entry level) versions. For 2019, there is just one SL model, at £3600, and the rest are SLR - where a frameset is £4000.

The geometry has been adjusted as well. Trek splits its fits into 'H1' - low and agressive, and 'H2' - a little more relaxed.

>>> Trek Madone SLR 9 Disc review

For 2019, the surviving SL uses an 'H2' fit whilst the SLR offers an 'H1.5' geo. This was developed alongside Drops women's team, sponsored by Trek during 2018, and means there's a choice of low and high-stack stems provided to help riders fine tune the perfect fit.

In addition, the two piece aero bar can be tilted to +/-5 degrees, something that's very rarely possible on an integrated cockpit. The cables are hidden, which looks great and cuts resistance further, and the new models have 'Blendr' compatibility, which allows you to use Trek's system to mount your cycling computer and lights with minimal disruption.

Typically, aero bikes are not known for their comfortable ride quality. However, whilst Trek has offered a rear IsoSpeed decoupler on its Madone for some time, the new SLR provides an adjustable top tube decoupler.

The IsoSpeed system was introduced for the brand's endurance Domane, and creates flex in the frame which helps to dampen out road buzz. This new adjustable top tube version is tweaked via a 2.5mm Allem key and allows riders to switch between a level that's 17 per cent more compliance, vs one which is 21 per cent stiffer, than the previous 2015 model.

Moving the position of the decoupler reduces rebound caused by the flex, and it also allows for a better level of consistency across all frame sizes - formerly, smaller frame sizes suffered due to a shortening of the spring involved in the movement.

Continuing into the 2019 range is Trek's windtunnel tested Kammtail Virtual Foil (KVF) tube shaping, which employs a truncated-tail design to slice through the wind.

Trek no longer produces women's specific frames , instead offering the Madone SLR in women's and men's builds, the former of which comes specced with narrower handlebars and a women's saddle.

Trek Madone SLR & SL 2019 models

The SLR models differ from the sole surviving SL by virtue of the H1.5 fit, top tube IsoSpeed Decoupler, and the use of a higher end carbon - 700 OCLV ( more on OCLV here ).

There are rim and disc brake models on offer, and all versions useBontrager Aeolus Comp 5 wheels. If you want to personalise your Madone SLR, you can do so with a Project 1 paintjob, too.

The SL, by comparison, has the old IsoSpeed decoupler, H2 fit, and uses 500 OCLV carbon which will be fractionally heavier.

The spec options are:

• Trek Madone SL6 (rim): Shimano Ultegra, £3600
• Madone SLR 6 Disc: Shimano Ultegra, £5400 (£5950 with P1 paint)
• Madone SLR 6 (rim): Shimano Ultegra, £5500 (with P1 paint)
• Madone SLR 7 Disc: Shimano Ultegra Di2, £7550
• Madone SLR 8 Disc: Shimano Dura Ace, £7750
• Madone SLR 8 (rim): Shimano Dura Ace, £6750 (£7300 with P1 paint)
• Madone SLR 9 Disc: Shimano Ultegra Di2, £10,000 (£10,550 with P1 paint)
• Madone SLR 9 (rim): Shimano Ultegra Di2, £9550
• Madone SLR 9 eTap Disc: SRAM eTap, £10,550
• Madone SLR frameset: £4000

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Michelle Arthurs-Brennan the Editor of Cycling Weekly website. An NCTJ qualified traditional journalist by trade, Michelle began her career working for local newspapers. She's worked within the cycling industry since 2012, and joined the Cycling Weekly team in 2017, having previously been Editor at Total Women's Cycling. Prior to welcoming her daughter in 2022, Michelle raced on the road, track, and in time trials, and still rides as much as she can - albeit a fair proportion indoors, for now.

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Speeding on the Madone SLR really is very addictive. It's impossible to go out for a gentle jaunt. It wants hammer-time all the time. How it stacks up against other aero bikes needs some proper independent wind tunnel testing, but my seat-of-the-chamois impression, along with speed and power data from regular testing loops, confirms that it's easily comparable to the key rival aero bikes in this sector.

Some bikes just look fast, the Madone actually is fast. A regular proving ground for testing bikes is my local chain gang. Where better than a power hour to put a race bike through its paces, with rolling terrain, some punchy climbs and some fast drags, and people a lot fitter and faster than I am to keep up with? The Madone has given me the best advantage yet, not only allowing me to keep up but also slice a massive two minutes off my PB for the 40km route.

It's clearly insanely fast at high speeds. Get it up to 30kph and the speed really ramps up as you pile on the watts. But it doesn't feel quite as snappy at lower speeds, out of tight corners, and the weight holds it back on steeper gradients.

Handling and geometry

The Madone's handling is race-focused, as you'd expect. The new H1.5 geometry, which replaces the previous choices of slammed H1 and relaxed H2, is well judged. It provided a comfortable fit with a bit of stretch to the handlebar.

I shuffled a few spacers about – an easy task as the aero spacers are split – to get my desired position, a bit lower than standard. In the drops, it's an aggressive position but it's comfortable on longer rides too, but then I am used to race bike geometry which certainly helps.

The new two-piece bar and stem allow more fit adjustment than before, with the angle of the handlebar adjustable to suit your preference. The bar is a comfortable shape with the swept back design providing manageable reach to the hoods and drops.

It's a handlebar intended to be ridden in the drops or hoods the majority of the time – there's no tape on the tops. You can still cruise along gripping this section if you really want. The narrow 38cm width is good for reducing drag and keeping your arms tucked in, but might not be everyone's cup of tea. On a bike of this price, you can easily spec the bar width to suit your requirements.

Better brakes

The biggest improvement over the previous generation Madone, in my opinion, is the change from the custom designed integrated brakes with the head tube flaps (Vector Wings, in Trek speak) to disc brakes.

You'll have your own preference of braking system, and Trek is still offering the Madone SLR with rim brakes. In fact, it's one of the few brands still to offer rim brakes – many rival brands have fully embraced disc brakes with their latest aero bikes.

Compared to the slightly finicky integrated brakes of the previous Madone, the hydraulic disc brakes are easy to live with and required no maintenance during my time with the bike. Power is plentiful and lever feel is perfect for meting out the power smoothly in every situation. I experienced some occasional noise in damp weather but never for long.

Another benefit of disc brakes is increased tyre clearance, with 28mm tyres supported. That's a good option if you want to increase comfort. By contrast, the rim brake Madone only takes up to a 25mm tyre.

Fast and comfortable? Fast or comfortable?

I remember riding some of the first generation aero bikes and coming away impressed with the speed compared with regular road bikes, but less taken with the reduced ride comfort. Big aero tubes aren't good for building compliance and comfort into a bike.

Trek's solution, rolled out with the last Madone and upgraded with adjustability on this second generation bike, is the same IsoSpeed decoupler first developed for the Domane, an endurance bike designed to tame the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix.

Trek has now integrated the IsoSpeed decoupler into the top tube, from its previous location in the seat tube, and made it adjustable, allowing you to choose how soft or firm it is.

The IsoSpeed decoupler basically allows the seat tube and seatpost to move independently of the frame in a controlled manner, with a new elastomer bumper to control the rebound. Undo a couple of bolts and you can move a small slider to choose the firm, soft or somewhere-in-between setting.

If you're going from smooth crit circuits to bumpy normal roads you might adjust it frequently. Or, as in my case, you might play around with it for a few rides then just leave it in the softest setting.

Does it work? Yes, it does. How much compliance does it actually provide? Trek says: 'Compliance at the saddle of a 56cm frame ranges from approximately 119N/mm to 175N/mm depending on the slider's position. According to these figures, the new Madone is capable of both more compliance (+17%) and less compliance (-22%) than its predecessor.'

What does that mean on the road? In my experience the IsoSpeed softens bigger impacts, say if you clip the edge of a sunken drain or pothole when you're in a peloton and can't read the road ahead of you.

But make no mistake, the Madone still provides a very firm and hard ride. It just doesn't seem to be sensitive enough to smooth out poorly surfaced roads, the type where the top layer of tarmac has eroded away, or worse still, surface dressed roads. It's easy to overlook when you're galloping along, but on casual rides I found it a bit tiring.

Frame design

If there's an award for the biggest aero down tube, the Madone wins hands down. No other aero bike goes to such extremes to reduce drag as the Madone with massive profiles at the fork, down tube, seat tube and stays, all intended to reduce drag as much as possible.

The two-tone paint job gives an air of quality, a sparkly gloss paint over matt black. It's one of a handful of stock colour options too, and there's also Trek's Project One where a world of custom paint schemes awaits.

Integration is a key buzzword in bike design these days, and with the Trek Madone it's the IsoSpeed decoupler hidden away underneath the top tube, and a new aero handlebar and stem with greater fit adjustment than the old one-piece aero handlebar.

All cables and hoses are routed inside the Madone, right from the front where they are hidden inside the handlebar and stem and into the frame. The only exposed cabling is just where they exit ahead of the derailleurs and callipers.

The Di2 junction box is hidden inside the handlebar for easy charging and gear tweaking.

Aero handlebars are a prime method for reducing frontal surface area, which is why nearly all aero bikes now feature them. The downside is the limited fit adjustment. Trek's new handlebar uses a design that splits the stem, allowing the angle of the handlebar to be adjusted with a range of +/-5 degrees. Under the stem are four bolts you can loosen to adjust the tilt of the handlebar. Computers and other accessories can be bolted to the front of the handlebar using a GoPro-style mount.

As I said earlier, the Madone uses Trek's new H1.5 geometry. This replaces the previous low and stretched H1 and slightly more upright H2 options. The 56cm model, for example, has an effective top tube length of 559.9mm – we might as well call that 560mm – a head tube of 151mm, a stack of 563mm and a reach of 391mm. Trek says it hits the sweet spot, and I would tend to agree.

The seatpost is an integrated design and is easy to adjust with bolts at the back, but you do want to pay close attention to the manual and the recommended torque settings. The saddle clamp is nice and easy to set up, with individual bolts for adjusting the fore-aft and tilt, and there's a choice of setback to tune your position.

For £10,000, this Trek Madone needs to be the ultimate bike, and it nearly is but for a couple of issues. It's specced with the sort of kit you'd expect on this level of bike, including the Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 groupset, which is flawless.

However, I can't help but question the 50/34-tooth compact chainset on a race bike – surely a 52/36 would have been better, Trek?

The 11-28 cassette is largely standard even on race bikes these days, and I appreciated it on some hillier rides.

Bontrager's Aeolus XXX 6 wheels enhance the aerodynamic performance greatly. They look fantastic and they sound great when you sprint the Madone up to speed. The wide profile provides a good base for the 25mm Bontrager R4 320tpi tyres too, and the wheels are tubeless-ready should you want to ditch the inner tubes. I found the wheels a bit of a handful in strong crosswinds but they were never erratic, you just have to be prepared.

I had zero issues with the Bontrager Montrose saddle nor the two-bolt seat clamp, which as I said above provides easy angle and fore-aft adjustment.

All the parts build up to a 7.7kg weight for the size 56cm bike tested. For comparison, the Specialized S-Works Venge in the same size and with similar parts tickled the scales to 7.15kg, so the Madone is carrying a bit of timber.

The Venge is the main rival that springs to mind because it's the aero bike I tested most recently. The Venge is lighter, cheaper (not by much), includes a dual-sided power meter, has more easily adjustable handlebar and stem, and the ride quality is a notch above the Madone. If it was my money, that's where it would be heading.

Other aero bikes we could throw into the ring include the Cervelo S5 Disc and Cannondale SystemSix (we haven't reviewed these bikes yet), Giant Propel Advanced SL Disc (we tested the £3,000 Propel Advanced Disc last year) and Bianchi Oltre XR2 .

> Buyer's Guide: 18 of the best and fastest 2019 aero road bikes

The XR2 is a good comparison because it also attempts to provide extra compliance by infusing the carbon layup with a special vibration-damping material, and it does provide a pretty smooth ride. It's not in the same ballpark when it comes to aerodynamics and integration, though.

Another rival comes from Trek itself: the recently introduced Madone SL, which brings the price down by virtue of using cheaper carbon fibre, though it still comes out of the same mould so you're getting the same aero performance and IsoSpeed decoupler. That range starts off at £3,600 which, if you love the look of this Madone but want to save a bit of cash, could be the bike for you.

The Madone SLR 9 Disc is ferociously fast and will enable you to smash PRs and dominate road races, with striking looks, some clever integration and a faultless build, but the firm ride makes it a chore to ride on regular roads at less than race pace, and it's a bit portly too. Those gripes aside, it's a very impressive bike, but I'm left just wanting a bit more refinement and finesse.

Seriously fast aero race bike with great handling, but not the smoothest and not the ultimate spec it should be

road.cc test report

Make and model: Trek Madone SLR 9 Disc

Size tested: 56cm

About the bike

List the components used to build up the bike.

700 Series OCLV Carbon, KVF (Kammtail Virtual Foil) tube shape, Adjustable Top Tube IsoSpeed, Micro-adjust seatmast, tapered head tube, BB90, flat mount disc brakes, 12 mm thru-axle, invisible cable routing, control centre, precision water bottle placement, Aero 3S chain keeper, DuoTrap S-compatible

Madone KVF full carbon disc, carbon tapered steerer, carbon dropouts, hidden cable routing, flat-mount disc brake, 12 mm thru-axle

Bontrager Aeolus XXX 6 Tubeless Ready Disc, 12 mm thru-Axle

Bontrager R4 320, 320 tpi, 700x25 c

Max tyre size

28 c Bontrager tyres (with at least 4 mm of clearance to frame)

Shimano Dura-Ace Di2, 11-speed

Front derailleur

Shimano Dura-Ace Di2, braze-on

Rear derailleur

Shimano Dura-Ace Di2

Shimano Dura-Ace, 50/34 (compact)

Bottom bracket

Shimano Dura-Ace, 11-28, 11-speed

Shimano Dura-Ace

Not included

Bontrager Montrose Pro, carbon rails

Madone carbon seatpost, 25 mm offset w/integrated light mount

Madone-specific adjustable aero VR-CF, internal cable routing

Bontrager tape

Madone-specific internal cable routing

Madone integrated, stainless cartridge bearings, sealed, 1-3/8in top, 1.5in bottom

Shimano Dura-Ace flat-mount hydraulic disc

Tell us what the bike is for and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about the bike?

Trek says, "Madone SLR 9 Disc is the hero of the road disc revolution. Advanced road bike aerodynamics, our lightest OCLV Carbon layup, adjustable compliance and a Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 electronic drivetrain make it the final stop in your search for a top-of-the-line aero road bike.

"A lightweight 700 Series OCLV Carbon frame with Kammtail Virtual Foil aerodynamic tube shaping and road-smoothing Adjustable Top Tube IsoSpeed, KVF full carbon disc fork, 12 mm thru axles, an adjustable aero bar and stem, a 2x11 Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 electronic drivetrain, Tubeless Ready Bontrager Aeolus XXX 6 wheels, a micro-adjust Madone seatmast and Dura-Ace flat-mount disc brakes."

Where does this model sit in the range? Tell us briefly about the cheaper options and the more expensive options

Sits right at the top of Trek's aero bike category, it doesn't get better than this.

Frame and fork

Tell us about the build quality and finish of the frame and fork?

Exceptional quality, as you'd expect and hope at this price.

Tell us about the materials used in the frame and fork?

Highest grade 700 OCLV is used to make the frame and fork.

Tell us about the geometry of the frame and fork?

Uses Trek's new H1.5 geometry which splits the difference between the slammed H1 and laid back H2.

How was the bike in terms of height and reach? How did it compare to other bikes of the same stated size?

The stack and reach are predictably aggressive given it's a race bike, with a long reach and low stack. The new H1.5 cuts a nice compromise between the previous very slammed H1 and upright H2 geometry. I found the fit very good, only moved some spacers to lower the handlebar.

Riding the bike

Was the bike comfortable to ride? Tell us how you felt about the ride quality.

Yes and no. It's not the smoothest ride on rough road surfaces, but the position makes it comfortable on longer rides.

Did the bike feel stiff in the right places? Did any part of the bike feel too stiff or too flexible?

It sure doesn't lack the stiffness you want in a race bike.

How did the bike transfer power? Did it feel efficient?

Extremely well for sprinting out of corners and attacking mates.

Was there any toe-clip overlap with the front wheel? If so was it a problem?

How would you describe the steering? Was it lively neutral or unresponsive? Quite laid back.

Tell us some more about the handling. How did the bike feel overall? Did it do particular things well or badly?

Handling is a highlight, with good stability at high speeds, and it's pretty docile at lower speeds.

Which components had the most effect (good or bad) on the bike's comfort? would you recommend any changes?

You could go up to 28mm tyres, which might certainly impart a bit more comfort for dealing with crappy road surfaces.

Which components had the most effect (good or bad) on the bike's stiffness? would you recommend any changes?

I'd like to see a 52/36t chainset and a power meter included at this price.

Which components had the most effect (good or bad) on the bike's efficiency? would you recommend any changes?

No changes.

The drivetrain

Wheels and tyres

Your summary

Did you enjoy riding the bike? Yes

Would you consider buying the bike? No

Would you recommend the bike to a friend? Probably

How does the price compare to that of similar bikes in the market, including ones recently tested on road.cc?

There are quite a few impressive rivals at this price and it compares well against those, but the lack of a power meter is a glaring omission.

Use this box to explain your overall score

I love the speed and handling and looks, but it's not the smoothest ride and the spec doesn't make it the ultimate bike it needs to be at this price.

Overall rating: 7 /10

About the tester

Age: 31   Height: 180cm   Weight: 67kg

I usually ride:    My best bike is:

I've been riding for: 10-20 years   I ride: Every day   I would class myself as: Expert

I regularly do the following types of riding: road racing, time trialling, cyclo-cross, commuting, touring, mountain biking

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David worked on the road.cc tech team from 2012-2020. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds, and you can now find him over on his own YouTube channel David Arthur - Just Ride Bikes . 

Add new comment

12 comments.

Steve I really feel for you mate.  You'd hope for a few months of silence for that sort of cash and for Trek to maybe support you a little more.

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[quote=ktache]<p>Steve I really feel for you mate.&nbsp; You'd hope for a few months of silence for that sort of cash and for Trek to maybe support you a little more.</p>[/quote]

Thanks ktache

It's a shame because it is a really nice bike otherwise. But, all for naught with poorly made press fit BB.

I have a 2019 Madone SLR 9 eTap. From the first day, bottom bracket creak.

Movement of the bearing on the non drive side has destroyed the frame.

Trek has been quite reticent about taking care of this problem.

Utterly disappointing.

Why is the reviewer comparing it to the 2013 Oltre XR2? The Oltre XR4 is the current model and has been since 2016.

Is this another of these Road.cc recycled articles?

10,000 pound for a reinforced plastic bike!  I bet any money the people at Trek are laughing so much that there must be concerns for health and sanity within the company, not as concerning of course for the loonies that would actually buy something like this at this price.  This bike probably costs pennies to make and the profit margin must be astronomical, nice one Trek.

Trek are not alone of course while people are willing to purchase this 5 minute wonder craze madness at prices that are totally immoral.

The world has gone totally mad, I tell you, you will be telling me next that Boris Johnston will be the next leader of the country, Ha, Ha, Ha, it's so crazy it's not even funny.

Please will somebody wake me up as this dream has become seriously bad and not funny.

yupiteru wrote: 10,000 pound for a reinforced plastic bike!  I bet any money the people at Trek are laughing so much that there must be concerns for health and sanity within the company, not as concerning of course for the loonies that would actually buy something like this at this price.  This bike probably costs pennies to make and the profit margin must be astronomical, nice one Trek. Trek are not alone of course while people are willing to purchase this 5 minute wonder craze madness at prices that are totally immoral. The world has gone totally mad, I tell you, you will be telling me next that Boris Johnston will be the next leader of the country, Ha, Ha, Ha, it's so crazy it's not even funny. Please will somebody wake me up as this dream has become seriously bad and not funny.  

It isn't £10,000 for reinforced plastic.  The Trek frame probably costs less than half the total.

I've read that a lot of people spend £15,000+ on a wedding. Now that is barmy.

Q: Which component would you recommend changing to improve the product? A: None.  Wheels - 6/10....but then again better wheels would no doubt increase the price and lower the already paltry 5/10 value for money score. 

I don't drive.

I have never learned to drive.

I hate cars.

I think they're not only poluting the planet, but also making people selfish and entitled.

But if I were given ten grand to spend, Brewster's Millions style, on a one-off purchase of a form of private transportation, I'd buy something like a Volkswagen Up over this. Even just to park on my drive as an ornamental feature. Or to take apart and admire the engineering of thousands of parts.

£10,000 is simply a ludicrous amount of money for a bicycle. And this one is not even nice to look at.

Plus Trek screwed over Greg Lemond.

handlebarcam wrote: I don't drive. I have never learned to drive. I hate cars. I think they're not only poluting the planet, but also making people selfish and entitled. But if I were given ten grand to spend, Brewster's Millions style, on a one-off purchase of a form of private transportation, I'd buy something like a Volkswagen Up over this. Even just to park on my drive as an ornamental feature. Or to take apart and admire the engineering of thousands of parts. £10,000 is simply a ludicrous amount of money for a bicycle. And this one is not even nice to look at. Plus Trek screwed over Greg Lemond.

It’s only ludicrous if you can’t afford it.

Htc wrote: handlebarcam wrote: I hate cars. I think they're not only poluting the planet, but also making people selfish and entitled. £10,000 is simply a ludicrous amount of money for a bicycle. And this one is not even nice to look at.

True. Once you get above a subsistence level of income and start to be able to afford non-essential "luxuries", there are those who will question how you spend your money. I for example think it is ludicrous to spend £1,000 on a mobile phone, with a useful life of 2 years, after which it is extremely difficult to recycle, but plenty of i-phone users would disagree. There are those who who spend £10,000 on a cruise after which they have nothing to show but a few selfies, or spend £10,000 on a hifi component or camera, or £2k per year on golf club membership, and why not if they have the cash and that's their interest?  But in the context of any of these, a bike, which will probably still be giving somebody some use 15 years from now,  (hence, unlike your unused VW UP, mitigating  the pollution caused by its manufacture and eventual disposal) doesn't seem to be a bad choice.

You could argue that consumerism in general might be screwing the planet, but I'd put bikes a long way down the list of problem items!

Htc wrote: It’s only ludicrous if you can’t afford it.

If you want to try to redefine the word "ludicrous" out of existence, well... that's pretty ludicrous in itself.

It may be expensive, but, I mean this is not a bike you would buy if you're not into cyclism and if you don't have the money to afford it. Inform yourself about high-end bike prices, and you will see that they can price up 16k sometimes. Everything can be expensive when it is high-end. Wanna buy a high-end TV or a high-end gaming PC, 3K at least. Same thing goes about cars!

Imagine you drive in a Porsche and I tell you "woah men at this price I'm better off buying a house" it's the exact same thing. Of course a car is more useful then a bike, but this bike however isn't something you would buy  just to ride occasionnally in the week-end, it's totally for those who practices regularely, and whom are into competition.

Anyways I'm surprised this is only rated 3.5 haha

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Trek's newest Madone Gen 8 with new Road Race geometry

A Bike Fitter’s Take on Trek’s New “Road Race” Geometry

Table of Contents →

As a bike fitter I’m often very critical of bike geometry – specifically fit geometry – and especially geometries with labels like “Endurance” or “Race.” While it is true, fit geometry has a major impact on how “racey” the resulting fit will be, so too does the rider’s proportions and final bike setup. I’ve seen very conservative positions on a race bike and very racy positions on an endurance bike. This is mostly due to rider proportions, however bike setup can also influence this significantly.

Notwithstanding the above, Trek has recently launched a new updated version of their Madone and with it the American brand has made some major geometry changes. Given that the Madone is one of the most popular bikes on the market today, I thought it was worthwhile to give my take on the new geometry and break down how the new bike has changed as well as what those changes look like in terms of how it will fit you, the rider.

I’ll start by giving a brief history of Trek’s geometry choices over the past few years and then compare the new Madone geometry to some other available bikes on the market. If you are unfamiliar with what I mean by “fit geometry” check out this blog post for a recap.

The original Trek Madone from 2003

Full disclosure I do some bike fitting out of a Trek dealer and get discounts on their product. They are also hosting me for a visit at Stage One of this year’s Tour de France. Apart from that I am not being compensated in any way for this article and I believe my opinion of this bike hasn’t been influenced by the above.

Before we get started, If you are curious how you’ll fit on a new Madone, or any other bike for that matter, you can check out our unique bike sizing tool which extracts your body segment lengths and virtually poses you on any bike in our database.

Trek’s Geometry

Back in the early 2010’s Trek was one of the first and only brands to roll out multiple geometries for the same models. At the time, Trek offered three geometries on their road bikes; H1, H2, and H3. As a bike fitter, this made it very easy to find the right bike for an individual as there was ample choice across the models offered.

Trek had 3 distinct and very different geometry options

Trek’s h1.5 neatly split the difference between h1 and h2..

In the late 2010’s Trek combined the H2 and H1 into a single geometry, calling it H1.5. This geometry, as the name implies, was roughly in between H1 and H2. This allowed Trek to keep many of the riders happy by having a bit more of an aggressive fit for riders that wanted it while still being conservative enough that your average rider could probably get comfortable on it (with perhaps a few more spacers than the slam the stem crowd would prefer).

As a fitter I found the H1.5 was more versatile than the H1 – in that I could actually fit average humans on it – but riders who were limited by mobility had a hard time unless we ran many spacers or potentially positive stems.

New Road Race Geometry

Goodbye h1.5, hello “race geometry”.

Today Trek launched their new Road Race geometry. While overall the changes may look relatively small, the major change is they took out two sizes, going down from eight options to six. Also of note is a move to a slightly less aggressive geometry with most sizes having a bit more stack and a bit less reach, with the obvious exception being the XL. While I don’t necessarily love the move from eight to six models – fewer sizes mean larger jumps between each size – I can see why they did it. In H1.5 sizes 52cm and 54cm and to a lesser extent 56cm and 58cm would often have a rider who fit equally well on either option.

With the new geometry there are much more significant jumps from Small to Medium to Large. While I imagine there will be a few riders who now don’t fit as great on one of these options, from a business perspective I imagine Trek is saving a significant amount of money on this move and with the current climate in the bike business it’s hard to fault them. I’m sure they will save more money in R&D and manufacturing than they will lose in the few potential lost sales.

What does this mean if you are riding a H1.5 bike currently and moving to the new Race Geometry? For most sizes you’ll likely just select the closest option on the graph above, however there are two sizes that jump out to me as a bit problematic. If you are currently riding a 52cm Madone/Emonda and are absolutely slammed you will probably need to downsize to the Small and run a 1cm longer stem. Also if you are running all your spacers on a 62cm frame then the XL might not be a big enough bike for you. Apart from that most people should be able to transfer over their fit quite well.

A Movement to T-Shirt Sizes

You may have also noticed that Trek moved from numerical sizes (52cm, 54cm, 56cm…) to “T-Shirt” sizing (S, M, L…). Years ago I used to think that T-Shirt sizing was a bad idea and no serious brand should use them. Over the years my opinion has changed and I actually think it’s the better way to label a bike. My main reason for this is that numerical sizes imply that one size is likely the same as another. A pet peeve of mine has always been when a person confidently states “I’m a 54cm” no matter the bike geometry.

As we’ve covered here, two bikes with the same numerical size can have as much of a variance in fit geometry as some individual models across all sizes. While T-shirt sizes don’t necessarily convey that the size isn’t necessarily the same across all makes and models I believe the average consumer is more likely to understand that there can be variance across bike sizes with the same label.

Trek also quietly shifted their crank options to be slightly smaller from the factory. I think this shift is promising but I’d still like to see stock cranks move even shorter. The research is out there and the manufacturing has finally caught up. Stay tuned for a post on the subject from us.

Trek’s Marketing Claims

Digging into the Trek marketing materials on this bike there are two claims that I’m not crazy about:

More Sizing Range

Trek has made the claim that the new geometry will accommodate both larger and smaller riders better than the previous option. I have to disagree with this claim as the fit geometry doesn’t back it up – specifically on the large side. Trek makes this claim based on the XL and XS sizes having the potential for a higher and lower final seat heights. But seat height is only a small part of bike fit. The XL bike most certainly won’t accommodate very large riders as well as the outgoing 62cm unless that rider has proportionally very long legs.

New Trek Aero Bottle

Not fit related, but I can’t let it go that they need the aero bottles to maintain the same aero performance of the previous Gen 7 Madone. I’m totally fine that this bike is slightly less aero than the outgoing model and I think it would earn some good will if Trek actually posted the numbers with round bottles. I’ll be watching this year’s Tour like a hawk to see if the riders switch to round bottles during the stage.

Trek claims new Gen 8 Madone to be as aero as Gen 7 while being much lighter

Comparing the New Madone Fit to Popular Competitors

Trek race geometry vs top competitors.

Finally we’ll compare how Trek’s Road Race Geometry compares fit wise to some of it’s top competitors. In this comparison we’ll use the Giant TCR, Canyon Aeroroad, Specialized Tarmac SL8, and Cannondale SuperSix Evo.

I get two main takeaways from the above graph. First, the race geometry is getting a little “short” – i.e., a lower Reach value. I’m actually okay with this as it’s relatively easy to solve with just a longer stem.

Second, the Madone is moving towards being one of the least aggressive race bikes on the market. But is this a bad thing? I’ve been arguing for years that even amongst the pros, positions are too aggressive and I think Trek’s research has finally shown that they agree.

Personally I think Trek’s H2 geometry was one of the best thought out geometries out there and I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw Trek make their race geometry even less aggressive over the next few iterations. The big question will be if the Pro’s will be running extreme -17° stems to accommodate their ideal fit on this bike or not. Stay tuned. We’ll be on the ground at the start of the Tour De France to find out.

Additional Resources

• How the Madone Gen 8 was designed, tested, and brought to life
• Brand Comparison: Top 5 Aero Road Bikes
• Understanding ‘Real Person’ Bike Geometry: A Data-Driven Analysis

Jesse Jarjour

Jesse's cycling journey was destined to end in bike fitting after first being sold a bike that was two sizes too big. The resulting chronic discomfort and related injuries transformed into a passion for finding the right riding position. The improvement he experienced after his first professional bike fit inspired a career change from economics to bikes, fuelling a quest to help others unlock the joy of cycling.

• Jesse Jarjour #molongui-disabled-link Science & Cycling Conference
• Jesse Jarjour #molongui-disabled-link Understanding ‘Real Person’ Bike Geometry: A Data-Driven Analysis
• Jesse Jarjour #molongui-disabled-link The 18 Bikes of the Men's World Tour (2024)
• Jesse Jarjour #molongui-disabled-link Chris Froome's Bike Fit Saga

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Trek Madone 6-Series long term review

Redesign of workhorse road chassis.

You can trust Cyclingnews Our experts spend countless hours testing cycling tech and will always share honest, unbiased advice to help you choose. Find out more about how we test.

This article originally published on BikeRadar

Trek cooked up a radical redesign of its workhorse Madone 6-Series road chassis last year, infusing a healthy dose of aero ingredients borrowed from its groundbreaking Speed Concept TT/tri bike.

As expected, the aero claims are eye opening: 25 watts of saved energy at 40km/h compared to the previous Madone – nearly two minutes per hour. We can't verify those figures ourselves without hitting the wind tunnel – and they certainly can't be felt while out on the road – but what we can confirm is that Trek has carried over most of the existing Madone DNA to produce yet another solid ride.

Ride and handling: Same Madone brilliance but with a slightly smoother ride

Purported aero benefits aside, the new Madone feels much like the old one in many ways – and that's a good thing. As always, one of the best features is the bike's handling.

While many machines are billed as 'neutral', the Madone defines the term with intuitive manners that practically require just a thought to go where you want. Neither overly twitchy nor somnabulantly boring, the pitch-perfect geometry – 73-degree head tube angle, 976mm wheelbase, and 72mm bottom bracket drop on our 52cm sample – carves a wicked arc through sinuous high-speed descents, confidently switches lines mid-corner, and still nails the proverbial 'peel a banana at speed' test.

Trek has, however, tweaked the numbers a bit. Specifically, the more aggressive 'H1' fit variants now have a slightly more stretched-out position but the consequently longer (and, thus, more stable) front center is offset by a slightly steeper head tube. Aside from the increased reach, then, riders moving from an older H1 frame to a newer one shouldn't notice any difference handling-wise.

Drivetrain and front-end rigidity also feel unchanged from before, which is again just fine given that the predecessor was very good in those respects. While still not quite on par with some more stoutly reinforced options, the Madone 6-Series is an eager and lively beast when you get on the gas. Save for especially fit riders with above average power outputs, we doubt most people will notice a difference.

Ride comfort has improved too, albeit marginally. Trek's move to a chain stay-mounted rear brake (more on this later) leaves the seat stays unencumbered by extra reinforcements, and they're impressively slim from seat cluster to dropouts in order to flex a bit more under impact. Despite the major visual change – this is the first carbon Madone not to use some sort of seat stay wishbone – it's still a fairly firm ride.

Frame: Dramatic Kammtail shaping

Rather than run two separate carbon road bike campaigns – one that prioritizes stiffness and weight and another that concentrates on aerodynamics – Trek has decided to roll all three priorities into one chassis.

As with the Speed Concept, the key element is Trek's Kammtail Virtual Foil (KVF) tube shaping, which uses truncated airfoil cross-sections that supposedly maintain the aerodynamic performance of a traditional teardrop shape but without requiring unusually narrow profiles that might compromise structural requirements or violate UCI technical regulations.

As such, the Madone looks fairly traditional from a distance, and includes Trek's long-standing design features: the ultra-wide BB90 bottom bracket, the fat E2 1 1/8in to 1 1/2in tapered head tube, the round no-cut integrated seatmast, and the generously proportioned down tube and chain stays. However, a closer looks reveals that the more upright elements are shaped more like a 'U' with flat trailing edges.

Further nods to cheating the wind include direct-mount front and rear brakes, with the former's shape integrated and blended into the fork crown and the latter moving down beneath the chain stays where the airflow is already turbulent.

Virtually everything is carbon fiber, too, including the bearing seats for the integrated headset and bottom brackets and the rear dropouts. Once again, the non-driveside chain stay incorporates a pocket for the ultra-tidy Bontrager DuoTrap wireless speed and cadence sensor.

Cabling is internal throughout and convertible between electronic and mechanical drivetrains. Removable ports at the rear brake and under the bottom bracket shell ease maintenance some but the lack of internal guides still makes servicing tricky if you don't have the forethought to run liners through the frame before yanking out the old cables.

Unfortunately, we took issue with some of the routing's entry and exit ports, too. The entry ports for the derailleurs and rear brake are too far forward, meaning that riders with smaller frames (or ones using shorter and/or lower stems) will have to run bigger loops of housing to prevent binding.

Trek recommends running derailleur lines around the head tube and crossing them back over inside the down tube but we had better luck both visually and functionally by straightlining everything front-to-back.

Likewise, the rear brake path is less than optimal. While the port placement is questionable on its own, Trek further complicates matters by adding a plug-in quick-release and barrel adjuster – necessary evils given the brake placement.

However, while the add-on fits sloppily in the stop (making for a vague feeling lever), it effectively kicks the port even further forward. And the exit port's location immediately behind the bond line at the bottom of the down tube makes feeding a cable through an exercise that almost requires having a stiff drink on hand.

Even worse, the cable noticeably drags on the exit port's aluminum noodle, too. Adding in a short piece of housing liner helped with the friction, though, while yanking out the crank and bottom bracket (not to mention a flashlight and a spoke on hand) made it a little easier to run the cables. Even so, what should have been a five-minute job was anything but.

On the plus side, the hidden rear brake and internal routing yields a distinctly clean-looking rig with minimal filigree to muddy up the sleek lines. Once those lines are run, the frame will also mostly protect them from dirt and water, so at least you won't have to deal with replacements that often.

While the new frame might be more aero, it isn't any lighter. In fact, the 52cm H2 Madone 6-Series frame we tested more than two years ago weighed 948g, while this new one is 1,000g even despite the more compact H1 front triangle geometry. Likewise, fork weight has climbed a bit, up from 300g to 330g.

Equipment: Mostly solid kit but integrated brakes are disappointing

Our wonderfully light, 6.54kg (14.42lb, without pedals) custom-built test bike was an early media sample sent before Shimano had adequate stock of the new Dura-Ace 9000 group. As such, Trek built it up with previous-generation Dura-Ace 7900 that will no longer be available, so we won't bother to comment on it here aside from saying that the new kit will be even lighter.

As usual, Trek's house brand Bontrager label adorns just about everything. The lightweight RXXXL carbon handlebar is comfortable in terms of its compact bend and shock absorbing abilities, the Affinity RXL saddle is light and distributes pressure fairly evenly (but seems better suited to slightly more upright positions), and the utterly reliable RXL forged aluminum stem gets the job done with minimal fuss, although its relatively small-diameter extension is falling behind the times stiffness-wise.

Bontrager also includes its latest Aeolus 3 D3 carbon clincher wheels wrapped in aero-profile R3 tires. At a claimed 1,440g per pair they spin up reasonably quickly, as expected, while the ultra-fat, 35mm-deep rim supposedly matches the aero performance of much deeper wheels.

As an added bonus, they're impressively stable in crosswinds, and because the rim is actually wider than the tire there's no need to undo the brake quick-release when changing a flat. The ultra-reliable, DT Swiss-built star ratchet rear hub internals should last for ages, too. Stiffness could be a little better, though – we noted repeatable brake rub up front when climbing out of the saddle.

Likewise, the R3 tires might be more aerodynamically efficient than traditional rubber with their slightly oval profile and molded-in 'wings' to smooth the gap between tire and rim, but the stiff casings don't ride as well as the Madone chassis deserves. In addition, the raised center lends a tippy feeling on-center with a disconcerting transition that makes the bike want to 'fall' into corners.

We swapped them out for a set of Continental Force/Attack clinchers and happily restored the Madone's innate handling prowess, along with a much improved ride quality.

The one major Bontrager-related disappointment is unfortunately a significant one. While Shimano will soon have its own direct-mount brakes to offer, the stock Bontrager Speed Limit calipers are just about all that's available for now.

The rear brake isn't accessible while riding

Weight is competitive, at 154g apiece with mounting hardware, but they're visually chunky and cheap looking. The associated hardware feels rather low-rent, too, with a lowly steel M6 locknut used for the rear cable anchor and soft aluminum pad hardware that easily takes a set, making it difficult to get a good adjustment.

More to the point, they don't work as well as they should. The flex-free mounts yield a firm lever but high-end power is lacking, exacerbated by the stock Bontrager cork pads' so-so initial bite. We had to squeeze awfully hard to rein in speed when hurtling down some of our most familiar descents. In addition, the pivots bind if they're tightened down too much. Loctite on the threads is a must.

Even the brakes' placement complicates matters. None of the pad fixing screws can be readily accessed on the bike – meaning you have to readjust the cartridges every time you swap pads – and it's virtually impossible to sight the rear brake pads on the rim while simultaneously squeezing the lever. Adding even more fuel to the fire is the fact that they simply don't look very high-end, either.

Trek has managed to integrate aerodynamic performance into the new Madone while impressively maintaining all of the old bike's most important characteristics: weight, stiffness, ride quality, and handling. The devil is in the details, though, and we can't help but feel a few important ones were overlooked here.

Price: US$3,629.99 (frame, fork, Cane Creek IS-2 headset, Bontrager Speed Limit brakes, and Bontrager Ride Tuned Carbon seatmast cap) Weight: 6.54kg (14.42lb, 52cm H1, as built, without pedals); 1,000g (frame only with water bottle bolts, rear derailleur hanger, and housing stops); 330g (fork only without compression plug, 180mm steerer) Available sizes: H1: 50, 52 (tested), 54, 56, 58, 60, 62cm; H2/WSD: 47, 50, 52, 54, 56, 58, 60, 62, 64cm Cyclingnews verdict: 3 ½ stars More information: www.trekbikes.com

Complete bicycle specifications

Frame: Trek Madone 6-Series Available sizes: H1 fit: 50, 52 (tested), 54, 56, 58, 60, 62cm; H2 fit: 47, 50 52, 54, 56, 58, 60, 62, 64cm Fork: Trek Madone KVF full carbon Headset: Cane Creek Forty integrated, 1 1/8-to-1 1/2" tapered Stem: Bontrager Race X Lite Handlebars: Bontrager Race XXX Lite VR-C Tape/grips: Bontrager Cork Front brake: Bontrager Speed Limit Rear brake: Bontrager Speed Limit Brake levers: Shimano Dura-Ace STI Dual Control ST-7900 Front derailleur: Shimano Dura-Ace FD-7900 Rear derailleur: Shimano Dura-Ace RD-7900 Shift levers: Shimano Dura-Ace STI Dual Control ST-7900 Cassette: Shimano Dura-Ace CS-7900, 11-25T Chain: Shimano Dura-Ace CN-7901 Crankset: Shimano Dura-Ace FC-7900, 53/39T Bottom bracket: Enduro Pedals: n/a Wheelset: Bontrager Aeolus 3 tubular Front tire: Bontrager R3 Road, 700x23c Rear tire: Bontrager R3 Road, 700x23c Saddle: Bontrager Affinity RXL Seat post: Bontrager Ride Tuned Carbon

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High End Bicycles: Trek Madone 9.0 H2 – a challenger for the best in class

On this next feature is the Trek Madone 9.0 H2, which is Trek’s answer to the fast and comfortable aero bike targetted at the high end of the market.

This bike is also by courtesy of my friend James Martin Lim, whom Ihad done an earlier feature – where I talked about his S-Works Shiv Disc . The Shiv is a triathlon styled bike which does not comply with UCI racing regulations. So for road use, James also have a road racing bike – this Trek Madone 9.0 H2.

Trek Madone 9.0 H2

Trek is one of the largest bicycle manufacturers in the world with multiple in-house brands. It is an American company, but most Trek bicycles are manufactured outside the US – like most other carbon bikes, which are made mainly in Taiwan and China. This is not a bad thing, as mass producing carbon bikes is labour intensive, and skill levels in these countries are very high. The brand is the key sponsor of the Trek-Segafredo World Tour team, providing them with bikes and accessories for racing.

The Madone is their current top of the line offering and was overhauled in 2015 as an ultra-aero machine. All cables are routed internally and the brakes are hidden from the wind. The bike received good reviews from the cycling press for its aero performance and its comfort, primarily due to the IsoSpeed flex design, which allows the seat tube and seat mast to flex as one. James’ bike is from the model year 2016-2019. The 9 Series is replaced with the SLR and SL Series from 2020.

Madone 9.0 H2 Frame set

The H2 designation is a reference to the geometry of the bike, and is the less aggressive of two versions offered by Trek – the more racy H1 being only available as an option in the customisable top of the line Project One editions. The H2 specification directly translates to a slightly taller stack height than the H1. Stack is the vertical difference between the top of the head tube and the center of the bottom bracket.

The frameset is made in 600 Series OCLV Carbon, including the carbon fork. Trek is an early adopter of the Kammtail tube profile, and the Madone 9.0’s tubes show this. The tubes are deep sectioned, and prove to be very stiff, allowing good transfer of power to the wheels, with minimal torsional flex. Flex is applied where desired by the IsoSpeed decoupler, which sits at the junction between the seat tube and seat stays. The aero-profile integrated seat mast is paired with a much smaller (and flexier) seat tube that inserts into it. An aluminum pivot axle and dual cartridge bearings allows the seat tube to flex and move on bumpy terrain. The IsoSpeed device also uses elastomers for damping, and which can be dialed in by the rider for the optimum comfort.

The brakes on this bike is proprietary by Trek, and made in partnership with brake specialists TRP. Both front and rear brakes are neatly integrated, The front brakes are worth a mention as it is tucked within the front fork/head tube, in an effort to present as small a frontal area as possible to the wind. Trek claims the brakes to be very powerful with good modulation. Most reviewers have put its performance slightly below that of Shimano’s Dura-Ace. I did not ride the bike, and am unable to verify this claim. However, I have ridden rim brakes from Dura-Ace as well as from eeBrakes which I consider to be best of breed, and they are certainly quite excellent. So the proprietary Trek brakes are, if the reviews are to be believed and by extension, no slouches.

As the brakes are aero in design, Trek has shrouded the cables from the wind by the use of two flaps which are able to open allowing the brake housing within to move as the fork is turned. This is a unique feature of the Trek.

The bike comes with a proprietary cockpit which is a single piece carbon aerodynamic handlebar package. All cables are neatly hidden within the bar. Trek claims a 4W advantage of the aerobars over traditional round bars with cables routed externally.

The bottom bracket is huge to be very stiff, and houses the Trek standard BB90 press fit unit. James has upgraded the bearings to CeramicSpeed, a rather expensive upgrade featuring ceramic bearings for a smoother ride, and to save more watts.

The wheelset: Zipp 303 NSW

The wheelset chosen is the Zipp 303 NSW. These feature a dimple design on the rim, which is claimed to be more aerodymanic than a smooth finish as it modifies the airflow across the wheels, allowing it to cut through the air with less resistance. The rims are 45mm in profile, and carry 25mm Continental GP5000 clinchers.

As a rim brake bike, the Zipps feature the Showstopper brake track. The design is a rather aggressive pattern on the track, which is roughened up, and Zipp claims to improve wet-weather braking performance and stopping power. Dry stopping is stellar and wet stopping seems to be an improvement over standard brake tracks, though a longer stopping is still needed compared to performance in the dry.

The drive train: Shimano Ultregra Di2 with Stages Power Meter

The drive train is the time and tested Shimanano Ultegra, installed here in Di2 guise – meaning that shifting duties are performed electronically. The Ultegra range sits just below the top of the line Dura-Ace, and is generally considered an the workhorse Shimano. It is an excellent group set. Moving up to the top of the line Dura-Ace will reward with some weight savings but at the expense of a large price premium.

Shifting is fast and smooth, even under power, thanks to the Di2 motors doing the duties. Trim to the front mech is automatically applied by the Di2 system. And shifting performance is very precise. Front mech is 53/39 configuration, which is rather standard for a race bike. The crankset is unusual, as on the drive side, it is Ultegra, but on the non-drive side, where the Stages power meter is installed, the crank arm is Dura-Ace.

The rear mech is full Di2 Ultegra, but the cassette is 11-28 Dura-Ace. The Dura-Ace cassette is lighter, and considerably more expensive. But also as it is designed for race use, the materials selected are to be as light as possible, and somewhat sacrificing durability. On my Pinarello Dogma F10 , I have a full Dura-Ace group set, but when the cassette wore out after about 20,000km, I had it replaced with an Ultegra unit.

The power meter installed is the single sided Stages power meter. The strain gauges are only installed on the non-drive crank arm, and measures the torque. This is transmitted to the Garmin Edge 1030 Head Unit via ANT+. The power is then doubled to be presented as the total power generated at the pedals. James’ installation is interesting in that the crankset on the drive side is Ultegra, but the crank arm on the non-drive side is Dura-Ace. This may lead to the possibility of slightly inaccurate readings, as the Dura-Ace arm is stiffer than the Ultegra.

Accessories

Installed on the bike are Cycliq front and rear lights which are equipped with video cameras. On the rear is the Fly6 system, which is installed in addition to a standard Bontrager rear light. On the front is the Fly12 . The Cycliq lights not only ensure that the cyclist is visible to traffic from both the front and the back, but also has cameras to record the entire ride from a perspective of looking ahead and looking behind.

Concluding thoughts

The Trek Madone 9.0 H2 is a beautiful bike, which rides well. It is well designed with strong aerodynamic features, and is what is called a fast bike. The ride is smooth, and comfortable by account of James, who have ridden the bike for quite a lot of miles. And most importantly, it is good enough to get James out of the house to ride his bike.

Photo Notes

Photographs were taken in-situ at East Coast Park mid-ride with the Leica C. The strong backlit situation caused flaring and fringing in the lens, which cannot be properly corrected, and shows up in the photographs. However, it is worth noting that the lighting was particularly harsh, in very bright sunlight outside of the dark shade of the trees we were photographing in. As a result, the bright background is blown out, and with it details and colours on the darker areas are also washed out. This is a characteristic of the lens design and the inability of the sensor to cope.

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• The Republic of Adygea

Adygea is a Russian federal subject found in the south-western part of Russia in the northern part of Caucasus region. It is part of the Southern federal District. It stretches from the Kuban River in the south to the Caucasus foothills to cover an area of 2,900 square miles, and it is the 5th smallest republic in the Russian Federation. The official languages in the Republic are the Adyghe and the Russian languages. The largest city in the Republic is Maykop which is also Adygea’s capital, and it is home to about one-third of the total population in the Republic.

Maykop is the largest and the capital of Adygea Republic in the Federation of Russia . It is found on the bank of Baleya River which is a tributary of the Kuban River. The city shares its boundaries with the District of Maykopsky to the south and east, the district of Giagnsky to the north, and the District of Belorechensky in the Krai of Krasnodar to the west. The population of the city has been almost constant, and in 1989 it had a population of 148,608 people, in 2000 it had a population of 156,931 people, while in 2010 population of the city had dropped to 144,249 people.

History of Maykop

Maykop is named after the Maykop culture of the early Bronze Age, and this was after the discovery of a royal burial site in 1897. In 1857, the Russian military Fort was built in the area where the city is located. Oil deposits and natural gas were discovered near the City of Maykop in 1911, and in 1936 Maykop, together with the surrounding area, were merged to create the autonomous oblast of Adyghe and effectively becoming the administrative center for the autonomous region. In 1942, the city of Maykop was occupied by the unified army of Nazi Germany (Wehrmacht) without any resistance because of the operation of Germany ’s Brandenburger commandos. However, in January 1943 the city was liberated by the Red Army. The city has been the capital of Adygea republic in the Russian Federation since 1991.

Economic Activities

The foothills of Caucasus Mountains are covered with deciduous forests while other parts of the Republic is mainly plains which has rich soils and agriculture is the main activity and crops such as wheat, corn, hemp, sunflowers, tobacco, potatoes, vegetables, and melons a widely cultivated. There is a local specialty of a flower which is cultivated for its scent that belongs to the lavender and the Crimean Rose. Floodplains along the Kuban River are marshy, and there are approximately 8,000 hectares which have been claimed for market gardening. The main industry in the Republic is primarily processing of farm products, and there are oil and natural gas which is extracted near the Maykop. Similarly, timber is another major product particularly in the Southern part of the Republic.

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