It’s onerous to conjure a motorbike extra iconic to professional biking than the Trek Madone. The Madone was born out of the glory years of Lance Armstrong’s now-shamed successive Tour de France wins, and named after his key coaching climb – the Col de la Madone. However the Trek Madone achieved the uncommon feat of surviving the Texan’s fall from grace and residing on independently with its personal distinctive legacy.
The Madone Gen 8 is arguably essentially the most true-to-nature model of Trek’s flagship racer since its authentic iteration – combining the aerodynamics of the earlier Madone with the light-weight design of the Emonda and taking out the latter mannequin altogether within the course of. It brings Trek’s whole efficiency highway bike line again to fundamentals – the Domane continues to be there for the comfort-cum-cobble market, however the Madone is now Trek’s one and solely flagship racer. Within the years earlier than the devoted aero bike, that was the norm, and Trek claims to have returned to that with no draw back.
Trek claims that the brand new Madone SLR hits a body weight of 765g and a fork weight of 370g, making it the identical weight because the outgoing Emonda. It additionally manages that whereas exceeding the aerodynamics efficiency of the earlier aero-focussed SLR – by a slender 0.1 watt at 22mph (and marginally sooner all the way in which as much as 40mph).
With its shift again to slender tubes and light-weight efficiency, alongside the top of the Emonda, it appears becoming to drag again and try how the Madone developed to achieve this newest and maybe most full iteration.
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The Trek Madone – from the beginning and again once more
Initially billed as an aerodynamic light-weight racer in 2003, it did not dazzle in weight phrases and aerodynamics was restricted to a fin on the seat tube. The bike arguably didn’t disrupt that establishment till its second iteration in 2007, and in 2009 got here a sub 900g OCLV masterpiece within the bike’s third and most iterative design. Nonetheless, it nonetheless appeared, largely, like a motorbike.
In 2015 that was not the case, as Trek unveiled a brand new Madone which fully reworked the style. In (unintentional) sync with the launch of the Specialised Venge Vias, the Madone 9 collection was the primary highway bike to fully conceal its entrance cabling – making the entrance of the bike fully clear with the assistance of built-in Bontrager brakes developed particularly for the Madone. To facilitate that, the headtube of the bike had retractable carbon flaps which might open when the handlebars had been moved to an acute sufficient angle, with a view to let the brakes come out from inside the headtube.
This was a very unhinged design (albeit with precise hinges) which provided a seismic leap in aerodynamic efficiency and total pace – I attended the launch in 2015 and assumed I used to be affected by jetlag delirium. The burden suffered because of the aero design. That was exacerbated by the IsoSpeed decoupler on the seatpost which compensated for the cruel aero tubes. Within the period of rim brakes and early aerodynamic advances, although, total weight being a kilo over the UCI minimal weight restrict was nothing in comparison with the big watt financial savings.
Since then, the Madone developed an adjustable IsoSpeed and gained disc brakes which negated the carbon flaps, earlier than steadily converging again towards a extra all-around bike. The 2022 replace of the Madone sided for lighter weight on the expense of the IsoSpeed, offering as an alternative an exhaust-like cantilever chasm within the seat tube often known as the IsoFlow – nonetheless current within the design of the Madone Gen 8.
Certainly, having already taken a step towards being an all-around racer, the Gen 8 seems to be just like the final era Madone has been on a weight loss plan with thinner tubes, radically reshaped for aerodynamics and luxury, all powered by improved 900 OCLV Carbon – Trek’s proprietary mix of carbon fibre.
On the entire, although, Trek’s objective was clearly to make an irrefutably quick bike, which wins each on the ascents, descents and solo into the wind.
Extra of every thing
“To our information this is likely one of the if not the quickest highway race bike that exists inside the skilled peloton and available in the market,” says Jordan Roessingh, Director of Highway bikes at Trek.
“Once you’re evaluating each attributes [weight and aero] of both earlier platform, it is 77 seconds per hour sooner than Emonda. In order that’s an unlimited distinction in aerodynamic efficiency in comparison with the earlier Emonda regardless of the very fact it is the identical weight.”
The true promote is that the brand new Madone nails the Emonda’s weight whereas matching the earlier Madone’s aerodynamics. “Once you’re evaluating to a Madone, it is the very same aerodynamic efficiency,” Roessingh says. “However 320g lighter – so an unlimited weight saving between these two. So once more, we’re taking one of the best of each worlds right here and merging them and nonetheless reaching the best efficiency of each attributes.”
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The brand new tube shapes play an enormous function within the decrease weight, higher trip and claimed aero advantages. It’s odd because the cross-sections of the aero tubes look blunt and devoid of aerofoil or Kamm-tail shaping. Nonetheless, when taken as an entire system, sandwiched between a horizontal cross-section of the entrance rim profile, aero bottles and the rear bottles, the tubes kind a kind of neat holistic aerofoil.
Stated with virtually a grimace, because it’s change into an trade cliche, Trek boasts that the bike has higher vertical compliance alongside extra lateral stiffness. The central IsoFlow seat tube hole claims an 80% enchancment within the Madone’s vertical compliance and a 24% enchancment over the IsoFlow-less Emonda.
The brand new Madone carries over the identical splayed built-in bar idea because the Gen 7 – positioning the rider 2cm inward on the hoods in comparison with the drops for aero positive aspects whereas sitting on the hoods (which has more and more change into the usual aero place).
Unusually, Trek claims the handlebars are much less aerodynamic than the Gen 7 iteration, however with a wider cross-section supply a greater total aero efficiency when air interacts with the bars after which the rider.
In one other gravel-like nod to versatility, the brand new Madone has clearance for 33mm tyres – up from 28mm on the earlier Madone. Trek argues that the earlier Madone may have dealt with 30mm or bigger in most rim mixtures, and for the Gen 8, equally, 33mm is a conservative estimate. We will imagine that given the seen clearance.
Sizing, spec and bottled-up pace
Trek’s aero bottle design is intriguing as a result of that is floor that the bike market had trodden earlier than. Aero water bottles have been commonplace in triathlon and time trial for over a decade, and have crept up into the construct of aero highway bikes occasionally however by no means managed to interrupt by.
It’s additionally intriguing as a result of the Madone is slower than its earlier iteration with spherical bottles. What’s extra, with none bottles on the bikes in any respect, it’s slower – so no ditching your bottles on the base of the climb.
Given the fixation on aero positive aspects, it’s stunning that the claimed 3.7-watt positive aspects with Trek’s RSL water bottles haven’t been adopted throughout the peloton. In actuality, although, aero bottles current just a few points. Sometimes the aero cages limit the usage of spherical bottles, whereas any minor problem in liberating a bottle is an enormous subject to a WorldTour rider on a crucial climb. Trek claims to have solved each of these issues.
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“These bottle cages are appropriate with spherical bottles” explains Adam Chook, Trek’s Design Engineer for the Madone. “So from a sensible perspective, it is one thing that we anticipate the professional riders to be attempting on the Tour de France – they’re truly intending on utilizing aero bottles on the tour. However they want to have the ability to seize any water bottle from any crew or any impartial service and be capable of put it in there. So we’re balancing the aerodynamic efficiency with sensible efficiency.”
When it comes to breaking by to riders within the WorldTour the place previously the concept might have been dismissed as impractical, Chook argues, “There is a distinction within the rider mentality… plenty of the riders now within the peloton are actually younger. They’re very fascinated by studying about all these slight efficiency positive aspects that they might probably discover.”
“Ten years in the past, we might have proven them this water bottle and they’d be like: screw off! There is not any approach we’re gonna virtually strive them in a peloton. Three Watts? We do not actually care about that.”
The proof of idea will probably be in whether or not Lidl-Trek riders commit to those bottles all through the Tour – a chunk of trivia of crew tech which I’ll personally be following intently.
The bottles are nonetheless not in a position to be stacked upright, given their angular nature. So don’t pop it on a desk prepared for a refill.
The change is a daring one given the biking neighborhood’s aversion to alter, and for now will probably be shipped as customary solely with SLR – the bottles will probably be an add-on for lower-tier SL bikes (therefore making them comparatively slower than the outgoing Madone SL).
The brand new Madone is ready to go from a 105-equipped SL5 for £3,250.00 ($3,499.99) to a £14,700 ($16,999.99) Madone SLR 9 AXS P1 (Interstellar) with the one deviation within the body itself being 500 collection OCLV within the SL vs new 900 collection OCLV within the top-tier SLR. The SLR can be appropriate solely with electrical drivetrains.
Curiously, the general providing has shrunk from eight sizes to 6.
“We had plenty of sizes that had plenty of overlap,” Roessingh explains. “Many riders may truly trip two totally different sizes and that created some confusion of simply what body dimension to trip, as there have been some that had been like unbelievably shut to one another.” In some instances as little as a 4mm distinction in stack peak.
The less sizes are billed as decreasing confusion and consolidating the design of every dimension. The cynic in me naturally assumed that there was maybe some manufacturing saving at work there, however Roessingh later walked me by a number of the logistics of producing on the dimensions wanted for the Madone. Basically, decreasing eight moulds to 6 might supply substantial financial savings for a small body producer, however when promoting hundreds of frames per yr the turnaround of worn moulds means fewer mould sizes doesn’t essentially imply fewer moulds.
First trip impressions
Trek’s world launch befell close to Cebreros in a mountainous nook of the Castile and León area in Spain. Our using took us immediately into the mountains and into open windy plains.
I used to be using the second-tier (Ultegra Di2-equipped) SLR 7, although it was equivalent to the top-spec SLR 9 so far as the body design and materials. No shock, then, that there was a direct sense of pace, energy switch and sharpness using the Madone.
The earlier aero-focussed Madone all the time excelled in consolation, nonetheless, its cumbersome tubes finally gave it the feeling of driving a beefy sports activities automotive, whereas the brand new SLR not solely felt palpably lighter however appeared a lot nearer to the Emonda basically trip high quality. This has the sharp flip of pace and full of life dealing with of a light-weight climber whereas promising the identical pace as an all-out aero machine.
In relation to all-out pace, it’s very onerous to quantify that by a pair of preliminary check rides. Maybe one of the best I may say is that it carried pace nicely on flat terrain, and at occasions felt merely blisteringly quick, and was actually a beast on the descents.
It has been too lengthy since I’ve been on an extended alpine descent, and regardless of the comparatively shallow inclines, I discovered myself fortunately edging towards 80kph. The Madone undoubtedly dared me to take extra pace into corners, with a inflexible dealing with character and sat extraordinarily steadily at excessive pace.
Whereas I all the time rated the IsoSpeed system for its ample consolation, the slight detachment between the back and front of the bike with the 9 collection was a little bit of a sacrifice for the ensuing trip high quality. With the IsoFlow system, I didn’t discover any discomfort or bumps on the rear finish that I felt wanted to be filtered out, and the reward in weight and connection to the highway was palpable.
The ending package tweaks had been in all probability essentially the most stunning ingredient of my first trip. The squeezed-in handlebar hoods make a lot sense. The slight splay in a bar has lengthy been a pattern in gravel – providing the broader drops for stability and the slender for pace. It really works very nicely on the Madone and I used to be left questioning why we ever trouble with hoods which can be 42cm aside.
The bottles, regardless of my scepticism, had been straightforward to deal with and by no means as soon as a trouble to stow or launch from the cage.
Early verdict
Whereas I’ve solely had a fleeting trip expertise with the Madone, my first impression is it is a bike that basically exhibits the maturity of biking tech at its finest. Whereas it’s frequent to chase wattage positive aspects from minor body adjustments, Trek is true to give attention to the bike holistically from an aero perspective, the place a saving of three watts on the bottles may eclipse large price and weight positive aspects if those self same aerodynamic margins had been sought on the body.
In the meantime to hit 7kg (within the top-spec SLR 9) with range-topping aerodynamic and stiffness efficiency is one thing we didn’t dream of with a disc brake highway bike even 5 years in the past. That comes with the advantages of wider tyres and a greater expertise throughout climbing, descending and sprinting, alongside nice consolation.
With that in thoughts, the brand new Madone could be very a lot the every thing race bike, however one that would bridge that appreciable hole between the wants of the WorldTour’s finest and the conventional fans.
I’m excited to spend extra time with it, and the place this new route will take one of the storied bikes in biking’s historical past.