Farewell to the Émonda, and hello to the faster, lighter and punchier Madone
Words and photography Jack Lynch
In my formative years as a bike enthusiast (and maybe my early days as a reviewer), I launched into every new product release with enthusiasm, swallowing the claims of light and fast, comfortable and aero with ease.
These days, things aren’t always so exciting.
As companies search for marginal gains and novel ways to differentiate themselves in a somewhat homogenous and near-perfected market, a new bike’s release can be somewhat underwhelming.
All sausage and no sizzle, as they say.
However, sometimes there is a genuine change to a model, an altered way of thinking to mark a shift in a company’s approach to bike manufacturing and what they can offer customers.
Trek’s new Madone is that change and it is something every bike fan can appreciate and be excited by.
Before seeing this bike, I had a wish list.
A veteran Madone man, having owned two and worked on hundreds, I wanted this new bike to be lighter, with narrower tubes than the previous generation, but to keep its best-in-class aero properties. My wishes were granted.
Trek’s aero and carbon specialists have done what was once thought impossible by shaving 320g from the seventh-generation Madone while keeping the Gen 8 as aero as its predecessor.
This makes for a sub-800g frame that will be as fast as any other road bike on the market.
Importantly, the reduced bulk in the frame makes it look like a bike you want to own, not a chunky aero beast.
On the road
The Madone is as good a road bike as I’ve ridden.
I may be drunk on white paper figures and cinematic launch videos, but there’s only one emotion I experienced on the eighth generation
of this iconic bike model: joy.
From the first pedal stroke, where there was a noticeable bottom bracket stiffness and power transfer through the wheels, to long ascents and fast downs, the bike appeared to do it all.
I’ve never been one to pay much attention to aero bikes because, as a teenager of the 2000s, I have always considered weight to trump aero in a quest for speed.
I’ve long acknowledged this is a flawed outlook, but the heart wants what it wants.
With the Madone, Trek has given me aero and appreciable lightness, with this Ultegra-specced disc brake bike coming it at 7.6kg without pedals.
It’s hardly the lightest bike I’ve owned – hell, not even the lightest Madone I’ve owned (my 2014 Madone was 6.5kg with alloy wheels… a different time) – but it feels incredible nonetheless.
The Madone gives road feedback like any good race bike, but the distinctive IsoFlow allows the seat post to flex a little to slightly reduce any bumps in the road or sudden shocks.
The feature is said to improve aero properties too, and while it would be a factor in this bike’s significant price, it gives it an aesthetic point of difference.
Although its engineers experimented with dropped seatstays and multiple other techniques to improve compliance and aero properties, the IsoFlow, according to Trek, is the most effective design to achieve the holy trinity: light, aero, compliant.
Sizing things up
Trek has reduced the number of sizes available in the Madone chassis from eight to six, but assures us that it’ll still fit everyone.
Despite a comparative size graph showing me there was
nothing to worry about, my alarm bells went off when hearing this.
My usual 52cm Trek sizing was now an M, somewhere vaguely between 52 and 54cm.
A definite cause for alarm! But did I notice it on the road? Of course not.
With a correct stem length and saddle position, it felt like any other ride, and I didn’t spend a second of my six-week tenure on the bike thinking about changing the fit.
I did think about the handlebars, though.
They’ve been designed with aero and control in mind. The drops are 3cm wider than where the hoods are positioned.
Narrow bars are a growing trend in the professional ranks, with the skinny pros searching for marginal gains.
Consumers with wider shoulders still want to feel comfy, and the 38cm-41cm bar with an integrated 110mm stem suited me perfectly.
Hitting the bottle
To maximise aero claims, Trek has manufactured an aero bottle and cage for this Madone.
The integrated system increases the length of the frame’s down and seat tubes to reduce air turbulence and therefore make the bike faster.
The old trick to fool UCI frame design rules sounds great on paper, but in practice it is imperfect.
If there’s one thing I can guarantee will slow you down in any aerobic environment, it’s dehydration.
The bottles are made from soft plastic, but I just could not get used to holding them and grabbing a mouthful of water.
I drank significantly less than on normal rides because it was a nuisance.
The bidons were easy enough to insert back into their cages – much easier than expected – but I struggled to hold them and squeeze enough water out to keep my fluids up.
I was shocked to see team Lidl-Trek using the aero bottles throughout even the hottest European summer races, including throughout the Tour de France.
So maybe I’m the problem? The good news is you can ditch these bottles for a standard cage and round bottle if they cause you the level of grief I found.
It’s great to know there are a few extra watts of speed available to you if the situation allows it, but I imagine most riders will be best placed to stick with the round bidons.
What Émonda?
This Madone started as an Émonda update.
Trek’s climbing bike was due for a redesign, but when they began researching and refining, engineers decided it was time to put the lightweight model to bed.
Did disc brakes kill the lightweight dream? Or was it the industry’s inclination to superior aerodynamics?
Either way, the latest Madone does the Émonda’s job with significant aero gains and no weight penalty.
Similarly, it does the previous Madone’s job with no aero compromise in a noticeably lighter package.
Goodbye carbon Émonda, we hardly knew you. (And thank you, Trek, for not evolving the Madone anagram with this new bike – Ademon was my pick.)
In the eighth-generation Madone, Trek has pulled off a rare feat.
It has given us a light, aero and comfortable bike, and one which has a distinct look that some would say is the best of the mass-market models available.
Out of the box, the bike rides as well as anything I’ve tested.
The only question is: what’s next? The Madone has climbed the mountain few have dared to tackle, delivering a bike that would hang proudly in any garage and bring a smile to every person on the road.
THE SPEC
Model Trek Madone SLR 7 Gen 8
Price $12,999
Weight 7.6kg (M, no pedals)
Groupset Shimano Ultegra Di2 Deviations Nil
Wheels Bontrager Aeolus Pro 51
Finishing kit Trek Aero RSL bar/stem, Madone carbon seatpost, Bontrager Aeolus P2 pro saddle, Pirelli P Zero Race (700×28)
Contact trekbikes.com/au
