A lot has changed on Trek’s new flagship race bike, the Madone 6. Three years ago Trek significantly updated its long-running Madone model name with an all-new design, new from the ground up. Last year, Trek went back to the drawing board and tweaked, fettled and massaged the Madone into an all new iteration, the Madone 6.
While on the surface it looks more or less the same as the Madone 5 (which is still available), the new 6 is the sum of many smaller updates. Add them all together and the result is a bike that rides noticeably differently from the previous model. The 5 was a hit when I tested one, and the only real negative was its noticeable softness, especially discernable during the more heated moments of a road race. During the first few rides the extra stiffness brought about by the changes on the 6 are easily apparent, producing a much more direct ride that responds instantaneously to any input, no matter how small.
It’s a far more engaging, and exciting ride, than ever before. The key to this difference in ride feel is a series of changes that result in, Trek claim, a big increase in stiffness. The new fork for example, Trek reckons, brings about a 17% increase in lateral stiffness, due to an ovalised steerer tube. Along with the 1 1/8in-to-1 1/2in tapered headset, this explains how tight and direct the front end of the frame feels, and is especially noticeable through the handlebars. There’s better feedback through the bars and a sense that the frame is tracking tighter and more direct than before.
There’s a claimed 10% increase in the bottom bracket area, something which really isn’t hard to believe when you look at how large the downtube is at this point. The BB shell is 90mm wide and press-fit bearings locate the bearings inside the shell, rather than outboard. The integrated BB bearing cups save 40g, with the entire frame a reported 890g (100g lighter than the 5). Hefting the bike in the air backs this up; it’s one seriously lightweight bicycle.
But, while it is noticeably stiffer when sprinting out of the saddle, climbing hard or carving tight lines through country lanes and heavy London traffic, it’s not without an impressive degree of ride comfort. I’ve been putting in some substantial mileage this winter, and even some rigorous five and six hour rides have resulted in little discomfort. It’s all the more impressive given how bad many road surfaces are following the big freeze: the Madone 6 never felt unable to cope and never felt skittish or nervous, in the way some ultra-lightweight carbon race bikes can tend to suffer.
There’s much more to talk about with this new Madone, but I’ll save those for another article soon…
