Trek Emonda

With the Madone occupying a smaller space in the Trek line-up, the Emonda steps in as the American firm’s flagship platform and the £11,000 Emonda SLR 10, one of 15 bikes in a range which starts at £1,200, is undoubtedly the headline-grabber.

The Trek Emonda, and with it the SLR 10, was originally unveiled ahead of the Tour de France to much fanfare as the world’s lightest production bike at a claimed 4.65kg, and the machine took pride of place at Trek World (see it for yourself in our gallery at the bottom of this page), hanging from a set of scales in the centre of the exhibition hall, surrounded by prototype frames broken during the 18-month development process before Trek arrived at the final design.

The SLR 10 is a production model – one available in Trek retailers for riders with a spare £11,000 down the back of the sofa, though Garrison says Trek UK already has back orders on the flagship machine – but the super-super-light spec, based around a SRAM Red groupset, Tune wheels and Bontrager brakes and finishing kit specially designed for the bike, is markedly different to the bike ridden by Frank Schleck at the Tour, owing both to Trek Factory Racing’s sponsorship commitments and, of course, the UCI’s 6.8kg weight limit.

Still, the 690g Emonda SLR frame is exactly the same, and Garrison says Trek Factory Racing’s mechanics have to add 300g of weight to bring it up to standard, and that’s in team spec (Shimano Dura-Ace with Bontrager wheels) with an SRM power meter, bottle cages and pedals all fitted. Garrison believes that could soon change, however.

“This project wasn’t only about about making a lightweight frameset, but also about making the lightest complete bike, and a lot of that is in anticipation of the UCI getting rid of the weight limit,” she says. “This bike puts us a little bit ahead of the curve and while we’re far from the only ones making a bike under the weight limit, if the UCI does scrap the weight limit then this bike becomes a reality for the Trek Factory Racing guys.

“The biggest question we get is why no disc brakes with the Emonda?,” she adds. “Because it’s a lightweight bike and the pro peloton has no demand for disc brakes.”

We ran through the Emonda SLR frame’s key features in our launch article but, in short, it’s made from Trek’s top-end 700 Series carbon fibre and has been optimised to achieve the lowest weight possible, without, Trek say, compromising stiffness and handling.

While the SLR 10 is undoubtedly the star of the show (it is unfathomably light in hand – open the gallery at the bottom of this page for more photos), it remains an £11,000 push bike and is just one of 15 models in an Emonda collection based around three different frames: the SLR, SL and S.

Four Emonda SLR bikes

The SLR frame – the exact same 690g showpiece as used on the SLR 10 – is available in three other builds, with the SLR 9 (Shimano Dura-Ace Di2, Bontrager Aeolus 3 wheels, Bontrager finishing kit) priced at £7,800, the SLR 8 (Shimano Dura-Ace mechanical, Bontrager Race X Lite Tubeless Ready wheels, Bontrager finishing kit) for £5,800 and the SLR 6 (Shimano Ultegra mechanical, Bontrager Race Lite Tubeless Ready wheels, Bontrager finishing kit) yours for £4,300.

The SLR 6, 8 and 9 are available in both Trek’s ‘pro’ H1 and ‘regular’ H2 geometry, while the SLR 10 is only available in a H1 fit. The Emonda SLR is also available as a frameset for £3,000, again in both H1 and H2.

Four Emonda SL bikes

The Emonda range then moves on to the SL frame, which uses Trek’s 500 Series OCLV carbon fibre to lower the price and bring the weight up to a claimed 950g – so it’s still no heavyweight.

There are four bikes in the Emonda SL range,  starting with the £1,900 Shimano 105-equipped Emonda SL 5, rising to the £2,300 Emonda SL 6 with Shimano Ultegra, moving on to the Emonda SL 8 Red, dressed in SRAM Red for £3,100, and topping out with the Emonda SL 8 with Shimano Dura-Ace for £3,100. The Emonda SL is also available as a frameset for £1,350 if you want to put your own build together.

Three Emonda S bikes

Trek’s commitment to the Emonda extends to a three-strong range of Emonda S bikes, based around a 1,200g frame made from 300 Series OCLV carbon fibre.

That line-up opens with the Emonda S 4 with Shimano Tiagra for £1,200, moves up to the Shimano 105-ready Emonda S 5 at £1,500 and finishes with the Shimano Ultegra-equipped Emonda S 6, yours for £1,800.

Naturally, as you move through the complete Emonda range, from top to bottom, the price may drop, but the frame and complete bike weight rises.

Women’s-specific

The Emonda collection also includes four Women’s Specific Design (or WSD, for short) bikes, with a tweaked geometry and spec for female riders. At the top of the pile is the Emonda SLR 9 WSD with Shimano Dura-Ace Di2. Price TBC.

There are then two Emonda SL machines: the Emonda SL 6 WSD with Shimano Ultegra for £2,300 and the Emonda SL 5 WSD with Shimano 105 for £1,900. Meanwhile, the Emonda S 5 WSD is dressed in Shimano 105 and opens the women’s range at £1,500.

Click on to the next page below to see the 2015 Trek Madone line-up.