Trek model year 2017 road bike range – first look: Domane, Emonda, Madone and more
Each and every bike in Trek's 2017 road bike line-up
Trek have increased the number of Domane bikes to use the front IsoSpeed decoupler as part of a model year 2017 range which also includes a revamped aluminium Domane ALR.
Trek overhauled the flagship Domane SLR endurance bike ahead of the 2016 Spring Classics, introducing adjustable rear IsoSpeed and a pivoting front decoupler to further boost comfort.
Those updates were initially confined to the clutch of top-end SLR bikes, but the front IsoSpeed can now be found on the mid-range SL bikes between £2,500 and £3,300 – though the adjustable rear IsoSpeed remains the domain of the SLR.
Elsewhere, the Domane ALR has had a face lift, while the super-light Emonda and hyper-aero Madone continue to have a strong presence in the Trek range, with updated specs across the board and Vision wheels introduced on select models.
We stopped by the American firm’s annual dealer show, Trek World, to take a closer look at the 2017 range and pick out some road highlights, along with the Boone and Crockett cyclo-cross machines, and CrossRip commuter. There are plenty of women’s-specific bikes, too – head over to our sister site, Total Women’s Cycling, for more.
Trek Domane SLR
We’ll start with the Domane SLR, seeing as that has been Trek’s major launch in 2016. It’s been a busy few years for Trek, with the Emonda launch in 2014 followed up by the Madone in 2015 and the Domane in 2016.
As we reported from the launch in Belgium in April, Trek took the Domane back to the drawing board when developing the SLR, and the result was a frame with an adjustable rear IsoSpeed decoupler, which allows the rider to fine-tune the amount of compliance served up by the internal seat cluster pivot and, more radically, an additional IsoSpeed decoupler in the headtube and headset which seeks to balance out the comfort served at the front and rear end of the bike. Check out our launch report and first ride review for more on the tech behind the Domane SLR.
As for the bikes, there’s an expanded range of nine SLR machines in the line-up for model year 2017: three with disc brakes and six with rim brakes. The £7,600 Domane SLR 9 eTap really caught our eye but a more realistic way into the SLR range is with the most affordable of the bikes, the £3,600 Domane SLR 6 pictured, which comes equipped with a Shimano Ultegra groupset. If you want disc brakes then the range opens with the Domane SLR 6 Disc, again with Shimano Ultegra but at £4,000. That bike is on our way to us for review.
Take a look below to see the full range of Domane SLR bikes. Generally speaking, and as you’ll learn as we move through the rest of the Domane and Emonda bikes, any bike with 9 as a suffix has Shimano Dura-Ace Di2, 8 gets Dura-Ace mechanical, 7 is equipped with Ultegra Di2, 6 has mechanical Ultegra, 5 wears 105, 4 bikes are dressed in Tiagra and 3 means Sora (though you won’t find any 5, 4 or 3 bikes in the Domane SLR range).
The Domane SLR is also available as a frameset only, costing £2,150 for the rim brake version and £2,300 for the disc-ready chassis.
As we’ve already mentioned, the SL now has a front IsoSpeed decoupler, so front-end comfort should be improved, though the frame retains the standard rear IsoSpeed of old – there’s no adjustability.
Of the six bikes in the range (two disc brake, four rim brake), we particularly liked the top-end Domane SL 8, equipped with Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 and a lovely ‘dark aquatic/shady grey’ paintjob. Yours for £3,500.
But if you not fussed about having Shimano’s flagship groupset and want to pay more attention to wheels (and there’s certainly something to be said for that), then your eyes might prick up at the sound of the Domane SL 6 Disc. It has a Shimano Ultegra groupset but swaps Bontrager wheels for Vision Metron 40 Disc Ltd hoops. It’s interesting to see Trek move away from Bontrager wheels on select models (Bontrager is a Trek subsidiary) and has allowed them to introduce wheels for a more competitive price – the Domane SL 6 Disc is £3,400, while there are bikes with Vision wheels at £3,000. Trek say they’ve chosen Vision hoops as they meet their own wheel test criteria.
As an aside, all Domane S (which we’ll come on to next) and SL bikes are equipped with a wide-ranging 11-32t cassette to help flatten the climbs, while SLR machines come with a 11-28t cassette. All disc-equipped Domane bikes have 32mm tyres, while rim brake machine used 28mm rubber.
If you want to put together you own Domane SL build then Trek offer both the rim brake and disc brake frames for £1,800 a piece.
Right then, the Domane S is Trek’s most affordable carbon fibre Domane frame – it uses Trek’s 400-Series OCLV carbon fibre, as opposed to 500 (which is a bit lighter) with the SL bikes and 600 (lighter again) with the SLR frame.
The frame is essentially unchanged for 2017, with the rear IsoSpeed decoupler we’ve known since the Domane was first launched in 2012. You’ve got the choice of three bikes: two with rim brakes, one with disc brakes.
If you want a Domane with disc brakes then Domane S 5 Disc fits the bill, coming with a Shimano 105 groupset and hydraulic stopper for £2,000, making it our pick of the S range.
Trek Domane S 5 Disc (Shimano 105) – £2,000
Trek Domane S 5 (Shimano 105) – £1,600
Trek Domane S 4 (Shimano Tiagra) – £1,400
Trek Domane ALR
The Domane range doesn’t stop with the carbon fibre S, though – there’s also the aluminium ALR frame, which has had an update for 2017. Trek say it’s lighter and with smoother welds to give it a carbon-like finish. It continues to have a rear IsoSpeed decoupler.
There are three bikes to choose from and the £1,300 Domane ALR 4 Disc looks like a hit. The Quicksilver finish is stunning and you get Shimano’s latest Tiagra groupset and the Japanese firm’s new Tiagra-level RS405 hydraulic disc brakes.
While the Domane comes from Trek’s endurance range, the Emonda and Madone bikes have a racier touch, focusing on light weight and aerodynamics respectively. Of those two, let’s start with the Emonda.
Once again, there are three carbon frame platforms: the SLR, SL and S – with the frame weight rising but the price lowering as you move between each. The SLR is the same 690g frame ridden by some members of the Trek-Segafredo team, including climber Bauke Mollema (the team’s riders can choose between the Emonda, Madone and Domane, depending on their personal preference and the terrain).
There are four bikes in the Emonda SLR range and if you want to go full bling then there’s only one option: the £9,700 Emonda SLR 10 Race Shop Limited. For your considerable outlay you get a frame made from Trek’s lightest carbon fibre, 700-Series OCLV, with a super-light ‘carbon vapor coat’ paintjob (yeah, paintjobs can be ‘super-light’), and Trek’s pro-inspired H1 geometry (all Race Shop Limited bikes use the H1 fit). It’s equipped with SRAM Red eTap, Bontrager Aeolus XXX SL tubular wheels and Bontrager R4 Tubular tyres in a build which has one thing in mind – low weight.
If you want a more affordable Emonda then you’re going to have to sacrifice some weight to save money, with the Emonda SL frame coming in at approximately 950g – still light, just not as light at the SLR. But you do get a choice of four bikes from £1,800 to £2,900.
The Emonda SL 7 pictured here is the most expensive bike in the line-up and comes with a Shimano Ultegra Di2 groupset and Bontrager Race Tubeless Ready wheels.
Otherwise, the Emonda SL 6 Pro is another Trek bike to come with Vision wheels, pairing the Shimano Ultegra groupset with Vision Metron 40 Ltd hoops for £2,700.
Just as is with case with the Domane range, it’s the S frame which opens the Emonda collection and it has a frame weight in the region of 1,200g.
There’s just one men’s bike in the 2017 Emonda S line-up, with the S 5 coming with a Shimano 105 groupset for £1,400 and a smart black and red paintjob.
Trek Emonda S 5 (Shimano 105) – £1,400
Trek Emonda ALR
We’re already fans of the Trek Emonda ALR – review our review here – thanks to the lively, lightweight aluminium frame, which marries excellent performance with good value. Good quality’s aluminium is like that – you can get a lot of bang for your buck.
Claimed frame weight is 1,050g, so it’s lighter than the carbon fibre Emonda S, and the same chassis is used on the three bikes which make up the 2017 Emonda ALR range.
The Trek Emonda ALR 5 is the pick of the bunch for us and pairs that lightweight frame in team livery with a Shimano 105 groupset for £1,200. Otherwise you can get a Tiagra groupset for £975 and an Ultegra-equipped machine for £1,500. Trek also offer the Emonda ALR as a frameset only for £700, so you can put together your own alloy build if you want.
What about the kids? Trek offer the Emonda ALR as a child’s road bike, made from aluminium, and specced with 650b wheels and Shimano Sora (with a 46-34t chainset) for £750.
You’ll likely be familiar with the Trek Madone. It’s been around since the mid-2000s but has evolved significantly since then, pitched as something of an all-rounder before getting an aero revamp in 2015. But it’s not purely an aero road bike, as it also looks to throw comfort into the mix by using a variation of the IsoSpeed decoupler first found on the Domane in order to boost comfort. You can read our report from the Madone launch last year for more on the aero-fuelled tech on this machine.
How about the Madone Race Shop Limited pictured here? It’s a stunner and essentially the same bike ridden by the Trek-Segafredo team, made from 700-Series carbon, and comes with a Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 groupset and deep-section Bontrager Aeolus 5 D3 wheels.
Otherwise, there are four bikes made from 600-Series OCLV carbon, ranging from the Madone 9.9 dressed once again in Dura-Ace Di2 for £8,800 to the Madone 9.2 with Shimano Ultegra for £4,800. You can also get the Madone frameset in a H1 fit for £4,400 and slightly more relaxed H2 fit for £3,600.
All the way at the other end of the Trek range, you’ll find the 1-Series, Trek’s entry-level, aluminium road bike. Whereas the Emonda ALR uses Trek’s 300-Series Alpha Aluminium, the 1-Series uses 100-Series alloy, and these are bikes aimed at riders making there first pedal strokes into the sport.
There are two bikes: the 1.2 with Shimano Sora, which has had an update to use a similar four-arm chainset design as further up the range and internal cabling, and the 1.1 with Shimano Claris. The frame has front and rear mudguard and rack mounts, adding some additional versatility.
Not forgetting time trialists, the Trek Speed Concept comes in three complete bike builds for 2017. The 7.5 here sits in the middle and comes with SRAM Force gearing for £3,600.
Otherwise, you can step up to the Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 equipped Speed Concept 9.9 for a cool £8,900 (it’s also made from a higher grade of 600-Series carbon, compared to 500-Series for the 7.5), or move down to the 7.0 with Shimano 105 for £2,700. You can also get the Speed Concept 7 frameset for £2,000.
Now let’s take a quick look at what’s happening from Trek in the world of cyclo-cross. There’s nothing new frame-wise, with the Boone and Crockett carrying over from last season, but there are updated specs and, we hear, a completely new CX platform coming at the turn of the year.
The Boone is Trek’s self-styled ‘cyclo-cross superbike’ and, like the Domane, uses an IsoSpeed decoupler at the seat cluster to try and smooth out rough ‘cross tracks. The flagship Boone Race Shop Limited is inspired by the bike ridden by two-time ‘cross world champion Sven Nys and combined a 600-Series OCLV carbon fibre frame with a Shimano Ultegra groupset for £3,200.
The Crockett, meanwhile, still has a racy, ‘cross-specific geometry but is made from aluminium. There are two Crockett bikes – the 7 Disc with a SRAM Force CX1 groupset for £2,100 and the 5 Disc with Shimano 105 for £1,350 – while both the Crockett and Boone are also available as a frameset (£550 for the Crockett, £1,500 for the Boonen, both in disc and cantilever brake variations).
Bridging the gap between road and cyclo-cross is the CrossRip – a disc-equipped bike designed to handle roads, gravel tracks, tow paths, bridleways and plenty in between, while offering plenty of additional versatility thanks to full rack and mudguard mounts.
Essentially it’s aimed riders who want a bike which is just as happy on the urban commute as it is out on a weekend ride through the lanes, while throwing a bit of light off-road action into the mix.
Choose between the CrossRip 1, 2 and 3, with Shimano Sora, Tiagra and 105, for £900, £1,200 and £1,600 respectively. The 2 and 3 get hydraulic disc brakes, while the 1 has mechanical stoppers.
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