I didn’t see a thread here, but with all of the talk of the new Tarmac, I figured people would like info on the new Emonda as well. Looks to be some in the wild photos leaked/found over at Weight Weenies.
First things I noticed. It’s got 105 on, so it’s probably a lower spec model, maybe SL. And perhaps that’s why I’m not super impressed. The earlier leaked picture looked much better IMO. Cable routing up front isn’t as clean as the Tarmac, but again, maybe better on higher models.
That’s a great looking bike. I’ve never been a fan of the Trek road bikes but I’d ride that for sure.
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Why disk brakes on a climbing bike?
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Why still the seat mast cap?
Is it really a climbing bike anymore? I feel its more of an all-rounder personally.
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Because usually climbing involves descending.
And because you make a lighter and stronger wheel when the braking surface is different from the structural integrity of the wheel.
Many a carbon rim wheel has been delaminated in the SoCal mountains due to heat build up. I’ve seen every manufacturer’s carbon rim fail back when everyone ran rim brakes.
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Agree with this. I’ve never felt comfortable taking my (lightweight) carbon rims to places with long climbs, so switch them out for lightweight alloys.
Next bike will almost certainly be discs.
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At this point I can think of few reasons not to have them. When you can get a bike down to the UCI weight limits with disc brakes, it seems to me that the biggest (really only…) knock against them has been negated?
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It looks like it’s a 58 from the photos, and that head tube doesn’t look as long as the one I used to have which gives me hope they’re running the H1.5 fit for the new one. It might be personal, but the H2 fit never jived with me even though the rest of the bike was pretty great.
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SL frame most likely. If they follow previous trends, the tooling is the same for the SLR, with the carbon blend as the only difference, so the frames look identical. I expect the SLR models to get aero bar shape and integrated cables. The SL as above, makes sense with the partial integration as seen on the 2020 Domane setups.
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I know its a personal thing, but I just don’t like the way Trek’s look. The Treks always look chunky in the wrong places and thin in the wrong places. The SL7 Tarmac just looks like such a sleeker bike to me.
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Much like the Ford v Chevy stuff, people have their preference, brand related or not. There is a bit of a design language in bikes, but not nearly as evident as vehicles. Just less material to work with, and the limitations of UCI along with physics for strength, comfort, aerodynamics lead to bikes that are more similar than they are different.
That shadow profile test would be pretty tough for bikes from the same category (aero race, light race, endurance, etc.) are quite a like between brands. Much comes down to the subtle shaping differences as well as colorways.
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And the mast cap? Anyone else dislike (said politely) this Trek-only tech?
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Giant has their own seat mast thing with the top TCR. Not sure which is a better setup though. I’d pick the D-shaped Tarmac seatpost over both I think though.
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I don’t hate it. Been using it since 2015. Can be a bit of a fit issue since you may need the long or short version (the short comes stock on the 56 and smaller, long on the 58 and larger, IIRC) and your bike came with the opposite. It’s a hidden aspect, that is required to actually achieve the full range of saddle rail height that is listed on the geo sheets.
Otherwise, the performance of the mast and cap design is faultless for me. The theory is that they can make the junction between the mast and top tube in a way that provides the ride rigidity to comfort ratio that they want to offer. It is more consistent across the saddle height range when compared to a seatpost design, which can alter the flex to stiffness more so depending on saddle height (importantly the overlap of the inner post and outer tube).
All theoretical of course, but I find that both my Emonda’s were exceptionally comfortable for “race” bikes. On par with my Roubiax without the requisite baggage of endurance based bike designs.
Edit: I will add that the Trek mast/cap design is the best in the business, since it is a “no-cut” design, that can fit the full range with a simple cap swap. That is not typically possible with other mast designs, that must be cut and then offer a very limited range of adjustment after that. Makes resale for cut models a real pain, vs the Trek that is still fully capable.
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Yea, the first leaked photo showed a bar/stem combo that looked a lot better, and more aero. Probably only on the higher end models.
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Looks like IsoSpeed on the front, and not the back, which is a new addition, unless I’m confused about what I’m seeing. Otherwise, exactly what I expected, Kamtail tube shapes and discs.
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I don’t know if that’s IsoSpeed. I think it’s just the entry point for cables. But I’m not 100% on that.
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You might be right, I took a look at the Domane’s, and it’s a much larger “cap” on the top of the head tube. I’m curious whether there’s a threaded bottom bracket like the Domane here.
Seems to be the route Trek is heading.