Two and a half years ago, I had my first experience with a Trek Madone SLR. Back then, I had been waffling between the Madone and the Emonda but ultimately, I ended up with the Madone. I’m now writing about the Gen7 Madone SLR from a place of privilege, having spent serious time on the Gen6 Madone, which you can read about here and last season on the Emonda SLR, which you can read about here.To put it simply, the Gen7 Madone is the best of both worlds. With the price remaining the same as the previous bike at $11,949, you’re getting a lot of bike for the money.
Unlike the first time I reviewed a Madone, where I had come from mid-tier bikes, I was now coming from world tour racing machines. My expectations were extremely high as my previous Madone was an incredible machine and, as a skeptic, I was still determining if the changes made to the new generation would be noticeable.
The first and most obvious change is that Trek has removed the adjustable isospeed system from the bike and replaced it with a much more simple design, IsoFlow. The Isospeed is what made the ride quality of the previous Madone so special. You had a bike that was stiff when you were out of the saddle yet as smooth as an endurance bike with high-volume tires. The cost of that was weight and complexity. My first Madone had a defect with the isospeed that required the frame to be replaced. While Trek, as always, was quick to fix the issue, having to get a frame replaced is never ideal. Trek suggests that isoflow feels similar to the Gen6 isospeed when in the firmest setting and I would agree with that. The Gen6 was likely the most comfortable bike I’ve ridden when it was in the softest setting, not what you’d expect from a race bike. With that being said, the Gen7, while firmer, is still significantly more comfortable than the Emonda SLR. The roads in Alberta are atrocious at the best of times which only amplifies frame comfort, one way or another. The lack of isospeed also shaves about 250g off of the frame weight, a rather significant mass.
Isoflow makes the bike that much faster, right? Not quite. While they claim there are aerodynamic benefits from the isoflow, most of the aerodynamic gains are from the new cockpit. Like most top-tier road bikes, the Madone comes with a one-piece bar/stem combo with fully hidden cables (sorry mechanics!) Where the new cockpit differs is that the hoods are narrower than the drops by 3 cm. Ew, flared bars, right? Wrong. Unlike gravel bars, your wrists will be in a neutral position and the only thing you’ll notice is the increased wrist clearance when sprinting from the drops. I was very skeptical of this having always ridden 42cm bars, 39cm hoods seemed incredibly narrow. Much to my surprise, I fell in love with the narrower hoods immediately (Cody at Flexion Bike Fit is likely saying, I told you so.) Not only are the bars more comfortable but they shave a claimed 19w of drag off compared to the Gen cockpit. With all of that being said, you need to make sure that the cockpit sizing will work for you when you order the bike, if not, talk to the shop about swapping it out for one that fits. At nearly $1000 to order a new cockpit, you want to be sure it’s going to work for you.
The geometry, outside of the cockpit is Treks H1.5, which is standard across the entire Madone and Emonda line-ups. In the past, Trek had included the short seat mast on the 56 cm frames which meant that I had to spend another $400 for the long version. Thankfully, they are now shipping 56 cm and larger frames with the taller mast. While Trek suggests that I should be on a 58 cm frame, I do not believe that that is correct. Having worked with a bike fitter, there is no way that I can get the position that I need, on a frame that is that large as the stack height is too tall. With that being said, at 6’ tall with a saddle height of 800 mm, I am approaching the limit of the seat mast height, thanks to my long legs. As per usual, I suggest that you get a bike fit before dropping a large sum of money on any bike.
The Gen7 Madone feels great when sprinting, which was one of my biggest complaints with the Emonda. The Emonda always felt skittish under power whereas the Madone is rock solid. The easiest way for me to explain it is that it feels like driving a car with a lot of downforce, the more power you put through the bike, the more planted it feels. Despite being an aero-focused bike, I have been pleasantly surprised with how smooth it rides over our less-than-ideal roads. Very little chatter makes its way through the bike to the rider, a nice change from the aero bikes of yesteryear. Trek Lidl raced Madones this year during the Paris Roubaix, the roughest course on the entire calendar.
Similar to my previous two bikes, I opted for Sram Force again to take care of drivetrain duties. I’ve found Force to be the sweet spot in terms of weight and value as grams saved by going up to Sram Red aren’t worth it. Curiously, Trek specs their bikes with 10-33 cassettes which I’ve always found to have fairly large gaps compared to the 10-28 counterpart. If the Madone were supplied with 50/37 chainrings and not the 48/35 combination, I would’ve kept the 10-33, instead, I swapped it out for a 10-28. The dual-sided Quarq powermeter that comes with the bike is also brilliant. It’s great to see most bikes coming with powermeters these days, especially with most road riders not willing to ride without one.
The stock wheels that come with the SLR7 builds are Aeolus Pro 51s. These are significantly different from the previous generation, Aeolus Pro 5s. The Pro 51s now have a 23 mm internal width which is great as the trend for high volume tires continues. Not only are these wheels wider but the profile on them is much more ellipse-like than previous wheels. The lack of brake tracks has allowed wheel manufacturers to further optimize the wheels for crosswinds, a difference that is immediately noticeable if you have had the chance to ride the wheels back to back. I’ve been running my RSL62s since the day I picked the bike as they are a bit faster, and to me, really round out the look of the bike. They share the same ellipse cross-section and internal width of the Aeolus Pro 51s which means they handle crosswinds significantly better than most wheels, despite being 62 mm deep.
Trek has, for some reason, equipped the bike with tubed, 25 mm tires. Those were the first things to go. I swapped on 28 mm Panaracer Agilest tires (review here) and ran them tubeless. At this point, the time spent setting up tubeless tires pales compared to the convenience of not having flats on rides. I’ve finished rides and it wasn’t until I was washing the bike afterward, that I noticed sealant on my downtube or seat tube from a puncture that sealed without me noticing it.
Just for fun, I tried another set of wheels with 32 mm Gravelking Slicks on them, that measured 34 mm. Shockingly, there was at least 5 mm clearance, measured, around the frame and fork.
Since I don’t have a wind tunnel to test for absolute values on whether or not the bike feels faster than the gen6, you’ll have to take my word for it. Most of the gains on this generation of the Madone are made through the revised cockpit, which, in theory, you could retrofit to a Gen6 Madone. Riding at 45 km/h is where you really feel the speed that this bike is capable of. With drag being exponential, the higher speeds are where this bike shines. That isn’t to say that it’s not comfortable loping around at 30 km/h, it just feels at home the faster you go. Compared to the Emonda, the Madone is in a different league when you’re at the front, eating wind. The Emonda was quick but I certainly had to work harder at higher speeds, despite using the same RSL 62 wheels on both bikes.
With the addition of the SL models of the Madone being released now, there is a price point for nearly everyone to get onto one of these superbikes. When you drop down to the SL model, the frame uses 500 series carbon instead of 800, you get a two-piece cockpit instead of an integrated one, and the groupsets available are either Shimano 105 or Rival. The wheels remain the same though.
Would I buy the Madone again? Absolutely. With many brands combining their climbing and aero bikes into a singular model, it’s great to have a dedicated aero bike for those who want it. At 17lbs, ready to ride, the Madone is less than a pound lighter than my Emonda which had the same build kit, virtually nothing, when you factor in rider weight. If you’re a club rider who loves to go fast or race at the top of your category, you won’t be disappointed with the speed you’ll gain on this bike.
For more information, check out https://www.trekbikes.com/ca/en_CA/bikes/road-bikes/performance-road-bikes/madone/c/B213/ and if you’re looking to pick one up and are in Canada, give the fine folks at Hardcore Bikes a call and they’ll take care of you!
Images and words by Nick Croken / Redline Photography
Riding the Rivet 