New Trek Madone Headed for Tour de France?

I don’t know about putting your rear brake under the BB.
It’s going to collect more debris, especially on wet conditions.
The part of my bike that gets dirty the most is the BB area.

Love the video, the presenter was like a Belgian Sean Connery. Always love these service course peices. I can imagine my self rolling along on a wheely chair painting thin layers of mastic on 40 grand worth wheels.
Too much fun.

That doesn’t look remotely aero so I’m wondering if they aren’t doing it for other reasons. Cervelo has said that the seat stays are largely irrelevant, Quintana Roo has a Tri bike with one seat stay eliminated, and many brands (Cannondale, Scott, Specialized etc) market seat stay features that are supposed to increase comfort. Maybe removing the brake from the sett stay gives them the freedom to put the brake in an already beefy and overbuilt area of the frame (the BB) and remove more material from the seat stay. You could remove the brake brace/mount and sculpt the seat stays however you wished.

Having ridden a bike with a chain stay mounted brake though (tri bike) they are finicky and don’t provide nearly the same modulation or power. Though maybe this new Dura Ace brake is better.

They had them at the Tour de Luxembourg too but nobody rode them at all. Odd they’d have them in the service course but not actually get them out. Suggests either a grand unveiling to come or perhaps they’re just trying them out on warm up sessions.

Velonews show more pics. This bike uses the Kamm tail foil. Aero tubes with the tail removed (like the Scott foil). They are almost as aero in a straight line and more-so at yaw. these frames are as light as ISP bike and as compliant. The seat cap on the Madone works much better the a post. the big bonus is that water doesn’t infiltrate the frame from the rear tire.

Please stop the BB90/95 madness. For the love of god. Love these bikes othewise.

@Whatever, you are seriously waiting for Trek to make an ISP? Even though they already make an integrated seatmast on their Madones (5 and 6 series)? As Pancakes said, Trek’s solution to the whole ISP insanity (a trend which several big bike makers jumped ship on, or have never adopter) is lighter, simpler, more attractive and generally more elegant than anything else out there. ISPs (including Trek’s) are a ridiculous solution to a problem that NO ONE had.

And what the hell is this nonsense about “real riders” wanting an ISP? Are riders of Specialized, Cannondale, Cervelo, etc., not “real riders”? Are you really so ignorant as to think that your choice of seatpost determines how seriously you take this sport? Someone should tell Ryder Hesjedal to man up and get a bike that he needs a saw to fit to, because clearly not one could take his ride at this year’s Giro seriously, given the lack of integration between frame and seatpost.

As for questions about the rear brake, if it’s anything like the one on the Speed Concept, it will certainly require more work (both in setup and maintenance) than a standard brake, but should work excellently. Trek’s own house-brand front and rear brakes integrate seamlessly and provide very good, sharp lever feel and great stopping power, so I can only imagine that, with Shimano’s considerable talent for designing brakes, these will be even better.

One question: what will happen with all those bikes after the end of the season?

I ride 6 series madone w/ a round post seatmast. I’ve also ridden TCRs with ISP. I prefer the madone. All the stiffness I need and I’m 220 lbs. You might have ridden the older teardrop post that were flexier but like all bike companies, they improved there designs. I’ll be you this design is better that the one I ride. So don’t judge this untill you ride it. I’m sure you haven’t ridden THIS madone and if you have, congratulations on being on Radioshack Nissan Trek. Say hi to Johann.