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Trek Introduces New Madone 6 and 7 Series

Written by Zach Overholt
29 Comments
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Trek Team Madone 2

There is clearly a lot of this going around – the start of the 100th Tour de France seems like a good time to introduce a new bike while the world is watching. Trek has done just that with an early release of a new Madone. This particular model is clad in the new team colors – certainly an interesting choice. The new frame is lighter than any Madone before it, with the top level frame weighing in at 725g.

We’ll work on getting some more details, but in the mean time there are a few clear changes visible after the break!

Trek Team Madone 3

The very teal bike will be seen under RadioShack Leopard at the tour for the team’s final hurrah (at least as Leopard).

Trek Team Madone 5

Kammtail Virtual Foil design and integrated brakes carry through. The frame is hand crafted in Wisconsin from 700 series carbon with additional HexSL carbon.

Trek Team Madone 4

Most of the 7 series Madones to this point have been equipped with Bontrager’s own aero brake, but the team runs the Dura Ace model. Bottom bracket is still BB90.

Trek Team Madone 6

The chainstays see a massive change with a huge carbon section directly behind the crank which tapers just before the dropouts. It turns out that the change to the chainstays is an adaptation to the chainstay mounted brakes. The added material results in increased braking power – likely to keep the stays from flexing. It should also result in an improved ride feel according to Trek.

You can build almost the exact bike in Project One, it will just cost you $11,871.48.
Zach Overholt
5,724 articles

Zach Overholt is the Editor in Chief of Bikerumor. He has been writing about what’s new in the bicycle world for 12+ years. Prior to that, Zach spent many years in the back of a bicycle shop building and repairing nearly every type of bike, while figuring out how to (occasionally) ride them.

Based in Ohio, Zach is now slowly introducing a new generation to cycling and still trying to figure out how to fit the most rides into a busy schedule as a new dad.

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29 Comments
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Chris
Chris
11 years ago

Here are a few more details – looks like the main differences are the new chainstays (claimed better braking and ride feel) and the 7 series frame is now lighter: http://www.probikeswap.com/new-2014-trek-madone-series/

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Bob
Bob
11 years ago

Anyone know if Sram has any plans to release a brake that works with these Madones?

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jay
jay
11 years ago

Why the hell would you want to put Sram brakes on any bike?

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Rico
Rico
11 years ago

That thing looks boss.

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wako29
wako29
11 years ago

@Bob – The Bontrager branded brakes work great with SRAM levers (and Shimano ones too)

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Stefan
Stefan
11 years ago

Any word on how those rear brakes hold up to being awash with road filth?

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TA
TA
11 years ago

Stefan, tested a 7 series for several months over winter months and used to commute on bike paths, dirt, rain, etc

Got the bottom of the bike filthy and did not wash for 1.5 months and the only degradation was normal cable wear. The pinch bolt and nut got a little corroded, but performance wise all was well.

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D Luuuupooooo
D Luuuupooooo
11 years ago

I have had a 6 series Project One with the new brake location.. Remember, there are 2 bolts mounted to the frame. Each brake arm per brake is mounted to frame and fork.. I have the D3 carbon wheels and they grab and work great… This is such a clean looking frame. No cable and no back brake in the normal spot makes this thing so so clean. IT isn’t much of a pain to clean out. Just need to spray it down with Simple Green on the back brake area.. then brush scrub it then spray some good lube… DO NOT lube the pads… :::)))

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The Goats
The Goats
11 years ago

On first look was wondering if team mechanics would be a bit miffed at fiddling round under the bike to facilitate a quick wheel swap during a race. Anyone have experience with quick wheel swaps with brake in this location? Is this a moot point, like only a half second extra to swap?

Sweet Bike!

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Colin
Colin
11 years ago

The brake is in an aerodynamic cavity. In my experience with these bikes there is usually far less junk in the brake than there is on a normal brake setup. most of the crap coming off the front wheel is deflected by the front of the BB shell and the rear wheel just splatters stuff on the seat tube. I’ve also never had any issues with the Speed Concept, except when tri-hards drool their nutrition down the frame.

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Chris
Chris
11 years ago

The Goats the cable release for rear brake is on the cable where it enters the headtube

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ccolagio
ccolagio
11 years ago

pretty cool look without the brake bridge between the seatstays. and i dig the team color

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Pancakes
Pancakes
11 years ago

Colin- Bad news dude, that wasn’t Gatorade.

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Mike
Mike
11 years ago

I’ve had a 2013 madone 5.2 since last august and i’ve put close to 2.5k miles on it. the tucked in rear brake works as flawlessly as a traditional brake. I’ve gotten it pretty muddy and never had a problem.

To remove the rear wheel, there’s a small release “nut” where the cable routing enters the frame that you can just flip and gives you a few more millimeters of opening at the caliper.

If you look for jazzymusicman on instagram, you’ll see a pic of my madone caked in mud, and never had an issue.

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Champs
Champs
11 years ago

I’m not so thrilled with overall the trend toward goofy brake designs, but if you’re gonna do it, why not go all in? That Madone would look way nicer if the fork would fit a mini-V like the integrated brakes Ridley and Giant use for their aero bikes.

We’ll see how this two-bolt brake design goes. Each arm flexes the stay/fork leg independently, which is theoretically better than transferring the forces all the way up the arms to a single bolt threaded to the frame. On the other hand, I wonder about the ride when those forces are applied to asymmetrical chainstays. Now, admittedly, the bottom bracket is… beefy.

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Luke
Luke
11 years ago

Stefan – I rode my 5.9 Kammtail frameset at my u-19 team camp this past spring and we did many rides where parts were gravel and dirt roads including one day with 60 miles of Battenkill-like conditions. Brakes didn’t muck up at all and are in great condition still.

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Mindless
Mindless
11 years ago

Needs disk brakes and 142×12 and 15×100.

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barfly
barfly
11 years ago

Agreed. Let’s stop half-assing all this brake and skewer nonsense.

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Ced G
Ced G
11 years ago

Dat Paint – Sick.

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Fred
Fred
11 years ago

That chainstay looks ugly …

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carl
carl
11 years ago

Nice looking bike BUT…. I work in a TREK shop and have visited other TREK shops and, sorry folks, but the feel of the back brake at the lever is not all that good. It may work well, and stay clean (I NEVER had a problem with the U-brakes on my VERY early mountain bikes) BUT the feel at the lever is terrible. We’re all getting excited about discs in part because of their excellent modulation which comes in part from FEEL…. something these brakes don’t have.

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Gummee!
Gummee!
11 years ago

I didn’t like my under the chainstay mounted u-brakes the first time they were trendy. WhyTF would I want em again?!

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turtlehead
turtlehead
11 years ago

The bontrager brakes feel terrible and are fairly poorly made.

The dura-ace ones are much better, however, the rear brake still moves a lot when the bars are rotated.

In my experience, the trek brakes modulate poorly and feel heavy at the lever. They do, however, stop powerfully. I don’t really understand why there would be any benefit over a well designed mini-v.

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Chris
Chris
11 years ago

@ Champs:
You realize a “two bolt brake” is really no different than the cantilever and V brakes used for decades on MTBs, tandems, cyclocross and touring bikes? Same basic idea: two independent arms, each mounted to to the frame. The “new” brakes on these bikes are fundamentally no different than the center pulls that were the norm for decades. Center pulls fell out of favor when they started mounting them to a center bolt, similar to side pull brakes. This was a horrible idea and caused the brakes to perform like crap. Take those very same Mafacs and put them on dedicated brazeons and it’s a totally different story. On a braze-on mounted Mafac the distance from pad to frame attachment point is very short resulting in little brake flex and better braking. On a side pull the arms are much longer and thus need to be made much heavier to resist flexing. Another bonus is that on a carbon fork you’re not drilling a hole right through where the legs meet the steer tube – AKA the weakest point of the fork. That’s a smart move. The most questionable aspect of these new brakes is the bottom bracket mounting point. That seems to be mostly a cosmetic concern.

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Champs
Champs
11 years ago

Chris, I’ve never had the privilege of getting over 50MPH on any bike with cantis, and if I did, it wouldn’t be on a bike with pencil thin and/or asymmetrical stays.

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Mike C
Mike C
11 years ago

@Carl — maybe beefing up the drive side chainstay will help with the brake feel.

Also, just FYI, the mounting posts are not symmetrical, either. On both the fork and frame there is a central post and then one off-center–biased toward one fork leg up front; drive side chainstay out back. This probably explains the nature of the asymmetrical chainstays.

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yipsoupy
yipsoupy
11 years ago

Wondering if the 2014 5.2 will see these same “improvements”

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Cap
Cap
11 years ago

I have had my 7 series Trek Madone since Jan. 1st of 2013 and have logged over 5 K miles. I must say that I am not a fan of the Bontrager rear brake. Mine has absolutely no stopping power and it has begun to corrode from sweat and road grime. Yesterday, I had to have it completely removed and it looks as if it is 7 years old rather than 7 months old. As for the front brake (Bontrager) it too is weak. These two issues are annoying and should not be part of a 10 K racing bike.

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Josh
Josh
11 years ago

Mike… Could you describe further or take a picture of that “release nut” for the rear brakes on your Madone 5.2? I have to change out a flat, and the brakes aren’t retracting when I release any of the bolts.

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