STAR TREK

New tube shapes and carbon lay-up makes the eighth generation of Trek’s legendary Madone an aero and climbing bike all rolled into one

John Whitney

What Trek came up with in the design of their new Madone spelt trouble for their lightweight climbing bike, the Émonda. Just as aerodynamic as the previous iteration of the Madone as well as being as light as the Émonda, this Gen 8 Madone design – an “earth-shattering” do-it-all race bike – has killed it off. Unity candidate The Madone’s foundations (in the pricier SLR versions at least) are a new OCLV 900 carbon lay-up, using an inflatable mandrel (the form around which the frame is laid up) during the manufacturing process. This improves compaction, squeezing out excess resin and reducing wrinkles inside the tubes. The result, it’s claimed, is a tube that’s up to 20% stronger than the outgoing 800 series lay-up. It’s also lighter. This, together with a…

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Cycling Plus (Digital) - 1 Issue, October 2024

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