Bicycle Design

The 2008 Trek Madone

Neil at Road Magazine was at the Trek Launch yesterday and posted the first pictures that I have seen of the new 2008 Madone. See more pictures on Neil’s blog.

I like the graphics scheme on this bike. I have said before that I like the graphics on Ridleys and Orbeas because they are not an afterthought, but accentuate the form of the carbon frames. I feel the same way about this bike. The bold graphic treatment seems to be an integral part of the design. Thanks to Thom Y for directing me to these pictures with a comment on my previous post about this bike.

Update: Thanks to Brasch for pointing out the new Trek Madone website. You can follow the link from there to Trek’s “Up the Road” blog which has some interesting posts about the design of the new Madone from engineer, Damon Rinard.


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20 responses to “The 2008 Trek Madone”

  1. Champs Avatar
    Champs

    And now I suppose Trek has an excuse to carry on measuring frames by the seat tube, center-to-top.

    Overall it looks pretty good, too bad the seatpost is custom. Even if Trek uses the same shape across the line for the next 10-20 years, it seems like just another oddball size to support, as if there weren’t enough tube diameters to think about already.

    Reply
  2. brasch Avatar
    brasch

    Looks like Trek just launched a web site for the new bike as well. Pretty sweet ride.

    http://www2.trekbikes.com/madone/

    Reply
  3. Fritz Avatar
    Fritz

    Interesting that the seatmast is “trickled down” even down to the lower-end (relatively speaking) 5.1 model.

    Has Trek done seatmasts before? Or is this new for them?

    Reply
  4. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    The seat mast is new….as is the 90mm wide bb and the 1 1/8 to 1 1/2 flared headtube (with a flared steer tube! stiff!)

    Reply
  5. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    There is a mark on the mast to measure to, so it will be center to the “v” dot on the mast for your size. The mast extends appros 3 inches from that dot/line to the top. The BB is very stiff, as is the headtube. They have been lighter than the current Madone as well.

    Reply
  6. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    I see an Orbea Orca rip off, sorry I can’t help it but compare it, at least the seat, cahinstay junction is very similar

    Reply
  7. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    Made by GIANT…

    Reply
  8. James Avatar
    James

    No Anon, these are not made by Giant.

    See here:

    http://trekroad.typepad.com/trekroad/2007/06/brad_towne_asks.html

    Reply
  9. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    regarding the “made by giant” comment… Giant makes a lot of bikes for a lot of mfg’ers. In fact they are one of the best vendors on the planet for bicycles. BUT! Those frames are made in Waterloo, WI USA pal!!! To my knowledge Giant does not make any carbon frames for Trek. Besides that, 95ish percent of carbon bikes are made in asia either by Martec, Tentech or Giant etc. Trek is the only major mfg’er that designs and manufacturers carbon frames in the USA. For what it is worth that point and the fact that it has some bitchin’ tech is worth props all on its own.

    Reply
  10. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    I hear that Anonymous –

    Props for recognizing the Made in USA OCLV frames that Trek makes.

    With all of the other smart guys out there making comments about how they think it looks like a “Giant” or “Orbea”, they should take a closer look. What did these guys say back when frame after frame after frame looked the same? What did we say about the Serotta Legend Ti when that was released? Did we mock it because it looked like every other frame ou there? No. We recognized it for what it was. A beautifully manufactured and designed road frame. You nay sayers should sit back down at your desks at Obrea and Giant and chill out. But I guess there should be a reason to be scared. Look what Trek came out with? WOW!

    Reply
  11. Matt Magee Avatar
    Matt Magee

    One more confirmation: Trek does indeed make the Madone series in their Waterloo factory. Been there, seen it. Anything with the OCLV tag on it comes out of Wisconsin. The only carbon they have not historically made in Wisconsin is the TCT stuff (2007 Trek 5000 for example), which is made in Asia by Martec.

    My store just received our first 5.2 Madone today. As a Giant and Scott dealer who is quite familiar with Orbea…the Madone is still revolutionary. Trek has left their usual conservatism behind with this one.

    Reply
  12. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    What about this bike is revolutionary? Noodling with a few diameters? Man, no more kool aid for you guys.

    Reply
  13. Pete Avatar
    Pete

    Integrated headset and bottom bracket is a big step forward. The frame is stronger than any other out there due to these features. The seat MAST is also a step forward making the frame stiffer here that any traditional setup could ever hope for in carbon. Less parts in the frame construction also strengthen the frame and make it lighter (less glue and less overlap equals less weight). Get the details right, people.

    Reply
  14. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    I hear that stripped bolts are a common problem with the seat post (weak metal) and that the bottom brackets are working themselves loose. Supposedly happened at the TOUR. Other that that nothing new to report.

    Reply
  15. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    In the last few years, I’ve been very critical about the very conservative, bland nature of Trek designs, for tarmac and dirt alike. I’m quite impressed with this new development, both for the daring use of uncoventional BB and headtube design, and for its dramatic look. I also think that the adjustible-capped mast is a great idea, achieving much of the benefit of a cut mast without the one-shot lack of adjustability. As far as styling overlap, I wouldn’t put much stock into it. It’s tough to make bikes look new and original, since so much of the geometry is virtually stardardized. Anyhow, I think the most remarkable thing is how ridiculously obsolete last year’s bike looks (although I supposed it looked outdated in last year’s pelaton anyhow).

    Reply
  16. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    Very cool looking bike – I want one. How will this new seatpost/mast accomodate riders that need a zero setback post?

    Reply
  17. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    GM and Ford are going to the wall, yet you still sound like ‘made in the good old US of A’ is a good thing.

    Get with the times, all the best stuff comes out of asia – cars, motorbikes, electronic equipment, bike componentry, bike frames, watches, running shoes etc etc

    Granted, if you have a few billion to spend the US still make good military stuff, but so do the russians and the chinese are catching up.

    Reply
  18. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    PLEASE PUT THE KOOL-AID DOWN. Um…. revolutionary??? Klein and Cannondale have both been manufacturing frames with oversized proprietary bottom brackets since the mid-NINETIES and Klein was even using the tapered steertube technology on both their road (Quantum PRO) and MTB bikes (the Foster’s can-sized aluminum Adroit PRO & Mantra PRO) back in 1993/1994 before becoming assimilated by Trek in the late nineties (1997/1998). Furthermore, Cannondale used oversized steerers on their HeadShok front forks also and have designed oversized propriety press-fit style bottom brackets into both their high-end aluminum lines (CAAD series) as well as the high-end Six.13 frames.

    Since when is this new and revolutionary??? Perhaps a departure from traditionally conservative Trek, but by no means ground-breaking. It’s interesting to see so many manufacturers jump on the ISP concept bandwagon, whether it truly benefits those of us that aren’t CAT racers remains to be seen (yeah, I *might* make a concession for weight and strength, but I seriously doubt anyone here will notice the improvement — except in relationship to the previous Madone models). Perhaps it’s innovative for Trek to use carbon as a frame material accomplishing these minor triumphs, but lets not forget the carbon Klein Mantra that used much of this technology. I mean, seriously…. the OCLV bikes are still LUGGED! New technology??? Ask Trek to build a full-monocoque frameset, then I’ll be impressed.

    Made in the USA is worth the extra dough in my opinion, but I’m snobby enough to only ride MTB frames made on our shores (Intense, Ellsworth, Turner, etc). It’s a nice looking bike, but for $8K, I’d spend my money elsewhere.

    Reply
  19. mauritius Avatar
    mauritius

    bought a 5.2, swapped the dura off my fondriest luxter…both great rides.
    what is the story with the sensor in front fork? had to change the saddle as bike delivered with short stem…was just under the minimum insert, now it s ok with a concor light which is thicker… anyone knows where to find a longer stem?? bought my bike overseas and dealer playing deaf…

    Reply
  20. mauritius Avatar
    mauritius

    i meant seat post…

    Reply

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