Just a couple of months after a brand new Domane was spotted at Paris-Roubaix, another Trek road bike has been spotted hiding in plain sight in the peloton. Today it's the turn of the Madone, of which it appears a brand new model has broken cover at the Critérium du Dauphiné.
Ridden by select members of the Trek-Segafredo team including Tom Skujins, the bike stands out thanks to its wild-looking junction between the top tube, seat tube, seat post and seat stays. From the images we have available, it appears the seat tube splits into two, joining the seat stays, which continue upward to join the top tube. The top tube then continues rearward and up into a floating seat tube, into which the seatpost sits. It appears that Trek's IsoSpeed technology has been removed entirely, presumably relying instead on the flex provided by this design.
Elsewhere, the bike appears to feature deepened tube shapes throughout, including a vastly deepened head tube and fork legs. The bottom bracket area also looks to have been bolstered, with the junction between the down tube and seat tube being considerably larger than before.
The Madone is Trek's out-and-out aero bike, sitting alongside the endurance-focused Domane and lightweight Emonda. In recent years, as the industry has seen a convergence between aerodynamic and lightweight and the Emonda was given a host of aerodynamic improvements, questions have been raised about what Trek would do with the Madone. Today's sighting leaves little room for doubt: Trek is going all-in on aerodynamics.
As yet, available images of the new bike are sparse, but we will continue to update this story as they become available.
