Trek has officially launched the Madone with its Isoflow seat tube.

The seventh-generation Madone has a plethora of aero improvements making it Trek’s ‘fastest bike ever’.

First seen piloted by the Segafredo outfit at last month’s Critérium du Dauphiné, Trek tells us the new Madone is lighter, faster and still compliant. It’s their new ultimate race bike and one that has been in development for quite some time. To shave weight on this, the seventh-generation Madone, Trek has canned the much-loved IsoSpeed decoupler. New aero shapes, tube profiles, a flared bar (that reminds me of the old 3T Criterium bars we used to race with in the 90’s) and a never-before-seen hole in the seat tube are the main new tech items driving speed, on this spicey race whip.

By the numbers, the new aero elements and riding position make this Madone a whopping 60 seconds (or 19 watts) faster per hour, when ridden at 45kph, when compared to the previous generation Madone. On the scale, there’s a 300gram advantage over the previous model. This is indeed the lightest ever disc version of the Madone.

The primary function of the IsoFlow (hole in the seat tube) is to accelerate air from the head tube and channel it behind the bike and rider. Trek says they spent around half a year just refining the IsoFlow system, in real-world testing. IsoFlow also happens to offer some compliance and weight saving benefits. Additional compliance on the new Madone is achieved with a new seat post design.

Trek is sure to point out that the new Kammtail tube profiles, with broader front areas and rounder trailing edges, were achieved through high-tech computing and that they reduce drag significantly. An integrated headset, reshaped down tube, removable front derailleur hanger (for 1x fans) and a reshaped BB area, compound the drag savings of the new steed.

Other notable tech highlights are a new seat post clamp that increases the range of saddle height options, per frame size. The maximum tyre clearance is 28mm although they say 30 or 32’s can be run. The new bar/stem combination is available in 14 different size itterations and features a shorter than usual reach, a 3cm flare, improved ergonomics and the same new Kammtail shapes to optimize air flow. The new Madone is also compatible with traditional bar/stem combinations. Last but not least, the new Madone is only compatible with electronic shifting – be that SRAM’s wireless or Shimano’s semi-wireless system.

Come Spring, Trek South Africa is scheduled to receive two models. The SLR 7 and SLR 9 will retail for R140k and R190k, respectively. SLR 7 is an Ultegra Di2 model with tubeless compatible Bontrager Pro carbon wheels, a 52/36 and 12-speed 11-30 gearing, the new Madone bars with a complete weight (in size 56) said to be 7.5kg.

Riders looking for more bling can go the SLR 9 route which has the same frame as the SLR 7, but lighter Bontrager RSL carbon wheels, Dura-Ace Di2 shifting in a 52/36 and 11-30 spread, carbon saddle rails and Bontrager’s super fast R4 tyres. Complete weight on the SLR 9 is 7.1kg. trekbikes.com

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