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The New Trek Émonda Is Faster Than Ever

Already one of the fiercest climbing bikes available, the new Émonda is even faster thanks to a dose of aero.

The Takeaway: The Émonda SLR is a benchmark pro race bike—and it’s surprisingly rider friendly.

• It has 183 grams less drag than the previous generation, but the frame is only 33 grams heavier
• There are 10 models starting at $2,699
• SL models ($2,699 to $5,999) have the aerodynamic shaping and features but in a frame that’s about 400 grams heavier than the SLR
• SLR models ($6,699 and up) use a new carbon fiber composite that’s 30 percent stronger than Trek’s previous top-of-the-line carbon.

For Émonda SLR bicycles, Trek will provide an individual handlebar and stem until an updated handlebar/stem combo is available.

Additionally, all customers who bring in their handlebars for replacement will also receive a $100 in-store credit that can be used toward any Trek or Bontrager merchandise through December 31, 2022.

Remember professional road racing ? It’s that thing where super skinny people go unbelievably fast up and down hills and fly over flat roads for hours at a time. It’s been a while since the pros have beat up on each other for our entertainment, but there might, hopefully, be some races on the horizon. When the races do resume, Trek’s pro riders will be aboard its new third-generation Émonda climbing bike. The new Émonda isn’t lighter, but it is faster thanks to a dose of aerodynamic tuning.

.css-1hhr1pq{text-align:center;font-size:1.1875rem;line-height:1.6;font-family:Charter,Charter-roboto,Charter-local,Georgia,Times,Serif;}.css-1hhr1pq em{font-style:italic;font-family:Charter,Charter-styleitalic-roboto,Charter-styleitalic-local,Georgia,Times,Serif;}.css-1hhr1pq strong{font-family:Charter,Charter-weightbold-roboto,Charter-weightbold-local,Georgia,Times,Serif;font-weight:bold;} —Five Cool Details—

Now With Aero

The new Émonda gets a major drag reduction with a tiny weight gain.

Simple Seat Mast

The seat mast has lots of adjustment range, and an easy-to-use saddle clamp.

Light and Slippery

The new Bontrager Aeolus RSL 37 wheels are light, sleek, and stable.

Wide and Threaded

The T47 bottom bracket has a wide stance, and user-friendly threads.

A built-in chain watcher prevents unwanted derailments.

Making the new Émonda frame more aerodynamic wasn’t exactly a tough hurdle as the previous Émonda had virtually zero aerodynamic optimization. But adding meaningful aerodynamic benefit while achieving the frame stiffness expected of a pro-caliber race bike, maintaining the well-regarded handling properties of the previous Émonda, and adding rider-friendly features like a threaded bottom bracket—all with adding only 33 grams (SLR frame, claimed)—is quite a feat.

Below you’ll find my review of the Émonda SLR—I’ve been on it since early March—followed by a dive into the technology and features of the new bike, and a brief model breakdown.

Ride Impressions: Émonda SLR 9 eTap

The Émonda SLR is a tool made to fulfill the needs of some of the world’s best road racers. This bike will never be as comfortable or versatile as a gravel bike. Going fast on pavement and climbing performance are its only goals. These are obvious facts, but that’s the lens through which it must be viewed. And through this lens, it is one of the very best.

The new Émonda was born out of a request from Trek’s pro racers and pitched as the company’s “fastest climbing bike ever.” So little surprise they set me up with the lightest model (the SLR 9 with SRAM Red eTap ), which also has a build kit almost identical to the team’s bikes. It’s also, excepting customized Project One builds, the most expensive model at a buck under 12 grand.

That massive pile of clams gets you an aerodynamic frame with disc brakes, power meter, and wireless electronic shifting that weighs less than 15 pounds (54cm). And that’s with a hefty T47 threaded bottom bracket unit, lustrous paint , clincher wheelset, a chain-watcher, standard butyl tubes, 37mm deep rims, 160mm disc rotors front and rear, and SRAM’s largest Red cassette (10-33). That’s “Holy shit!” impressive.

By cutting drag a ton without adding much weight, it’s hard to argue with Trek’s claim that the new Émonda is faster than the outgoing generation. But if you have any doubts, they’ll be erased when you ride it. This is an explosive bike: it feels as light as a feather and as solid as a steel girder at the same time.

Trek’s Émonda has always been a raw and rowdy bike that feels a little wild and a bit dangerous in precisely the ways you want a race bike to feel: That’s not lost with the added aerodynamics. If anything, the new Émonda is even crisper and punchier than before, which is saying something.

A small downside to all this fury is the Émonda’s smoothness. Light and stiff race bikes aren’t a smooth-riding lot to begin with, but even measured against a stiffer riding genre, the new Émonda is on the firmer end of the scale. Still, it escapes harsh or punishing labels—I did a six-hour ride on the Émonda on the stock 25 tires and didn’t feel worn down by its ride. Swapping to 28s helped a lot (no surprise) and were on the Émonda for the bulk of my testing. I’d suggest reserving the lighter and more aerodynamic stock 25s for racing or PR attempts—assuming good roads—and use 28s as daily drivers.

The Émonda’s handling is excellent. Well, let me caveat that: Road racing geometry is pretty uniform, so whether I’m on a current race bike from Trek, Specialized, Cannondale, Cervélo, Canyon, Colnago, Wilier, Pinarello, BMC, Giant (etc., etc.), I find the broad strokes of their handling feel and performance quite similar. There wasn’t anything about the Émonda’s handling or cornering performance that set any new benchmarks for me, but there wasn’t anything to dislike either.

It was quick and accurate, diving into corners with a light touch. It offered great feedback, so I always knew where I was relative to its and my limits, and I could count on it to be consistent and predictable. It was maybe a touch less settled in bumpy corners than the Specialized Tarmac, but the Émonda never broke traction or skipped. Overall, for such a light bike, the Émonda is remarkably solid and drama free. I’d have no qualms barreling down a technical alpine descent on the Émonda.

I received this test bike in early March, giving me plenty of time to ride it back to back with its primary competition—a Specialized S-Works Tarmac , what I consider the benchmark for aero-ized lightweight bikes. The Tarmac is smoother over the bumps and has a silkier feel overall, but the new Émonda feels more efficient, like it can go faster more easily.

I’ve also ridden a good slice of the Émonda’s competition, including the Canyon Ultimate CF SLX , Colnago V3Rs, Cannondale SuperSix Evo , Cervélo R5, Wilier Zero SLR , Pinarello Dogma F12 . These are all superb bikes, but I feel the Émonda is the class leader. It feels sharper and more explosive than all of them. It feels faster, and that’s what matters most in a race bike. But I also like that the Émonda is pretty straightforward and rider-friendly.

For example, I swapped the stock one-piece bar/stem for a standard stem and round bar. One, I could run a standard bar and stem on this bike, which you can’t say about every modern race bike. And two, I didn’t have to pull any cables, wires, or hoses to make the swap: Again, something you can’t say about all race bikes. For the record, the shape of the one-piece Aeolus bar/stem is great, and the tops are the most comfortable to grab of all the aero-topped bars I've used. The only reason I swapped is my preferred length and width combination (110x40) wasn't available yet.

The BB is threaded, which makes it easier to service and replace than a press-fit (however, I was getting some noise out of the BB area, which I never resolved). The wheels employ standard offset, and it uses regular thru-axles. It’s compatible with pod-style power meters and mechanical shifting. Its signature seat mast is pretty much the only non-standard thing about this frame, and even then, it’s pretty user-friendly. There’s no cutting necessary, height adjustment is ample, the saddle clamp is easy to use, and it’s travel-case friendly.

I expect so much from a modern high-end pro-level road racing bike that it’s hard to exceed those expectations. It’s rare when a bike does: The Émonda SLR is one of those rare bikes.

Team Request

The new Émonda is partially a result of a request from the Trek-Segafredo race team. “They are one of our primary customers,” said Jordan Roessingh, Trek’s director of road product. “And they started to realize that it’s not just weight, it’s not just stiffness and responsiveness, there’s this other thing—aerodynamics and speed—that’s also really important to be competitive and be faster on the bike. They had been one of the loudest voices saying, ‘We need the lightest-weight, stiffest bike possible.’ And now they started coming back saying ‘We need those things, but we also need the bike to be faster in order for us to be really competitive.’ ”

It is (comparatively) easy to make a light frame, it is easy to make a stiff frame, it is easy to make an aerodynamic frame. Making a frame that’s two of those three things is more challenging: Making a bike more aerodynamic usually makes it heavier, making a bike lighter typically makes it less stiff, etc. Making a frame that is light AND stiff AND aerodynamic enough to satisfy the demands of a top-level professional race team is extremely difficult.

But not impossible. Many brands already make a light, stiff, and aero bike. The Specialized Tarmac is one, as are the Canyon Ultimate, the Cannondale SuperSix Evo, the Cervélo R5, the Wilier Zero SLR, the Pinarello F12, the Scott Addict, and the new Giant TCR . All of them seek to balance the three qualities—light, stiff, and aero—in the pursuit of the ideal race bike, and they all manage the balance differently. The common thread between these bikes: They’re all used by teams that compete against Trek-Segafredo.

Still Light, Now With Aero

The previous generation Émonda SLR Disc , launched in 2017, was an extremely light frame at 665 grams (claimed). But when a frame is already that light, it is much harder to make it even lighter. At least lighter enough to make a meaningful difference.

So, Trek took a different approach to making its climbing bike faster—instead of lighter, it made it more aerodynamic. The new Émonda frame is a touch heavier—yet still extremely light at 698 grams—but the bike has 183 grams less drag than the previous generation.

The important thing to note here is that, though the frame is more aerodynamic, the 183 gram drag reduction is not from the frame only. New wheels and a new aero bar (more info on both below) play a role. The specific setups Trek used to get that 183 gram number are: 2018 Émonda with 28mm-deep Bontrager XXX 2 wheels, and Bontrager XXX Bar/Stem Combo compared to the 2021 Émonda with 37mm deep Bontrager Aeolus RSL 37 Wheels and Bontrager Aeolus RSL Bar/Stem Combo.

Another drag saving upgrade: the housing, hoses and wires for the controls are almost fully inside the frame. They dive into the frame at the head tube passing through the upper headset bearing. The front brake hose runs into the fork steerer and down the left leg before popping out just above the brake caliper. The fork steerer’s flattened sides provide room for the rear brake hose and derailleur control lines to travel down and into the frame. Though it has flattened sides, the fork steerer is still compatible with standard 1 1/8” stems.

The overall drag reduction results in a bike that is 18 seconds per hour faster when climbing an 8.1 percent grade (the average grade of Alpe d’Huez ), and 60 seconds per hour faster on flat roads than the previous Émonda. Trek also claims the new Émonda is 13 seconds per hour faster than a Specialized Tarmac when climbing an 8.1 percent grade (all assuming the rider maintains a constant 350 watts).

Eight Point One Percent

With three qualities—aero, stiffness, weight—that work in opposition to each other, how do you decide how much to optimize one quality when you know it will negatively affect the other two? How aero is aero enough? At what point is improved aerodynamics offset by the weight added to get there?

The team behind the Émonda used a legendary climb to help them decide: Alpe d’Huez. “It represents an extreme example of what most people see on a regular basis when they’re doing a big climbing ride,” said Roessingh, “It’s around an 8 percent grade, and it’s about an hour-long climb for the pros—amateurs might go a little slower. It gives us a good understanding of what the benefit of a drag savings is relative to a weight savings.”

By optimizing the weight and aerodynamic balance around this climb, Roessingh claims the Émonda is faster on Alpe d’Huez and also faster on everything shallower than the famous climb, “which is the vast majority of the environments that most riders are going to ride in, including the team,” said Roessingh. “So if we can say it’s faster up Alpe d’Huez, it’s going to be significantly faster everywhere because the flatter it is, the more aerodynamics benefit you.”

Computer-Aided Optimization

Achieving the weight to the aerodynamic balance of the new Émonda required careful design of each tube shape. Aiding the Émonda’s team was supercomputing horsepower. The abridged and simplified version of the process goes like this: into the computer was fed a rough draft of the shape based on Trek’s aerodynamic experience and other information like UCI regulations. The program then varies the tube’s parameters within a predefined range and spit back several iterations of the shape, each with a different weight to aerodynamic balance. The Émonda’s team evaluated the alternatives and picked the one most suited to its location in the frame and best able to help the frame achieve its overarching goal.

Roessingh says that Trek cannot afford to buy the computing hardware necessary to run the CFD and FEA optimizations (in a timely manner) that helped shape the new Émonda’s tubes. The processing happens in the cloud where Trek rents time on Google, Microsoft, or Amazon’s supercomputers. It’s more affordable than buying a supercomputer. Even so, it is not cheap, “Cloud computing is becoming a relatively significant budget line item for us because we’re doing so many of these optimizations in CFD and FEA and all that processing happens in the cloud.”

The new Émonda’s fork legs, head tube, down tube, seat tube, and seat stays all use a variation of a truncated airfoil. The top tube and chainstays, which have virtually no effect on drag, are optimized almost entirely for stiffness to weight.

In Trek’s line, the new Émonda’s aerodynamic performance is equal to the third generation Domane ; the Madone is still significantly more aero. But while the more aerodynamic Madone is faster in flatter terrain, once the climb hits about 5.5 percent, the lighter Émonda becomes the faster bike. And for many of the Trek-Segafredo team riders—and many amateurs—that means the Émonda is fastest when it matters most: the hardest part of a race or ride, which is almost always on a steep climb.

OCLV 800 Carbon

Getting the new Émonda SLR to be as light as it is while adding aerodynamic shaping would not be possible without employing a new carbon-fiber composite, said Roessingh. The new OCLV 800 composite is 30 percent stronger than Trek’s previous top-of-the-line composite (OCLV 700). Because it is stronger, they can use less: By using OCLV 800, Trek’s team was able to make the Émonda SLR frame 60 grams lighter than if they used OCLV 700.

The Émonda SLR is very cool, but it’s also very expensive (bike prices start at $6,699). For the 99 percenters, there’s the Émonda SL (models start at $2,699).

The SL uses OCLV 500 composite, and the frame is quite a bit heavier than the SLR’s. The SL’s frame comes in at 1,142 grams, with a 380-gram fork (SLR fork weight: 365 grams).

But material (and weight) are the only difference between the SL and SLR.

Aeolus Bar Stem

While a ton of work made the Émonda’s frame tubes faster, a big chunk of the new bike’s drag savings comes from the one-piece Aeolus bar stem. It alone is responsible for 70 grams of the Émonda’s 183-gram drag reduction. This means that if a traditional stem and round bar are installed on the new Émonda, its drag advantage over the previous-generation bike drops to 113 grams. And it means that you can make any bike with a round bar and traditional stem significantly more aerodynamic by merely installing the Aeolus. Retail price is $650.

The integrated Aeolus is made of carbon-fiber composite, of course, with a claimed weight of 297 grams (42x120). It’s offered in 14 length and width combinations, from 44x120 to 38x80. Hoses, housing, and wires run externally for easier service and repairs, but in a groove that keeps them out of the wind. A bolt-on plate keeps the control lines tucked and organized where they turn off the bar tops to run in line with the stem.

The Aeolus employs a mount that works with Bontrager’s line of Blendr accessories for mounting computers and lights.

Aeolus 37 Wheels

Another new Bontrager product rolling out with the Émonda is the Aeolus 37 wheelset. It comes in two models: the Aeolus RSL 37 (1,325 grams/pair, $2,400) and the Aeolus Pro 37 (1,505 grams/pair, $1,300).

The RSL 37 is claimed to be lighter than Zipp’s 32mm-deep 202, yet more aerodynamic and more stable than Zipp’s 45mm-deep 303. Both wheels are disc brake only (only Center Lock interface), tubeless compatible, use DT-Swiss internals, have no rider weight limit, and come with a lifetime warranty.

Surprisingly Rider Friendly

Though the new Émonda is clean and integrated looking and uses high-performance standards, it is also remarkably rider-friendly. Cables, hoses, and housing run externally on the one-piece Aeolus bar/stem for easier repair and service (with one exception: wiring for a Shimano Di2 or Campagnolo EPS bar-end junction box runs partially inside the bar). If you prefer a more traditional cockpit, it can be run with a standard bar and stem with 1⅛-inch steerer clamp.

The bottom bracket uses the threaded T47 standard , which is compatible with almost all common crank-axle standards.

Front and rear thru-axles are standard 12x100 and 12x142mm, and the wheels employ a standard dish. The standard flat mounts for the brake calipers are compatible with 140, 160, or 180mm rotors.

Tire clearance is officially 28mm, but that’s with a ton of extra space. I fit 32mm tires in the Émonda with ease.

And though all models do use a seat mast, it’s a no-cut variety with lots of adjustment range.

H1.5 Geometry

Trek did offer its top-of-the-line race bikes in the aggressive H1 geometry for riders seeking an ultra-long and low geometry, or H2 which was an endurance fit. The new Émonda is offered only in H1.5, which splits the difference between H1 and H2. The result is pretty typical dimensions for a modern race bike—a 54cm Émonda H1’s geometry is remarkably similar to a 54cm Specialized Tarmac.

There are eight sizes starting at 47cm and topping out at 62cm.

There are 10 models of the new Émonda. SL models start at $2,699 and are priced up to $5,999. SLR models start at $6,699 and go up to $11,999.

Only SLR models come with the Aeolus integrated bar/stem stock; and only the Émonda SL 7 ($5,499) and up come with the Aeolus 37 wheelset.

The new Émonda is a disc brake-only platform.

Project One

The new Émonda is in Trek’s Project One paint and parts personalization program. If that’s not luxe enough for you, Trek’s Project One Ultimate program allows you to work with a designer to come up with a one-of-a-kind finish, and Trek will source any parts you want for your new bike.

Trek Émonda SLR 9 eTap

A gear editor for his entire career, Matt’s journey to becoming a leading cycling tech journalist started in 1995, and he’s been at it ever since; likely riding more cycling equipment than anyone on the planet along the way. Previous to his time with Bicycling , Matt worked in bike shops as a service manager, mechanic, and sales person. Based in Durango, Colorado, he enjoys riding and testing any and all kinds of bikes, so you’re just as likely to see him on a road bike dressed in Lycra at a Tuesday night worlds ride as you are to find him dressed in a full face helmet and pads riding a bike park on an enduro bike. He doesn’t race often, but he’s game for anything; having entered road races, criteriums, trials competitions, dual slalom, downhill races, enduros, stage races, short track, time trials, and gran fondos. Next up on his to-do list: a multi day bikepacking trip, and an e-bike race. 

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2017 Edition — Trek Émonda S 5 Road Bike: Review

The Trek Émonda S 5 Road Bike

With 300 Series OCLV Carbon, the Emonda S 5 offers riders the best-in-class weight, stiffness, and strength.

With an H2 fit, this optimal fit is a near-perfect fit for most riders, including Pro Team athletes. The H2 fit gets riders in the correct position for performance and power.

Blendr Stem

The Trek Émonda S 5 features the Bontrager Blendr Stem by Trek. This is a highly integrated system for easy and clean stem installation of computers, lights,and other biking accessories. You simply begin with a Blendr Stem and add the appropriate base and finish with a mount that matches your accessories.

The Trek Émonda S 5 is built with an Ultralight 300 Series OCLV Carbon frame. The frame design down to the component parts were designed to serve a goal — to be one of the lightest performance bikes offered. The ride-tuned balance and handling elevates this Trek Émonda to another level.

OCLV is short for Optimum Compaction, Low Void, which refers to the carbon manufacturing process that Trek engineers developed decades ago. This allows them to produce carbon framed bikes with consistent, high quality that was not possible before.

The 300 Series OCLV Carbon offers best-in-class weight, best-in-class carbon, and gives the rider stiffness and strength. The 300 Series is at the lower end of the carbon scale, but it keeps the price down, areal weight low, and quality of the frame excellent for a nice price.

The 300 Series OCLV is a great choice for this bike’s frame, as it is compliments the stiffness and weight ratio well. With the right relationship of stiffness-to-weight, the performance of the road bike increases. Trek tested every part of the frame extensively to maximize handling and pedaling performance, as well as ride feel of this S 5.

Technical Specifications and Features:

• Frame: Ultralight, 300 Series OCLV Carbon — Ride-Tuned Performance Tube Optimization, E2 Tapered Head Tube, BB86.5, DuoTrap Compatible
• Fork: Emonda Carbon, E2 Tapered Steerer
• Wheels: Alloy Hubs
• Front Hub: Alloy
• Rear Hub: Alloy
• Rims: Bontrager Tubeless Ready
• Tires: Bontrager R1 Hard-Case Lite, 700 x 25c
• Shifters: Shimano 105, 11 Speed
• Front Derailleur: Shimano 105
• Rear Derailleur: Shimano 105
• Crank: Shimano 105, 50/34 (Compact)
• BB: Press Fit
• Cassette: Shimano 105, 11-28, 11 Speed
• Chain: Shimano HG60
• Saddle: Bontrager Montrose Comp
• Seatpost: Bontrager Alloy, 2-Bolt Head, 27.2mm, 8mm Offset
• Handlebar: Bontrager Race VR-C, 31.8mm
• Grips: Bontrager Microfiber Tape
• Stem: Bontrager Elite, 31.8mm, 7 degree, w/ computer & light mounts
• Headset: Integrated, Cartridge Bearing, Sealed, 1-1/8 inch Top, 1.5 inch Bottom
• Brakeset: Shimano 105
• Using the 56cm size as an example, the size 56 weighs: 19.55 lbs / 8.87 kg
• Weight Limit: Combined weight (rider, cargo, and bike) of 275 pounds / 125 kg

Key Features

• 300 Series OCLV Carbon — Ultimate Light Material
• Excellently Balanced — Ultra Responsive
• The World’s Lightest Road Line with Best Warranty
• Lightweight, but Offers the Robust Performance of Heavier Bikes

Color Options

• Trek Black / Viper Red

As a very solid 2017 edition Trek, the Émonda S 5 with 300 Series OCLV Carbon and Shimano 105 groupset, will only cost you 1,500 GBP or $2,099.99 USD. For such an excellent bike from a brand like Trek, we highly recommend this model to anyone looking for more out of their road bike.

Trek Emonda S 5 Purchase Link:

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Trek Émonda SL 6 road bike review

Giving the ride feel of a thoroughbred GC frame, Trek manages to deliver the perfect balance of stiffness and comfort in the elegant looking and reasonably priced Trek Émonda SL6.

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The Trek Émonda SL 6 exists a few places below Trek's signature SLR model but that doesn't stop it embodying the GC spirit and as a frame it certainly feels worthy of Alberto Contador.

It's made the coveted  Cycling Weekly's Editor's Choice list for its lightweight, fast and comfortable ride quality that'll have dancing up climbs like Contador himself. 

Think of top Tour de France bikes, and there are only a handful of names that pop into your head faster than the Trek Émonda.

While its old sibling, the Émonda SLR occupies the top echelons of WorldTour racing, we've got our hands on the more reasonably priced Trek Émonda Sl 6, coming in at £2,250.

Made famous in recent years beneath the likes of Alberto Contador and his Trek-Segafredo team mates, the Trek Émonda SL 6 feels like a thoroughbred GC frame regardless of its lower price point, and it's a frame that looks built to race yet still manages to maintain an air of elegance.

Trek Émonda SL 6 : c lassy looks

Sweeping lines blur one area of the frame into the other, and the slender seat stays make the bike look responsive and nimble. Pair the sweeping design with the matte silver paint job, and the bike has a seriously classy look.

But it isn't just surface, and the 500 series OCLV carbon makes the frame a skimpy 1091g. On our scales, the whole bike weighed in at 7.66kg, with any additional weight no doubt coming down to the components rather than the frame.

Down below, an overbuilt, beefy bottom bracket makes sure that every pedal stroke powers the bike forward – which is especially helpful when things start heading uphill.

Without a doubt, the most exciting equipment on the bike is the Shimano Ultegra R8000 groupset. Newly updated, it marks an enormous overhaul of Shimano's everyman groupset.

In terms of shifting feel and action, it's every bit as good as it's older, more expensive Dura-Ace sibling. The re-designed front mech and more ergonomic levers offer a light action to front shifts, and rear shifts are crisp, accurate and powerful.

Of the new Ultegra groupset itself, the most exciting feature are the excellent rim brakes – again, they're every bit the match to the Dura-Ace models.

With them being so good, it was a bit of a disappointment to find them missing on the Émonda. Instead, Trek has specced its Bontrager Speed Stop Pro brakes rather than Shimano's far superior rim brakes.

Bontrager's in house stoppers can't match Shimano's for neither feel nor power but it's an oversight we can forgive considering the Émonda's excellent frame and ride qualities. Besides, the Ultegra brakes are always going to be there for that next upgrade.

Again, the Bontrager Paradigm aluminium wheelset could be lighter to match the svelte carbon frame but at this price point they're par for the course and they didn't feel like lead weights when heading uphill.

GC quality frameset

Out on the open road, the ride quality of the GC frame really shines through, and there's a sense of urgency laid up in the carbon that wants to let rip.

But there's a gentler side to it, too, and the high modulus frame gives comfort to the ride. Unlike so many stiff carbon frames, the Trek Émonda Sl 6 feels dampened and absorbent without that dreaded sluggishness that heavier bikes suffer from.

The skip in its step no doubt comes from its lack of weight, and even with the aluminium wheels and overbuilt brakes, the Émonda SL 6 weighs a tiny 7.66kg. Spoil yourself to some killer wheels and you'll bring that down even further.

Dancing out the saddle on the Émonda SL 6

On the hills it climbs like you'd expect from a frame built for Alberto Contador, encouraging you to imitate his signature out the saddle dance on the steepest inclines. But its a frame that really shines on the downs, too. The 992mm wheelbase is manoeuvrable but well balanced and the handling was sharp in the corners, everything you'd expect from a GC super bike.

The Émonda Sl 6's frame is faultless – lightweight, comfort and stiffness all in perfect equilibrium. Its more than a match for the aluminium wheels it comes with, but it has to meet a price point after all.

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Slovenian was caught up in the horror crash on stage four of Itzulia Basque country

By Adam Becket Published 12 April 24

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• Rider Notes

2021 Trek Émonda ALR 4

An aluminum frame race bike with mid-range components and hydraulic disc brakes.

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A bike with lower gearing will be easier to ride up steep hills, while a higher top end means it will pedal faster down hills.

Émonda ALR 4

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Oct 2022 · Warren Rossiter

A climb-friendly bike with aero styling

Snappy handling

Fast to respond through the pedals

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Faster tyres would enhance its ride further

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Aug 2020 · James Bracey

Trek's latest GC/climbing bike has undergone an aero transformation, but has it helped?

Efficient power transfer

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New SL frame has lost some of the excitement of the existing Émonda

Heavy for a 'climbing' bike

Jul 2020 · Dan Cavallari

OCLV 800 launched with Trek's feathery Émonda, but now the brand's flagship aero bike gets this lighter, stiffer carbon — along with a T47 BB.

Have you seen Bontrager’s new Aeolus carbon wheel lineup? Spanning the gap between budget and race ready, the aerodynamic hoops are the perfect complement to another new Trek product launching today – the all new Émonda. Fans of super light, efficient climbing bikes needn’t worry. The Émonda is still as light as ever, but now […]

Mar 2019 · Philippe Tremblay

Sleek looking and smart riding sparkling purple frame makes a strong case to build a dream machine with an aluminium frameset

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Aug 2018 · Benjamin Topf

The Trek Émonda ALR 6 is the highest-quality aluminium racer in Trek’s portfolio, but can the performance keep up with the superb looks?

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Trek recently updated its lightweight racing chassis, the Émonda, with a variety of refinements for 2018, including the addition of a disc-brake version. We had a look at the Émonda SLR Disc when it was launched last year, so for this review, we follow that up with a closer look at the more affordable mid-range […]

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Results have arrived, used bike buyers guide & model overview: trek émonda.

The Trek Emonda is a built to conquer climbs. It's lightweight, stiff, and now pretty aerodynamic too. Learn about the evolution of this all-rounder road racing bike.

Written by: Micah Ling

Published on: Jul 2, 2021

Posted in: Guides

What Trek Émonda is Right for You?

The Trek Émonda has always been a climbing bike — if you love epic hauls up huge hills, this lightweight, stiff road bike was made for you. The Émonda was created with the steepest grades in mind. Over the years, Trek evolved its patented Optimum Compaction Low Void (OCLV) carbon fiber to combine low weight and high strength.

The carbon  Émonda is  available in the superlight SLR build or SL, which is more affordable. The difference is the quality of the carbon, and thus overall weight. The Émonda also comes in an aluminum version (ALR). Finally, you can choose between two geometry options, H1 — an aggressive race fit — and H2, which is a more upright relaxed fit.

The Émonda is known for its neat and tidy look. Models with Trek’s Blendr Integration components allow riders to mount a cycling computer and bike lights directly to the handlebars. On the SLR version, shifter and brake cables are entirely housed inside the frame. SHOP TREK ROAD BIKES

History of the Trek Émonda

Émonder, in French, means “to prune,” which is fitting. Introduced in 2014, the Émonda was Trek’s pure climbing bike. Trek trimmed off as much as possible to create an incredibly lightweight racing machine. Newer versions have been designed to better handle mixed terrain, with clearance for wider tires and aero features. When it launched, this road bike was only available with rim brakes. But soon after, disc brakes were added for better control on descents.

As the bike evolved, we saw fewer exposed cables, more integration, and better aerodynamics. Despite the fact that this is a climbing bike, Trek spent a lot of time optimizing the shape of the head tube, down tube and bar/stem. Émonda timeline: 2015-2017:  From the beginning, Trek's focus was on creating a light, stiff road bike that excelled in the mountains. Its engineers spent years developing the  Émonda to be the lightest production race frame on the market. In 2016, Trek introduced internal cables and Di2 shifting on the  Émonda . It also unveiled the affordable aluminum ALR model using Ultralight 300 Series Alpha Aluminum.

2018-2020:  The second generation  Émonda  was introduced for the 2018 model year. Trek announced a new disc brake version alongside a revamped rim-brake model.   Claimed weight for the new disc-specific frame was 25g lighter than the previous-generation rim-brake  Émonda . The new rim-brake version was even lighter still, dropping another 25g. Tire clearance increased to 28mm. 

2021+: Instead of making the Émonda even lighter, Trek focused on making the third generation faster on any terrain. Trek integrated several aerodynamic features to help this bike perform as an all-rounder. It also added a T47 bottom bracket, which is threaded instead of press fit, generally a more reliable standard. The new  Émonda  is disc brake only. 

SHOP TREK ROAD BIKES

Different builds

Trek émonda slr 8 road bike - 2016.

Trek Émonda SLR 9 road bike - 2018

In keeping with tradition, Trek released the SLR 9 just days before the Tour de France. And as always, it was a little lighter than before. This time, the 700 Series OCLV Carbon frame came with Bontrager Aeolus 3 D3 tubeless ready carbon wheels, and a full Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 electronic drivetrain.

Trek Émonda SLR Race Shop Limited road bike - 2018

For this model, Trek used its Ultralight 700 Series OCLV Carbon, ride-tuned performance tube optimization, E2 tapered head tube, direct mount brakes, and internal cable routing. This model comes with Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 shifting, Bontrager Aeolus 3 TLR carbon clinchers, a Bontrager cockpit and Montrose PRO saddle.

Trek Émonda SLR Disc Project One road bike - 2019

Project One allowed riders to customize several details. You picked your paint and parts, making each one of these bikes unique. There were options for Shimano Dura-Ace Di2, Ultegra Di2, SRAM Red eTap AXS, Force eTap AXS, and Rival eTap AXS. And about 20 different color schemes.

Trek Émonda ALR 4 H2 road bike - 2021

The ALR is Trek’s budget-friendly high-performance model — its lightest aluminum road bike that handles and climbs very much like its carbon counterparts. With the H2 geometry, it’s perfect for a more upright, less aggressive fit. It comes with tubeless compatible wheels, and a lifetime warranty.

The newest Émonda SLR frame weighs less than 700g, and with all-new aero tube shaping adds even more speed. But with ALR and SL models, H1 and H2 geometry, and a huge variety of specifications to choose from, there’s an Émonda out there for absolutely anyone who loves to climb up hills and then fly back down.

Our Ride Guides love helping people find the right bike and gear. If you have any questions, give us a call at  1-866-401-9636  and we'll help you out!

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Review: Trek Emonda ALR 5, the bike that disc brakes almost broke 

Are the days of the aluminum race bike over? Not quite yet.

I dream of aluminum race bikes. Sturdy, fast, cheap. They’re what most amateur bike racers should be on, if you ask me, but the options are vanishingly few. 

There’s the Specialized Allez Sprint, the current king of the castle, but it’s a $1,700 frameset and is often out of stock. The Cannondale CAAD13 is lovely too, but has been taken about two steps too far away from its racing roots for my liking. Now there’s a third big-brand aluminum option: the Trek Emonda ALR 5. 

I hoped for a bike I could feel confident in recommending to any young or aspiring racer. Something nimble and light, with the right gearing, a ride comparable to carbon, a few nods to modern-day aerodynamic understanding, and clever spec. Not a first road bike, perhaps, but something worth graduating to. Trek came so very close.

This is a bike that will roll off showroom floors for just over $2,000 and looks every bit like a bike three or five times that. The integrated front end, the shapely tubes – from across the street it looks like carbon. 

The Emonda ALR is a cool aluminum race bike. Looks good and rides well. It needs a few tweaks if you really want to get the most out of it, but it’s 90% of the way there straight out of the box. It only misses in a few spots, and that might not even be its own fault. 

The short of it: A good argument for not buying a cheap carbon road bike instead Good stuff: Superb ride quality, excellent handling, great looks Bad stuff: Weight  Total weight: 9.12 kg/20.1 lbs Price: USD $2,300 / AUD $3,000 / £2,150

As aluminum frames go, this one is both good-looking and well-thought-out. It uses Trek’s 300-series Alpha Aluminum and what Trek calls “Invisible Weld Technology,” which smooths out the welds themselves and provides a decidedly carbon-like look. More than one person thought I was on a carbon bike. 

The tubes are hydroformed, a technology that has now been in the bike industry for well over a decade but is crucial to creating the types of tube shapes Trek uses on the Emonda. There are nods to aerodynamics, including a truncated seat tube, big and shapely down tube, deeper head tube, and dropped seatstays. The intention isn’t to compete with the best aero bikes on the market, but a bit of aero efficiency never hurts. 

The frame is light, around 1,260 grams, plus a 400-gram carbon fork. That makes it roughly the same weight (within 50 grams) as the carbon fiber Emonda SL, which sits on the lower end of Trek’s carbon spectrum. And a complete Emonda ALR 5 bike costs as much as the Emonda SL frameset. Behold, the power of aluminum.

Down at the bottom bracket, Trek has gone with the threaded T47 standard, which we have no real problems with. James Huang is a big fan. Dave Rome is sort of ambivalent. I just know it didn’t creak over the last 6 months.

I wish the Emonda ALR had more official tire clearance. This may partly be a limitation of aluminum, but in the end, it’s a decision. The aluminum Domane fits a 40 mm tire. The Emonda ALR will officially only take a 28 mm tire. Now, if you know Trek, you know they have an exceptionally conservative legal department, and you can generally go 4+ mm wider than claimed. But the rear end, in particular, is tighter than I’d prefer on the Emonda ALR. I wouldn’t be comfortable with anything over a 30 (measured). The fork has plenty of room for a 30 or slightly larger. Just know that you’re running afoul of Trek’s official recommendation if you do this, potentially harming things like warranty, which is a shame.

Any modern disc road bike should clear a 30 with no concerns whatsoever. Only 28 is just not enough. Not when pros are winning Milan-San Remo on tires that measure closer to 32. A race bike can and should have clearance for 32s these days. 

Aaargh, integration

I appreciate the thought and care Trek put into bar/stem/brake line integration on this bike. If integrated front ends are truly what consumers are looking for – and the fact that every single road brand is integrating more and more suggests that purchase data shows people want it – then why should we limit such things to the realm of the carbon fiber bourgeoise?

The plebs down here plowing fields in Aluminum Land deserve a clean cockpit too. The Emonda ALR looks great, it looks expensive, and part of that is the fact that Trek bothered to put the front end together with as much thought as they do for bikes five times the price. 

The Emonda ALR runs its brake and shift lines through an entryway at the front of the headset and then down through the frame. All the lines and housing exit right before the bottom bracket and then re-enter behind it. The headset routing is very similar in concept and execution to the design found on the Allez Sprint, though everything stays internal near the bottom bracket on the Specialized.

There are six full pages in the manual dedicated to the headset, brake line routing, proprietary spacer stacking, and all the rest. The fact that James trusted me, the Hammer, to sort this out and put things together properly is a testament to both his trust and his foolishness. Or perhaps this was his plan all along, to put the design to the ultimate test. 

Mercifully the Emonda came mostly built. Unmercifully, it also came with a kinked brake hose right out of the box, which required replacing. And, of course, I would have to do some basic fit adjustments. The kinked line ended up being quite annoying but the fit changes were no big deal. 

The brake lines run down in front of the steerer tube, in between the slightly bulbous head tube and the steerer itself. There are proprietary split spacers to be used instead of round ones. Pulling it all apart and getting it back together is finicky but not impossible, and dropping the bars two cm took less than five minutes. The spacers are annoying relative to some good old-fashioned round ones, but they also allowed me to play with stack without having to run new brake lines.

As internal brake and shift lines go, this is about as good and easy as it gets.

In the end, I ditched all of the spacers and ran the stem “slammed” because the H1.5 geometry (more on this later), in addition to the height necessitated by the cable-entry cap, meant that slammed wasn’t actually that aggressive.

You can use standard round spacers above the stem as you move the stem clamp down the steerer, should you so choose. The sleeker look obviously requires cutting the steer at the new stem height, but for the purposes of setting fit – and because this isn’t my bike – it was nice to be able to throw the ol’ roundies I had floating around my toolbox on the section of steerer above the stem. 

Now, the kinked line. This isn’t really Trek’s fault, except that I’m pretty sure a line that had more than a few short centimeters exposed between the frame and stem probably wouldn’t have had this problem during shipping. Keep that in mind if you travel with this bike: anything with this level of integration needs added care in packing because with such short exposed sections of brake line, the margin for error is smaller. 

Replacing the line was quite straightforward. Lines run down the front of the head tube, inside the upper headset bearing, and then, in this case, down to the front brake via a port in the steerer itself. It all guided through pretty easily. Re-attach, bleed, and I was off to the races. The rear brake would take slightly more effort, as it needs to be fished through a hole near the bottom of the down tube and then on through another set of holes to the caliper, but it’s no worse than any other integrated bike out there right now.

Geometry chart

The Emonda ALR uses the same H1.5 geometry as the latest Madone SLR and carbon Emonda options. It sits, as the name implies, about halfway in between the race-focused H1 geometry and endurance H2 geometry. 

It also sits right in between two of its competitors in this space, the Specialized Allez Sprint and the Cannondale CAAD13. The Allez is more aggressive, the CAAD a bit less so. 

Here’s the full chart: 

I’ll talk about the ride and handling in a moment, but a couple of things to note. The trail is a very standard 56-62 mm for most sizes. The smallest riders, as usual, get absolutely hammered with a 68 mm trail that I’m sure makes the bike feel absolutely nothing like the one I rode (a 56 cm). Sorry, anybody riding a 47 cm.

Wheelbase is about one cm longer than the Allez Sprint, trail is a bit higher, reach is shorter, stack is higher. All these things point to a less race-oriented machine. And that is the case, though not to the point that the Emonda isn’t totally race-worthy. It absolutely is.

Models and pricing

Normally, we drop all the other build options for a given frameset in this section, but because this is an aluminum bike and so few people apparently want aluminum bikes anymore, there are no other build options.

At least, that’s true in the US. The UK market has the ALR 6, which upgrades the 105 mechanical to 105 Di2 for a marginal increase in cost to £2,400. And in the US you can buy framesets on their own for USD $1,200. These have some great paint jobs and would be a fun project.

In fact, if you’re comfortable building bikes from scratch, that’s probably how I would do it. These are really cool frames, extremely well thought out, light, and quite beautiful. But the stock build kits are uninspiring, because Trek had to hit a price point. I would love to take one of these and slowly build it with higher-end second-hand parts over the course of a winter. Total cost would be similar, but you’d end up with a much cooler end product.

As a brief experiment, I put myself into character. The character: me, 20 years old, racing crits every weekend, living on like $700 a month plus race winnings, with $3,000 left over from my student loans. Decison-making: Generally terrible. Acknowledgment that the future exists: Never. FTP: High as it’ll ever be. I popped around the usual buy/sell sites and checked out some deals on groups to see what I could build. This is what I came up with in less than 30 minutes (all prices USD):

Frame : Emonda ALR in one of the cool colors – $1,200 Drivetrain and brakes : Shimano 105 7000 – $700 Wheels : Something carbon that makes a good whoosh noise – $650 on eBay or similar if you’re willing to buy something that isn’t tubeless compatible (go latex tubes for racing instead) Handlebar : Ritchey WCS Neoclassic drop – $99 (eBay) Stem : Ritchey WCS 4-axis – $25 (eBay) Seatpost : Ritchey WCS – $74 (eBay) Saddle : Bontrager Aeolus Comp: $90 Tires : Vittoria Corsa Control 30mm – $35 (not the tubeless version)

Total: $2873 plus $100 or so for cables/housing/other odds and ends. This bike is easily 2.5 pounds lighter than the stock ALR5, makes a better noise, looks cooler, and leaves me about $100 of student loan funds to spend on a week’s worth of post-ride burritos.

Build kit breakdown

My collegiate-racer fever dreams aside, the ALR 5 has a solid, reliable build. It’s a good platform to upgrade off of, if that’s your jam, and it’s perfectly serviceable right out of the box.

I have zero complaints about the Shimano 105 7000 mechanical drivetrain. It shifts, it’s quiet, it’s relatively cheap. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with it. 

I do dislike the rotors, which are the RT70 from Shimano. They are ugly and look cheap. Give me some of that finned goodness. This is 90% aesthetic but aesthetics matter.

The stock gear ratios should be enough for most, but could perhaps go a bit lower if you live somewhere hilly. A 50/34 front chainring setup is matched with an 11-30 cassette. Ten years ago, that would have been ludicrously low, but the bike industry has since realized we’re not all riding around at pro watts all the time, and these days I’d prefer a 32 or even 34 low gear on the back unless I’m racing.

If I am racing, I probably want a 52/36 with that same 11-30 cassette. But that’s a low priority and can be upgraded later.

The rest of the build is uninspiring but adequate. Trek’s component brand Bontrager provides the seatpost, saddle, stem, and handlebars. All are alloy, all are a bit heavy. The Comp VR-C bars have quite a nice bend to them, on the shallow end of the spectrum but not silly-shallow. The transition from hoods to tops is nice and smooth and the drop curvature is superb. I found them very comfortable.

There are no surprises, integration headaches, or odd standards, just a 27.2 seatpost, 1 1/8″ steerer, and round bars. All of it can be easily upgraded or swapped out.

The Bontrager Verse Comp saddle is too heavily padded for my liking. I did a couple of rides on it and it wasn’t terrible; it just wasn’t great. It’s also quite long, and I’m used to short saddles these days. Bontrager’s excellent Aeolus would have been a better match for the bike and its ambitions.

The Bontrager Paradigm wheels are heavy (roughly 1,750 g claimed) but do feature a nicely modern 21 mm internal rim width, which spreads the 700×25 hotpatched tire out to just under 28mm. The tires are Bontrager R1 Hardcase-Lite with a wire bead. They are hot garbage that should be removed immediately.  Wire bead ? Are you kidding me? Bontrager makes some nice tires these days; the R1 Hardcase is decidedly not one of them.

I took them off, riding only once on those turds of tires before swapping them out to a set of Vittoria Corsa Controls. I went from disliking the bike to liking it with that one switch. Tires are important. Granted, Corsa Controls aren’t cheap.

Ride report

That brings us to the ride. All of the figures and facts above combine in sometimes unexpected ways, mixing and melding into a ride quality that is genuinely quite impressive (once you take the terrible tires off).

I tested this bike with three sets of tires/wheels. First, the stock Bontragers. Awful. Second, the Corsa Controls and butyl tubes on the stock Paradigm wheelset. Great! A better bet would have been a good tubeless tire, since the Paradigm rims are tubeless-ready, but I didn’t have any handy that were narrow enough.

Finally, I put on a set of Continental GP5000s with latex tubes in on a set of Roval Alpinist carbon wheels. The Corsas alone dropped over 200 grams off the stock tire weight, and the Roval setup dropped more than a pound (626 grams, to be precise) off the stock setup. The overall change in ride quality from both changes was dramatic.

As a result, I’m going to ignore the stock tires for this ride quality analysis. The R1s are so bad, and tires are so important, that it feels unfair to besmirch an otherwise-good bike with their wire bead stink. If you’re reading this review, you care enough to swap them out. My opinions here are based on the stock wheelset + Vittoria Corsa Control + butyl tube setup. 

This is a comfortable aluminum bike. Trek has lots of marketing copy on its website about how its hydroforming processes and the Invisible Weld Technology combine to allow its engineers to create a frame with significantly more compliance than the aluminum of old. I would say they aren’t lying. 

The rear end, in particular, cuts road buzz nicely. The 27.2 seatpost helps, and if you upgraded to a carbon post it would further improve flex and thus comfort. The big aluminum handlebars are stiff and the front end feels harsher than the rear. I’m sort of OK with this; a stiff front end feels like it wants to race, to me, and I like that.

The size 56 I tested has a 73.5º head angle and 58 mm of trail. Both figures are about spot on for a bike that wants to be race-worthy but not race-only. The handling is therefore as I expected: predictable, on the twitchy end of the spectrum these days but nothing extreme. Ten years ago, this would have been called endurance bike geometry. But now we know better. 

This is supposed to be a race bike, and nothing in the handling would prevent it from finding success there. It is not a pure crit machine in the way that the Allez Sprint is (that bike has a more aggressive trail figure of 55 mm, plus a lower BB and longer reach). The Emonda ALR is a road racer. It’s well-balanced and goes where you point it. 

The rich get richer, the poor get heavier

Behind this generally positive review is an unshakeable feeling that something is missing. I’m not sure the bike I dream of, and that I was hoping the Emonda ALR would be, really exists anymore. In riding the Emonda ALR and perusing the other options currently available in the same price range, the only conclusion I can draw is that it’s very, very difficult for a big bike brand to build a cheap race bike these days. 

The bike I want is a Cannondale CAAD10 from around 2015. The model with Shimano 105 went for about US$1,700 – roughly US$2,200 in today’s inflated money. In other words, nearly identical to the Emonda ALR 5. That bike weighed in the low-17 pound (7.7 kg) range. It had decent wheels and snappy handling and pretty much everybody who reviewed one or raced one called it some version of a superbike killer. It was so good. 

The Emonda ALR is better in some ways. It’s more comfortable, for one. It’s probably more aerodynamic, simply because of the integrated front end, though we don’t have any figures to prove this. It fits a much bigger tire (albeit not big enough). But it also weighs closer to 20 pounds, has pigs for wheels, and comes stock with the worst road tires I’ve ridden in years. The geometry is a bit softer, a bit more forgiving; the handling is good but I would personally prefer it to be snappier for racing. 

There is one obvious culprit for many (though not all) of these ills, of course. Disc brakes.

I’m about as far from a disc hater as you can find, and would prefer them on almost any bike I build and ride. But there is a reality to them: to build a light, nimble-feeling road race bike with disc brakes costs a lot of money. You can get to 6.8 kg, or well under, but it will cost significantly more than it did back when a rim-brake CAAD10 could get there for $1,700 plus a few smart upgrades. 

Again, the Allez Sprint – the spiritual heir to the old CAADs – is $1,700 for the frameset alone. 

Trek’s little tagline for this bike is “Never heavy. Always metal.” Which is true – if you look at the frameset. Sub-1,300 grams is superb. But the various parts needed to build a bike at this price point, with discs and thru axles and all the other complications of the modern road bike, mean that heavy is exactly what the stock version of the ALR 5 is.

None of this is directly Trek’s fault, unless you prescribe to the Big Disc conspiracy that holds that all big bike brands hoisted discs on us only to sell more bikes (which I do not). But there is no question that discs have made it harder to build a bike I would want to race for a price I could have afforded when I was racing. We have $8,000 bikes with 105 now; where does one turn if you’re racing collegiate crits, living on microwave pizzas, and want to go fast as hell? The Emonda ALR may be among the best of a dwindling bunch, but even it doesn’t quite get there. 

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Test riding the new Trek Émonda

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Earlier this week Trek revealed its new Émonda range, the result of several years spent trying to develop the lightest production race frame on the market. While a few riders from the Trek Factory Racing team were riding the Émonda at the recent Tour du Suisse, and the Criterium du Dauphine, it wasn’t until Tuesday that Trek officially unveiled the bike to the press. CyclingTips’ roving reporter Dave Everett was in Yorkshire to learn more about the new frame and take it for a test ride.

Trek’s road line-up already has a frame to soak up the rough roads –the Domane — and an out-and-out race bike, designed to be fast, twitchy and cut through the air — the Madone. The one place Trek hadn’t ventured until now was an attempt to build an ultra lightweight racing machine.

The Émonda is the final piece in Trek’s now three-tiered frame range structure. With a new sales catchphrase of “choose your weapon”, Trek now has a bike that should appeal to any of the key racing markets.

For a bike brand to claim to have the lightest production bike on the market they really need to back this up with exact figures, and they made a point of sharing those figures. Previously the Cannondale Super Six Evo Black Label has been able to claim this sought-after honour as the lightest production bike, at 5.6kg for a 56cm frame. Trek, though, has managed to make a significant improvement on that with the Émonda SLR10 which weighs in at 4.65kg for a 56cm frame.

The build on this particular model is very well specced, using several parts from German lightweight component specialists Tune, including wheels, saddle and skewers, a SRAM Red drive set and Trek’s new direct-mount brakes that look very industrial. Steering is taken care of by Trek’s new one-piece bar and stem combo. The price is obviously at the high end too, at $15,999 for a full build on this model.

The SLR Frame alone tips the scales at 690g; 20g lighter than the Cannondale Super Six Evo and 187g lighter than the Specialized SL4 (the new Tarmac is heavier still). The SLR fork weighs 280g and it’s a new slender-looking fork compared to those seen on the Domane and Madone.

It’s reportedly taken Trek 30 months of research and development to get to the point where they are happy that the new bikes can perform to a standard that the company, its customers and the race teams are happy with.

The name Émonda derives from the French verb “émonde”, which means to prune or trim away. Of course it’s been butchered a little bit to use the same letters as the names “Domane” and “Madone”.

The bike may be light but Trek wanted it to pass all of the company’s and the industry’s stringent quality and durability tests — this was to be a light bike that not just the skinny racing snakes could use but a bike that any angry racing guy or weighty sportive rider could get benefit from.

From the ground up this Émonda bike range is all new — there is no carry over from either the Domane or Madone lines. Each of the three bikes in the Émonda range — the S (entry), SL (mid-level) and SLR (top) — were to be the lightest bikes in their respective categories. The bikes also come in women’s versions too, and with some absolutely stunning paint jobs.

Trek Factory Racing and the MTN-Qhubeka teams have helped with this development, though one can only feel sorry for these guys who will have to either use heavier components or weigh the bike down to use it in UCI-sanctioned races.

The geometry of the frame sits between the Domane and the Madone. When the Domane was introduced the difference between that bike and the Madone’s geometry wasn’t hugely different. Trek then reworked the Madone’s geometry in 2012 to make it an out-an-out race machine — more aggressive and faster in corners.

For the Émonda, Trek has revived a large proportion of the geometry of the old 2011 Madone. It’s not as twitchy as a Madone, but it’s not as relaxed as a Domane. It sits happily between the two.

Away from the SLR version, the SL frame comes in at 1,050g (56cm) and the fork at 358g (240mm steerer tube). This build uses 500 series OCLV carbon where the SLR uses 700 series. The direct-mount brakes are replaced with standard calliper brakes and the fork, unlike the SLR, isn’t of the asymmetric type. But that’s pretty much where the differences end — both have a BB90 bottom bracket, a new ride-tuned seatmast and the DuoTrap S speed sensor that has been updated to make it slimmer and more integrated.

A step further down the range is the S model which, with 300 series OCLV carbon, weighs 1,220g on a painted 56cm frame with a fork of 518g. There is no ride-tuned seat mast; instead a standard and now more common 27.2mm seat post is in its place. Cables are externally routed, the bottom bracket is BB86 press fit and the bike comes with the original DuoTrap sensor and an E2 tapered fork.

Starting at $1,899 the Émonda S4 comes with a Shimano Tiagra groupset. The SL range starts at $2,899 with Shimano 105 throughout, and the first rung of the SLR range — the SLR6 — lands at $6,999 with an Ultegra 6800 build up.

The test-ride

I managed to get a solid ride on the new Émonda after I was lent the SLR8 version. This build features: a Dura Ace mechanical groupset; Bontragers latest XXX integrated bar and stem combo; the Bontrager Aeolus 3 carbon clincher wheels; and saddle, tyres and finishing kit from the in-house brand too. The brushed matt black frame looked clean and simple in the rare Yorkshire sunshine.

Though the four hours I had with the bike were nowhere near enough to fully judge it, I felt I got a solid understanding of how the bike rides and handles.

I rode a large proportion of stage 1 of this year’s Tour de France, from just outside the village of Hawes — where the climb of Cote du Buttertubs starts — through to the finish in Harrogate. I ride these roads regularly as I live close to the area, so I was able to get a good understanding of how it handled compared to my usual ride, a Swift U-Vox 2012 model.

The first noticeable thing for me was not so much the weight but how planted the bike felt on the road. Even at 6.15kg the bike didn’t seem to skip or jump when hitting potholes or rough surfaces. Even strong crosswinds didn’t throw the bike about — it sat nicely holding the road at all times.

Descending on it quickly gave me confidence and the learning curve of knowing how the bike will react to cornering came naturally and quickly. The wheels and brake setup were a slightly different matter though. Long descents had the brakes squeaking and on two occasions I managed to lock up the rear wheel in to a very sharp corner. The Dura Ace direct-mount brakes were without a doubt some of the most powerful I’ve used. This is where more time riding the bike would have me learning where that “biting point” is.

Climbing the Cote du Buttertubs (or just Buttertubs as it’s usually called when the Tour’s not taking it in) was as close to a pleasure as a hard climb can be. Accelerations when climbing flung the bike from under me; when standing the front end felt light and lively underneath me. The one minor niggle I did find was that the cable routing seemed to rub against my knee when out of the saddle.

The fact that I found myself using a slightly smaller sprocket than usual just showed what comes in to play when you’re riding a lighter bike (the Émonda is 1.5kg lighter than my Swift).

I’m sure the wheelset had a part in the nature of this bike’s acceleration and climbing prowess. The wheels got up to speed quickly and stayed there with very little effort. It was just the braking that I felt let this item down.

Throughout the ride I surprised myself at how long I was able to stay in the big ring — the area doesn’t usually allow for the chance to romp away in the big dog for long periods of time. The short sharp climbs soon take their toll on the legs if you attack them in the 52- or 53-tooth chainring, even with a 25 on the back. With the Émonda I found myself definitely using the big chainring a lot more than I would normally.

The whole package of this bike is what I’d class as solid. The geometry of the bike plants it feet firmly on the road, the lightweight build gives so much advantage over a bike frame that may be carrying 300-500g more and the power transfer was as direct and responsive as you’d expect from a race-ready build.

The new XXX bar/stem combo at first didn’t sit well with me — I felt the shape of the bar at the top seemed to want to throw my hands forward and downwards, plus I was sure I could feel a fair amount of flex in the setup. Is this what happens when you try to reduce a product’s weight too much? At 240g for a 42mm by 120mm it’s a light setup for your steering option.

But after two hours of riding I’d changed my mind — the flex in the bars helped alleviate a large amount of road shock. That said, the slight flex I felt may be a slight put off for pure sprinters. The shape of the bars and where my hands sat on top grew on me quickly, though I feel I’d need more time to get used to it. I did find myself sitting comfortably in the drops for extended periods, which was a pleasant surprise.

Overall the bike rides exceptionally well, unless you ride on cobbles or real rough stuff regularly. The Émonda sits right between the Domane and the Madone and is well balanced for it.

Sure the bike is light and it shows this quality when the road heads upwards, but the way it sits on the road, the comfort and handling are all areas that I feel it excels in in equal measures. It may not be sold on these points but they are qualities that shouldn’t be overlooked.

I’d love the chance to try riding the Émonda again, maybe with a wheelset I’m already familiar with to see how hard I could push it and see where its limits are.

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\"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/paris-roubaix-on-gravel-bikes-factor-gravel-bikes-to-be-raced-this-weekend\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"paris-roubaix on gravel bikes factor gravel bikes to be raced this weekend\"}}\u0027>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n\n \n\n \n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/paris-roubaix-on-gravel-bikes-factor-gravel-bikes-to-be-raced-this-weekend\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"paris-roubaix on gravel bikes factor gravel bikes to be raced this weekend\"}}\u0027>\n paris-roubaix on gravel bikes factor gravel bikes to be raced this weekend\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n "},{"title":"power analysis: how mathieu van der poel eviscerated paris-roubaix","url":"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-training\/power-analysis-mathieu-van-der-poel-paris-roubaix\/","markup":" \n \n\n\n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-training\/power-analysis-mathieu-van-der-poel-paris-roubaix\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"power analysis: how mathieu van der poel eviscerated paris-roubaix\"}}\u0027>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n\n \n\n \n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-training\/power-analysis-mathieu-van-der-poel-paris-roubaix\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"power analysis: how mathieu van der poel eviscerated paris-roubaix\"}}\u0027>\n power analysis: how mathieu van der poel eviscerated paris-roubaix\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n "},{"title":"mathieu van der poel untouchable at paris-roubaix with 60km solo raid","url":"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/paris-roubaix-van-der-poel-unmatchable-with-60km-solo-raid\/","markup":" \n \n\n\n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/paris-roubaix-van-der-poel-unmatchable-with-60km-solo-raid\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"mathieu van der poel untouchable at paris-roubaix with 60km solo raid\"}}\u0027>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n\n \n\n \n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/paris-roubaix-van-der-poel-unmatchable-with-60km-solo-raid\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"mathieu van der poel untouchable at paris-roubaix with 60km solo raid\"}}\u0027>\n mathieu van der poel untouchable at paris-roubaix with 60km solo raid\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n "},{"title":"evenepoel, vingegaard, vine, kras, quinn sustain fractures, rogli\u010d escapes with no broken bones","url":"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/evenepoel-vingegaard-roglic-all-crash-in-high-speed-spill-at-itzulia-basque-country\/","markup":" \n \n\n\n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/evenepoel-vingegaard-roglic-all-crash-in-high-speed-spill-at-itzulia-basque-country\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"evenepoel, vingegaard, vine, kras, quinn sustain fractures, rogli\u010d escapes with no broken bones\"}}\u0027>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n\n \n\n \n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/evenepoel-vingegaard-roglic-all-crash-in-high-speed-spill-at-itzulia-basque-country\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"evenepoel, vingegaard, vine, kras, quinn sustain fractures, rogli\u010d escapes with no broken bones\"}}\u0027>\n evenepoel, vingegaard, vine, kras, quinn sustain fractures, rogli\u010d escapes with no broken bones\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n "},{"title":"the third generation bmc roadmachine is suddenly a lot more capable","url":"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-gear\/bmc-roadmachine-more-capable\/","markup":" \n \n\n\n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-gear\/bmc-roadmachine-more-capable\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"the third generation bmc roadmachine is suddenly a lot more capable\"}}\u0027>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n\n \n\n \n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-gear\/bmc-roadmachine-more-capable\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"the third generation bmc roadmachine is suddenly a lot more capable\"}}\u0027>\n the third generation bmc roadmachine is suddenly a lot more capable\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n "},{"title":"bianchi says mechanics disregarded instructions in paris-roubaix bike issues","url":"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/news\/bianchi-issues-paris-roubaix\/","markup":" \n \n\n\n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/news\/bianchi-issues-paris-roubaix\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"bianchi says mechanics disregarded instructions in paris-roubaix bike issues\"}}\u0027>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n\n \n\n \n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/news\/bianchi-issues-paris-roubaix\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"bianchi says mechanics disregarded instructions in paris-roubaix bike issues\"}}\u0027>\n bianchi says mechanics disregarded instructions in paris-roubaix bike issues\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n "},{"title":"photo essay: the drama of paris-roubaix, by chris auld","url":"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/photo-essay-the-drama-of-paris-roubaix-by-chris-auld\/","markup":" \n \n\n\n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/photo-essay-the-drama-of-paris-roubaix-by-chris-auld\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"photo essay: the drama of paris-roubaix, by chris auld\"}}\u0027>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n\n \n\n \n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/photo-essay-the-drama-of-paris-roubaix-by-chris-auld\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"photo essay: the drama of paris-roubaix, by chris auld\"}}\u0027>\n photo essay: the drama of paris-roubaix, by chris auld\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n "}]' > >", "name": "footer-menu", "type": "link"}}'>advertise >", "name": "footer-menu", "type": "link"}}'>privacy policy >", "name": "footer-menu", "type": "link"}}'>contact >", "name": "footer-menu", "type": "link"}}'>careers >", "name": "footer-menu", "type": "link"}}'>terms of use >", "name": "footer-menu", "type": "link"}}'>site map >", "name": "footer-menu", "type": "link"}}'>my newsletters manage cookie preferences privacy request healthy living.

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New Trek bike spotted: Is this the 2024 Emonda?

Leaked photo shows new lightweight bike with a hole in the seat tube

If we were asked to write a list of new bikes we expect to see launched in 2024, a new Trek Emonda would almost certainly have featured. It's now four calendar years since the bike last saw an update so going by Trek's product cycle, it's fast approaching its due date for a refresh. 

Luckily for Emonda fans, it appears that imaginary prediction would be correct, because before we'd even entered the new year, we were given a pretty significant clue suggesting not only that a new version is coming, but what it might look like when it does. 

Thanks to the WeightWeenies forum , more specifically its member 'Ritxis', we have a photo of Giulio Ciccone aboard what can only be described as a slimmed-down Madone, complete with that hole in the seat tube . 

Now, a caveat: Of course, we don't know for sure that this bike is indeed an Emonda, or ironically even a Trek for that matter. The bike shown is entirely blank, devoid of any branding or model names (besides an illegible white mark on the top tube), as is often the case with prototypes. 

With that said, various clues in the image steer us toward our conclusions with a degree of confidence. 

Among them is the fact that it's being ridden by Giulio Ciccone, a rider whose Lidl-Trek team is sponsored by Trek Bikes, and has been for over a decade. Second: the bike is shod with Bontrager wheels, a component subsidiary borne out of the Trek brand. Third, and perhaps most strongly, is that the design of the frame is also very Trek-like. The cut-out in the seat tube, handily circled by our forumite, is extremely similar to the IsoFlow seat tube hole which made headlines / gained notoriety (delete as appropriate) when the Madone launched in summer of 2022. 

In fact, at first glance you'd be forgiven for thinking that this was indeed just a Madone, but although we only have one photo, when you look more closely it appears the tubes of the frame are rounder and slimmer than the Madone, all but confirming that this is not that. Given the timing and the use case, it's also unlikely to be a Domane, which leads us to believe that this is indeed a new Emonda. 

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Of course, we can't rule out Trek adding another road bike to its range, although it does seem unlikely. With Emonda, Domane and Madone all existing as anagrams of one another, there can't be many options left… Perhaps it could channel the supernatural with the Daemon? More seriously, given the ever-closening convergence of aero bikes and lightweight bikes, with aero bikes getting lighter and lightweight bikes getting faster, Trek's commitment to the Madone and the Emonda as separate platforms would leave little room for a third in between. 

Of the two platforms, it makes sense that the Lidl-Trek team would have a new Emonda that is faster, ideally maintaining its ability to hit the 6.8kg UCI limit, alongside the existing Madone which is heavier but faster still. 

So what can we deduce? Well based on this image, not a huge amount aside from the existence of what appears to be another IsoFlow seat tube hole. The seat- and chain-stays look to be slim, but not much slimmer than the existing Emonda. The head tube looks to have a small cut-out for the top cover of the headset, helping it to sit flush with the top of the top tube, and it appears the front cable enters in front of the steerer, as it currently does on the existing Emonda. 

Notably, the bike shown is using a two-piece bar and stem rather than an integrated one-piece system, but that could purely be down to component availability or the slightly easier nature of setup, something which may benefit Ciccone as he dials in the fit of his new bike.

In addition, it looks as though it may be equipped with a seatpost rather than a seatmast topper, as well as SRAM's UDH, albeit both are impossible to confirm from this solitary image. 

As for a launch date, your guess is as good as ours at this stage. Trek has history of 'leaking' bikes into the public eye at the Criterium du Dauphine before a full launch in line with the Tour de France. That's how things played out with the Madone in 2022, so we'd hazard a guess at Trek taking a similar approach, but only time will tell. 

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As the Tech Editor here at Cyclingnews, Josh leads on content relating to all-things tech, including bikes, kit and components in order to cover product launches and curate our world-class buying guides, reviews and deals. Alongside this, his love for WorldTour racing and eagle eyes mean he's often breaking tech stories from the pro peloton too. 

On the bike, 32-year-old Josh has been riding and racing since his early teens. He started out racing cross country when 26-inch wheels and triple chainsets were still mainstream, but he found favour in road racing in his early 20s and has never looked back. He's always training for the next big event and is keen to get his hands on the newest tech to help. He enjoys a good long ride on road or gravel, but he's most alive when he's elbow-to-elbow in a local criterium. 

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