To be honest, the release of the new Trek Madone is no great shock to anyone. The radical-looking seat tube, first spotted at the Dauphiné, is hard to hide from even the most inattentive fan. First spotted at the Dauphiné, the radical-looking seat tube is so hard to hide from even the most inattentive fan. It's the seventh generation all-out aerobike from the Wisconsin mega-brand. Compared to the old Madone featured in our Best Aero Bikes list, there are some significant changes, but it remains a road bike focused on deceiving the wind in every way possible.

The headline is that the new Madone SLR is faster and lighter than ever, as Scott and Pinarello officially announced the new bike before the Tour. How much lighter? How much faster?

Before we get into that, let's attack the big rip under the rider. Trek has dropped the Iso-Speed system, which allowed the seatpost to flex with an adjustable pivot, in favor of a system called Iso-Flow. The Isoflow frameset design not only significantly reduces the weight of the frameset, but also smoothes airflow at the rear of the bike and improves the aerodynamic profile.

The cantilevered, flying seatpost provides the necessary flex that cannot realistically be achieved with the smaller seatpost extensions that come with horizontal or near-horizontal top tubes.

Furthermore, as Trek admits, most Madone riders did not adjust their isospeed setups.

The new Madone SLR is 60 seconds per hour faster than the current model and 300 grams lighter. The 20 watt savings at a relatively light 45 km/h is half due to improved frame aerodynamics and half to "improved rider positioning". Since a 20 watt improvement on any new bike is a big leap, this needs to be broken down a bit.

Ten watts on a new frame is not outlandish, and Trek achieved this not only with a bold new seat tube, but also with small aero benefits elsewhere. The new one-piece bar stem has been redesigned along with new spacer stacks to reduce frontal area; the BB shell extends from the top of the large chainring to the bottom of the bottle cage, reducing turbulence in the airspace between the two and increasing stiffness as a byproduct.

These wind-deceiving improvements were modeled using "unstable aerodynamics," presumably meaning there were slight gusts in the wind tunnel, and reproducible mannequins were used rather than actual human riders.

Removable front derailleur hangers and covers completed the overhaul and further smoothed airflow on flat days when the inner rings were in excess.

This 300 g weight savings, combined with the frame and cockpit, brings the total bike weight of the 56 cm Madone SLR 9 eTap (SRAM Red eTap AXS) to 7.4 kg.

Since the UCI's decision to ban the "puppy paw" position, where riders place their forearms on the top tube to gain an aero advantage, riders have taken to turning their hoods inward to reduce frontal area while staying within the boundaries of the UCI's labyrinthine rule book We have seen many of them. Trek decided to incorporate this tactic into the new Madone SLR, resulting in a bar with a 3 cm flare at the drop compared to the top.

This flare and the resulting reduced frontal area are responsible for the 10-watt savings from the "improved rider position." It is important to note that Trek measured the bar width at the drop, not at the general hood. Therefore, they are comparing the aerodynamic characteristics of a 42 cm bar (with a 39 cm hood spacing) to a 42 cm bar with zero flare.

Nevertheless, Trek believes the drop will be used for general riding, sprinting, and descending, while the top will be where you squeeze your shoulders, roll your head, and try to punch holes in the atmosphere.

Flare bars are for gravel riders, but the tire clearance on the new Madone is still that of a road bike.

The new Trek Madone SLR will be available in five color variations. An ultralight option with raw carbon and holographic logos, two team colors to match the Trek Segafredo men's and women's bikes, an eye-catching metallic red that fades to raw carbon, and a more subdued all-white that does away with the giant TREK logo on the down tube and features small letters on the top tube. and a more subdued all-white.

These five colors will be available in six different versions, all of which will be electronically controlled and disc brake only. Until recently, this specification limited them to the upper echelon of the groupset world, but the lowest-specification models use Shimano's new Di2 105 groupset.

Prices range from $13,199.99/€14,999/£13,800 for the SRAM Red eTap to $7,999.99/€7,699/£6,850 for the 105 Di2 specification, or $4,599.99/€5,499/£ 5,000 pounds.