Recently I spent half a day at Trek UK’s Trek World to check out the changes coming to their road range for 2016, including the Bontrager lines.
For me personally, there was no doubt that the star of the day was the stunning new 9 series Madone. For many attendees it was the first time to see it in the flesh and it was most definitely worth the wait. I’ve put some thoughts on that particular bike together here (including a video walk around)
Across the rest of the range, there were more updates rather than new models and some very welcome price cuts.
Officially Trek has dropped the concept of model years (which is a good move) but there were some new colours, spec changes, additional models and price cuts on a wide range bikes.
Starting at the entry level end of things, the excellent 1 series gets new colours but is reduced to just two models – the 1.1 &1.2 entry level models specced with Claris and Sora have also had their prices trimmed to £575 and £650. These great entry level bikes feature the same frame and fork as previously reviewed by me in the now obsolete 1.5 guise and have plenty of clearance for mudguards as well as rack mounts – making them a great all-rounder.
Stepping up a level and it’s great news as the already very well reviewed Emonda ALR aluminium bike has seen it’s range extended and the prices cut! There is a new Emonda ALR 4 with the latest Tiagra about to arrive priced at £900 for a complete bike.
If that doesn’t get you there are also 105 versions (Emonda ALR 5) for £1100 or the full Ultegra Emonda ALR 6 with a £300 price cut to £1400 complete. All of these look terrific options for a high quality aluminium frame offering performance and comfort without breaking the bank. Both the ALR 4 & 5 are also available in a striking matt Red called Viper red, which looks great. These bikes are a smart buy in my opinion.
However at around the same price, you might also be tempted to jump onto an Emonda S series in carbon. These have also had a price cut and now start at £1100 through to £1600, roughly a £200 premium to jump from Aluminium to entry level (for Trek) carbon. I asked Trek what the difference would be in riding and was told increased comfort for the carbon Emonda S but not necessarily any lighter overall. It’d be interesting to try both back to back to see.
The mid-level Emonda SL range has also had a price trim and see the popular Emonda SL6 with Ultegra reduced from £2,300 to £2,100. The Dura Ace Emonda SL 8 and SRAM Red Emonda SL 8 Red both also see their price cut down to £2,900 – the right side of £3k!
The top of the Emonda range, the SLR gets a couple of price increases and some stunning new paint schemes. The red smoke of the SLR 6 was pretty amazing and I absolutely loved the Matte Powder blue of the Emonda SLR 9 and it’s also available as a frameset if you don’t fancy the £8,000 full Dura Ace Di2 and Bontrager Aeolus 3 D3 TLR carbon clinchers.
Here’s a short walk around video I made of both the SLR 6 and 9 bikes:
If you’re after a lightweight climbing bike – the increased Emonda range should have you covered pretty much whatever your budget.
Moving onto the Domane’s – the big news is price cuts, new colours and more frameset options. Without going through the price changes line by line, a lot of model have a decent price cut. A couple that stood out to me was a £600 cut in the price of the Domane 6 series caliper frameset now £2000, which I think is very tempting.
You can now also get a 5 series Domane frameset for £1460 and a 4 series for £1100. So lots to tempt you to build your own. You’re also catered for if you want a disc frameset with the Domane 4 series disc frameset for £1,200 or a 6 Series Disc frameset for £2,200.
In complete bikes a full Dura Ace (or Ultegra Di2) 5 series Madone can be had for £3,000 in a snazzy new paint job. The stunning top of the range 6.9 caliper Madone now features a pair of £2,000 Aeolus 3 TLR carbon clinchers wheels in the £7200 price. Expensive but looks fantastic.
On the Cyclocross bikes the Crockett 5 disc has had an update to 11 speed 105 and a price cut to £1250 complete. There’s no Di2 Crockett now so the range topper is Ultegra mechanical disc with a SRAM Force canti Crockett 7 priced in between the two disc bikes. It’s almost exactly the same for the top of the range Boone bikes with no Di2 but two Shimano Disc builds and a SRAM Force choice in between. Both Cyclocross models are also available frameset only with or without discs and in a striking (which means I’m not sure I could own it) pink colourway.
If you’ve been considering any Trek bike, the 2016 range will likely only tempt you further to take the plunge. It’s a very compelling range with something for most people and with the backup of a global dealer network and a lifetime warranty.