Got my Trek Speed Concept (SC) bike on Tuesday night last week and have ridden it daily for a total of about 225 miles. I promised Carl and the bike shop (SBR in NYC) that I would post my personal (and objective) review of the bike so here it is. Please note that this review is my opinion alone and based on my personal experience. It is not intended to serve as a guide for anyone who intends to purchase a Trek Speed Concept bike. Anyone who intends to buy this bike will have to make a personal judgment of the bike. I am not affiliated with Trek, nor with ST, nor with SBR. I am not a professional bike reviewer (I work for a Bank) and I write this only for the purpose of providing feedback to those who requested it from me.
About me:
- Mid Forties
- 5’9", 162 lbs
- Been cycling / racing some 35 years
- Marathon / middle distance runner
- Former varsity swimmer and occasional open water,
- Racing Tris since ‘91 but primarily road.
- Done 70.3s but not full
- Bikes I own: Colnagos C40, C50, Titanio, Dream Lux (2), Orbea Ordu (tri), 1980s Trek road bike (Reynolds 531 tubes).
- Expert bike wrench (personal 30-year hobby). I wrench my own bikes and I own more bike tools than anyone I know.
Fitting
I was fit at SBR in NYC by Ann Marie Miller. (More about SBR later). I was glad the fitting was done by Ann Marie who is an established Cat 1 cyclist. She was a 9 time US National Masters’ Champion and a 16 time US Masters’ National Medalist. I have raced against her in our local club (the Century Road Club of America) and I’ve seen her TT and race in Central Park. She swept all three US Masters’ Nationals Championships in 2003 and 2008 (Time Trial, Criterium and Road Race). More importantly though, she respected my personal preference with regard to seat height, stack and reach. These measurements I know by heart as I have honed them from many years of cycling. They might not be dead-on correct for some professional fitters but they work for me. She checked some angles in my leg, arm and body and tweaked a few things here and there and made me feel very comfortable in the SC – perhaps to whatever it is she did. She knows I am a roadie and will always be one and that my tri-bike preferences are based on my road bike preferences. They are not the same, mind you, but the road bike preferences established the base for the fitting. During the fitting, Christophe (shop owner) popped his head in a couple of times to give some advice. I heard he is FIST trained.
Getting a size Small SC
I got the model 9.9 (Size small) which comes with a full SRAM Red group and Bontrager Aeolus carbon clinchers. Based on the SC fit chart my height falls between a small and a medium. Carl recommended the medium size and the LBS owner also recommended the medium. Prior to seeing (and sitting on the SC) I was inclined to get a medium but eventually I purchased the small. I am pretty sure a Medium will fit me quite as well as a small and with sufficient tweaking it will be virtually the same. But I would like to err on the smaller and lighter size. My digital bathroom scale (0.5 lbs increments) shows the bike weighing around 18.5 lbs. My tri bikes have always been much smaller than my road bikes. My Colnagos are size 56 and 55s while my Orbea Ordu is a size 51. Crowie’s Orbea Ordu (same model as mine) is also a 51 and he is at least 1.5 inches taller than me. I have seen and examined his Ordu at the Quassy Rev3 and his seat post is virtually as high as mine but his saddle is about 2 cm more forward. Either he likes his saddle low or maybe my 85 cm (33.5 inches) inseam is the same as his.
Anyway, been riding the SC for a few days now and I believe the size small is perfect for someone my height. If I were maybe just an inch taller then I would go for the medium. I like the geometry of the SC and so far it fits me much better than all the tri frames I have ridden. I could never get comfortable on the Ordu. I also tried the Cervelo P3 but that was too low and long for me. I am not a fitter so I can’t explain why the SC frame (and size) feels comfortable. The front point of my saddle (Fizik Arione Tri2) is 1 cm behind the bottom bracket. I like sitting way forward on the nose so the boys can “hang out” but I might move the saddle a little more forward after more test rides.
In my opinion, the frame looks quite neat and streamlined with the hidden brakes, the hidden cables, and the simple integrated cockpit. The stem / headset assembly looks and feels solid and I can’t imagine this slipping under any circumstance. The whole bike has a lot of carbon bling and the paint does not hide the bling. Virtually all of the bolts have stated torque settings so my Gustaforza torque wrench will be put to good use. After my fitting, the shop mechanic checked all the settings using his torque wrench.
Adjustability
I got home and tweaked the bike a little bit more. Changed the 170mm crank to my 175s. Also removed one spacer from the arm pad. As I was adjusting the aero extensions I immediately noticed the first drawback. You can’t adjust the width of the aero extensions except for about four inches or about eight inches. Thee is nothing in between. The four inches are okay as it is in the range of my comfort zone, but for those who are used to somewhere between four and eight you will have to choose which aero bar width you will want to use. It does have a lot of horizontal and vertical adjustments. I use Hockey stick extensions on my previous Tri bikes so the SC hockey sticks were dead on perfect for me. Another drawback is the lack of cable movement when you remove spacers. Removing one spacer is okay as the derailleur cable just bends up in the extensions. But removing two spacers will cause you a problem because you will now need to cut the derailleur cables (and insulators) and to do so you will need to open up all those hidden cables like a small can of worms. Not for the faint hearted.
Unlike the extensions, the arm pads have a wide range of adjustability. I personally found it comfortable at its widest point and right behind the extension clamp. The spacers are aluminum and are quite solid. I would not be surprised if some enterprising Taiwanese manufacturer starts making carbon spacers for this frame. As part of the bike package, Trek included different bolts which is good because the various spacer options need different bolt lengths. The bolts (all steel) have torque settings marked beside them. I used my Gustaforrza torque wrench quite a bit to check each torque and despite complying with the max torque on the extensions I still experienced some slippage during my first and second ride. I had to put some friction paste on the aero extensions and that got rid of the slippage eventually.
At some point in the near future I intend to replace the stem (currently a 65 / 45) to something taller and longer (a 100 / 55 perhaps). However, Trek does not have the Part Numbers for the stems yet and the LBS did not know when they can be ordered. (Carl, can you enlighten us on this issue?)
Out of curiosity I removed the rubber cover on the cable insulators. That was a mistake. Took me a good 20 minutes to put it back and I swear I thought I would tear that thing by the time I got it back on the frame. For new owners out there - just keep that rubber cover where it is as you don’t have any reason to remove it.
The R4 tires rides like a charm and feels like tubulars. Despite the 120 psi that I like to run, they still give a soft ride. I liked the Bontrager carbon clincher wheels – primarily because they are clinchers and because I feel they are heavier than my Zipp 404s or even my 808s, which I use for racing. (I will confirm the weight difference when I get my digital scale back from my brother.) In that case I don’t have to change my wheels except for racing. I tried putting the Zipps on the SC but the brakes settings were too tight and the Zipps (the wider rim 2009 models) couldn’t fit. I opened the brake covers in both the front and rear to check on how to adjust the brake cables and immediately I noticed the second and more important drawback of the SC. No barrel adjuster for the brakes. Because of this, it will be a challenge to interchange your clincher training wheelset (with normally narrow rims), with your tubular carbon racing wheelset narrow (with wider rims) because the brake settings will have to be set based on the wider racing tubulars. In that regard each time you use the narrower clincher wheelset there will be a wide braking range. Tell your bike wrench to be sure to put enough brake space there for your tubulars but not too wide for your clinchers. It would be a balancing act.
Removing the rear wheel tire is a bitch. I cannot imagine Lance or Levi getting a rear flat while on a TT race. I am sure the bike mechanic would just give them a completely new bike and wouldn’t even bother changing the rear wheel. The quick release skewers are somewhat unique as I feel it is either too loose or too tight. They do fold nicely into the frame / fork but I’m not sure whether I like it or hate it. I guess it just feels different from what I use.
Components
Been a Dura Ace guy for about 15 years (prior was Campy) and this is my first long ride with SRAM Red, which performed as I expected. Had to get used to the R2C shifters and initially I felt them too stiff. Perhaps there is a way to loosen the spring a bit. I do like the fact that they go back to one position and I like the hissing air sound they make. Anyone ever notice that? The rear shifting was precise but the front derailleur needed to be adjusted quite a bit. And because the SC does not have barrel adjusters for the front derailleur, I had to loosen and tighten the cable clamps a few times. Wouldn’t recommend it to someone without confident wrenching skills. I replaced the 170mm SRAM Red cranks with my 175mm SRAM Red compact cranks.
I was a little disappointed that the Bontrager Aero bottle and the Duotrap sensor did not come with the bike so I had to purchase those separate. The Bontrager aero bottle fits nicely on the seat tube but this bottle is a bitch to pull out. I was afraid that I was going to rip the screws out of the frame just to get a drink of water. Carl, you gotta let Trek re-design that cage as it is way too tight on the bottle. I might eventually replace it with the Elite Aero Bottle.
I really like the Duotrap sensor. It was fairly easy to attach and my Garmin 310XT immediately detected it. Although mine didn’t come with a wheel magnet (Carl, please note.), the integrated sensor worked like a charm. No more zip ties for the cadence and speed. No more adjustments to be sure the sensors detect the magnet. Anyone using the Duotrap sensor will no longer have a use for Polar products.
The built-in rear draft box is a sweet addition. The draft soft bag inside essentially insulates the contents from rattling and shifting. On my rides I had a compact toolset, an extra tube, some gel and dollar bills. Fits perfectly and no rattles or shakes. The top of the draft box was a bit tricky and it actually popped out a few times during my long ride and this was over smooth roads. A duct tape will probably solve this but who wants to duct tape a new bike part?
Handling
The SC handles quite well on both uphills and downhills. The bike does not twitch nor quiver. No shimmy on fast descents. My Colnagos are pretty solid in that regard and I’ve topped 64 mph going down Col du Glandon in France but my Ordu is a handling nightmare above 40 in a downhill. On the drops, the SC corners and climbs like a road bike with a very stiff front end. Virtually no flex on the bars. I did hit my knees on the base bar quite a bit while off the saddle but that could be resolved eventually by the longer stem and a change in climbing style. Although the bike turns quite well in fast speed wide turns, the turning radius for tighter circles might not be that great primarily because the hidden brake and derailleur cables will have limited movement. I don’t expect to do major very narrow u-turns on this bike but I would consider it a limitation.
My favorite aspect of the SC is the efficiency of the energy transfer, which may be due to the big and stiff bottom bracket. My impression of the BB stiffness could also be because all my other bikes have normal BBs and I’ve never tried BB90s (or BB30s) before. Clearly the solid BB structure of a 90 or 30 makes a lot of sense. Perhaps it is not just the BB as well but also a character of the entire frame. On the same roads I have ridden for many years I noticed that I was using one gear lower with the same cadence. Despite the stiff frame, the ride over rougher roads wasn’t harsh but somewhat muted. No rattles or creaks or anything of that sort.
A bit about my experience with SBR the shop
Aside from a few tubes and gels here and there, I have never really bought anything big from SBR before this. I buy my stuff over the Internet as much as I can and the few times I have been at SBR I noticed the big inventory of tri-related stuff. I was quite hesitant getting the SC from SBR because big bike shops have big fixed costs needing big profit margins. Besides, the Trek website indicates almost a dozen authorized Trek dealers in NYC and its nearby suburbs. So a couple of months ago I contacted the manager of large trek dealer with multiple shops in the city. They claim (which I don’t doubt) to have been selling Treks for over 25 years. When I asked about the SC and they were clueless what I was talking and the manager even had to google the bike. Thereon I knew I had to deal with a shop that was educated enough to sell me this bike. At that point it was only logical to deal with SBR and in hindsight it was a good decision because they did a pretty decent job in dealing with me.
I caused quite a stir with SBR during this entire sales process and that was because I wanted to be sure I got the right bike, the right size, the right color and the right components – at the soonest possible time – meaning right now! The size was the big issue and despite the recommendations for a medium I had to be fitted first with a small and thereafter make the sale. Under normal circumstances that would be simple enough to do but the SC normally takes a couple of months to get and despite that I still got what I wanted. I probably spoke to Dave (the customer service rep) a good twenty times on the phone in five days and he had the patience of the Pope. We cancelled and reordered various models during the process and the rest of the crew in the shop (Steve, Luis, Chris, Christophe) were overall quite patient with me. I heard today that they’ve gotten customers for the SC from as near as New Jersey to as far as New Zealand who timed their trip to get an SC. They have a lot of orders on P1. Glad I got this model and color because it was the only one they received in Small.
So in summary, here it is:
Pros:
-
Clean lines and well designed integration -
Stiff yet comfortable with good energy transfer -
Good size for me, -
Nice components
Cons:
-
Needs barrel adjusters for the brakes and front derailleur -
Gotta be a good wrench to fiddle with this bike -
Long waiting period (should have been introduced much earlier) -
Did I mention this bike is expensive?
Carl, your turn to provide me with info on the following:
-
When can I get the new stems? -
When can I get the new head for the seatpost? -
When will Trek start selling just the frameset? -
When will the bento box be available? -
What discount will I get from Trek for writing this? :>)
I’m heading to Lake Placid this weekend to ride the IMLP course and that will give me a better idea of how well the SC climbs and descends. I’ll update the portion on “handling” when I return from LP.
