Who rides one? How do you like it? What was your previous ride?
Considering upgrading from a Venge Expert but on the fence.
I’ve got a Madone 9.2 and love it. I was riding a Trek Emonda SL6 before it, and Cervelo S5 before that. For TT bikes I have a Speed Concept 9 series.
The Madone is a phenomenal bike, easily the fastest feeling road bike that I’ve ridden and very compliant for rougher roads. I know that’s there’s some placebo effect in there but I go into some of the details in a little write up I did on it here.
http://shutuplegs.org/perfect-bike-trek-madone-9-series-first-impressions-review/
Let me know if you have any questions on it!
are there any noise/rattles from the front fairing deal or elsewhere? I like quiet bikes so wonder how the madone rates in this area?
are there any noise/rattles from the front fairing deal or elsewhere? I like quiet bikes so wonder how the madone rates in this area?
Totally silent. But I suspect that may have just as much to do with the builder as the bike. I was lucky enough to have Jeff Crombie here in Calgary who wrenches for a couple pro teams put mine together.
I’ve read some other Madone owners who’ve had similar experience to mine, and others who’ve had some rattling. And on a bike that complex, that you’re spending that much money on, you won’t want just any mechanic putting it together. At my shop they specifically bring that one mechanic in to build bikes like the Madone.
As a side note…One thing I know he did was opt to put Shimano cable housings in rather than the Jagwire housings that often come OEM on bikes these days. Which makes a material difference on internally routed bikes (I’ve ridden another Madone with jagwire housing, and there is a difference).
Let me know if you have any other questions on it!
Thanks for the feedback. Are you running mechanical group?
Yup, just Ultegra mechanical.
I got a Madone 9.5 about two months ago, and absolutely love it. Like love it so much it’s not possible for me to exaggerate just how much I love it.
I came from a 2007 BMC Pro Machine that I also love. I’ve ridden that bike very hard over the past 10 years, but I take very good care of it so it is in pristine shape for a 10-year old bike. Several times over the years I’ve gotten in the new-bike mood and have researched and ridden a bunch of bikes seeing if I should upgrade over my BMC, and always came away concluding that I liked my BMC better. I’ve never been a huge Trek fan, for no real reason other than just one of those things where you form random opinions. During my latest new-bike flirtation phase, I told myself I should look at least look at Trek and went to the local shop to check out an Emonda. The Emonda was really impressive and I was actually thinking about pulling the trigger, and the Trek shop guy strongly encouraged me to at least try a Madone. I agreed to basically check the box to make sure I was making the right choice with the Emonda. I was blown away by the Madone. The integration and engineering of the bike is obviously very cool, but the ride absolutely blew me away. I tried it with two separate wheel sets and a few different tire pressures to try and mitigate factors that may impact the ride, and it didn’t matter what I put on there the ride and feel was simply amazing.
I ordered a Project One, and have logged some pretty heavy use the past two months, and feel no less infatuation with the bike today then I did originally. I just love it. Like Raf, mine is also mechanical and I have no rattling at all. My local Trek shop has a specific builder they use for Madones as it is a very complicated build with the cable routing.
Happy to give any other thoughts.
Hi,
I am also interested in this thread and currently ride a 2012 Specialized Venge pro, size medium (54.8 tt).
I am 5’ 10.5" with normal leg length and seem to be at the top end of the Medium frame fit.
I am curious what size trek they purchased relative to their old bike.
Did anyone go up a size when buying their Trek Madone.
I recently saw a nice (size 56cm) 9.9 Black/Red Madone in a shop and it was reeling me in.
It was on a trip out of town and had no time to investigate.
Thanks, Rob
I have one and its the bomb! My ride right before was a 2015/16 Trek Emonda which climbed very well and was light as … but the Madone… the Madone reacts quicker, it takes every bit of power from the pedals andbrings to the rear wheel. if your tired and have to jump that little bit to the group or sign or home, it just jumps! seriously stiff in the good way. Climbing…its is different seeing that massive top tube and 1 piece bar when your thinking be light be light get up this hill, it climbs very close to the Emonda weighing about 1.5pounds more! Look at the Tour and Olympics…alomost all the trek guys on this bike and they had access to all of them! The bars are fine. the top flat section i really like now and I have 2 etap blips UNDER this section as my climbing buttons. (not at the stem as SRAM shows). I use the Di2 battery area in the downtube as my emergency $20 stash as well (running etap). the brakes are great. Soooooo i love it. buy one
I bought the Madone 9.2 with Ultegra electric group. I had a 2010 Madone and 2011 Speed Concept prior to this bike. I test rode the Domane and Emonda and was set to buy the Emonda prior to the test riding the Madone. One test ride and I was sold. The bike is super stiff and goes really fast. I was more amazed at the comfort of the H2 fit and felt like I could ride it all day. It does not make any noises while riding. I love the electronic shifting although it took me a while to get used to it as I had SRAM RED on my previous Madone. I built it up with 52/36 cranks with Stages power meter, 11/32 cassette and Dura ace c60 wheels. I have not climbed any big hills with it yet and it’s a bit heavier than my other Madone but honestly really can’t tell the difference on the rollers that I ride. I’ve been very happy so far. I agree with the previous write ups, it’s pretty amazing and can’t wait for spring to get here so I can get out daily.
I ride a mechanical DA version. My previous bikes include Cervelo R5, R3, Kuota, Time. Without question this bike takes the cake. Why?
- well i have PBd local climbs on it with far less training. Data doesnt lie.
- the subjective: ride quality is far superior to anything I have ridden. The decoupler works.
- i have had wrist problems and the flat bar actually helps with that. Now there are cervelo bars similiar of course
- i moved from Di2 10 speed to mechanical DA 11 speed and oddly love being back to the tactile quality of high quality mechanical shifting
Re: cable housing. Lesson when travelling…putting bike back together on front end is easy but getting the housing just exactly perfect is not. So my ride along bumpy Tucson roads was a tad annoying.
Hi,
I am also interested in this thread and currently ride a 2012 Specialized Venge pro, size medium (54.8 tt).
I am 5’ 10.5" with normal leg length and seem to be at the top end of the Medium frame fit.
I am curious what size trek they purchased relative to their old bike.
Did anyone go up a size when buying their Trek Madone.
I recently saw a nice (size 56cm) 9.9 Black/Red Madone in a shop and it was reeling me in.
It was on a trip out of town and had no time to investigate.
Thanks, Rob
I’m almost your same height at 5’11" and got fitted for a 56cm Madone. My old bike was a 55cm (top tube measurement), and the 56cm Madone with the standard 100mm stem fits perfectly.
Are there any clip-on aero bars that work with the Madone bar for the occasional tri?
I’ve been debating on the Madone for awhile too, thanks for the write up! I have a SC but wouldn’t mind selling it at the end of the season and getting ONE bike. If Madone gets some aero bars for the occasional tri, then it might win. Venge has already gone that way, but I don’t see many folks with the bars/bike - https://www.specialized.com/us/en/equipment/components/vias-aero-clipon-bars-tritt/128378
Probably too much of a compromise on fit and some aerodynamics.
I have owned one for the past 6 months upgrading from a 2012 Madone 6 SSL. This bike is very responsive and really fun to ride. This is the first bike I have owned that has Di2 and it was well worth spending the extra for that. I will never go back to mechanical on a road bike.
!(webkit-fake-url://e5e73c9a-8d0c-4f0a-b590-f6cf826de5e9/image.tiff)
I am interested in the Madone but would also like Disc brakes. Has anyone built one with Discs?
Thanks, John
Trek has said they will not put disc brakes on their road or tri bikes.
Trek has said they will not put disc brakes on their road or tri bikes.
Thank you. I wonder if they will change their stance over time.
They will. Their video sounded just like SRAM saying “We don’t believe in electronic shifting.” Disc brakes are coming.