Trek announce cheaper SL platform to Madone range

The Madone is Trek’s all-out aero race bike, as used by riders such as Mads Pedersen and Quinn Simmons of the Lidl-Trek team in WorldTour races. The seventh generation of the Madone saw a complete overhaul of the design, with the most notable feature being the 'isoflow' split seat tube, which the brand claims improves aerodynamics and unifies comfort across all sizes of frame.

When the bike was released last year, it entered the market as a premium bike with the cheapest gen 7 Madone SLR retailing for £7,600 / $7999 / €8199. Trek used the brand's top-tier 800 series OCLV carbon fibre in the frame, the same as they used in the eye-wateringly expensive Madone SLR 9 AXS, the top-of-the-range version. Of course, that price is prohibitive for most of us.

Now, Trek have announced that the gen 7 Madone will be available as an 'SL' frame, which uses a lower grade carbon fibre to reduce the cost.

The new SL range uses the brand's 500 series OCLV carbon fibre. It's not quite as stiff as their 800 series carbon and it's a bit heavier, but even so, this new frame is still 300g lighter than the previous generation SL frame.

In addition to the lower-grade carbon fibre, Trek have brought down the price by speccing the bike with a two piece bar and stem, as opposed to the one-piece unit supplied with SLR bikes. SL models are stocked with Bontragers own RSL flared aero handlebars and RCS pro stem, which integrate into the frame with a proprietary headset bearing cover.

There are currently two Madone SL models to choose from. Firstly, there's the 105 Di2 equipped SL6 that comes in at £5,625 / $5499 / €5999 with Bontrager Aeolus elite 50 carbon wheels. Alternatively, there's the SL7, which comes stocked with Ultegra Di2 and Bontrager Aeolus Pro 51 wheels for £7,500 / $6,499 / €7,999

We were lucky enough to get to see inside Trek's headquarters and US manufacturing facility in our iconic brands collection over on GCN+