Lidl-Trek pro bike: Quinn Simmons’ Trek Madone SLR

Are turned-in levers banned? Not on Simmons’ Lidl-Trek aero road bike

10:02, Thursday 25th January 2024

Tom Hallam-Gravells

Online Production Editor

The Trek Madone features IsoFlow technology

Lidl-Trek
- Nationality United States of America
- Founded 2011
- Team Principal Luca Guercilena
- UCI Code LTK
- Bike Sponsor Trek
Quinn Simmons
- Team Lidl-Trek
- Nationality United States of America
- Age 23
- UCI Wins 4
- Height 1.82m
Trek
Trek is a bicycle manufacturer based in Wisconsin, USA. The company produces a range of bikes, as well as clothing, equipment and tools.
Bontrager
One of Trek’s in-house brands, Bontrager is a cycling manufacturer based in Wisconsin, USA. From wheelsets to handlebars, it produces a range of high-quality components, clothing and accessories.
SRAM
SRAM is a components manufacturer based in Chicago, Illinois. The company mainly produces drivetrains, for a wide variety of disciplines, alongside many other components. SRAM’s has acquired other brands within the industry such as Zipp, RockShox and Quarq.
Pirelli
Pirelli is a tyre manufacturer based in Milan, Italy. The company produces tyres for bicycles as well as motorcycles and cars. It is the sixth largest tyre manufacturer in the world, operating in over 160 countries.

There was a new-look start to the year for Quinn Simmons who made the long journey across to Australia to make his season and race debut at the Tour Down Under.

While racing in unfamiliar surroundings, the American could rely upon a much more familiar piece of kit in the form of his tried-and-tested Trek Madone. It’s a bike that has remained largely unchanged from the 2023 season, although Simmons’ bike had some interesting component and set-up choices that buck current trends and, in some instances, may soon fall foul of UCI regulations.

Here’s a closer look at the Lidl-Trek rider’s bike for the race.

Read more: Tour Down Under tech gallery: New bikes, shoes and custom components

Trek Madone: IsoFlow technology

The latest version of the Trek Madone, the American brand’s aero road bike, garnered plenty of attention upon its official release in 2022 thanks to its radical seat tube which features a gaping hole in it. This hole later took on a name and is now known as the brand’s IsoFlow technology.

Treks' IsoFlow technology in the seat tube

To even ardent tech nerds, the design was intriguing, but the motivation behind it was obvious: aerodynamics. It’s something that drives the majority of design decisions for brands and that’s certainly the case for the latest Madone which saves 19 watts when riding at 45kph compared to the previous iteration, according to Trek. As an added bonus, the frame is nearly 300g lighter too, which isn’t too surprising when you account for the missing material from the seat tube.

Another angle of the IsoFlow technology

For now, IsoFlow technology has been reserved for the Madone but that could all be set to change if sightings of what appears to be a new Emonda are to be believed.

Traditionally the brand’s lightweight climbing bike, Lidl-Trek’s Giulio Ciccone was recently spotted riding a version which appeared to feature the distinguishable IsoFlow tech. Adding an aero feature to a climbing bike may seem strange, but considering the potential weight savings that come with it, it makes perfect sense.

Read more: Has Giulio Ciccone been spotted on an unreleased Trek Emonda?

Turned-in levers haven’t gone just yet

Big tech news broke in the off-season when the UCI revealed that turned-in levers were in its crosshairs for the upcoming season, with new regulations in the works. These will limit the angle that riders can turn in their levers and officials were spotted measuring these angles at the Tour Down Under. It’s not yet been revealed what the maximum angle allowed will be, although CyclingWeekly reported that the tool used allowed for up to 10 degrees.

Either way, Simmons remained defiant in the race when we spoke to him, questioning how much difference the new regulations would make, saying: “It will have changed no safety at all now that my levers are three centimetres out, it just makes it more uncomfortable for me. But in the end, it’s the new rule and we have to play along by the rules of our sport.”

Read more: Quinn Simmons believes UCI is overlooking bigger safety issues amid new lever regulations

Simmons' levers were noticeably angled in

These views were mirrored in his set-up, with the SRAM Red AXS shifters noticeably pointing inwards. We didn't see whether they fell foul of the UCI’s new tool, but it seems unlikely from the picture below taken at the start line for stage 1.

Quinn Simmons' (centre) levers were angled in prior to stage 1

Hefty gearing

Simmons bucked the norms on other areas of his bike too, starting with the Bontrager RSL handlebars which, rather than being one-piece, had a separate Bontrager XXX stem. That’s a rare sight on aero road bikes where the pursuit of aerodynamic gains usually leads to one-piece systems.

The two-piece bar and stem bucks trends

There was more breaks from the norm, albeit minor, with the SRAM Red 56/43t chainset. That’s slightly larger than the size most riders are using which is a testament to Simmons’ power, something that was on full display on stage 2 when the American embarked on a late attack, although he was unable to take the win. The chainset included a built-in Quarq power meter.

Simmons had a larger chainset than most riders use

Wheels were provided, once again, by Bontrager in the form of the Aeolus RSL 51s. These were paired with Pirelli P Zero Race TLR in a - you guessed it - 28mm width. At this point, it’s hard to find a rider who isn’t running 28mm tyres, barring Specialized-sponsored teams.