Trek Madone SLR Gen8 - David and Goliath

A story that’s changing my life on the bike

Let me tell you my story.

A few weeks ago, I noticed a crack on the seat stay of my Trek Madone SL6.

God, I loved that bike. I have to confess there was some moisture dribbling down my cheek as I inspected the damage. The bike was so fast, it felt like cheating. Point it in the right direction, press the pedals and before you knew it, you’d be thundering along at warp speed with a huge grin on your face.

Flat Track Bully

The Gen6 Madone, was, let’s be honest, a bit of a flat track bully. Think of it as a kind of American muscle car. Shouty, brash and brutal. What’s not to like? I didn’t think you could actually make a better bike. Until…the crack appeared out of nowhere.

I rolled the bike down to Cyclefit believing that it was destined for the knackers yard. There was a collective sucking in of teeth when the fissure was pointed out.
And the dark clouds descended.

Midlife Cyclist Gurus

And then the midlife cyclist gurus, Phil & Barna, appeared. Could they save the day? The duet carefully inspected the FTB (Flat Track Bully) and immediately pronounced it unrideable. Not safe. Kaput. The end.

Hats & Rabbits

But maybe all was not lost. Phil, cautiously dangled the prospect of a rabbit out of a hat.

Perhaps Trek (for the avoidance of doubt, Goliath, in this tale) could be persuaded to replace FTB under warranty?
What? Yes, Trek have a lifetime guarantee on all their bikes. Who knew? Well, Phil & Barna obviously did.

Long Story. Short.

To cut a long story short, Phil worked his special magic and Trek kindly sent over a brand, spanking new Madone Gen 8 in the Trek/Lidl team colours. Amazing.

It's Ridiculous

But what’s even more amazing is the new Gen 8 frame. It’s ridiculous.

Barna wielded his spanners and wrenches and stuck all of the old stuff from the dead bike, groupset, wheels, bottle cages etc etc, on the very much alive bike. So, in a very unscientific experiment how did it stack up?

Wisconsin Wizards

I’ve no idea what kind of alchemy the engineers at Trek have cooked up in their labs in the wilds of Wisconsin but they’ve managed the impossible. I can’t quite believe this myself, but this bike is comfy and fast. Insane.

There’s a whole load of technical mumbo-jumbo about how Trek built the thing, but you can read that anywhere so there’s no point in regurgitating that here. All I can I talk about is how it feels.

It doesn’t have the seat of your pants thrill ride of the SL6 but it is faster. That can’t be possible, can it? Yup, in a drag race I reckon it’d kick the ass of the old Madone. Not only is it faster, it’s quicker off the mark too. You just touch the pedals and it’s gone. Whoosh!

Incline(d)

Hit any kind of incline and it’s not even a competition. The Gen 8 is so much lighter and more responsive. It positively loves a climb. On the old Madone it felt like you had to bully your way uphill, on the new version you just purr your way upwards. It’s like you’re not even trying.

Did I mention the handling? For the SL6 corners were a necessary evil – they got in the way of what really mattered – going flat out in a straight line. The Gen 8 whips round a bend so smoothly that you barely notice it’s there.

Planted & Frisky

Descending is a total joy. Planted and frisky all at the same time. It makes me look like I sort of know what I’m doing. Obviously, that’s an illusion but I’m not complaining.

And then there’s the general road stuff where it’s just so nimble. It flows in and out of traffic with a snaky litheness that’s difficult to get your head around.

I can’t really comprehend it. This bike is supple but also stiff. Comfortable but also fast. Light but also solid. None of that makes any sense but it’s all true. It is just the also bike.

Pensioner Power

As an ageing cyclist, well past my mid-life years, I need all the help I can get. The Gen 8 is the ultimate in pensioner power. I might be losing watts with every passing day, month and year but the Gen 8 pulls off the magic trick of making all of that disappear. Who wouldn’t want that????

Thank you Trek and Cyclefit for making an old man smile.

Postscript - Barna & Phil

If Trek is Goliath in this tale (they are the biggest bike company on the planet), why would a tiny company like Cyclefit, who prefer to specialise in building one-off bicycle commissions, venerate our relationship with the Big T, so highly?

Maybe because we have worked with them for nearly 25 years, or because we Cyclefitted their professional teams for four years, or that they are always on the front of any race-bred technology wave?

All of the above, but the reason is actually much simpler - we know and like the people. Trek is still a Wisconsin family-owned business.

Ergo - we feel like we can always start a conversation with people we know and trust. Our original Trek sales-rep, RJ (pictured below), from twenty five years ago is now high up in the UK company - he is still a friend and still down to earth. And the person who is responsible for all new bike model developments, Jordan (pictured below), used to be our Team Liaison at Trek Segafredo.
People tend to stay a long time with Trek and also tend be imbued with Wisconsin-inspired, teutonic common sense and decency.

Trek are the best in the business when it comes to warranty, but even then not everything is covered. Context is everything. David is a longstanding and loyal client, his bike is regularly and meticulously serviced by Barna, the bike was originally bought through Cyclefit and built by us. We sometimes even see David out riding in the park when we are out doing laps. All of which, made David's case straight forward - we knew the client and the bike very well. Moreover, myself and Barna quickly came to the same conclusions as to the extent and likely cause of the crack.
Trek listened, understood, empathised and then swiftly acted. A beautiful, brand new, Team Issue Gen8 SLR Madone was quickly dispatched for us to build for David. But we didn't tell David that until we were absolutely sure.

Which why this tale is called David and Goliath, not David Versus Goliath.