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Review: Trek Émonda SLR 8

My test bike, the Trek Émonda SLR 8, shares the same frame and fork (690 g and 280 g in Size 56, respectively) as the SLR 10, but has a less-rarified spec. The parts are still high-end: 11-speed Dura-Ace mechanical gruppo, Bontrager saddle, handlebar and stem. It rolls on Bontrager Race X Lite tubeless-ready alloy wheels. My SLR 8 frame had Trek’s racier H1 fit, but is available in the more upright H2 fit.

2014 Trek Émonda SLR 8
2014 Trek Émonda SLR 8
Trek Émonda SLR 8

Yes, saving watts by getting more aerodynamic will help you go faster. The gains you can get are undeniable. But, usually, you can’t really detect an aero gain without some sort of external validation. Weight, on the other hand, you can feel. You can feel how light a bike is.

Trek has the Madone for cheating the wind. To try to lessen the effects of gravity, it introduced the Émonda on July 1. The bike was a poorly kept secret by that point: photos of the machine at the Critérium du Dauphiné with the Trek Factory Racing team circulated in June and the name of the bike appeared on a list of approved frames and forks by the UCI. The bike had been in the works for roughly two and a half years. For members of the pro team who had Émondas to test, the official launch date couldn’t come fast enough, according to Royce Breckon, road brand manager at Trek.

Trek Émonda SLR 8

Components Shimano Dura-Ace Mechanical
Wheels Bontrager Race X Lite
Sizes 50, 52, 54, 56, 58, 60, 62
Price $8,500
Website trekbikes.com

The flagship model, the SLR 10, pulls out all the stops – all the grams, if you will – to get a complete bike that weighs 4.65 kg (10.25 lb.). With that bike, Trek used its top-of-the-line 700 series optimum-compaction, low-void (OCLV) carbonfibre formula. The company didn’t find any big weight savings in particular parts of the frame. An Émonda frame is only about 35 g lighter than a Madone frame. Trek shed grams with small changes: using oval-shaped tubes on the frame instead of the Madone’s Kammtail tubes, moving the rear brake from the bottom bracket to the seatstays and even using fewer and lighter cable stops. The SLR 10 is spec’d with only the lightest components: Tune tubular wheels and SRAM Red drivetrain.

My test bike, the SLR 8, shares the same frame and fork (690 g and 280 g in Size 56, respectively) as the SLR 10, but has a less-rarified spec. The parts are still high-end: 11-speed Dura-Ace mechanical gruppo, Bontrager saddle, handlebar and stem. It rolls on Bontrager Race X Lite tubeless-ready alloy wheels. My SLR 8 frame had Trek’s racier H1 fit, but is available in the more upright H2 fit.

While weight is the big story behind the Émonda, Trek did a lot of testing and development in other areas of the bike. “It’s extremely difficult to quantify just how a bike feels going into a corner, climbing in the saddle or climbing out of the saddle. You can do product testing with different riders. They can fill out a survey, so you can get good qualitative data. But we wanted actual numbers to hit while testing that we could use,” Breckon said. To get those numbers, which the company used to tailor the behaviour of different frame sizes, Trek developed a proprietary cornering computer model. The company combined this model with an old school method: riding bikes on a familiar five-mile loop. All this testing showed that the bike needed flex, that four-letter f-word that is often designed out of a frame.

“The bike needs to flex a little bit through a corner and give to the imperfections in the road to maximize traction and maximize confidence,” Breckon said. “Ultimately, it will make you faster on the bike.” Trek’s testers found one competitor’s bike that was so stiff it chattered on the corners. I took the SRL 8 to some of my favourite descents with twists and turns. The bike switched into those turns smoothly. I felt steady with whatever line I chose. Trek’s E2 asymmetric steerer was part of the bike’s cornering abilities. The steerer tube is wider across the front, narrower at the sides. The width is for lateral stiffness, which keeps the steering sharp. The narrow sides allow for some compliance and vibration management.

The bike needed flex, that four-letter f-word that is often designed out of a frame.

Another feature that manages the vibrations that move through the frame is the Ride Tuned seatmast. It works to create a “semi” integrated seatpost. The post extends up from the seat tube/top tube/seatstays junction. The mast is fastened to this extension. The setup takes advantage of the compliance engineered into the junction for a more comfortable ride. With the Bontrager Paradigm RXL saddle under my sit bones, long hours on the bike were easy to put in.

I’m a fan of long climbs. Put me on a bike, point it upward, and I’m good to go. The Émonda is a shoo-in for such rides. While I can keep going on climbs, long stretches of rollers can often leave me quite tenderized. I found the light weight of the Émonda made it a great partner for taking on my nemeses. The Race X Lite were also a help as they spun up nicely to help me up over those hills. The bike as whole is not just for climbing; it’s a well-rounded machine for any ride.