First Look: Trek Domane
We head to Belgium to test Trek's new entry in to the endurance road segment: the Domane.
Trek Domane: Built for rough roads and big days
Featuring slightly more upright geometry and stable handling, endurance road bikes have exploded onto the market in recent years. Most major manufacturers offer their own take on the segment. Conspicuously absent has been Trek, whose performance road line up has been spearheaded by the Madone, which has a more traditional geometry. With the launch of the all new Domane, Trek aims to rectify that particular gap in their line up.
Developed for over two years and tested on the pavé of Belgium, with input from RadioShack-Nissan-Trek star rider Fabian Cancellara, the Domane incorporates a whole host of comfort enhancing features.
The key feature of the Domane is what Trek is calling their ISO Speed technology, which de-couples the seat tube from the top tube and seatstays. ISO Speed allows the seat tube to flex and dampen vibrations over rough terrain, in a way that is not possible with a fixed top tube-seat tube junction, giving greater compliance.
By isolating the seat tube from the rest of the frame, Trek was able to build the Domane with a greater level of compliance, without affecting stiffness.
To match the greater compliance in the rear, Trek designed a new fork with more rake to absorb and dissipate the impact from rough roads. In order to maintain proper steering geometry, the fork dropouts are slightly offset to the rear, compensating for the additional rake. The fork utilizes the same H2 headtube design as the Madone, with 1.5” lower bearing, to maintain side to side stiffness for steering accuracuy.
The final key piece of the comfort puzzle for the Domane is a new geometry to help increase comfort and stability, while maintaining sharp handling. Trek lengthened the wheel base, lowered the botton bracket and decrease the head tube angle of the Domane, compared to the Madone.
We will be putting the Domane to test in Belgium to see how the new features work together. Look for a full ride and test report in the upcoming June-July issue of Canadian Cycling Magazine. For more photos of the new bike, please visit our Facebook page.
