The new Trek Madone has a hole in the seat tube and looks like a spaceship

By Jack Luke

Published: Sunday, 05 June 2022 at 12:00 am

A new and unreleased Trek Madone aero bike has been spotted at the 2022 Critérium du Dauphiné.

The new Madone sticks with a similar aero silhouette to the previous bike but features a large cut-out beneath the seat cluster. This creates a hole where the top tube, seatstays and seat tube meet.

This cut out has, presumably, been added in the name of aiding rear-end compliance and reducing aerodynamic drag.

Notably, this cut-out doesn’t appear to be marketed as an ‘IsoSpeed’ system – Trek’s signature frame technology. IsoSpeed sees the seat mast pivot on a bearing inside the top tube, allowing it to rotate more freely, increasing comfort.

IsoSpeed first debuted on the brand’s Domane endurance road bike in 2012 and was rolled out to the Madone in 2016 and, more recently, the Checkpoint gravel bike.

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A new Trek Madone has been spotted at the Critérium du Dauphiné.
Dario Belingheri / Getty Images

An integrated seat mast sits above the cut-out. This is similar in design to the current generation bike, with a narrow aero-profiled seat post sitting inside an extended seat tube.

The area around the bottom bracket has increased in size. This great big slab of carbon flows into the seat tube, which now hugs the profile of the rear wheel tightly.

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The new design has a large hole at the junction of the seat tube, top tube and seatstays.
Dario Belingheri / Getty Images

The top tube is no longer humped, following a straight path from the head tube back to the seat cluster.

The integrated one-piece cockpit also looks to have been updated. This now features a slimmer profile that tapers into a more heavily sculpted clamping area. There is also a distinct ramp pointing down towards the top tube of the bike at the rear of the stem.

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The Critérium du Dauphiné is often used to test new equipment ahead of the Tour de France.
Dario Belingheri / Getty Images

The Madone platform has only seen modest updates since it was revamped in 2016.

The bike was last updated in 2020 when it moved away from Trek’s contentious BB90 standard, adopting the threaded T47 standard.

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The last update to the Madone came in 2020 (pictured).
Simon Bromley / Immediate Media

Prior to this, 2018 saw the introduction of adjustable IsoSpeed and disc brakes.

The Madone sits alongside the Emonda SLR in Trek’s road race range, with the latter pitched as a lightweight-aero all-rounder following a redesign in 2020.

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Several Trek-Segafredo riders are using the new Madone on stage one of the Critérium du Dauphiné.
Dario Belingheri / Getty Images

With this new Madone emerging, it appears Trek is continuing to back the Madone as a dedicated aero road bike alongside the Emonda.

However, the new Madone presents a significant change from the outgoing model and, in an age where the likes of Specialized are pinning their colours to a single all-rounder in the form of the Tarmac SL7,  we look forward to learning more as details emerge.