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Trek Émonda SLR 9 Review

Are you in the market for a new road bike? If so, you may want to consider the Trek Émonda SLR 9.

This high-performance bike has been turning heads in the cycling world, but is it worth the hype?

When it comes to road bikes, there are countless options to choose from.

It can be overwhelming trying to find the perfect bike that meets all of your needs.

The Trek Émonda SLR 9 is a top-of-the-line road bike that promises to deliver speed, comfort, and performance.

With its lightweight frame and cutting-edge technology, it’s no wonder cyclists are raving about this bike.

In this article, we will take a closer look at the features and performance of the Trek Émonda SLR 9 to help you determine if it’s the right bike for you.

– Lightweight carbon frame: The Émonda SLR 9 features a Ultralight 800 Series OCLV Carbon frame that is not only incredibly light but also stiff and responsive, allowing for quick acceleration and precise handling.

– Top-of-the-line components: Equipped with Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 electronic shifting and Bontrager Aeolus RSSL 37 carbon wheels, this bike offers smooth and precise gear changes and excellent power transfer for maximum speed.

– Aerodynamic design: The Émonda SLR 9 features a sleek and aerodynamic design that reduces drag and allows you to cut through the wind with ease, giving you a competitive edge on the road.

– Comfortable ride: Despite its focus on speed, the Émonda SLR 9 doesn’t compromise on comfort. It features a H1.5 geometry that provides a more aggressive riding position while still maintaining a comfortable posture for long rides.

– Precision handling: With its responsive and precise handling, the Émonda SLR 9 allows you to navigate tight corners and descents with confidence, giving you full control over the bike.

– Versatile performance: Whether you’re racing, climbing mountains, or going for long endurance rides, the Émonda SLR 9 is designed to excel in all types of road cycling disciplines, making it a versatile choice for riders of all levels.

– Sleek and stylish design: With its clean lines, modern color schemes, and attention to detail, the Émonda SLR 9 is not only a high-performance machine but also a bike that looks great on the road.

One of the standout features of the Émonda SLR 9 is its frame.

Made from Trek’s Ultralight 800 Series OCLV Carbon, the frame is incredibly light yet still maintains excellent stiffness and strength.

This allows for efficient power transfer and ensures that every pedal stroke propels you forward with minimal energy loss.

The frame also features Trek’s H1.5 geometry, which strikes a balance between aggressive racing positioning and all-day comfort.

The components on the Émonda SLR 9 are nothing short of impressive.

It comes equipped with a full Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 electronic groupset, providing precise and lightning-fast shifting.

The Dura-Ace brakes offer exceptional stopping power, allowing you to confidently navigate descents and corners.

The bike also comes with Bontrager Aeolus RSL 37 carbon wheels, which are lightweight and aerodynamic, further enhancing the bike’s speed capabilities.

Performance

In terms of ride quality, the Émonda SLR 9 delivers a smooth and responsive experience.

The combination of the lightweight frame, high-quality components, and aerodynamic design make it feel incredibly agile and nimble on the road.

Whether you’re sprinting on flats or climbing steep hills, this bike accelerates effortlessly and handles with precision.

Comfort is also a priority on the Émonda SLR 9.

The carbon frame helps to absorb road vibrations from the Ride Tuned performance tube optimization, reducing fatigue on longer rides.

The H1.5 geometry ensures a more upright riding position, which can be more comfortable for those who prefer a less aggressive stance.

Additionally, the Bontrager saddle provides adequate support and cushioning, allowing for hours of comfortable riding.

Overall, the Trek Émonda SLR 9 is a top-of-the-line road bike that delivers exceptional performance and ride quality.

Whether you’re a competitive racer or a recreational cyclist looking to push your limits, this bike is sure to impress.

With its lightweight frame, high-quality components, and comfortable design, the Émonda SLR 9 is a worthy investment for any cyclist seeking the ultimate ride experience.

Order yours online today and pick it up at your local Trek store, or have it shipped to your home!

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The New Trek Émonda Is Faster Than Ever

Already one of the fiercest climbing bikes available, the new Émonda is even faster thanks to a dose of aero.

The Takeaway: The Émonda SLR is a benchmark pro race bike—and it’s surprisingly rider friendly.

• It has 183 grams less drag than the previous generation, but the frame is only 33 grams heavier
• There are 10 models starting at $2,699
• SL models ($2,699 to $5,999) have the aerodynamic shaping and features but in a frame that’s about 400 grams heavier than the SLR
• SLR models ($6,699 and up) use a new carbon fiber composite that’s 30 percent stronger than Trek’s previous top-of-the-line carbon.

For Émonda SLR bicycles, Trek will provide an individual handlebar and stem until an updated handlebar/stem combo is available.

Additionally, all customers who bring in their handlebars for replacement will also receive a $100 in-store credit that can be used toward any Trek or Bontrager merchandise through December 31, 2022.

Remember professional road racing ? It’s that thing where super skinny people go unbelievably fast up and down hills and fly over flat roads for hours at a time. It’s been a while since the pros have beat up on each other for our entertainment, but there might, hopefully, be some races on the horizon. When the races do resume, Trek’s pro riders will be aboard its new third-generation Émonda climbing bike. The new Émonda isn’t lighter, but it is faster thanks to a dose of aerodynamic tuning.

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Now With Aero

The new Émonda gets a major drag reduction with a tiny weight gain.

Simple Seat Mast

The seat mast has lots of adjustment range, and an easy-to-use saddle clamp.

Light and Slippery

The new Bontrager Aeolus RSL 37 wheels are light, sleek, and stable.

Wide and Threaded

The T47 bottom bracket has a wide stance, and user-friendly threads.

A built-in chain watcher prevents unwanted derailments.

Making the new Émonda frame more aerodynamic wasn’t exactly a tough hurdle as the previous Émonda had virtually zero aerodynamic optimization. But adding meaningful aerodynamic benefit while achieving the frame stiffness expected of a pro-caliber race bike, maintaining the well-regarded handling properties of the previous Émonda, and adding rider-friendly features like a threaded bottom bracket—all with adding only 33 grams (SLR frame, claimed)—is quite a feat.

Below you’ll find my review of the Émonda SLR—I’ve been on it since early March—followed by a dive into the technology and features of the new bike, and a brief model breakdown.

Ride Impressions: Émonda SLR 9 eTap

The Émonda SLR is a tool made to fulfill the needs of some of the world’s best road racers. This bike will never be as comfortable or versatile as a gravel bike. Going fast on pavement and climbing performance are its only goals. These are obvious facts, but that’s the lens through which it must be viewed. And through this lens, it is one of the very best.

The new Émonda was born out of a request from Trek’s pro racers and pitched as the company’s “fastest climbing bike ever.” So little surprise they set me up with the lightest model (the SLR 9 with SRAM Red eTap ), which also has a build kit almost identical to the team’s bikes. It’s also, excepting customized Project One builds, the most expensive model at a buck under 12 grand.

That massive pile of clams gets you an aerodynamic frame with disc brakes, power meter, and wireless electronic shifting that weighs less than 15 pounds (54cm). And that’s with a hefty T47 threaded bottom bracket unit, lustrous paint , clincher wheelset, a chain-watcher, standard butyl tubes, 37mm deep rims, 160mm disc rotors front and rear, and SRAM’s largest Red cassette (10-33). That’s “Holy shit!” impressive.

By cutting drag a ton without adding much weight, it’s hard to argue with Trek’s claim that the new Émonda is faster than the outgoing generation. But if you have any doubts, they’ll be erased when you ride it. This is an explosive bike: it feels as light as a feather and as solid as a steel girder at the same time.

Trek’s Émonda has always been a raw and rowdy bike that feels a little wild and a bit dangerous in precisely the ways you want a race bike to feel: That’s not lost with the added aerodynamics. If anything, the new Émonda is even crisper and punchier than before, which is saying something.

A small downside to all this fury is the Émonda’s smoothness. Light and stiff race bikes aren’t a smooth-riding lot to begin with, but even measured against a stiffer riding genre, the new Émonda is on the firmer end of the scale. Still, it escapes harsh or punishing labels—I did a six-hour ride on the Émonda on the stock 25 tires and didn’t feel worn down by its ride. Swapping to 28s helped a lot (no surprise) and were on the Émonda for the bulk of my testing. I’d suggest reserving the lighter and more aerodynamic stock 25s for racing or PR attempts—assuming good roads—and use 28s as daily drivers.

The Émonda’s handling is excellent. Well, let me caveat that: Road racing geometry is pretty uniform, so whether I’m on a current race bike from Trek, Specialized, Cannondale, Cervélo, Canyon, Colnago, Wilier, Pinarello, BMC, Giant (etc., etc.), I find the broad strokes of their handling feel and performance quite similar. There wasn’t anything about the Émonda’s handling or cornering performance that set any new benchmarks for me, but there wasn’t anything to dislike either.

It was quick and accurate, diving into corners with a light touch. It offered great feedback, so I always knew where I was relative to its and my limits, and I could count on it to be consistent and predictable. It was maybe a touch less settled in bumpy corners than the Specialized Tarmac, but the Émonda never broke traction or skipped. Overall, for such a light bike, the Émonda is remarkably solid and drama free. I’d have no qualms barreling down a technical alpine descent on the Émonda.

I received this test bike in early March, giving me plenty of time to ride it back to back with its primary competition—a Specialized S-Works Tarmac , what I consider the benchmark for aero-ized lightweight bikes. The Tarmac is smoother over the bumps and has a silkier feel overall, but the new Émonda feels more efficient, like it can go faster more easily.

I’ve also ridden a good slice of the Émonda’s competition, including the Canyon Ultimate CF SLX , Colnago V3Rs, Cannondale SuperSix Evo , Cervélo R5, Wilier Zero SLR , Pinarello Dogma F12 . These are all superb bikes, but I feel the Émonda is the class leader. It feels sharper and more explosive than all of them. It feels faster, and that’s what matters most in a race bike. But I also like that the Émonda is pretty straightforward and rider-friendly.

For example, I swapped the stock one-piece bar/stem for a standard stem and round bar. One, I could run a standard bar and stem on this bike, which you can’t say about every modern race bike. And two, I didn’t have to pull any cables, wires, or hoses to make the swap: Again, something you can’t say about all race bikes. For the record, the shape of the one-piece Aeolus bar/stem is great, and the tops are the most comfortable to grab of all the aero-topped bars I've used. The only reason I swapped is my preferred length and width combination (110x40) wasn't available yet.

The BB is threaded, which makes it easier to service and replace than a press-fit (however, I was getting some noise out of the BB area, which I never resolved). The wheels employ standard offset, and it uses regular thru-axles. It’s compatible with pod-style power meters and mechanical shifting. Its signature seat mast is pretty much the only non-standard thing about this frame, and even then, it’s pretty user-friendly. There’s no cutting necessary, height adjustment is ample, the saddle clamp is easy to use, and it’s travel-case friendly.

I expect so much from a modern high-end pro-level road racing bike that it’s hard to exceed those expectations. It’s rare when a bike does: The Émonda SLR is one of those rare bikes.

Team Request

The new Émonda is partially a result of a request from the Trek-Segafredo race team. “They are one of our primary customers,” said Jordan Roessingh, Trek’s director of road product. “And they started to realize that it’s not just weight, it’s not just stiffness and responsiveness, there’s this other thing—aerodynamics and speed—that’s also really important to be competitive and be faster on the bike. They had been one of the loudest voices saying, ‘We need the lightest-weight, stiffest bike possible.’ And now they started coming back saying ‘We need those things, but we also need the bike to be faster in order for us to be really competitive.’ ”

It is (comparatively) easy to make a light frame, it is easy to make a stiff frame, it is easy to make an aerodynamic frame. Making a frame that’s two of those three things is more challenging: Making a bike more aerodynamic usually makes it heavier, making a bike lighter typically makes it less stiff, etc. Making a frame that is light AND stiff AND aerodynamic enough to satisfy the demands of a top-level professional race team is extremely difficult.

But not impossible. Many brands already make a light, stiff, and aero bike. The Specialized Tarmac is one, as are the Canyon Ultimate, the Cannondale SuperSix Evo, the Cervélo R5, the Wilier Zero SLR, the Pinarello F12, the Scott Addict, and the new Giant TCR . All of them seek to balance the three qualities—light, stiff, and aero—in the pursuit of the ideal race bike, and they all manage the balance differently. The common thread between these bikes: They’re all used by teams that compete against Trek-Segafredo.

Still Light, Now With Aero

The previous generation Émonda SLR Disc , launched in 2017, was an extremely light frame at 665 grams (claimed). But when a frame is already that light, it is much harder to make it even lighter. At least lighter enough to make a meaningful difference.

So, Trek took a different approach to making its climbing bike faster—instead of lighter, it made it more aerodynamic. The new Émonda frame is a touch heavier—yet still extremely light at 698 grams—but the bike has 183 grams less drag than the previous generation.

The important thing to note here is that, though the frame is more aerodynamic, the 183 gram drag reduction is not from the frame only. New wheels and a new aero bar (more info on both below) play a role. The specific setups Trek used to get that 183 gram number are: 2018 Émonda with 28mm-deep Bontrager XXX 2 wheels, and Bontrager XXX Bar/Stem Combo compared to the 2021 Émonda with 37mm deep Bontrager Aeolus RSL 37 Wheels and Bontrager Aeolus RSL Bar/Stem Combo.

Another drag saving upgrade: the housing, hoses and wires for the controls are almost fully inside the frame. They dive into the frame at the head tube passing through the upper headset bearing. The front brake hose runs into the fork steerer and down the left leg before popping out just above the brake caliper. The fork steerer’s flattened sides provide room for the rear brake hose and derailleur control lines to travel down and into the frame. Though it has flattened sides, the fork steerer is still compatible with standard 1 1/8” stems.

The overall drag reduction results in a bike that is 18 seconds per hour faster when climbing an 8.1 percent grade (the average grade of Alpe d’Huez ), and 60 seconds per hour faster on flat roads than the previous Émonda. Trek also claims the new Émonda is 13 seconds per hour faster than a Specialized Tarmac when climbing an 8.1 percent grade (all assuming the rider maintains a constant 350 watts).

Eight Point One Percent

With three qualities—aero, stiffness, weight—that work in opposition to each other, how do you decide how much to optimize one quality when you know it will negatively affect the other two? How aero is aero enough? At what point is improved aerodynamics offset by the weight added to get there?

The team behind the Émonda used a legendary climb to help them decide: Alpe d’Huez. “It represents an extreme example of what most people see on a regular basis when they’re doing a big climbing ride,” said Roessingh, “It’s around an 8 percent grade, and it’s about an hour-long climb for the pros—amateurs might go a little slower. It gives us a good understanding of what the benefit of a drag savings is relative to a weight savings.”

By optimizing the weight and aerodynamic balance around this climb, Roessingh claims the Émonda is faster on Alpe d’Huez and also faster on everything shallower than the famous climb, “which is the vast majority of the environments that most riders are going to ride in, including the team,” said Roessingh. “So if we can say it’s faster up Alpe d’Huez, it’s going to be significantly faster everywhere because the flatter it is, the more aerodynamics benefit you.”

Computer-Aided Optimization

Achieving the weight to the aerodynamic balance of the new Émonda required careful design of each tube shape. Aiding the Émonda’s team was supercomputing horsepower. The abridged and simplified version of the process goes like this: into the computer was fed a rough draft of the shape based on Trek’s aerodynamic experience and other information like UCI regulations. The program then varies the tube’s parameters within a predefined range and spit back several iterations of the shape, each with a different weight to aerodynamic balance. The Émonda’s team evaluated the alternatives and picked the one most suited to its location in the frame and best able to help the frame achieve its overarching goal.

Roessingh says that Trek cannot afford to buy the computing hardware necessary to run the CFD and FEA optimizations (in a timely manner) that helped shape the new Émonda’s tubes. The processing happens in the cloud where Trek rents time on Google, Microsoft, or Amazon’s supercomputers. It’s more affordable than buying a supercomputer. Even so, it is not cheap, “Cloud computing is becoming a relatively significant budget line item for us because we’re doing so many of these optimizations in CFD and FEA and all that processing happens in the cloud.”

The new Émonda’s fork legs, head tube, down tube, seat tube, and seat stays all use a variation of a truncated airfoil. The top tube and chainstays, which have virtually no effect on drag, are optimized almost entirely for stiffness to weight.

In Trek’s line, the new Émonda’s aerodynamic performance is equal to the third generation Domane ; the Madone is still significantly more aero. But while the more aerodynamic Madone is faster in flatter terrain, once the climb hits about 5.5 percent, the lighter Émonda becomes the faster bike. And for many of the Trek-Segafredo team riders—and many amateurs—that means the Émonda is fastest when it matters most: the hardest part of a race or ride, which is almost always on a steep climb.

OCLV 800 Carbon

Getting the new Émonda SLR to be as light as it is while adding aerodynamic shaping would not be possible without employing a new carbon-fiber composite, said Roessingh. The new OCLV 800 composite is 30 percent stronger than Trek’s previous top-of-the-line composite (OCLV 700). Because it is stronger, they can use less: By using OCLV 800, Trek’s team was able to make the Émonda SLR frame 60 grams lighter than if they used OCLV 700.

The Émonda SLR is very cool, but it’s also very expensive (bike prices start at $6,699). For the 99 percenters, there’s the Émonda SL (models start at $2,699).

The SL uses OCLV 500 composite, and the frame is quite a bit heavier than the SLR’s. The SL’s frame comes in at 1,142 grams, with a 380-gram fork (SLR fork weight: 365 grams).

But material (and weight) are the only difference between the SL and SLR.

Aeolus Bar Stem

While a ton of work made the Émonda’s frame tubes faster, a big chunk of the new bike’s drag savings comes from the one-piece Aeolus bar stem. It alone is responsible for 70 grams of the Émonda’s 183-gram drag reduction. This means that if a traditional stem and round bar are installed on the new Émonda, its drag advantage over the previous-generation bike drops to 113 grams. And it means that you can make any bike with a round bar and traditional stem significantly more aerodynamic by merely installing the Aeolus. Retail price is $650.

The integrated Aeolus is made of carbon-fiber composite, of course, with a claimed weight of 297 grams (42x120). It’s offered in 14 length and width combinations, from 44x120 to 38x80. Hoses, housing, and wires run externally for easier service and repairs, but in a groove that keeps them out of the wind. A bolt-on plate keeps the control lines tucked and organized where they turn off the bar tops to run in line with the stem.

The Aeolus employs a mount that works with Bontrager’s line of Blendr accessories for mounting computers and lights.

Aeolus 37 Wheels

Another new Bontrager product rolling out with the Émonda is the Aeolus 37 wheelset. It comes in two models: the Aeolus RSL 37 (1,325 grams/pair, $2,400) and the Aeolus Pro 37 (1,505 grams/pair, $1,300).

The RSL 37 is claimed to be lighter than Zipp’s 32mm-deep 202, yet more aerodynamic and more stable than Zipp’s 45mm-deep 303. Both wheels are disc brake only (only Center Lock interface), tubeless compatible, use DT-Swiss internals, have no rider weight limit, and come with a lifetime warranty.

Surprisingly Rider Friendly

Though the new Émonda is clean and integrated looking and uses high-performance standards, it is also remarkably rider-friendly. Cables, hoses, and housing run externally on the one-piece Aeolus bar/stem for easier repair and service (with one exception: wiring for a Shimano Di2 or Campagnolo EPS bar-end junction box runs partially inside the bar). If you prefer a more traditional cockpit, it can be run with a standard bar and stem with 1⅛-inch steerer clamp.

The bottom bracket uses the threaded T47 standard , which is compatible with almost all common crank-axle standards.

Front and rear thru-axles are standard 12x100 and 12x142mm, and the wheels employ a standard dish. The standard flat mounts for the brake calipers are compatible with 140, 160, or 180mm rotors.

Tire clearance is officially 28mm, but that’s with a ton of extra space. I fit 32mm tires in the Émonda with ease.

And though all models do use a seat mast, it’s a no-cut variety with lots of adjustment range.

H1.5 Geometry

Trek did offer its top-of-the-line race bikes in the aggressive H1 geometry for riders seeking an ultra-long and low geometry, or H2 which was an endurance fit. The new Émonda is offered only in H1.5, which splits the difference between H1 and H2. The result is pretty typical dimensions for a modern race bike—a 54cm Émonda H1’s geometry is remarkably similar to a 54cm Specialized Tarmac.

There are eight sizes starting at 47cm and topping out at 62cm.

There are 10 models of the new Émonda. SL models start at $2,699 and are priced up to $5,999. SLR models start at $6,699 and go up to $11,999.

Only SLR models come with the Aeolus integrated bar/stem stock; and only the Émonda SL 7 ($5,499) and up come with the Aeolus 37 wheelset.

The new Émonda is a disc brake-only platform.

Project One

The new Émonda is in Trek’s Project One paint and parts personalization program. If that’s not luxe enough for you, Trek’s Project One Ultimate program allows you to work with a designer to come up with a one-of-a-kind finish, and Trek will source any parts you want for your new bike.

Trek Émonda SLR 9 eTap

A gear editor for his entire career, Matt’s journey to becoming a leading cycling tech journalist started in 1995, and he’s been at it ever since; likely riding more cycling equipment than anyone on the planet along the way. Previous to his time with Bicycling , Matt worked in bike shops as a service manager, mechanic, and sales person. Based in Durango, Colorado, he enjoys riding and testing any and all kinds of bikes, so you’re just as likely to see him on a road bike dressed in Lycra at a Tuesday night worlds ride as you are to find him dressed in a full face helmet and pads riding a bike park on an enduro bike. He doesn’t race often, but he’s game for anything; having entered road races, criteriums, trials competitions, dual slalom, downhill races, enduros, stage races, short track, time trials, and gran fondos. Next up on his to-do list: a multi day bikepacking trip, and an e-bike race. 

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2021 Trek Emonda review: the semi-aero, ‘faster everywhere’ climbing bike

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First introduced in 2014 , the Emonda has always been Trek’s premier climbing bike, with a keen focus on low weight and high stiffness. However, we now have a much better understanding of the role aerodynamics play when it comes to going fast — even when climbing — and, as expected, the brand-new Emonda SLR and Emonda SL bikes have undergone an aero makeover. The Emonda is still light, and it’s still stiff, but now there’s an extra dose of free speed included, too.

Story Highlights

What it is: The latest iteration of Trek’s premier climbing-specific road bike. || Frame features: Mild aero tube shaping, OCLV 800 carbon fiber construction, internal cable routing, T47 threaded bottom bracket. || Weight: 698 g (claimed, unpainted 56 cm frame only); 365 g (claimed, unpainted fork only); 6.81 kg (15.01lb), complete 52 cm Emonda SLR 9 eTap model as tested, without pedals.|| Price (as tested): US$12,000 / AU$15,800 / £9,700 / €11,000 || Highs: Low frame weight, excellent chassis stiffness, superb handling, intelligently designed internal routing system, traditional shape, no more BB90. || Lows: Somewhat chattery ride quality, no rim-brake option, long-term headset hassles.

The three-legged stool of performance

It has long been the prevailing mainstream sentiment that aerodynamic efficiency is only important when you’re moving fast — and given the non-linear way aerodynamic drag holds a rider back with increasing speed, there’s some truth to that. However, even moderately fit riders are still often going fast enough on most climbs that aerodynamic efficiency can play a measurable role, and given the “free speed” that the existing Emonda left on the table, Trek saw fit to make use of that potential with the latest redesign.

As Giant recently did with its TCR range of light-and-stiff road racing bikes, and Scott before them with the latest Addict RC , the new 2021 Emonda now sports truncated-airfoil tube profiles on the down tube, head tube, seat tube, seatstays, and fork blades. The no-cut integrated seatmast remains round, as does the telescoping seatmast head.

Upper-end Emonda SLR models also get a new Bontrager Aeolus RSL integrated carbon fiber stem and handlebar, the latter with notably flattened tops. Unlike the integrated setup on the full-aero Madone SLR , this is a true one-piece design with no angle adjustment so as to save weight.

Just like that Madone cockpit, though, the previous Emonda’s once-exposed cabling up front has been replaced with a fully hidden setup in the interest of more cleanly slicing through the air, with derailleur and brake lines now entering the frame at the head tube, immediately in front of the stem. Several new Emonda models will come with revamped Bontrager Aeolus aero carbon clincher wheels, too (and you can read about those in more detail here ).

So, just how aero is this thing?

According to Trek, if you were to take two identical riders, each putting out 350 watts, and put one on an old Emonda and the other on the new one, the one on the new Emonda would have a minute lead after an hour — on flat ground, that is. But the Emonda is supposed to be a climbing bike, no? Well, if you took those same two riders and sent them up L’Alpe d’Huez (a 13.85 km-long climb with an average gradient of 8.1% and maximum gradient of 13%), the rider on the new Emonda would finish 15 seconds ahead. On the Stelvio? Twenty-one seconds. And on something as long as the Taiwan KOM Challenge, Trek says the rider on the new Emonda would have 80 seconds to kick their heels up before the other rider showed up.

“We expect the vast majority of riders are going to choose Emonda,” said Trek’s director of road and Project One, Jordan Roessingh. “Madone is still significantly faster, but you’ll see a lot of Emondas under riders.”

Trek says the engineers behind the shape of the new Emonda obviously had to tread a very fine line between making the new bike more aerodynamic and sacrificing the traits that make the bike what it is, supposedly going through hundreds of CFD (computational fluid dynamics) and CAD (computer-aided design) models of various individual tube and frame shapes before arriving on the final form.

In the end, the new Emonda SLR is still primarily a light-and-stiff machine in the classic sense, and claimed weight for an unpainted 56 cm frame is just 698 grams, with the matching fork adding 365 g (the Emonda SL is 1,142 g and 380 g). In either case, paint adds another 25-100 g, depending on design. Overall, the figures are hardly heavy, but still slightly heavier than the previous model nonetheless. Likewise, stiffness figures have fallen off a bit as well, although supposedly not enough to make any difference.

“The key stiffness numbers – Trek Full Frame, Tour BB, and Vertical Compliance — are all within 5% of the old frame,” Roessingh said.

Potential buyers shouldn’t expect any improvement in ride quality, either, which is perhaps a touch surprising given how much Trek has emphasized rider comfort on other performance-minded platforms — including the Madone.

“The [ride quality] goal was to match the vertical compliance of the old bike,” said Trek road product manager Anders Ahlberg. “We were really close, within 7%, so most people shouldn’t notice a difference.”

One nice surprise is an apparent boost in frame durability. For the Emonda redesign, Trek developed a new carbon blend for the higher-end SLR models, dubbed OCLV 800. As expected, it’s lighter than the OCLV 700 mix that was used last year, with Roessingh saying the new frame shape would have been about 60 g heavier otherwise given the increase in surface area. However, OCLV 800 is also said to be 30% stronger than OCLV 700 and absorbs more energy, thus offsetting the brittleness that usually accompanies increases in fiber modulus.

Fewer geometry options, no more rim brakes

Trek has resisted temptations to follow other industry trends like dropping the seatstays (doing so apparently would have added 50 g of weight), and the Emonda retains its semi-classic double-diamond configuration with just a modest slope to the top tube. Although it’s a very different machine than the one it replaced, it still sports a traditional aesthetic, which plenty of potential buyers will appreciate.

More controversial will be Trek’s decision to only offer the new Emonda with disc brakes ; there is no rim-brake option, even for Trek-Segafredo team riders. According to Trek, its mainstream customers haven’t expressed any interest in “investing in old technologies”, and with an increasing number of pro teams and riders already making the switch, there was seemingly less motivation than ever to develop parallel models.

That said, it’s worth mentioning that the vast majority of Emonda buyers will never see a race (and, thus, will never be subject to UCI minimum weight rules), so the loss of a true ultralight climbing bike from a major brand is kind of a bummer. It wasn’t long ago, after all, that Trek offered the ultra-premium rim-brake Emonda SLR 10, with a claimed weight of just 4.6 kg (10.25 lb). Weight-weenies looking to save every possible gram will, of course, be able to build for themselves a custom bike that’s lighter than the stock Emonda SLR 9 flagship model, but being locked into disc brakes will obviously limit potential on the scale.

Somewhat expectedly, Trek has also decided to merge the existing H2 and H1 frame geometries into a middle-of-the-road H1.5 variant across the entire Emonda family, just as it did with the Madone a couple of years ago. As the name suggests, H1.5 is not as long or low as the H1 variant (which was only offered with Project One custom builds and bare framesets), but it’s more aggressive than the H2 geometry that graced every complete stock Emonda previously.

“None of our pro riders needed anything lower than [H1.5],” said Roessingh. “If they can get aggressive enough, the vast majority of consumers should also be able to achieve their fit.”

Trek has also done away with women-specific models for the Emonda range entirely, which is an especially intriguing move given how much time, energy, and money Trek has invested in its Women Specific Design project in years past.

Just as Specialized (and others) have changed tack in recent years on the same subject, Trek’s position now is that the Emonda’s H1.5 geometry is sufficiently accommodating so as to work for nearly everyone, regardless of sex or gender. To Trek’s credit, each Emonda is offered in a generous eight-size range — from 47 cm up to 62 cm — and there are a decent number of stock color options, too. Perhaps more to Trek’s point, the revised geometry supposedly hasn’t been an issue for the Trek-Segafredo women’s road team, either.

Smaller sizes nevertheless get some slightly adjusted spec, and Trek says it has programs in place with its dealer network that allow customers to swap various fit-related components (such as saddles) at little-to-no cost.

Here’s to the mechanics

There are several other updates on the new Emonda, a few of which will warm the hearts of home and professional mechanics alike.

First and foremost, Trek is continuing to transition away from its problematic BB90 press-fit bottom bracket design, opting to equip the Emonda with the same slightly modified T47 threaded shell that already graces the Domane endurance road bike and Crockett cyclocross bike. This should not only reduce the incidence of creaking, but will also make regular maintenance much less of a headache. The move to T47 will also finally allow the use of oversized spindles in a high-end Trek road bike, whereas BB90 would only work with 24 mm-diameter setups like Shimano Hollowtech and SRAM GXP.

According to Trek, the move to T47 did increase the frame weight by about 30 g relative to what it would have been with BB90 given the metal sleeve required. However, the convenience factor more than outweighed that nominal gain — pun intended — and when you consider that most cranksets with oversized spindles are actually lighter than their non-oversized counterparts, the total system often actually ends up lighter, anyway.

Trek’s interpretation of T47 is admittedly a millimetre narrower than the wide-format T47 system that was already on the books so as to provide better tool purchase, but it nevertheless doesn’t present any real compatibility headaches since existing T47 bottom brackets will still work just fine here.

It’s also worth mentioning that while the Emonda has moved to a fully concealed cable system, the way Trek has accomplished this is far easier to live with than most. Instead of routing the lines internally through the handlebar and stem, the Bontrager Aeolus RSL cockpit on the Emonda SLR tucks the brake hoses and derailleur housings (or wires) into channels molded on the underside of the bar and stem. Bar tape holds everything in place further out on the tops, while a single profiled clamp secures the whole lot underneath the stem. Combined with the conveniently split headset spacers, there’s no need at all to disconnect the brake or derailleur lines if you need to swap a stem length or bar width, therefore keeping a 15-minute job from turning into one that potentially takes a few hours.

Those lines do still run down through the middle of the upper headset bearing, however, and the front brake hose also takes a detour into the inside of the steerer tube just above the lower headset bearing. As a result, swapping either headset bearing will be anything but a quick job. The front brake hose also needs to be cut quite precisely for a proper fit as there isn’t a whole lot of wiggle room inside the front end for excess length.

“[There’s] not as much as we would like — maybe about 2 cm?” admitted Ahlberg. “That’s the one downside to the serviceability of an externally grooved system.”

Models and availability

Trek will offer five models each of the Emonda SLR and Emonda SL (specifics vary based on region). The former will feature the top-end OCLV 800 carbon fiber blend and Bontrager Aeolus RSL integrated cockpit, while the latter will use the same frame shape — but a lesser OCLV 500 carbon fiber mix — and a more conventional handlebar and stem combo. According to Trek, the weight difference between Emonda SLR and Emonda SL models with comparable build kits is about half a kilogram or so (1 lb).

Not pictured are the following models:

– Emonda SL 6 Pro, built with a Shimano Ultegra mechanical groupset and Bontrager Aeolus Elite 35 wheels; 8.06 kg / 17.78 lb; US$3,800 / AU$5,500 / £3,350 / €3,880-4,000

– Emonda SLR 6, built with a Shimano Ultegra mechanical groupset and Bontrager Aeolus Pro 37 wheels; 7.26 kg / 16.0 lb; US$6,700 / AU$9,300 / £5,450 / €6,200

– Emonda SLR 7 eTap, built with SRAM Force eTap AXS and Bontrager Aeolus Pro 37 wheels; 7.35 kg / 16.2 lb; US$8,800 / AU$11,850 / £6,850 / €7,800

– Emonda SLR 9, built with Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 and Bontrager Aeolus RSL 37 wheels; 6.78 kg / 14.95 lb; US$12,000 / AU$15,800 / £9,700 / €11,000

Trek will also make the Emonda SLR (but not the Emonda SL) available for purchase through its Project One program, which will allow buyers to customize the build kit and paint to better suit their taste (and budget). Going along with the addition of the Emonda SLR model to the Project One ecosystem are several new Icon-level paint jobs, as well as new KOM variants with more minimal finishes to save precious grams. Both of these come at a more premium price than the more standard finish options, but they’re also quite stunning to behold.

The Emonda SL and Emonda SLR will also be offered as bare framesets, with pricing and availability to be confirmed.

Forget about all the tech talk — what’s it like to ride?

Trek may only just be officially launching the new Emonda range today, but the company was actually able to provide me with an early sample of the top-end Emonda SLR 9 eTap model several weeks ago — which I’ve been riding since then. Actual weight for my 52 cm sample without pedals or accessories was a feathery 6.81 kg (15.01 lb), complete with a SRAM Red eTap AXS wireless electronic groupset, Bontrager’s new Aeolus RSL 37 lightweight carbon clincher wheels, the new Bontrager Aeolus RSL one-piece carbon fiber handlebar-and-stem, a carbon-railed Bontrager Aeolus Pro saddle, and 25 mm-wide Bontrager R4 320 tires.

Just as you’d expect, the bike is a superb climbing companion. The low weight is certainly noticeable, as is the impressive chassis rigidity. It’s more of a hot-air balloon on the climbs rather than an anchor — especially on steeper pitches — and there’s a tangible sense of efficiency when you push on the pedals. Gaining altitude just feels easier relative to something heavier and/or less rigid than what Trek has produced here.

I know, I know. A light and stiff bike is good for climbing? Big surprise. And while the Emonda SLR 9 eTap is light, it’s not exceptionally so, so a more exotic setup would obviously feel even better in this respect.

What goes up must come down, of course, and what was far more impressive to me is how the Emonda SLR 9 eTap behaves at high speeds. Some lightweight bikes I’ve ridden — especially ones with lightweight wheels — can feel nervous or jittery when charging down descents, but that’s certainly not the case here. In fact, I found the bike to feel just as calm and composed at 80 km/h (50 mph) as it does at 18 km/h (11 mph). With a 58 mm trail figure, the front end is still appropriately quick and darty, and just as I’ve enjoyed on the Madone, the Emonda is a joy to snake down twisty canyon downhills. However, there’s also a reassuring sense of stability and solidity when all you want to do is hold your line.

The ride quality is a little on the chattery side, but that’s to be expected, not only given the genre, but also the bike’s emphasis on structural efficiency. It’s not unusually rough, however I still found myself wishing for a bit more tire clearance here. The stock 25 mm tires work well on well-maintained asphalt, but riders regularly finding themselves on rough tarmac (or even dirt) would be advised to max out the Emonda’s tire clearance.

Speaking of which, Trek’s track record of being conservative in terms of what will fit and what won’t seems to be holding up here. Although Trek officially only approves the Emonda for 28 mm-wide treads, there’s still more than 42 mm of space in between the pinch point at the chainstays. As for what will actually squeeze in between there … well, that’ll depend on how much leeway you want to leave for yourself.

But is the bike really more aerodynamic than the old Emonda? Unfortunately, I can’t really say since I didn’t have an identical previous-generation model to compare against. However, if you take Trek’s claims at face value, what I like is that they’ve managed to infuse a fair bit of aerodynamic efficiency into the equation without taking away what people really like about the Emonda family — including the traditional appearance, which is much easier said than done.

As a result, the aero bit will be more of a nice bonus to most buyers with no significant downsides that I can see, and I mean that in quite the literal sense as this is a really good-looking machine with refreshingly traditional lines and proportions. I personally could do without the giant Trek logo on this particular paint job, but so be it. Thankfully, Trek’s Project One program gives you more than a few options for choosing something more subtle, and according to Trek’s figures, a shocking percentage of high-end customers go the custom route.

Kudos to Trek, too, for investing some time and energy into making the new bike easier to live with over the long haul.

I didn’t experience any bottom bracket creaking issues on my test sample, but then again, it’s only been a few weeks, and the bike hasn’t seen any water, either. However, if it does occur — let me remind you that even threaded bottom brackets are prone to creaking — it’s a far more straightforward process to take the assembly apart for a quick cleaning, greasing, and reinstallation. There are also heaps more aftermarket options available here as compared to what you could do with the old BB90 setup. Good riddance, I say. Trek can’t introduce T47 on to the rest of the road range soon enough.

As someone who regularly takes things apart for a living, the channeled external routing setup on the integrated handlebar-and-stem combo is not only a huge sigh of relief, but a solution that’s so obvious in hindsight that it’s a wonder why more brands don’t do something similar (for the record, Canyon has long used this approach for its integrated cockpits). Yes, it’s visually perhaps not quite as clean as fully internal setups, and yes, you can feel the housing a bit when you wrap your fingers around the bar tops (which, on my sample, were only partially wrapped, although I’d personally opt to wrap the bars the usual way for a surer grip and improved comfort). However, both of those compromises are exceedingly minor relative to the massive headache that internally routed handlebars can often bring on.

Conversely, though, the fact that the control lines are routed through the headset bearings will eventually be a pretty big pain in the rear end for riders that regularly head out in the wet. At minimum, replacing the lower bearing will require you to disconnect the front brake hose (in addition to removing the fork as usual). If you need to replace the upper bearing, you’ll also need to undo all of the cables completely. In either case, there’s a decent chance you’ll need to rebleed the brake(s) after you’ve got everything back together, too.

It doesn’t exactly help, either, that there’s no supplemental rubber seal between the fork crown and lower head tube, meaning the lower bearing is perilously exposed — a scenario that’s become very common since bike brands started molding crown races directly into the fork crown.

Such is the cost of progress, I suppose.

That said, I’m a big fan of the somewhat unusual dimensions of this integrated setup even with the non-adjustable tilt. Most companies these days have committed to a compact bend, which is nice in the sense that it makes the drops more accessible for more riders, but somewhat silly in the sense that your posture actually changes very little when you move your hands back and forth between the various hand positions.

The drop dimension on the Bontrager Aeolus RSL is pretty average at 123 mm, but the reach is quite long at 93 mm (80 mm or so is far more typical), and Bontrager’s trademark Variable Radius bend lets you utilize every bit of that length instead of forcing your hands further rearward. As a result, there’s ample room to really stretch out your back when you need or want to, and there’s far more real-world position variation than what you usually find on most modern setups. How much do I like it? I’m actually considering using one of these on my personal Seven road bike.

Overall, Trek has done a solid job here of updating the Emonda, infusing meaningful improvements in several key areas, but without breaking the basic formula that has made the bike so popular. I could obviously do without the long-term headaches associated with the headset bearing situation, but aside from that, there’s not much to complain about here, and an awful lot to like.

Just don’t be shy with the grease down there, eh?

www.trekbikes.com

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seizes li\u00e8ge-bastogne-li\u00e8ge with dominant solo display\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n "},{"title":"trek launches carback radar rear bike light with 2 km daytime visibility","url":"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/news\/trek-carback-radar-rear-bike-light-challenges-garmin\/","markup":" \n \n\n\n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/news\/trek-carback-radar-rear-bike-light-challenges-garmin\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"trek launches carback radar rear bike light with 2 km daytime visibility\"}}\u0027>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n\n \n\n \n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/news\/trek-carback-radar-rear-bike-light-challenges-garmin\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"trek launches carback radar rear bike light with 2 km daytime visibility\"}}\u0027>\n trek launches carback radar rear bike light with 2 km daytime visibility\n \n \n \n \n \n\n 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\"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"key takeaways: li\u00e8ge-bastogne-li\u00e8ge 2024\"}}\u0027>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n\n \n\n \n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/key-takeaways-liege-bastogne-liege-2024\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"key takeaways: li\u00e8ge-bastogne-li\u00e8ge 2024\"}}\u0027>\n key takeaways: li\u00e8ge-bastogne-li\u00e8ge 2024\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n "},{"title":"kona bikes bails on sea otter classic with no explanation","url":"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/news\/kona-bikes-bails-on-sea-otter-classic-with-no-explanation\/","markup":" \n \n\n\n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/news\/kona-bikes-bails-on-sea-otter-classic-with-no-explanation\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"kona bikes bails on sea otter classic with no explanation\"}}\u0027>\n \n \n \n \n \n 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\n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-gear\/sea-otter-randoms-limited-edition-saddle-updated-ritte-salsa-e-bike-and-more\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"sea otter randoms: limited edition saddle, updated ritte, salsa e-bike and more\"}}\u0027>\n sea otter randoms: limited edition saddle, updated ritte, salsa e-bike and more\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n "}]' > >", "name": "footer-menu", "type": "link"}}'>advertise >", "name": "footer-menu", "type": "link"}}'>privacy policy >", "name": "footer-menu", "type": "link"}}'>contact >", "name": "footer-menu", "type": "link"}}'>careers >", "name": "footer-menu", "type": "link"}}'>terms of use >", "name": "footer-menu", "type": "link"}}'>site map >", "name": "footer-menu", "type": "link"}}'>my newsletters manage cookie preferences privacy request healthy living.

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Trek Emonda SLR 9 eTap Long-Term Review: Light for Climbing, Slippery for Speed

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Trek has touted the Emonda as its climbing bike since introducing it in 2014. But the 2021 revision threw aerodynamics into the light-is-right alchemy, producing a road race bike that blurs category lines.

Editor’s note:  Trek issued a recall on this bike and is replacing the integrated stem and handlebar free of charge to the customer. Learn more in our full article .

The claimed aerodynamic gains over the prior model are huge. Trek states that the current Emonda is 60 seconds faster per hour at 350 watts of output on the flats. The claimed gain on an 8% grade is 18 seconds.

And the bike is still substantially lighter than Trek’s aero road race bike, the Madone. The current equivalent Madone has a claimed weight of over 1.3 pounds heavier than the Emonda SLR 9 eTap.

I used the Trek Emonda SLR 9 eTap as a long-term review bike, putting it on the roads for 18 months. The bike rolled across super smooth, new tarmac and neglected country blacktop. I tested other parts on the bike and took it on several trips to ride terrain different from my home in the Hill Country of Central Texas. It has been in my testing rotation longer than any bike.

In short: The Trek Emonda SLR 9 eTap is a pure race bike at the highest end. Although it may be called a climbing bike, the new aerodynamics vault it into a well-rounded road racing machine of the highest caliber. And it still satisfies the weight weenies.

How Aero Is the Emonda?

Aerodynamics on a bicycle frame is mainly dependent on tubing shapes. And often, going “full aero” means losing vertical compliance, which hinders comfort. Super aero tubing also often adds weight.

Trek had to walk fine lines to keep the weight and compliance advantages and maintain lateral and torsional stiffness. But engineers wanted substantial free speed offered by improved aerodynamics.

Modern bike designers use CFD (computational fluid dynamics) and CAD (computer-aided design) to help them in their quest for the ultimate alchemy of shapes to produce the intended results. And Trek claims they scrutinized every inch over hundreds of CFD and CAD models.

The result is truncated-airfoil profiles other than the seat tube, which is still round. Trek also went integrated, with a one-piece bar and stem that hides the cables from the wind.

The claimed reduction in drag is 182 g, with the claimed frame weight for an unpainted 56 cm size being 698 g.

Somewhat surprisingly, Trek kept the non-dropped seat stays. This greatly pleased my antiquated tastes in bicycle aesthetics.

Other Significant Frame Changes

Trek didn’t stop at the truncated airfoil. The brand incorporated several other significant changes.

Trek used to offer aggressive (H1) and more upright (H2) geometries but split the difference on the new Emonda SLR with the middle-of-the-road H1.5. This singular geometry follows the lead of the full aero Madone.

Surprisingly, Trek omitted women’s-specific Emonda frames. But it does offer a full spread of sizes, from 47 cm to 62 cm.

T47 Bottom Bracket

Gone is the BB90 press-fit bottom bracket. A T47 threaded bottom bracket takes its place, pleasing home mechanics everywhere. The BB90 was reportedly problematic, although I never experienced issues with any Trek BB90 bottom brackets.

Not only does this follow the current trend to a homologated bottom bracket standard, but T47 also allows oversized crank spindles where BB90 did not.

800 Series OCLV Carbon

Trek’s longstanding OCLV (Optimum Compaction Low Void) carbon on the Emonda SLR frame moved from 700 series to 800 series, purportedly to allow aero profiles without a concomitant increase in weight.

The Waterloo, Wisconsin-based brand claims the new carbon contains fibers that are 30% stronger, with the same amount of stiffness as before, and with no gain in mass. This means less material is required to maintain the same positive characteristics, which translates to aero shapes without adding weight.

Trek also developed over 50 new carbon layups (how the carbon fibers are aligned) to create the new 800 Series OCLV. Real-world testing of the final layup choices was done by the professional Trek-Segagredo team. And the brand builds these frames in Waterloo.

Trek Emonda SLR 9 Ride Experience

Testing high-end road bicycles these days is an act of trying to split hairs that have already been split. All these bikes are sublime. Any differences in performance are minuscule, and much of it is subjective. But here’s my best attempt after 18 months of solid use.

Damn, It’s Light

There is no getting around how light the bike is (our 56 cm tester weighs a verified 14 pounds, 5 ounces with tubed tires). That attribute alone brought me joy when accelerating or climbing. The Emonda SLR 9 eTap floated like a butterfly. No need for more explanation. Remember when race bikes were 21 pounds?

The H1.5 geometry fits me exceptionally well. I have had custom-built titanium road race frames, and if I ever ordered one again, I would replicate the Emonda SLR geometry.

I am 6 feet tall, but my inseam is only 32 inches, making my torso long. My lower back is accustomed to road racing positioning, but my hips and hamstrings are not exceptionally flexible. I found the reach and stack spot on, and the stock-integrated 100mm stem, without spacers, was also perfect.

The 42cm-wide bars of the Bontrager RSL felt correct, but I had to move the SRAM Red brake hoods a touch higher up the bar’s primary curve to feel comfortable. Moving the hoods up the bar created slack in the brake hoses that was hard to manage. The stiff hoses run straight from the underside of the bars through the head tube.

A tiny range of brake hose lengths will provide a clean run. So this is a concern to anyone that wants to change the dimensions of the front cockpit. But lines are not threaded through the bar, simplifying at least that part of the process.

Stiffness vs. Compliance

Climbing out of the saddle and sprinting revealed that the Trek Emonda SLR chassis is plenty stiff laterally and torsionally about the head tube. The bottom bracket felt equally rigid, and I never felt like the frame was squandering energy.

Riding a stiff, efficient bike typically means trading off some vertical compliance and comfort. And I felt the Emonda SLR chassis sat on the efficient side more than the comfortable side. But it wasn’t overly so, as it tends to be with super light bikes. Much of how the bike felt regarding compliance came down to wheels and tires.

The Emonda SLR 9 eTap came with tubeless-ready Bontrager Aeolus RSL 37 wheels, which felt like a great all-around road wheel. But the Bontrager R4 320 tires (with tubes) were 25c. I felt wider tires on hookless rims with lower air pressures would drastically improve the comfort. Trek states that the frame can accept 28c tires.

It was ridden with various wheels and tires over 18 months as a long-term review bike. Using hookless wheels, 28c tires, and lower pressures improved comfort drastically.

I felt like just swapping the tires to 28c on the RSL 37 stock wheels would be such a welcome change. But going to a wheel like a Zipp 404 Firecrest or Zipp 353 NSW with the ability to use lower pressures (for me, on those wheels, I ran under 72 psi) was an absolute game changer.

It gave me the best of both worlds. A light, super efficient bike that kept me comfortable over long hauls on rough chip seal blacktop.

As expected, the Trek Emonda SLR 9 eTap was a snappy, quick-turning bike. On twisty tarmac, it felt like it wanted to turn about the head tube axis, with the rest of the bike to follow — more of a “turn and flick” instead of the other way around. It was one of the quicker-steering road bikes I’ve tested over the last few years.

Yes, the bike required attention on the straights and in groups, but I never thought it was twitchy or nervous. It reacted to small inputs without delay, but that’s what I expect in a WorldTour race bike. The bike wasn’t a lazy café cruiser, and it shouldn’t be.

On wider radius turns on smooth pavement at high speeds, the Emonda was pure joy. I felt the chassis was reading my mind, putting the tire contact patches precisely where I desired, and fed me the tactile information I needed to predict how it would respond to any slight irregularities in the road.

How Fast Is the Trek Emonda SLR 9 eTap?

The bike came with a SRAM Red eTap AXS groupset with a power meter. And I’m familiar with the power output versus speed on my regular routes. I’m not a human strain gauge, but subjective feelings mated with the power output did convince me that for a “non-aero” bike on moderately aero wheels, the Emonda SLR 9 eTap was a rocket.

On calm days on smooth, flat pavement, the feeling of speed while churning a tall gear was palpable and brought a big grin to my face. Trek’s data points to an aero gain while climbing, but I felt the bike’s super light weight and stiffness contributed more to my feeling of speed on ascents.

With either the Bontrager RSL 37 wheels or the mentioned Zipp wheels, I didn’t feel any buffeting or other negatives of aero profiles except in extremely windy conditions. Only once did the buffeting cause an unstable feeling to the point where I tensed up.

I had exited the cover of trees on a speedy descent, and the sudden, super-gusty, 90-degree crosswind got me pretty good. I cannot say that about other “full aero” setups, which I’ve found somewhat puckering when large trucks pass me.

So, in the end, I felt like the aero gains of the new tube shapes delivered free speed without much downside.

Final Thoughts

One trend in cycling that I don’t necessarily like is the continued segmentation of products. The number of mountain bikes one could “need” is astounding. And coming from road racing in the ’80s, the “need” for a climbing bike and an “aero” bike seems superfluous. Now throw in gravel rigs, and you could have a garage full of bikes.

I can somewhat understand having multiple mountain bikes, as different terrains’ travel and handling requirements dictate wholly differing chassis. But road bikes? Most of us will never see the level of competition that demands different chassis and a slew of wheels. But plenty of serious recreational cyclists buy high-end road bikes, and it’s the category that splits choices into “aero” and “climbing.”

Although Trek labels the Emonda SLR 9 eTap as a “climbing” bike, with the aero gains, it makes a perfect all-around high-end road bike. It’s under the minimum legal weight for the WorldTour, satisfying the weight-obsessed.

It has enough aero shaping for legitimate free speed gains, yet it doesn’t ride like a brick (especially with wider tires and lower pressures). And it’s super efficient.

The MSRP of the Trek Emonda SLR 9 eTap is an astonishing $13,000 . It sits at the top of the Emonda SLR lineup. But the pricing is in line with other bikes of the same caliber. And for that money, to me, the bike should perform well in all areas. Which it absolutely did.

Trek does offer Emonda SL bikes with the same aero gains at a much lower price, using 500 Series OCLV carbon.

Trek Domane Gets Racier, Looks to Keep Reputation for Comfort

Trek cut up to 1.5 pounds of frame weight off the Domane, its all-around road bike that cyclists have long known for a comfy ride. Read more…

Seiji Ishii is Editor at Large at the AllGear network and the Climbing and Cycling editor at GearJunkie.

He has been writing about cycling, climbing, outdoor endeavors, motorsports, and the gear and training for those pursuits for 20+ years.

Before AllGear, Ishii was a freelance contributor to print and web publications related to his interests and professional experiences. He continues to pursue climbing and cycling objectives seriously.

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2021 Trek Émonda SLR 9 eTap road bike first ride review – An aerodynamic climber

Trek’s flagship 2021 Émonda SLR 9 eTap model is the third generation of the American brand’s climbing specialist. With a completely new frame, a new Bontrager cockpit and wheels, the latest model also promises to deliver on flat terrain. Read on to find out whether Trek have mastered the balancing act between aerodynamics and light weight and how it compares to the Madone.

The Émonda has always been Trek’s quintessential road bike and the lightest model in their portfolio. The Émonda series has always developed in quantum leaps, taking Trek into a new era with every new generation: while the goal of the first generation was to fall below the 5 kg mark, the flagship model of the second generation already came in at just under 6.8 kg, including disc brakes . Trek were yet to include features such as internal cable routing, aerodynamic optimisation or increased tire clearance. That’s all about to change with the brand new, 2021 Émonda SLR 9 eTap, which was developed from the ground up in close cooperation with Trek’s in-house pro racing team. The briefing of Trek-Segafredo was to fill the gap that had opened up between the lightweight Émonda and the aero optimised Madone ! A lightweight, aerodynamic bike that combines the best of both extremes, making it a high-performance all-rounder. While the advantages of aerodynamic bikes are obvious, it was extremely important for the team to meet the UCI weight limit of 6.8 kg. For top-performing athletes in the pro peloton, this is an entirely legitimate and important objective as they’ve already optimised their own weight to the maximum and races are often won or lost depending on the riders’ power to weight ratio.

The concept of the Trek Émonda frame

The latest generation Émonda is as light as Trek’s current know-how was able to make it while keeping the design aerodynamically optimised. Heavily influencing the bike’s development was the climb to Alpe d’Huez with its 21 hairpin bends, 1,120 meters of altitude over 13.8 kilometres and an average gradient of 8.1%. As you can imagine, weight played a crucial role. If aerodynamics were the only issue, the Émonda would have ended up looking just like the Madone. According to Trek, the latter will still be faster when it comes to wind resistance on flat terrain. However, the size 56 Madone weighs 7.63 kg, considerably more than the size 58 Émonda SLR, which comes in at just 6.86 kg. In contrast to the Madone, the aerodynamic optimisation of the new Émonda didn’t concentrate on the effect of high-speed wind hitting the bike head-on, but rather on the type of turbulent winds and gusts that you’re likely to encounter while climbing alpine passes such as Alpe d ‘Huez. This is referred to as slow or unsteady aerodynamics, which places a higher emphasis on constantly changing wind directions and rider positions at slow to medium speeds. Of course, the tube shapes and aerodynamic details developed in this way should also offer advantages over traditional round tube designs at high speeds, though not quite at the same level as a pure-bred aero bike such as the Madone. If you compare the difference in cross-sections of the tubes between the 2018 Émonda and the latest generation model, you can clearly see how aerodynamic optimisation affects the design of the bike.

In order to achieve the optimal balance between aerodynamics and weight, Trek rely on a new carbon technology called OCLV 800. Developing this new proprietary composite was a necessary step in achieving their goal since aerodynamically shaped tubes are typically heavier and less stiff than round tubes. Previously, OCLV 700 was Trek’s best performing carbon composite. According to Trek, when comparing OCLV 700 and 800, they were able to make the frame 60 g lighter, all else being equal. Considering the raw frame weight of 698 g for the SLR model (incl. derailleur hanger), that’s a saving of close to 10%. The new wonder material is reserved exclusively for the SLR models while the Émonda SL range will rely on Trek’s OCLV 500 grade composite. This results in almost double the raw frame weight, bringing it up to 1,140 g (incl. derailleur hanger). Like all of Trek’s road bikes, the new Émonda is approved for a rider weight of up to 125 kg. Trek also approve the use of the Émonda on a home trainer. Unfortunately, they couldn’t tell us whether the bike’s weight and aerodynamic optimisation would also have a positive effect on your results in a race on Zwift. 😉

The latest design of the Émonda is optimised for 25 mm wide tires with a maximum clearance of up to 700 x 28C. This includes the prescribed 4 mm of clearance per side plus an additional 2 mm tolerance. In practice, this means that you should be able to fit slightly wider tires, depending on the rim and tire combination. For the bottom bracket, Trek rely the T47 standard, which we first saw on Trek’s new Crockett cyclocross bike and is likely to feature on all future models. Besides being compatible with 24 and 30 mm axles, Trek see further advantages in the oversized bottom bracket housing as it provides added torsional rigidity. The frame set doesn’t only eschew with mounting points for mudguards but also Trek’s proprietary IsoSpeed system, as featured on the Madone and Trek Domane to much acclaim for the comfort that it adds. Even the dropped chainstays as you’ll often see on modern road bikes have had to give way to weight optimisation and maximum performance. Similar to the GIANT TCR Advanced SL 0 Disc or the OPEN MIN.D . Trek have integrated the seat post and seat cap, though with a comparatively generous adjustment range of 60 mm. Cable routing is internal throughout. The Émonda is compatible with all current electronic and mechanical groupsets as well as two-by drivetrains with a maximum chainring size of 53/39 t and one-by drivetrains with a maximum chainring of 50 t. It is disc brake specific only, whereby customers can choose between 140 or 160 mm rotors on the rear and the front is exclusively compatible with 160 mm rotors. Other features rounding off the frameset include the 100×12 mm thru-axle standard up front and 142×12 mm at the rear as well as the option of integrating Bontrager’s DuoTrap sensor into the chainstay.

However, Trek didn’t focus solely on optimising the frame but rather considered the bike as a whole as they developed the new Émonda. They invested heavily in their cooperation with the in-house brand Bontrager to develop a coherent overall concept, especially with regards to the cockpit and wheels.

Bontrager’s Aeolus RSL one-piece cockpit

The one-piece Bontrager Aeolus RSL cockpit made of OCLV carbon was designed specifically for the Émonda SLR and is reserved exclusively for the flagship models, while the SL models have to make do with a conventional stem and handlebar. We were particularly impressed with the way the included Blendr bracket for your GPS device and light attaches seamlessly to the handlebar. Even the cable routing is neat. Instead of routing the cables through the handlebar, they are guided along a channel in the bottom of the bar and stem and then enter the frame via a specially designed spacer, as on the ROSE REVEAL . This makes maintenance and replacements a whole lot easier. The Aeolus RSL cockpit is optimised for eTap (AXS) and Di2 groupsets and relies on the conventional 1 ⅛” steerer tube diameter, making it cross-compatible with other bikes. It’s equally compatible with mechanical shifters. However, the housing of your shifter cable could protrude slightly from the channel for the cables. The cockpit comes with a stem angle of -7°, a reach of 100 mm and a drop of 124 mm. You’ll be able to use conventional spacers on either side of the stem in order to set your desired cockpit height without having to shorten the steerer tube. On top of that, the cockpit is claimed to be 7 watts more efficient than its predecessor and is approx. 160 g lighter than the two-piece, integrated cockpit featured on the Trek Madone. See the table below for the available cockpit configurations (options vary depending on the market).

New Bontrager Aeolus wheels on the 2021 Trek Émonda

In addition to the brand new cockpit, Trek present a new range of Aeolus wheels. The carbon wheels are available in three versions: RSL, Pro and Elite. All models are designed for clincher tires, tubeless-ready and exclusively for disc brakes with 24 spoke holes, centerlock rotor mounts, 12 mm thru-axles front and rear and no weight limit. The freehubs are compatible with Shimano 10/11-speed and SRAM 10/11-speed cassettes across the range, whereby 12-speed freehubs will be sold separately. All of Bontrager’s products come with the so-called Unconditional Bontrager Guarantee . See the table below for all the details at a glance.

The concept behind the Aeolus RSL 37 TLR disc wheels as featured on our test bike is en par with that of the Émonda: lightweight with good aerodynamic performance.

Project One for the Émonda

Project One has long been the go-to for all Trek enthusiasts who want something a little more special than the standard paint jobs and spec, never failing to deliver some truly jaw-dropping creations! Included are three new ICON paint jobs, Amplified Alchemy, Holographic Diamond, and Gold Flake (including real 24k gold), as well as the new KOM signature series. Besides the pre-configured ICON paint jobs, Project One allows customers to choose any colour combination from 49 different shades. In terms of componentry, you can take your pick of any component that Trek’s portfolio offers. If that’s not enough, we recommend taking a closer look at Project One Ultimate. Here, one of Trek’s own designers will help you realise your dream build with a professional custom paint job and every conceivable componentry spec. Price? Available on request.

Trek Émonda SLR 9 eTap 2021 – geometry and spec

Unlike the predecessor, Trek have done away with the two different geometry options, H1 (aggressive sitting position) and H2 (more relaxed sitting position), designing the new Émonda around H1.5 geometry. This should offer a good balance between aggressiveness and everyday suitability. Trek also refrain from gender-specific models, offering all frame sizes for both women and men. Instead, the stem, crank and handlebar are adjusted to suit smaller riders. In terms of fit and geometry, the Émonda is heavily based on the Madone aero bike.

Depending on the frame size, the integrated seat post can be combined with two seat caps of different lengths. For sizes 47 to 54, you get a 135 mm long cap. The frame sizes 56 to 62 come with a 175 mm cap. Both caps are available with 5 or 20 mm offset, to allow you to find the optimal fit. The adjustment range of the seat post cap is 60 mm for both variants.

The flagship model that we tested came with a 2×12 SRAM RED eTap AXS groupset (click for review) , including an integrated Quarq power meter, priced at € 10,999 and weighing in at just 6.86 kg in size 58. The spec list at a glance:

Groupset SRAM RED eTap AXS, 2 × 12, 48–35T Cassette SRAM RED 10–33T Brakes SRAM RED eTap AXS 160/160 mm Wheels Bontrager Aeolus RSL 37 TLR Disc Tires Bontrager R4 320, 700 x 25C Seat post Bontrager carbon integrated, 20 mm offset Handlebar Bontrager Aeolus RSL Integrated, OCLV Carbon, 440 mm Stem Bontrager Aeolus RSL Integrated, OCLV Carbon, 110 mm Weight 6.86 kg in size 58 Price 10.999 € Availability now at official dealers

Trek Émonda first ride review

On our first ride, the Émonda delivered a convincing performance with extremely light-footed acceleration. No matter whether you’re exiting a corner, from a standstill or on an incline: the slightest bit of pressure on the pedals is immediately converted into forward propulsion. The surprising thing is not just how fast the Trek accelerates in every situation, but how efficiently it is able to maintain its speed on flat terrain or on ascents with a gradient of 1-2%. Speed all-rounder? Check!

The Trek doesn’t hide its competitive genes with regards to handling either, responding to the rider’s input with extreme precision. For experienced pilots, this results in handling that allows you to navigate tight corners even at high speeds. However, this also means that beginners should approach the Trek’s direct and precise handling with caution. It’s like a road-legal Formula 1 car and it needs to be handled accordingly. However, all this doesn’t mean that it’s difficult to keep the Trek going in a straight line. The geometry allows you to hold a straight line without any feeling nervousness or like you’ll get a speed wobble, successfully combining agility and composure.

As with the handling, you have to remind yourself of the type of bike you’re dealing with when considering comfort. The vertical compliance of the frameset is limited due to its aggressive nature, offering limited comfort on extended rides. The Émonda is not uncomfortable per se since it offers a pleasant degree of vibration damping. However, bigger bumps are passed on to the rider unfiltered. The more competitive riders amongst us will enjoy the feedback that you get from the ground, while those who prefer just cruising will miss the IsoSpeed damping system. Just like handling and comfort, the riding position screams pro-peloton and is aggressively stretched. Due to the combination of an integrated seat post and seat cap, it is important to go for a bike fitting before deciding which size to buy and make sure that you’ll be able to get comfortable. Although the adjustment range is comparatively big, riders with long legs and a short torso might reach the limits of what’s feasible due to the bike’s design.

How does the Émonda compare to the Madone

Èmonda or Madone? This is a question that not only the professionals will have to ask themselves in future races. As expected, the Émonda clearly has the edge in mountainous terrain, when sprinting up steep inclines and winding up endless climbs. Even on the descents, the razor-sharp handling and fast acceleration out of the corners put it far ahead of the Madone. On flat terrain, the Èmonda comes in at a very close second to the Madone as it is unaffected by changing wind conditions and crosswinds, delivering an equally convincing performance here. Even if it is slightly “slower” than the more aerodynamic Madone when studied in a laboratory, it has some clear advantages over the Madone in certain scenarios.

The Madone is perfectly equipped for everything from hilly to flat terrain. If you’re not racing against the clock on the climbs but simply trying to defeat your inner bastard, you can also tackle those mountain passes on the Madone. It is lightning-fast on flat terrain, but its oversized tube shapes and deep rims also make it very sensitive to crosswinds. In terms of comfort, the Madone is clearly superior: the IsoSpeed damping system doesn’t affect efficiency while taking the horror out of bad roads and is a huge plus on long rides. It allows you to go on long rides in a relaxed fashion without having to make an appointment with the physiotherapist when you get home.

Our conclusion on the 2021 Trek Émonda SLR 9 eTap

Trek’s 2021 Èmonda SLR 9 eTap is a speed-seeking all-rounder with super quick acceleration and razor-sharp handling in every situation. Anyone looking for a bike to take to the races or with a need for speed on their flat-out after-work ride will find it here. If you enjoy long all-day rides, you’ll find more versatile alternatives in the Madone or the Domane, which are much more comfortable. The Émonda was built with the aim of conquering Alp d’Huez’s 21 hairpin bends as quickly as possible and that’s exactly what it is ready for!

• light-footedness and speed in every situation
• high precision
• race-level stiffness when attacking
• coherent overall concept
• tidy look with excellent attention to detail

• race-level stiffness all the time

For more information about the Èmonda visit trekbikes.com . If you want to know more about the latest Bontrager products check bontrager.com .

Did you enjoy this article? If so, we would be stoked if you decide to support us with a monthly contribution. By becoming a supporter of GRAN FONDO, you will help secure a sustainable future for high-quality cycling journalism. Click here to learn more .

Words & Photos: Benjamin Topf

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The new 2021 Trek Émonda mixes climbing prowess with better aerodynamics

What happens to a lightweight performance bike when a company reduces its drag.

The new 2021 Trek Émonda has been released by the Waterloo, Wis.-based company. The frame, which has been Trek’s lightweight climber’s bike since 2014, is now more aerodynamic than its predecessors. Adding wind-cheating gains to a bike that is not primarily an aero machine is something Trek has done before. In 2019, when the endurance-oriented Domane was updated , it fared better in the wind. Usually, aerodynamic tube shapes add weight to a bike. In the case of the Émonda, I wondered how Trek could keep the frame true to its climbing roots. Could it really fight gravity and wind?

The top-end model of Trek’s 2014 Émonda weighed in at a little more than 10 lb. or 4.6 kg. The second-generation, launched in 2017, featured disc brakes, while the frame continued to weigh less than 700 g. Still, members of the Trek-Segafredo team wanted more out of the Émonda. “There was just a big gap between the Émonda and the Madone,” says Matt Shriver, technical director of the pro road teams, comparing the lightweight bike with Trek’s aero road bike. “But the team was pushing for a new Émonda that didn’t lose the ride characteristics, the geometry and its snappy feeling.” And it had to be more aero.

One of the designers at Trek who participated in the balancing act of reducing drag while also keeping the weight down is aerodynamicist John Davis. He and his team looked at making the bike faster up the iconic Tour de France climb, Alpe d’Huez, through a simulation. “We know if we reduce the weight, we’ll be faster up Alpe d’Huez,” he says. “But that’s not necessarily the most efficient way to get there. Before we did any engineering at all on the bike, we decided to create a road map. What’s the most efficient way to be faster up Alpe d’Huez? The way to do that was to take the current bike and calculate the time up the climb. Then, what happens if we add 500 g of weight to the bike in order to reduce the drag by 100 g? We did that tradeoff for every single point: plus or minus 1 kg of weight and plus or minus 30 per cent in aero. What we got on our road map was a set of contours similar to elevation contours on a map. If you want the fastest way up a mountain, you go where the contours are closest together. We did the same thing with our road map, where the contours are the time up Alpe d’Huez. We checked where we started, then we saw if we reduced about three times the drag for every unit of weight. That’s the fastest way to go faster up the climb.”

2021 Trek Émonda SLR 7 Image: Nick Iwanyshyn

2021 Trek Émonda SLR 7. Image: Nick Iwanyshyn

The Shimano Ultegra 52/36-tooth crankset on the Trek Émonda SLR 7 sits in a T47 bottom bracket, which should prevent any creaking. Image: Nick Iwanyshyn

Davis employed a lot of computing power not only to run his aerodynamics work, but also to connect with members of the structures team. He would see what effects his changes would have on weight and other design implications.

A climber’s bike—which generally has rounder, shallower tubes than an aero machine to keep weight down—usually goes up an incline at slower speeds and faces gustier winds, often moving at similar rates to the bike itself. These three elements—tube shapes. slower speeds and gusty conditions—create what Davis calls unsteady aerodynamics. It’s a lot harder to manage unsteady aerodynamics compared with the steadier variables that surround a time trial bike cruising in a straight line on a flat course. Still, the tricky aero conditions are what David and his team addressed with the new Émonda’s tube shapes. For example, the head tube is wider and stiffer than that on the previous Emonda. And even though it’s bigger, it’s lighter and more aerodynamic. The down tube has subtle shape changes across its length. At the top of the down tube, it addresses airflow off the wheel rim and tire. Then there’s shaping to smooth the air around the bottle and cage. Trek says this bike saves you 182 g of drag, or about 1.8 N.

Trek could have made more aero gains with dropped chainstays, but of course, that would have added more weight. That kind of change fell outside of the road map Davis mentioned. It seems dropped stays would have taken the frame just a bit too far away from its main purpose.

As with the first two generations of Émondas, the new frame weighs less than 700 g. Trek says a size 56 of the top-end SLR frame comes in at 698 g. One way the company kept the weight down while getting more aero is with the new carbon-fibre recipe used within the frame. It features the new optimum-compaction, low-void (OCLV) 800 series. Compared with OCLV 700, the latest composite is 30 per cent stronger. The 800 gave designers 60 g of savings, too.

The top-end SLR frames are made with the 800 series carbon fibre. The SL models use OCLV 500. At the top you have the Émonda SLR 9 eTap ($16,500) and SLR 9 ($16,500), which run SRAM’s top gruppo and Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 respectively. Both come in at just a little less than the UCI weight minimum, 6.75 kg and 6.78 kg. (Don’t worry. Once full bidon will tip the scale into race-legal territory.) The SLR 7 models go to the second-tier groupsets by each component maker, Force ($11,300) and Ultegra ($10,000). Those groups appear again in the SL 7 and 6 models of Émonda ($8,150–$4,200). There’s also the Shimano 105 Émonda SL 5 ($3,500), which weighs a respectable 9.16 kg.

Trek Émonda SL 5

The Trek Émonda SL 5 comes spec'd with a Shimano 105 groupset.

The Trek Émonda SL 6 comes spec'd with a Shimano Ultegra groupset.

Trek Émonda SL 6

The Trek Émonda SL 7 comes spec'd with a Shimano Ultegra Di2 groupset and is built with OCLV 500 carbon fibre.

Shimano Ultegra disc brakes on the Trek Émonda SL 7.

The new one-piece Aeolus RSL handlebar-and-stem combo ($870) also continues the theme of lighter and more aero. Trek says it’s 10 per faster than the previous setup on the Émonda. The bike’s brake lines and cables run into the head tube, just beneath the stem. The setup means you can change the bars and stem without having to re-hose or re-cable the system. You can also run more traditional bar/stem parts on the Émonda, should you wish. The Aeolus RSL is optimized for Shimano’s electronic Di2 groups (you’ll find the junction box in the bar end) and hydraulic disc brakes, but is compatible with mechanical systems, too. Don’t go looking for a rim-brake model of the Émonda. All new models run rotors. Trek says its sales have favoured disc-brake models so heavily that it will simply forgo making a new rim-brake Émonda.

In 2019, Trek’s Crockett cyclocross rig was outfitted with a T47 bottom bracket. Later that year, the new Domane had the same BB. The latest Émonda continues the trend. Two threaded cups twist into a metal sleeve bonded inside the carbon fibre. This system is in contrast to the press-fit BB90 on the Madone, which can be prone to creaking. The T47 allows Trek’s designers to continue to build frames with a wide stance at the bottom, for better stiffness and ride feel, while keeping creaks out of the cranks.

The Émonda comes in the company’s H 1.5 fit. It’s a less aggressive geometry than the older H 1 fit, but still works for the pros. (It already features on the Madone.) Trek says the Émonda is a bike that works for both genders. Riders can choose different cranks, seatmasts and, of course, bars and stems, to achieve the right fit.

The new bike comes with a new set of wheels. The top-of-the-line Émonda SLR 9 features the Aeolus RSL 37 hoops ($3,199, wheelset). They weigh 1,325 g. They’re lighter than the Aeolus XXX 2, deeper at 37 mm and 17 per cent faster, says Trek. In fact, the company says the aero performance of the RSL 37 approaches that of the 47-mm-deep Aeolus XXX 4. On the Émonda SLR 7, there’s the Aeolus Pro 37 wheels ($1,600, wheelset). They have the same aerodynamic features of the RSL 37, but weigh in at 1,505 g. Lastly, the third-tier Aeolus Elite wheels come in rim depths of 35 and 50 mm ($1,200, each wheelset). The wheels and the Émonda frames are optimized for 25c tires, but can accommodate 28c treads.

With the 2021 Émonda, Trek achieved its goal of making its climbing bike more aero. It was a similar story for the 2020 Domane, the endurance bike that now rides better in the wind. With features from one performance road bike moving to the other – remember, the aero Madone has an IsoSpeed decoupler which used to be only the domain of the Domane – I wondered if the singular purpose of each bike might get blunted. Jordan Roessingh, Trek’s director of road bikes, doesn’t think so. In fact, he says they start their projects by considering the bike’s main function.

“We default back to the rider and our understanding of who our riders are,” Roessingh says “They have different motivations and are doing different things with their bikes. Then we have a rider and a ride that we’re targeting for a specific platform. That’s the foundation of how we design all of our platforms and segment them, from gravel, to endurance road, aero road or climbing/traditional road. The rider we start with for the Émonda is motivated by weight, someone who is in hillier terrain, or rides climbs, and looks to beat personal records up climbs. There’s a racier motivation overall, including with the fit. We always start with the rider.”

Trek Émonda SLR 9 eTap, Trek-Segafredo Team Edition

Trek Émonda SLR 7 first impressions

I’ve had the Trek Émonda SLR 7 for about a week. I was impressed during my first rides. The bike is responsive, but I can say the same about all super bikes. The Émonda does have a certain snap, though. You almost feel you get more out of a pedal stroke than you’d expect, whether that’s on a climb or hammering out of the saddle. I remember that from the first-generation bike I tested in 2014. (Somehow, I then skipped a generation.) It seems Trek’s designers really did keep the bike’s ride feel, just as the pros wanted. The Émonda corners smoothly, as the wheels carry the speed into the bend and the geometry guides it throughout. I’m looking forward to getting more miles on the machine.

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Crazy Fast, Crazy Light – Trek Redesigns the Émonda for 2021

Crazy Fast, Crazy Light – Trek Redesigns the Émonda for 2021   Émonda, Trek’s lightest and fastest climbing bike, just got a redesign for 2021, and it’s pretty exciting.  An Émonda like you’ve never seen before. The latest update to the Émonda line promises a faster, lighter ride for road cyclists who demand speed and…

Émonda, Trek’s lightest and fastest climbing bike, just got a redesign for 2021, and it’s pretty exciting. 

An Émonda like you’ve never seen before.

The latest update to the Émonda line promises a faster, lighter ride for road cyclists who demand speed and efficiency. Here’s what’s new for Émonda :

Aerodynamic tube shapes. Racers know that aero matters in hill climbs. The addition of aero tubes to the new Émondas add even more speed. Weighing in at less than 700g, precious seconds on the SLR are shaved off of time; 18 seconds per hour faster on an 8% grade, in fact.

OCLV 800 carbon frames. Trek invested years in finding a light laminate that wouldn’t compromise the weight of their fastest racing bike. The result is 800 Series OCLV carbon, lighter and 30% stronger than anything used previously, and now standard on all SLR models (SL models still use OCLV 500 carbon).

Details Matter. The 2021 Émonda has internal cable routing and also a T47BB. It launches alongside the new Aeolus RSL 37 wheels (designed for climbing) and Aeolus RSL Bar/Stem Combo, bringing the ultimate balance of weight and aero to the complete system. 

H1.5 fit . The H1.5 fit splits the difference between the H1 fit (most aggressive aero position) and the H2 fit (a more comfortable, slightly upright position) for an optimal riding position.

Ranging from $2,699.99 to $11,999.99, both 2021 Émonda SLR and SL are tubeless compatible, include Blendr mounts, and feature the identical frame shapes for identical aerodynamic performance. 

They both have a T47 BB for the ultimate in performance and serviceability. Cables are almost totally hidden, but still route external to the bars, making service easy. Lastly, an H1.5 fit means that performance riders of every gender will find a powerful and aerodynamic position on Émonda.

The Trek Émonda has been long overdue for a redesign and has already generated a lot of enthusiasm from both cyclists and the bike industry. From the initial buzz, the all-new Émonda is a game-changer.

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2021 Trek Emonda SL 6 Pro review

Trek's climbing specialist has been re-imagined as a do-it-all race bike.

Felix Smith / Immediate Media

Amazingly stiff ride; race-ready long and low fit; exceptionally fun to ride.

25mm tyres exaggerate harsh ride and harm performance on imperfect road surfaces; weight isn't competitive for price.

The new 2021 Trek Emonda sees a shift away from a purely climber-focussed bike to a more all-round package with the de-rigueur aero shaping to match.

We have two bikes in for review. My colleague, Warren, has the top-end 6.9kg Emonda SLR 9 model with all of the bells and whistles, and an outrageous £9,700 price tag .

I have been testing the Ultegra R8000-equipped 2021 Trek Emonda SL 6 Pro.

The SL-level Emonda is based on Trek’s OCLV 500 carbon layup, which adds roughly 445g to an unpainted frameset in an unspecified size compared to the top-end model.

You do, however, get the exact same geometry and frame shape as the SLR-level Emonda, so the differences should largely boil down to weight alone.

More on the new Trek Emonda

• New 2021 Trek Emonda | An uncompromising disc-only race bike
• Trek Emonda SLR 9 eTap first ride review

At £3,350 ($3,799 / €3,799 / AU$5,499), the SL6 Pro is by no means cheap, but represents fairly good value for money in the context of the wider market

For that cash, you get a full Ultegra R8020 groupset , a Bontrager Aelous Elite 35 carbon wheelset, a perfectly inoffensive alloy cockpit and a very plush Bontrager saddle. The bike weighs 8.13kg on the nose with no pedals.

Picking two comparable bikes, the Giant TCR Advanced Pro 2 Disc costs roughly the same (£3,499) for a broadly similar build, as does the Rose X-Lite 6 (~£3,450).

Trek has significantly altered the geometry of the Emonda for 2021, and it is now only available in the brand’s middle-of-the-road H1.5 fit.

H1.5 sits pretty much in the middle of Trek’s super aggressive H1 geometry and its endurance-focussed H2 fit.

The resulting shape strikes a nice balance between real-world usability while allowing the sportier riders among us to get a low and fast setup should they so wish.

The stack for the new Emonda is on the lower end of the spectrum for a 56cm bike at 563mm. The reach is fairly average, at 391mm for a 56cm bike. The 56cm bike ships with a 100mm stem.

While the reach of the frameset is fairly average, when matched with the 42cm-wide Bontrager Elite VR-C bars, which have a hefty 100mm reach, the fit of the bike feels suitably long and low.

I really like the overall profile of these bars – there’s loads of room in the drops so you can actually spend some time down there comfortably without your hands getting smooshed up, and the extra reach offers additional useful hand positions.

Adding reach to the bars (rather than increasing the length of the stem) also means the tops stay a touch closer to you, giving a really comfortable position for seated climbing.

The ride of the bike is exceptionally stiff and incredibly fun in the way that a proper race bike can be.

It’s got that addictive ultra-efficient feel with a totally unyielding pedal response that is amazing on the climbs – you are giving up nothing to the frame when mashing yourself into a lactic oblivion.

I dare say the overall feel is almost a little old school, with a super stiff ride that’s reminiscent of early carbon bikes.

This will be polarising for some riders, but I personally really like it. It feels properly rapid and responsive, and going fast is never not fun.

Related reading

• Trek Domane SL7 review
• Trek Madone SL6 Disc review
• Best road bikes: how to choose the right one for you

While perhaps divisive, this super stiff ride also goes some way to differentiate the bike from the others in Trek’s lineup.

The line between the Emonda and Madone – and to a certain degree, the Domane – is now fairly blurred with this new bike.

But by keeping it simple, with no ISOSpeed squashiness, a racy ride and a lighter overall package, the Emonda stands out in the range.

That stiffness also translates into a really engaging and fun ride on the descents. The bike shrugs at irresponsibly heavy braking into corners, remaining accurate and giving – yes, I really am going to say it – a really feedback-rich ride. It’s a total hoot.

It’s no surprise that this stiffness results in a firm ride.

It’s not a rough ride, per se – the bike still provides that pleasingly damped feel that any quality carbon bike gives on imperfect surfaces, and the integrated seat mast brings a degree of rear end comfort.

However, on larger bumps, the front end can feel quite jarring. The alloy bars will contribute to this, but the stock 25mm tyres are the main culprit.

25mm wide tyres were considered progressive a few short years ago, but the majority of new road bikes these days ship with 28mm tyres (or even larger) and not without good reason.

Wider tyres have consistently been shown in testing to have lower rolling resistance than narrower tyres and, as they can be run at lower pressures, they also improve comfort. Being more comfortable means less fatigue, which means increased speed.

This is well-trodden ground, so to see 25mm tyres here is a little bit disappointing – other bikes in the Emonda range feature 28s, and I’ve always admired Trek for boldly speccing 32mm tyres on the Domane, so to see narrower rubber here feel like a bit of a cop-out.

Trek is clearly trying to pander to the hill climb kids with the tiny reduction in weight 25s will offer, but 28s would be better for the majority of riders in nearly all situations.

Keen to see how much of a difference wider tyres would actually make, I swapped the stock Bontrager R2 Hard-Case Lite tyres in favour of a pair of Panaracer Race D Evo tyres. These measure bang on 28mm when inflated to 70psi on the Bontrager Aeolus Elite 35 wheels.

Unsurprisingly, the wider tyres smoothed out the ride of the bike significantly without making the ride feel mushy – you can focus on getting the most out of the bike’s stiff frameset without having to worry so much about potholes or broken road surfaces. The larger tyres also improve grip on descents.

They also make very light gravel detours a more appealing possibility.

Gravel riding is absolutely one bazillion per cent not within the intended remit of this bike, but the larger volume tyres make short stretches along smooth unsealed rail trails or rough access roads a much less hateful experience.

On a similar theme, I was also a little disappointed to see the bike come set up with tubes.

The likes of Giant are now shipping complete bikes tubeless out of the box and, regardless of which side of the tubeless vs. tubed debate you sit on, including tubeless tech as stock adds value to a bike.

Given the new Aeolus 35 Elite wheels are tubeless-compatible, it’s disappointing that the included tyres aren’t at least tubeless-ready.

As mentioned, the bike has been doused in a liberal helping of aero sauce, and the new bike is claimed to sit between the outgoing Emonda and the Madone in terms of aero performance.

There’s no way I can quantify these claims, but the bike does feel fast on the flats. I suspect that has more to do with the fact the bike’s geometry means it’s possible to get into a properly long and low position, so I’ll leave it up to you to decide whether you believe Trek’s claims – or whether you care.

Not that it has any bearing on performance, but the aero shaping has resulted in a bike that looks fast. I’m fond of the overall shape of the bike and I’m glad to not see dropped seat stays here. The lines are classic and the traditional cockpit doesn’t look out of place either.

Trek clearly doesn’t want you to forget you’re riding one of its bikes judging by the sheer size of the logo on the down tube. It is so over the top and a bit daft, but I kind of dig it – it’s like a postmodern statement, the David Byrne big suit of bicycle logos .

I also think the paint job looks really nice for what is, in the context of this model range, a ‘budget’ bike.

A surprising standout from the bike is the Bontrager Aeolus Comp saddle.

Every man and his dog has thrown his hat into the short nose and stubby saddle game, and I’ve tried a fair few now, but I think it’s a toss-up between this and the Pro Stealth Superlight for my all-time favourite .

Trust me when I say this is very high praise because I love the Pro Stealth. The Aeolus is squashy, comfortable and perfect for my peach. I can’t believe it has taken this long for saddles to get this good.

The bike is built around a full Shimano Ultegra R8020 groupset . It’s nigh-on impossible to level criticism at R8000, offering nearly all of the performance of Dura-Ace at a considerably lower price point.

The 52/36 crankset is paired with an 11-30 cassette. For a go-fast all-round climb-friendly bike, this is perfect.

However, it’s worth noting that the bike is equipped with a short cage mech, which officially limits the drivetrain to a 30t cassette. This means you would have to go for a smaller set of chainrings if you require lighter gearing.

Even so, the gearing has more than enough range to climb comfortably in the saddle on most climbs.

The SL6 Pro is the ‘cheapest’ bike in the new Emonda range to feature carbon wheels.

At 35mm deep, the Aeolus Elite 35 should, in theory, give a bit of aero advantage without sacrificing too much on the climbs in terms of weight.

A 35mm wheel is unlikely to present serious problems in crosswinds, and they feel perfectly well-mannered and stiff. The wheels are based on DT Swiss’ Ratchet EXP freehub, which are easy-enough to service with widely-available spares.

Again, I’m a bit miffed these aren’t set up tubeless out of the box. It would allow you to run lower pressures, improving comfort and grip, which is never a bad thing.

2021 Trek Emonda SL 6 Pro conclusion

Make no mistake – the Emonda is an uncompromising race bike, and it’s all the better for it.

In a world of squashy do-it-all bikes, the Emonda’s wonderfully moreish super stiff ride stands out and I’ve really enjoyed my time testing it.

Speccing standard 25mm clincher tyres in 2020 is an odd move, and the weight for this particular build isn’t that competitive.

You also lose out on some (claimed) aero benefit with the standard cockpit versus the fancy new integrated Bontrager Aeolus RSL VR-C bar-stem combo. But, if you’re anything like me and enjoy endlessly tweaking your position and cockpit setup, this might not be such a bad thing.

Jumping up to the Emonda SL 7 (£4,850) would get you an Ultegra Di2 groupset, Bontrager Aeolus Pro 37 wheels and the integrated cockpit, but I’m not convinced the extra expense would be worth it.

A few small spec niggles aside, if you’re after a delightfully fun go-fast race bike, the 2021 Trek Emonda SL 6 Pro is very unlikely to leave you wanting.

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Long Term Review: Trek Émonda SLR 8

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When Trek first introduced the Émonda back in 2014, it was sort of a surprising addition. Seeming to compete directly with the Madone, the biggest difference was that Trek’s new lightweight lacked the aerodynamic touches of its sibling. Now with the most modern iteration of the Madone, we know that Trek was already working on creating a modern superbike, but at the time it seemed like the two bikes were competing for similar buyers.

Launched with the lofty SLR 10 which at the time made claims to the lightest production bike available, the Émonda line was promising for anyone looking for a simple, light weight ride that did a lot of things well. After quite a bit of time on the bike (including almost equal time off due to injury), the Émonda seems to make good on that promise of simple, brutal speed…

When Trek launched the Émonda, it was with a heavy focus on weight. All the way through the line, component choices and builds were tuned to result in the lightest weights possible while keeping prices somewhat reasonable (the $15,749.99 SLR 10 a clear exception). This was in direct comparison to the Madone where weight wasn’t as important as the overall aerodynamics and ride package.

Offered with three different carbon layups, the entry level carbon Émondas used OCLV 300 for a 1200g frame, the SL versions jumped to OCLV 500 for a 1050g frame, and the top tier SLR bikes benefited from OCLV 700 carbon which resulted in a staggeringly light 690g painted frame (56cm) and a 13.67lb(6.2kg) complete bike as shown here. That same super light frame could be had for $7,500 with the SLR 8 build here (now on sale for $6,499), or all the way up to the now $11,999 SLR 10. Available in both H1 and H2 (3.5cm longer head tube) fits, our test bike was an H1.

It’s extremely difficult to consider a bike with full Dura Ace anything less than a high end build, but thanks to Di2, mechanical bikes are now sort of the ‘budget Dura Ace’. The SLR 8 is fitted with the more ‘affordable’ mechanical variant rather than Di2 – though you can get the SLR with Di2 and carbon wheels for another $2k.. Other component choices such as aluminum Bontrager RXL Tubeless Ready wheels and an RXL aluminum stem help keep the pricing down, but they are still extremely nice pieces of kit. There is even a further ‘budget’ SLR build with the Ultegra equipped SLR 6 if the Dura Ace version is a bit too spendy.

One of the few areas I could find fault the build kit is in the corrosion forming around one of the black steel bolts on the Bontrager RXL stem. Strange that it’s happening to just one faceplate bolt out of four, but it is a bit unsightly. Fortunately, almost every Bontrager part including the stock bar tape held up better than that one bolt. I need to re-wrap the tape up top to tighten it up, but other than one small nick it’s in surprisingly good shape considering.

As you might expect from a bike dripping with Dura Ace and a brand’s high end aluminum components, the build kit of the SLR 8 performed almost flawlessly. Particularly impressive were the Direct Mount rim brakes which may leave you reevaluating the need for disc brakes on the road. Short of stopping in bad weather or on sketchy carbon rims for long descents, the Direct Mount rim brakes were noticeably more powerful and easier to modulate than the center mount brakes which are still used on many bikes. The downside is that you need a frame that is set up to work with the two post brakes, but in this case or with any new bike sold with them, you’ll end up with better braking performance without going disc.

The mechanical Dura Ace group was equally impressive with some of the best shifting you can find on a bike, mechanical or otherwise. Once adjusted and broken in, shifting has been crisp and precise, and quiet as well.

Along with the various Bontrager cockpit pieces, the Émonda maintains the use of Trek’s Ride Tuned Seat Mast Cap. Set up to take the oversized 7x10mm carbon rails of the Bontrager Paradigm RXL saddle, the seatpost head was quiet and problem free the entire duration of testing. The same goes for the BB90 bottom bracket. Pressfit shells get a pretty bad rap, but from personal experience the Trek shells are an exception. With bearings placed directly into the carbon with their Net Molding process, there are no ‘cups’ to press into the shell for one less thing to creak.

If I were to build the bike from scratch, I would probably get rid of the Jagwire barrel adjuster or a least locate it somewhere else along the front derailleur cable so that it wouldn’t rub against the head tube. But even without barrel adjusters the cables rub quite a bit against the paint so it would be smart to add some cable rub protective stickers here.

Since the owners of these bikes are likely to want some data, the Émonda and other Trek bikes get credit for their integrated duotrap sensor capabilities. The slot in the chainstay allows for a sensor that is both ANT+ and Bluetooth compatible for speed and cadence which is a lot nicer than some zip ties and a block of rubber on your stays.

Leading up to the implosion of my shoulder last summer, I had been logging quite a few miles on the SLR 8. If there was one word to describe the ride of the Émonda, it would be stiff. This is not your father’s Madone (or 5800). Back in my shop days, I would have to listen to certain customers go on an on about how the Madone was a great bike, but it just wasn’t stiff like their Tarmac or [insert race bike here]. Well, it appears Trek was listening too.

Along with building a light weight machine, the Émonda is certainly stiff. Now that Trek has their even more compliant Domane, this shouldn’t be an issue – if you want a bike that will glide over every undulation in the pavement without notice, then definitely go with the Domane. If you’re willing to feel every small crack in the pavement through the frame in exchange for a rocket of a bike, the Émonda starts to shine. It really is one of those bikes that on beautiful pavement, the ride is sublime. Just silky smooth with a glide that seems to reward every pedal stroke. Once the pavement starts to get a bit rough though, get ready to ride light on your pedals.

The trade off is a bike that is insanely light and just wants to squirt forward with each crank. Riders wanting more ride damping could always look to tires, especially with the Émonda shipping with 23mm rubber. Tubeless 25mm tires should make a noticeable difference in the ride department but may also take away slightly from the razor sharp handling of the bike. Some riders may even find the handling of the Émonda to be “twitchy,” but if you’re the type to take chances and ride as fast as possible down the backside of each climb, the bike will reward you with a ride that begs to be pushed faster through each turn. The first few times riding it down some of my favorite descents, I was surprised to look down and see 50+ mph on the computer without really trying.

In the end, that’s really what it’s all about. The Émonda seems to be an unapologetic, pure light weight climber with fast handling – in which case it succeeds. Those looking for a more comfy ride should check out the Domane, or the Madone for an all-things-aero approach, but for a simple light weight frame with a brutally fast ride, look no further.

For actual weights and complete break down part by part, check out our initial coverage here .

trekbikes.com

Zach Overholt is the Editor in Chief of Bikerumor . He has been writing about what’s new in the bicycle world for 12+ years. Prior to that, Zach spent many years in the back of a bicycle shop building and repairing nearly every type of bike, while figuring out how to (occasionally) ride them.

Based in Ohio, Zach is now slowly introducing a new generation to cycling and still trying to figure out how to fit the most rides into a busy schedule as a new dad.

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I’ve been rocking an SLR for a little over a year now. No exaggeration – every time I jump on it, it surprises me just how well it rides. Couldn’t be happier. Also note that I have the SLR 6, which is their Ultegra build but with the same frame as the rest of the SLR bikes.

Try reversing your bar wrap direction on the tops, above the hoods as long as your re-doing it. Yours seems to have been wrapped the opposite way in which your hand naturally applies torque on the tops (it should be wrapped pointed back at the rider when coming over the top)

Your review is almost word for word what I like about my SLR. The line “the trade off is a bike that is insanely light and just want to squirt forward with each crank” is exactly what I try to describe to people when they ask me what I like best about the bike. You can feel every little input you give the pedals, and it responds instantaneously.

Also like the bit about the direct mount brakes. This is all you’ll ever need (again, except for wet carbon rims), disc brakes are overkill on the vast majority of bikes. I have the Bontrager Speed Stops on mine, and I find them superior to the DA direct mount, especially notable is the modulation. I test rode the SLR before I bought it, and it had DA brakes, and they were noticeably harder to squeeze and modulate. If manufacturers would just embrace direct mount instead of shoving disc down our throats, we’d all be better off…

Anyway, thanks for the long term review, it validates exactly what I think about the bike as well. Cheers!

*vast majority of ROAD bikes.

Who is having disc brakes shoved down there roadie throats? I guess you could make that argument if you only consider Giant Defy’s and various “adventure” bikes.

My wife’s bike has direct mounts. They are great. So are my non direct Campy skeletons. But I am not sure she, or myself is “better off” on these than if either of ours bikes came with discs. If fact, I think life would largely go on the same, except better braking in certain conditions.

And I am going to go out on a limb and say consumers, many coming back to road after being on mountain bikes, are the ones seemingly throating discs, to use the parlance of our times.

Rim brakes leave nobody wanting for power or modulation, but if the sales floor gets a vote then it doesn’t matter.

I wouldn’t buy a BlackBerry five years ago, either.

Champs, that’s a bold statement and wrong in my experience. I’ve had several female customers looking for more confidence and control from brakes. They don’t have the enough hand strength for some of the prolonged descents around here.

Disc brakes offer better power with less effort, especially in poor conditions, than a rim brake. Not everyone needs them, but they do offer tangible advantages.

After riding Defy Advanced Pro with hydraulics, I would never go back to rim brakes.

it’s a pity that cable routing seems to get too little attention when designing a bike. probs this derailleur routing rattles less in the tube. outside, it’s messy (on the handlebar side) zach, would you cross the cables for that matter?

I purchased a Giant Defy Advanced Pro and rode it for 1,000 miles. Fortunately I got an absolutely smoking deal on the bike so I was able to sell it on Craigslist without losing money. My issue with the bike was a noisy a** front brake that would rub and squeal even though I have always been a very light user of brakes. Seeing the trend towards thru-axles may be an answer but I think that there is still a great deal of progress to be made

Those bontrager speed stop brakes are insanely good. I wish i could fit them on my madone

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Victor Mukhin

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Title : Active carbons as nanoporous materials for solving of environmental problems

However, up to now, the main carriers of catalytic additives have been mineral sorbents: silica gels, alumogels. This is obviously due to the fact that they consist of pure homogeneous components SiO2 and Al2O3, respectively. It is generally known that impurities, especially the ash elements, are catalytic poisons that reduce the effectiveness of the catalyst. Therefore, carbon sorbents with 5-15% by weight of ash elements in their composition are not used in the above mentioned technologies. However, in such an important field as a gas-mask technique, carbon sorbents (active carbons) are carriers of catalytic additives, providing effective protection of a person against any types of potent poisonous substances (PPS). In ESPE “JSC "Neorganika" there has been developed the technology of unique ashless spherical carbon carrier-catalysts by the method of liquid forming of furfural copolymers with subsequent gas-vapor activation, brand PAC. Active carbons PAC have 100% qualitative characteristics of the three main properties of carbon sorbents: strength - 100%, the proportion of sorbing pores in the pore space – 100%, purity - 100% (ash content is close to zero). A particularly outstanding feature of active PAC carbons is their uniquely high mechanical compressive strength of 740 ± 40 MPa, which is 3-7 times larger than that of  such materials as granite, quartzite, electric coal, and is comparable to the value for cast iron - 400-1000 MPa. This allows the PAC to operate under severe conditions in moving and fluidized beds.  Obviously, it is time to actively develop catalysts based on PAC sorbents for oil refining, petrochemicals, gas processing and various technologies of organic synthesis.

Victor M. Mukhin was born in 1946 in the town of Orsk, Russia. In 1970 he graduated the Technological Institute in Leningrad. Victor M. Mukhin was directed to work to the scientific-industrial organization "Neorganika" (Elektrostal, Moscow region) where he is working during 47 years, at present as the head of the laboratory of carbon sorbents.     Victor M. Mukhin defended a Ph. D. thesis and a doctoral thesis at the Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology of Russia (in 1979 and 1997 accordingly). Professor of Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology of Russia. Scientific interests: production, investigation and application of active carbons, technological and ecological carbon-adsorptive processes, environmental protection, production of ecologically clean food.   

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Simulation of the sulfide phase formation in a KhN60VT alloy

• Simulation of Metallurgical and Thermal Processes
• Published: 23 September 2017
• Volume 2017 , pages 447–453, ( 2017 )

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• I. V. Kabanov 1 ,
• E. V. Butskii 1 ,
• K. V. Grigorovich 2 &
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The conditions of the existence of sulfide phases in Fe–Ni–S alloys and four-component Fe–50 wt % Ni–0.001 wt % S– R ( R is an alloying or impurity element from the TCFE7 database) systems are studied using the Thermo-Calc software package and the TCFE7 database. The modification of nickel superalloys by calcium or magnesium is shown to increase their ductility due to partial desulfurization, the suppression of the formation of harmful sulfide phases, and the uniform formation of strong sulfides in the entire temperature range of metal solidification. The manufacturability of superalloys can decrease at a too high calcium or magnesium content because of the formation of intermetallics with a low melting temperature along grain boundaries.

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Modeling Thermophysical Characteristics of Nickel-Based Superalloys

Phase field modeling of solidification in multi-component alloys with a case study on the Inconel 718 alloy

Phase-Field Simulation of Microstructural Evolution in Nickel-Based Superalloys During Creep and in Low Carbon Steels During Martensite Transformation

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Software Package. Thermodynamic Calculations of Phase Diagrams for Multicomponent Systems . http://www.thermocalc.com.

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I. V. Kabanov & E. V. Butskii

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On the Centenary of Plant “Elektrostal”

Original Russian Text © I.V. Kabanov, E.V. Butskii, K.V. Grigorovich, A.M. Arsenkin, 2017, published in Elektrometallurgiya, 2017, No. 3, pp. 13–21.

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Kabanov, I.V., Butskii, E.V., Grigorovich, K.V. et al. Simulation of the sulfide phase formation in a KhN60VT alloy. Russ. Metall. 2017 , 447–453 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0036029517060106

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Received : 21 November 2016

Published : 23 September 2017

Issue Date : June 2017

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1134/S0036029517060106

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"One of the fiercest climbing bikes available, the new Émonda is even faster thanks to a dose of aero"

"I expect so much from a modern high-end pro-level road racing bike that it’s hard to exceed those expectations. It’s rare when a bike does: The Émonda SLR is one of those rare bikes."

"It's an incredible update from Trek"

"The updated Emonda packs one helluva punch, and Trek has a winner on its hands. The integrated cockpit is nice and all, but the real win is the H1.5 fit, which makes the Emonda feel more stable while maintaining the aggression and responsiveness of previous Emondas. That, coupled with a lightweight construction, comfortable ride, and aerodynamic shaping, brings Trek's top of the line climber from a very good bike to an excellent one."

"The Emonda is still light, and it’s still stiff, but now there’s an extra dose of free speed"

"Overall, Trek has done a solid job here of updating the Emonda, infusing meaningful improvements in several key areas, but without breaking the basic formula that has made the bike so popular."

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In 1993 "Elektrostal" was transformed into an open joint stock company. The factory occupies a leading position among the manufacturers of high quality steel. The plant is a producer of high-temperature nickel alloys in a wide variety. It has a unique set of metallurgical equipment: open induction and arc furnaces, furnace steel processing unit, vacuum induction, vacuum- arc furnaces and others. The factory has implemented and certified quality management system ISO 9000, received international certificates for all products. Elektrostal today is a major supplier in Russia starting blanks for the production of blades, discs and rolls for gas turbine engines. Among them are companies in the aerospace industry, defense plants, and energy complex, automotive, mechanical engineering and instrument-making plants.

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