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All-New Trek Silque & Lexa Women’s Road Bikes Get Official

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After being spotted in shops earlier this week, the new Trek Silque women’s endurance road bike got the official rollout, showing off four models of the OCLV framed, bump eating frame.

Borrowing the IsoSpeed decoupler and other vibration reducing technology from the Domane, the Silque uses size-specific carbon layups to provide an equally smooth ride across all frame sizes. Since they weren’t borrowing an existing frame and slapping WSD components on it, the clean slate allowed them to design the geometry from the ground up for women wanting both performance and comfort. A sloping top tube and shorter seat tube provide good stand over (and a lower center of gravity), while increased stack height puts them in a slightly more upright riding position.

Their customers loved the stack and reach of the Domane WSD, so they kept that part intact.

For the handling, they put it smack in between the racy Madone and all-day Domane. The chainstay length splits the difference, so it’s more stable at speed or on gravel than the Madone, but a little snappier than the Domane. It shares the Madone’s BB drop, which keeps everything a bit lower to the ground for quicker turning response.

Now, let’s take a look at spec…

Frame sizes across the range are 44, 47, 50, 52, 54, 56cm. Four models are available:

• Silque ($2,089)
• Silque SL ($3,149)
• Silque SLX ($3,679)
• Silque SSL ($6,599 or Project One)

All of them use a compact double crankset with wide gearing on the rear. The frames integrate their 3S chainkeeper, and all cable or wire routing is internal. Easy, versatile and clean.

The top of the line SSL is available through Trek’s Project One custom program, letting you pick the colors, details and spec you want (or can afford). The frame is OCLV 600-series with a seat mast and Trek’s E2 asymmetric steerer on a full carbon fork. The “stock” configuration gets Bontrager Race X Lite tubeless ready wheels, Shimano Ultegra Di2, Cane Creek headset and a Bontrager Race X Lite (RXL) cockpit.

The SLX shares the same frameset at the SSL but gets built up with mechanical Ultegra 11-speed, Bontrager Race Tubeless wheels and a similar cockpit. It’s unfortunate that neither come with Bontrager’s excellent tubeless ready road tires, too, but at least the wheels are ready for the future.

The SL keeps the Ultegra drivetrain but drops down to a 400-series OCLV frame and standard (symmetric) E2 steerer tubed fork and regular seatpost. But, it adds back the clever vanishing fender mounts from the Domane. Cockpit is a Race/Race Lite mix and includes a carbon seatpost.

How’s this for a color name: Seeglass Appleseed Blue? While we didn’t know apple seeds were blue, their Seeglass paint is gorgeous and a nice way to make the lowest model look much more upscale. It’s the same frame as the SL, but spec drops to Tiagra 10-speed with fairly standard Bontrager alloy wheels – but they’re still built with tubeless rims! An alloy Bontrager cockpit with short reach/drop handlebar round things out.

Here are a couple more pics before we get to the Lexa:

2015 TREK LEXA

With all the changes introduced on the Silque, Trek’s assistant road brand manager Royce Breckon said they wanted to update the Lexa’s geometry to match. Other than the fork’s rake, it’s virtually identical to the Silque in terms of fit and handling.

“We also improved the tubing and put carbon forks on all models, both of which improved compliance,” Breckon told us. “And we added tire clearance to fit 25c with fenders and have room to spare.”

Indeed, the tubes are much slimmer and sleeker looking than on the prior iteration. The only model that didn’t get these updates is the top of the SLX, which incorporates the IsoSpeed decoupler and carries forward unchanged. The rest of the line, from the SL (shown below) on down all get the new frames/geometry and slightly improved spec over last year.

The Lexa SL is the top model before switching to the IsoSpeed SLX. It retails for just $1,199 and delivers a 100-series Alpha Aluminum frame with Tiagra 10-speed group, Bontrager alloy wheels (tubeless ready!), FSA Vero crankset and a mix of alloy Bontrager standard and Race Lite cockpit parts.

Below that, the base Lexa retails for just $769 with a mix of Shimano Claris, Vuelta cranks and Sunrace cassette. Standard (non-TR) Bontrager alloy wheels and Bontrager SSR components round out the build.

Both the Silque and Lexa models are already in some stores and shipping now. Virtually all of them spec Bontrager’s Hard Case tires, which should help keep everyone rolling smooth for many miles.

TrekBikes.com

Tyler Benedict is the Founder of Bikerumor.com . He has been writing about the latest bikes, components, and cycling technology for almost two decades. Prior to that, Tyler launched and built multiple sports nutrition brands and consumer goods companies, mostly as an excuse to travel to killer riding locations throughout North America.

Based in North Carolina, Tyler loves family adventure travel and is always on the lookout for the next shiny new part to make his bikes faster and lighter.

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Hey Bike Industry, stop with the mid-season releases. All you are doing is devaluing the product that retailers have already purchased. The end result, is retailers stocking less for fear of a new product rolling out at any given moment. You wanna see preseason booking and forecasting come to a screeching halt? Keep it up.

Agreed! I get that you guys think it’s cool to do away with model years and release it when it’s finished-and on paper that sounds great-but when stores have JUST invested in your current product lineup, all you end up doing is forcing them to discount the “current” stuff and re-invest in the new current stuff, putting a totally unnecessary strain on cash flow.

Regardless, the Silque came out great. It should really do well. The Lexa, however, seems to be another swing and a miss…

^You guys act like this is something new. I don’t know of any shop that’s “in fear of a new product rolling out any moment” 99% of the time a shop is gonna know about when new product is going to come out, it’s that time of year right now. Most shops have been around long enough to stock accordingly. If you are in fear of such things, you probably shouldn’t be owning a bike shop… or any retail store for that matter.

Thanks for the concern though. I know you guys love to find stuff to complain about, but this is a bit of a stretch

I know that Trek announces new products to their dealers at least a couple of weeks in advance of the public launch. Details are usually scant, in an effort to avoid leaks, but they do advise their dealers of a new product launch, and also that they should be logged onto the internal Trek dealer system at on a certain date/time to receive the full details. None of the shops I’ve worked with have had issues clearing out their old stock before the new products come out.

What Rentedshoes said…

Get used to it folks! Most brands are moving away from ‘seasons’ or model years and bringing out new bikes when they are ready… New groupset launches will bring new variations also.

I’m a fan of this approach.

Silque AND Lexa? What, were the other strippers busy?

Once again TREK gives the best looking paint job on womens bikes on the lowest end models. What about color is very important to women do they not understand? My wife would have loved that appleseed(??) blue paint job. She had to settle for the ugly(er) paint job on her newest bike a couple years ago because she wanted, of all things, the Madone, Ultegra class one. And she had been looking for years (and replaced a OCLV TREK with 57K on it) Oh sure, she could have paid almost twice as much for a Project One paint job.

I could not bring myself to buy the Trek Silque SL in PINK and BLACK. But I wanted the Ultegra componentry so I searched long and hard for a shop that would accommodate me and upgrade the Silque S (white with red and silver) to the SL. Why couldn’t Trek have offered two frames choices on the SL???? Even the dealers say it is a love/hate relationship with the Black and Pink. I really wanted to be loyal to one of several dealers but unfortunately had to give that up. Could all have been solved by Trek allowing several choices since the frame is the same on the three models below the SLX.

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Trek Silque SLX review

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The Silque is the latest addition to Trek’s women’s-specific road bike range and in this review Caz Whitehead puts the Silque SLX through its paces.

Trek has been creating “Women’s Specific Design” (WSD) frames for some time now but the Silque is a brand new addition to the line-up. Designed with the aim of combining the responsiveness of the Madone with the ride-anywhere practicality of the Domane (see here for a comparison review between the two) the Silque is a bike made for comfortable riding, but without diminishing straight-line speed or handling ability.

The Silque line features five different builds, from the $2,199 Silque (with Shimano Tiagra) to the $6,999 Silque SSL (with Ultegra Di2) with custom options also available through Trek’s Project One. We were provided with the Silque SLX to review, which sits just below the SSL.

Before the ride

The carbon used in the SLX model of the Silque is the 600 series OCLV, which is claimed to have the best ratio of stiffness to weight in the industry. The frame is similarly designed to most relaxed, compact geometry carbon road bikes on the market today, with thin stays and thick, sloping main triangle tubes. The fork tapers from 1 1/8″ to 1.5″, creating rigidity without too much of the added weight of thicker headtubes.

One of the most interesting features is the seatpost, which differentiates this SLX model from those lower in the range; more specifically the no-cut seatmast (see here for more info). This is both a weight-saving feature and creates a better ride quality, with the added bonus of making sure bike fittings are correct when the bike is sold in store.

It is still extremely easy to change heights, as the seatmast has 10cm of available adjustment, unlike so many of the integrated seatpost options out there. The seat tube isn’t directly connected to the top tube, but rather features a rubber shock-absorbing collar surrounding the tube, which has been implemented to act almost as suspension, thereby dampening the road vibration.

The SLX comes with full 11-speed Shimano Ultegra, featuring the smaller, more ergonomic hoods, and faster, more precise front derailleur shifting. The frame also features a built-in chain catcher, which, Trek claims, provides flawless gear shifting even under rougher road conditions. Both the gear cables and rear brake cable are all internally routed, and the small detail of blue anodised cable end caps have been added to the white cables.

One detail the pictures don’t do justice to is the sparkle through the paint. Similar to what you’d be more likely to find in a Japanese NJS track racing frame than a carbon road bike, the blue paint contains specks of small glitter, which in the sunshine, gleam proudly.

The paint is well designed and placed; feminine without being pink and floral. The blue is matched up with a stark white (no sparkles), and touches of light green also appear in a couple of places. The bike comes standard with white bartape and saddle, and flashes of blue peek through the bartape perforations. Everything matches, and has been carefully thought out, and finishes off the visual aspect of this bicycle nicely.

Head to the Trek website for more information about the Silque. Click here to see the bike’s geometry table.

After the ride

Being used to quite an unforgiving, aggressive frame, the Silque provided me with a different world of riding. Riding the same roads was an entirely different experience. The dampening in the frame worked better than expected; the rough surfaces were surprisingly smooth to traverse, to the extent that cobbles felt like a slightly rough road. The frame dampening didn’t at all impede performance, but rather increased the speed that could be carried over rough surfaces.

Straight line speed was easy to maintain, and with a similar wheelbase to that of a race-tuned bike, the immediate power transfer to speed was noticeable. Descending was a different story.

The bike wants to go quickly, and changes direction with ease but being in such an upright position meant the ability to get low enough for weight placement was difficult. This meant the bike would corner easily at lower speeds when wheel turn was applicable, but taking it into corners with more force would have the bike dragging off course, unable to be happily directed through the bend.

Out-of-the-saddle climbing was a breeze. The frame is so light, and quite responsive to input, even being thrown around on a climb, it maintained rigidity and responsiveness. Seated climbing was where my muscles became aware of the different position; being more upright meant the lungs were opened up more for oxygen intake, but the leg position meant a little potential power was lost. It’s marginal, but noticeable.

Gear changes, even while climbing, were immediate thanks to the Ultegra 11-speed, and the improved front derailleur made a difference to speed of large gear changes. Internal routing doesn’t seem to impede shifting at all, but rather keeps the cabling out of the elements, improving long-term shifting ability.

Handlebar shape is an interesting choice. The bars don’t have much bend through the tops, rather straight across, and almost a direct 90-degree bend directed toward the hoods. This means a lot of space on a smaller bar for placing hands while climbing, or for a moment to change position. The drop is ergonomically designed, and extremely shallow. For small hands, this can provide a little trouble as the design means the lever is further from reach whilst in the drops.

Even with Shimano’s new lever design, winding the lever 10mm toward the bar doesn’t seem to improve the reach quite enough and means a part of the lever digs in to fingers when hands are on the hoods. An issue easily remedied by a change of bars, and not a problem anyone with larger hands would encounter.

Final thoughts and summary

Overall, this bike perfectly suits the market it has been designed for, filling the gap between the rather sluggish Domane WSD, and the race-orientated Madone WSD. It’s a comfortable bike for big weekend rides, while also being nimble on bike paths and around tight corners. It’s perfect for exploring while at the same time being capable in bunches.

A bike for those who perhaps value the adventure over the speed and who enjoy the social side of riding more than chasing down a breakaway.

What do each of the ratings criteria mean? And how did we arrive at the final score? Click here to find out.

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Trek Silque SSL women's endurance road bike review

A silque-y smooth ride with an upright position and good attention to detail.

You can trust Cyclingnews Our experts spend countless hours testing cycling tech and will always share honest, unbiased advice to help you choose. Find out more about how we test.

This article originally appeared on BikeRadar

Trek's new women's specific Silque endurance road bike is designed to make long rides more comfortable without sacrificing function and efficiency. The Silque borrows ideas from Trek's successful men's endurance line, while establishing new geometries to fit more women. With good attention to detail, the Silque looks an ideal pick for women who want a ride that majors in comfort.

Trek, however, is loath to pigeonhole the Silque as an endurance bike, describing it instead as “the carbon road bike for women who love to ride”. But with the female-specific Madone and Émonda, Trek already has two women's performance bikes designed for racing. So where does the Silque fit in?

To answer this question we tested the new bike on every type of road and terrain we could find – on smoothly paved roads and bumpy dirt paths, on straight flat boulevards, up steep climbs and down winding descents – to coax out its true nature.

• Highs: Smooth and comfortable ride with awesome attention to detail
• Lows: Tall head tube means it's difficult to achieve a large drop to handlebars
• Buy if: You want a supremely comfortable bike with a more upright riding position

Ride and handling: stable, responsive and comfortable – but upright

Trek says the Silque was designed to be more lively than a Domane (endurance bike) and smoother than a Madone (race bike). But its geometry definitely tips more toward the former. It has a longer wheelbase to increase stability, a shorter seat tube for more standover and a taller stack to keep the rider more comfortable on long rides.

The Silque also employs Trek's IsoSpeed Decoupler, which acts as a tiny built-in suspension system by enabling the seat tube to move independently from the top tube and seatstay junction. The IsoSpeed Decoupler eats up small bumps and cracks in the road, creating one of the smoothest rides we've experienced from any road bike.

The Silque comes with a flexible IsoSpeed junction at the rear – and a tall head tube up front

The Silque performed impressively well on rough dirt roads, leaving us feeling fresher and more relaxed at the end of each ride. We really liked the bike's longer wheelbase (99.8cm) too, which helps it feel stable and smooth, especially through corners.

Yet this silky (Silque-y?) character does nothing to diminish the Trek's efficiency. In theory, the longer wheelbase should slow down the responsiveness of the bike. But the combination of increased stability and a smoother ride keeps the bike from jumping around at high speeds, meaning it's actually easier to get through corners faster. Out-of-saddle sprints, meanwhile, feel just as lively on the Silque as they do on this tester's personal race-specific bike.

On a less positive note, the taller stack (59.2cm) and head tube length (19.3cm) are perhaps a little excessive. If you're also a rider who prefers an aggressively race-tuned stance, you'll feel like a sail out in the wind when riding up on the bars – and even down in the drops didn't feel much better. That said, for cyclists who are more concerned with a comfortable ride than racing or aerodynamics, who have flexibility issues, or who benefit from a more upright position, the Silque is an unreservedly great option.

Frame: size-specific design

The archaic age of painting men's bikes pink and calling them female-specific designs is – thankfully – finally behind us. More and more bikes are designed from the ground up to cater to women of all sizes.

Trek focused on size specific bike tuning, carbon choice, and geometry when developing the Silque. It looked at how men and women differ and what key changes women's bikes needed.

Its research found that men tend to weigh more than women of the same bike size and produce higher power numbers than their female counterparts. While this may not seem like groundbreaking news to most of us, it is an important factor can be overlooked by bike designers, resulting in women's bikes being built to the same stiffness standards as men's – despite women's generally lower power output numbers – making them more rigid and less comfortable than they need to be.

Trek claims the Silque combines the Domane's comfort with some of the race features of the Madone – we found it leans towards the former

A good friend of BikeRadar 's, an experienced cyclist who rides a 48cm bike, confirmed the stiffness issues that plague smaller rides. One bike she owns was built with size-specific layups and is extremely comfortable yet stiff enough for her most explosive efforts. Another was originally designed as a larger bike, with the tube lengths subsequently being reduced. This bike is beyond stiff and she noted that the bike is almost unrideable on bumpy or loose roads.

Each frame size of the Silque has been designed and custom tuned around the power output and weight for the intended female rider – something that smaller women will surely appreciate.

Kit: strong attention to detail

As with the frame design, the Silque's spec is full of thoughtful details that help make the bike a pleasure to ride. At first glance, it's a gorgeous machine. With a white stem to match the frame and lime green handlebar tape to compliment the green paint, the whole look of the Silque is understated and elegant.

The Silque SSL we tested comes stock with 11-speed Shimano Ultegra Di2. It was this tester's first time riding with electronic gears, and the speed of each shift immediately impressed – pushing the button to change gear produced an instantaneous response.

While some might criticize Trek for equipping its top-line women's bike with Ultegra Di2 rather than Dura-Ace like the men's bikes, we applaud this decision, given that it delivers the same shifting quality for a modest weight penalty – but a significant cost saving.

A compact 50/34-tooth Shimano Ultegra crankset comes on the top model

Wires are neatly and internally routed, with the battery hidden in the seat tube – it's easy to charge by plugging the included charger into the junction located under the stem. The Silque's integration makes using Di2 less intimidating for the novice and keeps the lines of the bike clear from distraction.

To combat uncomfortable, numbing road buzz, Trek has fitted the bike with Bontrager's RXL IsoZone handlebar. IsoZone pads are integrated into the bar and are easy to overlook at first, as the bike arrived with bar tape installed. But at the end of a long ride or after an especially bumpy road when our hands would usually be killing us, we felt great.

The 3S chain keeper, mounted directly to the Silque's frame, was an additional source of comfort on rough surfaces. We didn't have a single chain drop throughout the months of riding the Silque, even when tackling corrugated dirt roads.

One other small detail that we found made a big difference is the DuoTrap computer sensor. Found in the chainstay, the DuoTrap collects and wirelessly transmits riding data – including speed, distance, and cadence – to all major ANT+ computers. (With such a good-looking bike it would be a shame to mess it up with wires and zip ties fastening chunky equipment to the frame.)

The integrated DuoTrap sensor can capture cadence and speed and transmit wirelessly to any ANT+ computer, such as a Garmin Edge

Kit-wise, the stock option of Bontrager's women's-specific Affinity RXL saddle proved the only bone of contention. That's no surprise – saddle choice is one of the most important and personal decisions when it comes to cycling. No two women are the same size and shape and no one saddle will fit us all.

While the Affinity RXL might work perfectly for some women – its shape and central relief channel make sense – I prefer a wider saddle equipped with a cut-out. Luckily, saddles are easy to swap and once the Bontrager was switched for a personal go-to perch, riding became much more comfortable.

Bottom line: a high-grade, versatile endurance machine

In endurance terms, Trek has nailed it with the Silque. It's smooth, stable, good-looking and built for a comfortable ride. The manufacturer may shy away from calling it an endurance machine, and you definitely don't need to ride long miles to appreciate its charms. But with the longer wheelbase, taller stack, and IsoSpeed Decoupler, describing it as anything else is misdirected marketing.

That doesn't mean that the Silque is a bad bike. Indeed, it's versatile and you can ride it with confidence in races, even if you can't get as low as on a race-specific machine.

Despite testing it from a background of racing familiarity, after changing the saddle and lowering the bars significantly, we enjoyed every mile on the Silque and would gladly keep riding it for many more.

Specification Name: Silque SSL Built by: Trek Price: £4700/ US$6599 / AU$6999 Available Sizes: 47cm 50cm 52cm 54cm 56cm Brakes: Shimano Ultegra Cassette: Shimano Ultegra 11-28, 11 speed Chain: Shimano UltegraCranks: Shimano Ultegra, 50/34 Frame Material: 600 Series OCLV Carbon Front Derailleur: Shimano Ultegra Di2 Front Tyre: Bontrager R3 Hard-Case Lite, 700x25c Handlebar: Bontrager Race X Lite IsoZone, OCLV carbon, VR-SF shallow drop, 31.8mm Rear Derailleur: Shimano Ultegra Di2 Rear Tyre: Bontrager R3 Hard-Case Lite, 700x25c Wheelset: Bontrager Race X Lite Tubeless Ready Year: 2015 Brake Levers: Shimano Ultegra STI Di2, 11 speed Chainstays (cm): 41 Seat Tube (cm): 52.1 Standover Height (cm): 79.3 Top Tube (cm): 55.5 Wheelbase (cm): 99.8 Frame size tested: 56cm 

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First Ride: Trek Silque SSL

Testing the new zippy, road-smoothing endurance bike for women. —Berne Broudy

Trek Silque SSL Review

Trek Silque Tube Design

3s chain keeper, bontrager vr-sf handlebar, isospeed decoupler, weather-sealed shimano ultegra di2, bontrager rxl wheels, full shimano builds, .css-1t6om3g:before{width:1.75rem;height:1.75rem;margin:0 0.625rem -0.125rem 0;content:'';display:inline-block;-webkit-background-size:1.25rem;background-size:1.25rem;background-color:#f8d811;color:#000;background-repeat:no-repeat;-webkit-background-position:center;background-position:center;}.loaded .css-1t6om3g:before{background-image:url(/_assets/design-tokens/bicycling/static/images/chevron-design-element.c42d609.svg);} women's cycling.

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Trek Silque SL review

Unique road-smoothing ride lives up to its name

Mick Kirkman

Sarah Kesteven

Limousine comfort, deceptively quick, fantastic female fit

No disc brake option

Trek was the first major brand to introduce ‘Women’s Specific Design’ (WSD) bikes nearly 20 years ago, and the range now covers 15 different road bikes – spanning entry-level to superbike realms – as well as 14 mountain bikes and seven city bikes.

Thanks to the Silque, Trek is ahead of the curve if you’re looking for the smoothest road ride possible – and this Ultegra equipped SL is a particularly strong example of this unique bike.

Pivotal plushness

Perhaps the most remarkable part of this genuinely radical frame is that it’s easy to totally miss the parts that make it unique. Visually the only trace of the ‘IsoSpeed decoupler’ is a small rubber ‘spray deck’ around the junction of the top tube and the seat tube that pierces straight through it. There’s another rubber wrap around the sides and underside of the top tube too and that’s what hides the crucial pivot that pins the two tubes together.

Trek's unique IsoSpeed technology allows the seatpost to pivot

Yes, we did say pivot. Rather than a standard fixed joint between the vertical and horizontal axis of the frame, the Silque (like it’s Domane unisex equivalent) uses a pivot that lets the seat tube flex back and forth as the bike rattles across rough roads.

Related: Trek Domane 5.2

Curved, flattened ‘leaf spring’ seat stays add vertical compliance between the rear wheel and the IsoSpeed pivot too. The carbon sheet arrangement used in the tapered E2 fork has a lot of vertical forgiveness too, giving an impressively consistent luxury limousine feel to both ends of the bike.

Whatever Trek’s extremely experienced (the brand was among the first carbon frame producers) OCLV carbon designers have done with the layup of the carbon layers, it definitely works – as any eerily smoothed potholes or ironed out washboard gravel sections will prove immediately.

Stress relief

While Trek has remained tight-lipped about where the inspiration for the IsoSpeed Decoupler concept came, from we can remember watching a conventional rigid alloy test frame in one of its Wisconsin HQ labs being stress tested for frontal impacts. This was achieved by flexing the forks backwards and forwards in exactly the way hitting a pothole, rock or ridge in the road would do and we can still remember just how much the lower part of the seat tube bulged forwards and the top tube arced upwards as the fork tips were pumped backwards and forwards.

The front end isn't far off the back's limousine smoothness

Whether it was watching this very test and seeing the potential gains of letting the two axes of the bike move independently rather than fighting against each other that former the IsoSpeed seed we obviously don’t know. However, the theory of letting the two tubes flex with minimal restriction definitely works in practice, to let impact energy flow through the bike much more easily.

Related: Trek Silque SSL women's endurance road bike

As the bike is effectively free to move wherever it wants under the saddle it also replicates exactly the ‘hover just above the saddle’ technique that powerful riders use for the cobbled sections of classic races like Paris Roubaix. The difference is the Silque doesn’t rely on you to lift up slightly over knobbly sections; the design just lets the frame float between you and battering road surfaces, adding even more to its fatigue-reducing efficiency.

Silque by name…

The wheels and tyres can be converted for tubeless running with a snap fit rim strip too, potentially smoothing out the ride even further as well as adding self healing puncture protection.

Epic ride kindness

While the smoothness of Trek’s Domane/Silque bikes is relatively well known, the question we got asked over and over again about the bike was whether it feels soft and bouncy when pedalling too. It’s a fair question, as many flexible aftermarket seatposts we’ve used get tiresome in their twang if you’re cranking a gear round slowly on a climb.

Out of the saddle, you're disengaged from the seatpost flex, and the frame is plenty rigid enough

Happily there’s very little trace of the back-and-forward movement of the Silque saddle in the pedal stroke, and the very wide-range rear cassette with it’s 32t bottom cog means you’ll rarely have to grunt gears round slowly to provoke it. Because the ride softening mechanism is centred around the saddle, things feel reasonably firm when you stand up and – even with the extra pivot hardware and complexity it’s not a bad overall weight. All this adds up to a bike that wouldn’t be our first choice for QOM hunting on hills (Trek’s superlight Emonda WSD would definitely be in the running for that) but certainly doesn’t struggle getting to the summit.

The long wheelbase and traction enhancing smoothness make for very surefooted descending confidence too, and while there’s no disc option on any of Trek’s WSD road bikes, the Ultegra SLR-EVs are some of the best rim brakes you’ll find on a normal production bike. While it isn’t the most dynamic ‘have a go hero’ machine the docile handling also underlines the Silque’s wonderfully forgiving ‘carry you home’ character so if you’re looking to extend your epic rides resumé in 2016 and beyond you’d be hard pressed to find a kinder bike to do it on.

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Project One – Customize Your Trek

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Don’t settle for anyone else’s bike. Create your very own with Project One, Trek’s custom bike program. Customize, personalize, sensationalize, the choice is yours. Just select the model, fit, styling, and components you desire, and we’ll build your dream bike.

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Don’t settle for anyone else’s bike. Create your very own with Project One, Trek’s custom bike program. Customize, personalize, sensationalize, the choice is yours. Just select the model, fit, styling, and components you desire, and we’ll build your dream bike.

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Latest news, reviews and features for women who like to ride.

Road Cycling

First impressions: trek silque slr 7 women’s road bike, is the new silque really smoother and faster than before.

The cycling industry has forever been locked in a technological race. It’s a battle between brands of who can make the lightest, strongest and fastest bike using innovative ideas, cutting edge materials and of course, having the very best athletes for testing and development.

Then there’s the widely debated topic of women’s specific bikes , and whether there really is a need for women to have their own frames and builds. While many bike brands choose to build unisex frames and tweak the contact points, other brands boldly go the extra distance to build a bike for women from the ground up , while boasting exceptional weight and performance capabilities.

Trek bikes are one of the largest bike manufacturers in the world, and over the past few years, they’ve really ramped up their game in the women’s market. In mountain biking, this began with sponsorship of some serious gnarly women , including the World Record breaking World Champion, Rachel Atherton . While in road cycling, Trek have been huge supporters of the Drops Cycling team, and Matrix Fitness . You can be sure that their bikes are rigorously tested.

Earlier this year we headed to Trek World to see the new 2017 range of bikes . We finally managed to our hands on their greatly anticipated women’s road bike, the Silque, and here’s what we think so far…

Trek Silque SLR 7

The Silque is the only bike in Trek’s entire fleet which is totally women’s specific, everything from the frame geometry to the finished bike build has the female cyclist in mind.

The Silque’s biggest update for this year is the improved IsoSpeed decoupler which doubles vertical compliance to help reduce the buzz from the road. There’s a finely tuned decoupler on the front and the rear of the bike, with the rear decoupler being adjustable. Essentially, it’s a soft suspension feature to create a more comfortable ride by reducing the effects of road buzz felt by the rider.

With the soft suspension system fitted to an ultra light carbon frame and fork, the SLR 7 also benefits from a Bontrager Paradigm Comp wheelset and a full Shimano Ultegra Di2 group-set with a 2×11 drive-train. Suffice to say the SLR 7 has some rather lovely high-end pieces of kit.

When I first received the bike, I pawed at the box, gingerly lifted the bike from it’s cardboard coffin and nestled it oh-so-carefully into the bike stand. I ride a 52cm size frame which weighs in at just under 7.5kg/ 16.5lbs, so it’s very light.

The brilliant purple and cyan bike colour-way has a wonderful metallic finish which really makes the bike sparkle in the sunlight. It’s stunning to look at, it’s incredibly light, but how does it ride?

First Impressions

While it isn’t really the most ideal time of year for a sassy road bike such as this, I just couldn’t help myself getting out to give it a whirl. So far, I’ve just been out for a couple 20 miler rides around my local country roads, to get an initial feel for the bike.

So far so very very good. I was immediately grateful for having my Trek bike fit earlier in the year , and having the Silque built to that spec. Without sounding like a cliché, the Silque felt totally natural to me. My body and bike fitted together perfectly, and she (because I’ve already named her Matilda) responded to my every command.

How To: Choose the Perfect Road Bike Gear Set Up For You

The shifting of the Shimano Ultegra group-set is effortless and smooth, with a wide enough range of gears between the 11-28 cassette, and the compact 50/34 crankset to get up even the most stubborn of climbs.

After a few miles of riding on the pitted country roads around my house, I began to feel the true benefit of the front and rear IsoSpeed decouplers. The usual road buzz you feel on a ride, was minimal, if even noticeable, which is a feature I really think will be most useful for those who ride endurance, sportives and multi-day events .

Project One

If you’re purchasing any of Trek’s top-end bikes, you have the options of ordering it through their customization tool: Project One .

This allows you to finesse your bike with upgraded components, different sized saddles and bar widths, and of course, colours. There are a number of colours you can choose from, at no extra cost. Then by paying a little more – £400 to £800 more – you can choose from a wider palette, you can even get custom flames – how cool is that?

I quite like bright colours, after all it’s safer to be seen on the roads, so I opted for their base model colour, Purple Lotus and added cyan blue grip tape to match the decals. After my Trek bike fit, I was able to ensure that my Silque came with the correct size bars and saddle width so that I was comfortable with the bike set-up for testing.

Project One does come at an additional cost which varies depending on how much you want to personalise your bike. When you’re already purchasing the top-end model, that total figure can come to a bank-bursting amount. However, if you’re investing into a bike that will quite likely last your many miles, races, sportives and years to come, then pushing the boat out a little does make sense. You can even get your name printed on the frame – so tempting.

Bontrager Vella Thermal “Badass” Long Sleeve  Jersey

As a sidenote, and one that I feel just cannot be ignored… Trek and Bontrager are besties, so when my Silque arrived, so did Bontrager’s Vella thermal jersey.

Admittedly, I wasn’t blown away at first. Muted greys and an asymmetric zip didn’t hold much of an appeal, until I popped it on and went for a ride. Wow. It’s warm and toasty with it’s thermal lining, and the silicone hem kept it in place again my bibtights. The higher collar length was great help fighting off the cold chill as well, something I was most grateful for. The jerseys also resembles the uniform from the sci-fi cult film, Equilibrium, which happens to be a favourite of mine.

Sizes : X.Small – X.Large

Available here for £65

As far as first impressions go, the Trek Silque SLR 7 – a.k.a Matilda – has really resonated with me. After each ride, I’m itching to get back out there and ride some more. It’s incredibly comfortable, super smooth on the roads and it handles exactly how I would want my road bike to handle.

The SLR 7 comes in at £4,400 in sizes 47 – 50 – 52 – 54 – 56 , and it has the option of being purchased through the Project One personalization program also. If this is a little over budget for you, then the Silque SLR 6 is available at £3,600 which features the same IsoSpeed decouplar system, but doesn’t come with di2.

The Silque S 5 and S4 come in at £1,600 and £1,400 respectively which both have a lower grade carbon frame and a different decoupler set-up.

Of course only further miles and hours put into this bike will show a fuller picture of what the Silque is really capable of. A full Silque SLR 7 review will be coming in the not to distance future, so keep an eye out.

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Project One Silque For Anna

Anna went Project One for custom paint on her Silque SLR7 for a really understated and timeless look. The combination of the metallic grey with the blue lining the fork and rear triangle looks fantastic together. The painter's signature on the non-drive side seat stay is a great touch, an option often neglected, but Anna liked that link to the custom process.

In terms of performance, the Silque is an incredible endurance race bike built for long, hard days. Adjustable rear IsoSpeed lets you manipulate the compliance, tailoring the ride how you like. A day of cobbles and rough terrain? Adjust the IsoSpeed right down for maximum compliance. For smooth road surfaces take it all the way to the top and it's as stiff as the Émonda. The added IsoSpeed at the front works in harmony with the carbon bars to suck up additional road chatter, keeping you fresher.

Ultegra electronic will conquer in all conditions and the Aeolus 3/5 D3 wheelset performs in a wide variety of conditions for maximum aero benefit.

Come and see us for the perfect fit and your own Project One build.

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