Trek Just Completely Reinvented the Domane

This is a brand new fifth generation Trek Domane endurance road bike which has launched today and the big shocking news is that the IsoSpeed decoupler has gone, vanished. It featured on the bike when it launched way back in 2012 as a key component to improve comfort at a time when tires were very skinny and to eat back some of the comfort lost by dropping the IsoSpeed decoupler. The carbon layup in the frame and a seat post has been improved to offer more compliance and tire clearance has gone from 38 to 40, and new bikes are shipping with 35, up from 32 on the previous bike. Those changes mean the new bike isn't quite as smooth as the old bike, but Trek claims it is within 5% of that previous model. The new frame set is a big chunk lighter, a claimed 305 gram saving, with a frame weighing a claimed 835 grams, down from over 1,000 grams on the old bike. and the lightest build it's offering. With a SRAM 1x setup, it's 6.6 kilos. So very impressive, that is race bike territory for sure. The new bike comes in six sizes and has the same geometry as the old bike designed to put the rider in a more upright position with a higher stack and a shorter reach than their stretched out aggressive race bike the Madone. And the new bike is more affordable as well, with a range starting with a Domane SL at 2200 euros or 2400 dollars. So loads to talk about in today's first look but sadly I can't tell you how the bike rides as I've not ridden it yet. They had a launch in the US a few months ago I believe and I guess all our bike media will have first rides and reviews on the new bike today when the embargo goes live right now, but they have promised to send me a bike for testing but yeah you can see it hasn't arrived yet, but hopefully it will soon and I'll give you a first ride and a review as to how it compares to the old bike and the Canyon Endurace I've been riding a bunch recently as well, so stay tuned for that. Hit that subscribe button down below. And before we dive into details, is it me or does it look a bit like a Canyon Enduro with that seat tube design? Let me know by dropping a comment down below. So let's start with comfort, because the Domane, as with all endurance road bikes, are designed to offer a smoother, more comfortable ride for those of us not actually racing, but still want a sporty riding bike, but do value comfort, and a bike that will deliver a smooth ride over crappy roads we ride on, and the Domane was always a standout model in the endurance bike lineup against the Giant Defy and the Specialized Roubaix, or the IsoSpeed decoupler. It's worth remembering that the original Domane, which launched way back in 2012, a launch I attended for Road CC back in the day, had a maximum clearance of a 25 millimeter wide tire, which shows how much bikes have changed. So that's why the IsoSpeed decoupler was launched or developed back in 2012 because tires were narrow so they thought this clever decoupled seat post seat tube designed to give more comfort but our tires have got wider and the last two generations of Domane had 38 millimeter tires now to 40. of course i guess they figured that there's enough comfort coming from the big tires but the IsoSpeed wasn't really Earning its place in the package as much as it did back in 2012. And to ensure the frame isn't too stiff and jarring over rough roads and not just leaning on big tyres, they've worked apparently on the carbon fibre level in the frame and the seat post. The seat post is now a regular 27.2mm seat post, so round on the outside but ovalised on the inside to ensure there's lateral stiffness but has that fore-aft flex for comfort in the saddle. And here's a really interesting graph that they shared from their testing, after all, testing takes a pinch of salt, which shows how the previous generation compared to the original, which is a massive gap, but also that the new bike isn't quite as smooth as the previous version, within 5%. What 5% actually means on the road compared to the old bike remains to be seen. It's something I'll find out when I test the bike, but 5% It doesn't sound like much and hopefully it's not much when I get to ride the bike very soon but yeah really interesting to see how much the bike has improved from 2012 to now. Other important details on the new bike include a new riser handlebar with 20mm rise from the stem to the top. If you remember, it's the Hover handlebar from the Specialized Roubaix from a few years ago. Never really caught on, but now a riser handlebar. They're very trendy right now, so yeah, it seems quite an apt choice to give a bit more stack. Hopefully they do a normal, non-rise version of those, so you don't want the extra stack. We're fine with the geometry as it is, yeah, question marks around that. And an interesting shaped handlebar, swept back to shorten the reach as well, so higher stack and a shorter reach and a slightly flared drop, so quite an interesting shape. There's no talk about how much compliance the handlebar has, like the Giant D-Fuse technology on the Defy bikes, of course, which allows that handlebar to flex with a D-shaped profile matched by the seat post. So, yeah, it looks interesting, but how it rides, I don't know. Tire clearance has gone up from 38 to 40, so the same as all other bikes in the category, the MV3, the Specialized Roubaix. A bit more than 38 of the Canyon Endurace and the Giant Defy, of course. And all bikes are shipping with 35 mil wide tire, where the old bike shipped with 32. So nicely that tire clearance being utilized with a bigger tire on the bike. There are also shorter cranks across the range as well, from 160 to 165 on the medium, and medium-large up to 170 on the bigger sizes, so a big improvement there. And the same as Canyon with the Endurace, which come with a 165 crank on the medium I'm currently testing. As for the old bike, there are hidden mudguard fender mounts, there's an extra third bottle cage mount on a down tube, extra mount in the frame for cargo, so good for light road bike packing. You can fit the aero bottle cages from the Madone if you're going for a racier build, and it's also a UDH dropout if you fit a SRAM XPLOR drivetrain if you want. It's clear from the changes that Trek hasn't really chased extra comfort, but has chased more performance in their lightweight package. So is it slower or faster than the old bike? Well, in their testing with 35 mil wide tire, they are saying the bike has one watt more drag than the old bike, but the bigger tires offer a 1.5 watt rolling resistance saving over the old one. Old bike with 32mm wide tires, so yeah, probably evens out about the same as the previous model, but as all testing, take with a pinch of salt. They have shared a white paper with testing data against the previous model with 32mm wide tire and also the original with 25mm wide tire. They did all the testing on an indoor rig at 20 miles per hour with a force sensing saddle and handlebar and they say by measuring the force at touch points and measuring velocity from accelerometers at those same locations they can calculate the power transferred through each touch point to the rider. The new frame set is also stiffer which I guess Yes, removing the high speed coupling there will be anyway. And they claim by 6% in Tour Magazine stiffness testing, which places, they say, the new Gen 5 Domane in a sweet spot directly between a Gen 4 Domane and a new Gen 8 Madone. And then we come to pricing and specification, and the new range includes two tiers. That's the SL entry-level model, and then the SLR with high-grade carbon fiber. All the same features and details, just a choice of carbon fiber, depending on your budget. A new range does start from 2,200 euros, or $2,400, which seems pretty good, actually, and that's with Shimano's Tiagra 2x groupset, now the cheapest road bike groupset. Below that is Claris, I believe. So yeah, that looks like a good bike. And then you work your way through 105, SRAM Rival up to SRAM Force at $5,000. I'll put all prices on screen now as well. And then you switch to the SLR frameset with a range starting at 7,000 euros, with Shimano 105, Di2 groupset and 7,000 euros for Ultegra Di2. Seen half of course these days for a big brand like Trek. There are cheaper options of course from the Cubes and Van Rysels and... X-Labs of this world and goes all the way up to 10 and a half thousand euros with SRAM RED AXS 1x. It's a really interesting 1x build there and really demonstrates how that bike can be built with a 1x setup. And then topping out at 11 and a half thousand euros with SRAM RED AXS 2x. And if you're feeling really really flush and you've got some money burning a hole in your pocket or bank account, There is a very limited edition model, the number 76 version through a project one, which costs 13,000 euros, which celebrates the company's 50th anniversary having founded in 1976. And that looks pretty cool. And just 124 will be made. So yeah, very limited edition, pretty special. It's also a super lightweight build as well, weighing a claimed 6.62 kilos with a SRAM RED 2x axis groupset. 28mm wide Pirelli tires, the RSL race handlebar and shallow ALS carbon wheels. So yeah, a range of options from, yeah, really quite affordable to crazy eye-wateringly expensive. So that is a quick first look at everything you need to know about a brand new Trek Domane Carbon 5th generation, always been an easy bike to recommend, but always with that caveat of it's heavy compared to a Giant Defy or a Canyon Endurance. But now it's much lighter. And does compete on the scales, on the weight front very well. The stiffness has gone up, but comfort isn't as good or smooth as an old bike. And how it compares to the old bike and also the Canyon Endurance Race, the Giant Defy and Specialized Roubaix is something I can't wait to find out with a full review. Hopefully coming very soon as a bike will hopefully appear behind me here in the studio. But make sure you are subscribed to see that very soon. Watch this space. And let me know your thoughts on the Domane. Are you a current Domane owner? Is this a good upgrade on that bike? Will you rush out and buy one? Or are you looking at something else in this category right now? Let me know, drop me a comment down below. But that is all for today. We'll see you review of the previous generation Domane. That video review is linked right there.