If we have been requested to jot down an inventory of recent bikes we anticipate to see launched in 2024, a brand new Trek Emonda would virtually actually have featured. It is now 4 calendar years for the reason that bike final noticed an replace so going by Trek’s product cycle, it is quick approaching its due date for a refresh.
Fortunately for Emonda followers, it seems that imaginary prediction can be appropriate, as a result of earlier than we might even entered the brand new yr, we got a fairly vital clue suggesting not solely {that a} new model is coming, however what it’d appear to be when it does.
Due to the WeightWeenies discussion board, extra particularly its member ‘Ritxis’, we’ve got a photograph of Giulio Ciccone aboard what can solely be described as a slimmed-down Madone, full with that gap within the seat tube.
Now, a caveat: After all, we do not know for positive that this bike is certainly an Emonda, or sarcastically even a Trek for that matter. The bike proven is completely clean, devoid of any branding or mannequin names (moreover an illegible white mark on the highest tube), as is commonly the case with prototypes.
With that mentioned, varied clues within the picture steer us towards our conclusions with a level of confidence.
Amongst them is the truth that it is being ridden by Giulio Ciccone, a rider whose Lidl-Trek staff is sponsored by Trek Bikes, and has been for over a decade. Second: the bike is shod with Bontrager wheels, a element subsidiary borne out of the Trek model. Third, and maybe most strongly, is that the design of the body can also be very Trek-like. The cut-out within the seat tube, handily circled by our forumite, is extraordinarily much like the IsoFlow seat tube gap which made headlines / gained notoriety (delete as acceptable) when the Madone launched in summer time of 2022.
In truth, at first look you would be forgiven for considering that this was certainly only a Madone, however though we solely have one photograph, if you look extra carefully it seems the tubes of the body are rounder and slimmer than the Madone, all however confirming that this isn’t that. Given the timing and the use case, it is also unlikely to be a Domane, which leads us to consider that that is certainly a brand new Emonda.
After all, we won’t rule out Trek including one other street bike to its vary, though it does appear unlikely. With Emonda, Domane and Madone all present as anagrams of each other, there cannot be many choices left… Maybe it may channel the supernatural with the Daemon? Extra significantly, given the ever-closening convergence of aero bikes and light-weight bikes, with aero bikes getting lighter and light-weight bikes getting quicker, Trek’s dedication to the Madone and the Emonda as separate platforms would depart little room for a 3rd in between.
Of the 2 platforms, it is smart that the Lidl-Trek staff would have a brand new Emonda that’s quicker, ideally sustaining its potential to hit the 6.8kg UCI restrict, alongside the prevailing Madone which is heavier however quicker nonetheless.
So what can we deduce? Nicely primarily based on this picture, not an enormous quantity other than the existence of what seems to be one other IsoFlow seat tube gap. The seat- and chain-stays look to be slim, however not a lot slimmer than the prevailing Emonda. The pinnacle tube appears to have a small cut-out for the highest cowl of the headset, serving to it to sit down flush with the highest of the highest tube, and it seems the entrance cable enters in entrance of the steerer, because it at the moment does on the prevailing Emonda.
Notably, the bike proven is utilizing a two-piece bar and stem slightly than an built-in one-piece system, however that would purely be right down to element availability or the marginally simpler nature of setup, one thing which can profit Ciccone as he dials within the match of his new bike.
As well as, it appears as if it could be geared up with a seatpost slightly than a seatmast topper, in addition to SRAM’s UDH, albeit each are unimaginable to verify from this solitary picture.
As for a launch date, your guess is pretty much as good as ours at this stage. Trek has historical past of ‘leaking’ bikes into the general public eye on the Criterium du Dauphine earlier than a full launch according to the Tour de France. That is how issues performed out with the Madone in 2022, so we might hazard a guess at Trek taking the same method, however solely time will inform.
