Your comments on stiffness reminded me of a pair of cycling shoes I bought back in 1993. They were made by Duegi and they had wooden soles - yes wooden as in from a tree. I bought them because I wanted the absolutely stiffest shoes available. The shoes were fantastic for sprinting but after wearing them for about a half hour my feet would hurt.

Will the pro 6.9 frameset be available to purchase without components or wheels? and if so what will it cost?

Steveo - yes, the 6.9 fuselage will be available alone. It will run $5,499.99. -Scott Daubert

I have an opportunity to purchase a 2006 SSLx through a dealar. After reading reviews a Trek engineer was quoted as saying the bike has a life expectancy of 12,500 miles? This seems like a mis-quote. What is the normal frame use life expectancy?

John - there are no life span limitations on Trek frames. -Scott Daubert

I cannot commend the efforts of Trek enough; for their continual refinement of what are in my opinion, ‘the best to ride bikes’ currently available anywhere in the world.

I kick around with some blokes who are on OCLV that dates back to the early 90’s and their bikes are still supple where required and responsive when needed. My 5200 is now piloted by a mate in the morning bunch and going strong, and as for me I’m saving hard for a new 2008 Madone.

I think with the new Madone Trek have set a very high standard indeed. Rather than just copying current design trends, you have given careful consideration to areas of merit and sought real world, practical and performance gaining solutions. Its one thing to look good, but with you guys I really believe Trek bikes posses beauty that’s to the bone.

All the best

Richard

Hi Scott, can I pls confirm that the new WSD madone will be available in size 43? will they be running 650's or 700 wheels. Kindly advise and when will they be available. Thank you

Nicholas - yes, the 43cm size is for real. All the Madones will have 700c wheels. -Scott Daubert

A question about the derailleur hangers

I am a cat 3. I race about 40 races a year. Crashes happen, just look at the TDF.
I have gone through 3 derailleur hangers this season. If my hanger gets bent or destroyed, what is trek's policy. Can your hanger be bent back in? I am seriously considering a new madone for 08 racing.

Chris - A bent hanger can often be re-alligned by your Trek dealer. A derailleur hanger that is too badly damaged by a crash can be replaced by Trek (for a fee). You would go through your local Trek dealer to get this done. A crashed hanger is not covered under warranty -Scott Daubert

I have been riding "performance" bicycles for about 30 years so I don't want to say much more about my age. I just purchased the '08 Madone and am simply amazed at the responsive, yet forgiving nature of this machine - everything that I heard is true. Every day I can't wait to get out and ride. I am in a high tech industry and was completely sold on the design and manufacturing innovations. However, the real epiphany was on the test ride - needles to say the Madone went out the door with me. I am just glad that I picked one when I did as I suspect that they will be in short supply soon.

Hi! Your new frame looks very nice indeed. But many questions are still unanswered:
1. The bottom bracket bearings are obviously sealed towards the outside. But are they also sealed against the inside? If water enters the frame through the top tube brake cable openings, as it most certainly will during long rainy rides or when washing, the bottom bracket bearings will be ruined pretty quickly.
2. Replacement bearings I presume are only purchasable through Trek which is rather inconvenient and probably associated with long delivery times.
3. Also what’s the deal with using different brands of cranks? Do I have to use adapters for say FSA-cranks?
4. The integrated seat post design looks nice when new, but will the painted seat mast not get all scratched up and look real ugly in time?

Phillip Lust posted some questions above.
1. The BB bearings are sealed on the inside by a plastic sleeve. The sleeve prevents any contaminates from pooling in the BB near the bearing.s. Additionally, there is a vent hole in the BB shell to let unwanted condensation and fluids out.
2. Since the 08 Madone allows for various cranksets, we will sell bearings for those cranksets. But Trek will not be the only supplier as most bearings are common to other industries or uses and can be found in any number of locations. This is especially convenient if you want to run ceramic bearings.
3. FSA and Campy cranks will require kits to be used on 08 Madone frames. Trek will sell these kits as aftermarket itmes.
4. Because the mast and cap are both made of carbon and clearcoated, we are not seeing significant maring or scratching. However, if you have to move your cap up and down repeatedly, you should expect some scuffing, just as you would with a tradtionally seatpost. If you can keep a normal seatpost from being scuffed, you can certainly do the same with Trek's cap and mast design.

I am a Larger rider but I would really like to get and ride a Madone 5.2. Are there any weight limits for these frames or the wheelsets?

Chris - there are no weight restrictions on Trek frames or Bontrager wheels. -Scott Daubert

Does the 64 only comes in white series?
thanks

I just ordered the 64 5.5. Why is it made from white carbon instead of the black carbon associated with other 5.5 models?

What is the warranty on the 2008 Trek Madone?

Vern - there is a lifetime warranty on the 2008 Madone for the original owner. -Scott Daubert

Steve and Frank both ask about the 64cm being made with Trek's OCLV White carbon. The answer is that the number of 64cm frames we sell is very small so unfortunately we can't afford to put OCLV Black or Red into that frame. However, very few manufacturers even offer a carbon road frame in size 64cm so we are ahead of the curve in that regard.

Scott-I work at a bike shop that sells TREK. I have had numerous potential bike owners who are 6'4" + and who want to be fit on current bikes. It is unfortunate that no one seems to care about this group. I was told by a noted bike fit specialist that I needed a 62 cm top tube to be on the right bike. It isn't a very good customer relations point to say "we don't build enough big frames so we make the ones we do sell out of a lesser material, but charge the same amount as the smaller frame." I'm disappointed in that type of thinking. what are we supposed to do? Tell the customer to "Go buy a custom frame".

I've cut and pasted some replies that Tyler and I have made in regards to the 64cm frame carbon construction. These address Kurt G's comments:

From Trek Road Bike Product Manage Tyler Pilger:

Hi Kurt, My dad and little brother are part of the 6"4" crowd so I have some person interest in supporting this segment even beyond the business. Few to Zero other stock bike manufactures even build a bike in this size range. It is very hard to justify because the tooling is significant but the sales volume is very small. We were willing to absorb the tooling costs but can not justify the additional engineering and testing required to create a second version in addition. Trek is doing what no one else is, building a very hi-tech bike for big guys. Even the OCLV White frame technology and performance is well beyond anything else in the Madone 5.5 price range. Please look at this as a first good faith step in taking care of the "big guys".

If the sales are there, we can do more in the future.

Thanks,
Tyler Pilger

From Scott Daubert, Trek Road Bike Brand Manager:

Kurt-

Thanks for writing to me to discuss this topic.

I disagree with your reasoning. Yes, we do charge the same for a 64cm and smaller sizes but it is an off-the-shelf, soon to be readily available frame that fits an important group in the marketplace. If a taller person needs a custom frame, that frame may cost more than our frame yet have less technology (and less history and less engineering and less manufacturer support/warranty). Additionally, the White lay-up might best suit the larger frames. The Black and Red might not work as well as White in this larger frame size. I failed to mention that in my original comment, btw.

Scott

What does the 5.2 fuselage retail at?

Matthew - right now it's listed at $2,749.99. -Scott Daubert, Trek Road Bike Brand Manager

I want to use a THM Carbones Clavicula crankset om my new Madone 6.9 pro frame.
So I have to replace the 'drop in' bearings, because Clavicula has at 30 mm axel an not a standard 24 mm.
So wnat I need to know is the outher size of the bearings, so I can order some new.

Christian - 30mm bearings and cranks will not work on the 2008 Madone. -Scott Daubert, Trek Road Bikes Brand Manager