WORLDS Lightest Bike Frame from Trek - Brand New Emonda — Only 10.25 Pounds!

The Engineering Principle Was Simple — Cut Weight, Increase Stiffness

While the principle was simple, the process was anything but. 30 months of pro-rider feedback, strain gauges, accelerometers, and countless iterations of geometry and lay-up prototypes all contributed to the lightest production road bike available on the market.


To make this happen, Trek threw every piece of technology at the process: Finite Element Analysis, strain gauge instrumentation, and a custom-designed cornering computer model. Trek Factory Racing athletes and pro riders performed iteration after iteration of ride testing to determine the right carbon layup and ride characteristics for each Emonda frame size.



“We have the resources to build a complete bike system. Let’s use that advantage to look at every aspect of the bicycle and how each component interacts with all the others,” said Trek road product manager Ben Coates. “Once we covered the basic bike functions, we focused on every minute detail. Every decision was based on what was the overall lightest option for the system.”

Trek built up the SLR 10 with Tune Skyline tubular rims, MIG45/MAG150 hubs and Komm-Vor Plus saddle, a SRAM Red 22 group with ceramic bearings, a Cane Creek AER headset, Jagwire's new sectioned housing, Vittoria Crono CS 22c tubulars, and Bontrager XXX integrated bar/stem and Speed Stop direct-mount brakes.

For the shape of the XXX bar/stem, which has a 129mm drop and 93mm reach, Trek consulted a variety of riders from pros to everyday Joes, Coates said.

"We found that for the vast majority of riders, the variation in bar rotation is very small," he said. "A few guys, like Jens Voigt, have their bars really rotated. But for the most part, it is the lever position that dictates how the bar feels."

Now Trek has three road bikes: the Domane endurance bike, the Madone race bike and this new Émonda climbing machine. When BikeRadar asked for an apples-to-apples comparison on how the latter two compare, Coates declined to give specific numbers, but said they are quite similar in stiffness and compliance.

"In bench tests they are essentially the same," Coates said. "The Madone has a stiffer head tube, but it is not as stiff in the chain- and seatstays. The compliance numbers are virtually the same."

The rest of the bike breaks down like this:

• Émonda SLR fork (280g), frame hardware (30.5g)
• Bontrager XXX Integrated bar/stem (216g)
• Bontrager SLR Ride Tuned Carbon seatmast cap and ears (119g)
• Cane Creek AER upper headset assembly (18g)
• FSA Super Light headset lower bearing (17.8g)
• Bontrager Speed Stop brakes (232g)
• Stock SRAM RED 22 drivetrain (1455g)
• Bontrager ceramic BB bearings (62g)
• Tune headset spacer (1.2g), Tune Komm-Vor Plus saddle (83g)
• Tune wheelset (MIG45 front hub, MAG150 rear hub, Skyline carbon tubular rims, Sapim CX Ray Spokes (886g)
• Tune Skyline U20 skewers (27g)
• Tune Gum Gum expander plug and headset top cap (15g)
• Vittoria Crono CS tubulars (360g)
• Bontrager lightweight grip tape with bar end plugs (34g)
• Jagwire Road Elite Link cables and housing (125g)