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TECH NEWS

Tour Tech 2013 - Andy Schleck's Trek Domane 6 Series

There may be a next generation Madone 7 Series in town but Leopard Trek's team leader isn't on it

Trek may have launched the next generation version of the Madone 7 Series yesterday, but their main GC contender at the Tour, Andy Schleck won't be riding it - he's on a Domane 6 Series than you very much.

We spotted Schleck's Tour bike racked up amongst a bevy of Leopard Blue Next Genartion Madone's ahead of the race's start in Porto Vecchio last week. His spare bike is a Domane too - logically enough. A Leopard Trek mechanic confirmed that it was indeed the bike eh would be riding for the race.

In fact Schleck has been riding the Domane since starting his comeback from  breaking his sacrum in a crash at last year's Dauphine. The Luxemburger is said to favour the Domane's more relaxed geometry and more comfortable ride over the Madone even in the latter's new 25g lighter Next Generation incarnation.

Apparently Schleck feels that the combination of the ride feel and the way the bike handles gives him more confidence - something that has been sadly lacking for the Luxemburger more or less since Leopard Trek  merged with the Radioshack team managed by Johann Bruyneel at the back end of 2011. Schleck has endured a wretched comeback from that Dauphine crash either failing to finish or finishing well down the listings, and although crashing is an everyday part of cycle sport that doesn't mean that all riders are psychologically crash-proof.

So, if Andy's confidence needs boosting what is it about the Domane that's likely to do it. Well, to be frank (oops, sorry) that new paint job is only going to confuse the lad (like the rest of us) about which team he's riding for possibly in his case stirring up unwelcome memories of recent team managers. Colour aside though the Domane does have a lot going for it.

For starters that IsoSpeed decoupler really does work to smooth out imperfections and worse in the road surface - and believe us that will come in handy on occasion in Corsica - making for a more stable ride. Stability is enhanced still further by a longer wheelbase than the Madone and a slightly lower bottom bracket. The top tube is shorter and the head tube slightly taller than the Madone - something Schleck counters by running a negative rise stem - but even so the overall effect is a less extreme position on the bike. Like a lot of other teams Leopard Trek have largely gone for 25mm tyres and that's what Schleck has on his Bontrager Aeolus 3s too.

There's one other thing about the Domane that is bound to inspire confidence in any bike rider… it's a winner. Fabian Cancellara has been winning races on it since before it was officially launched. The Domane is Spartacus's bike of choice too, and whisper it not but the Domane 6 Series has chalked up more big race victories than the racier Madone 7 Series. So maybe not such an odd choice after all.

road.cc's founder and first editor, nowadays to be found riding a spreadsheet. Tony's journey in cycling media started in 1997 as production editor and then deputy editor of Total Bike, acting editor of Total Mountain Bike and then seven years as editor of Cycling Plus. He launched his first cycling website - the Cycling Plus Forum at the turn of the century. In 2006 he left C+ to head up the launch team for Bike Radar which he edited until 2008, when he co-launched the multi-award winning road.cc - finally handing on the reins in 2021 to Jack Sexty. His favourite ride is his ‘commute’ - which he does most days inc weekends and he’s been cycle-commuting since 1994. His favourite bikes are titanium and have disc brakes, though he'd like to own a carbon bike one day.

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13 comments

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TrekBikesUK | 10 years ago
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Hello all. Just wanted to address some of the fit-related items here.

The RSLT team is now being fit by the pros at CycleFit. In January, they took a fit cycle with them in order to do 'points in space' measurements, which were then applied to one of the 5 road bike sizes in our range.

Andy is on an H1 fit Domane frame, which has a slightly taller headtube than the H1 fit Madone, by nature of the overall geometry of that bike.

Also, this bike is definitely not Celeste #227.

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homercles | 10 years ago
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It's a Schwalbe "One" which is a new model in development apparently.

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Vaya | 10 years ago
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Does anyone know what model of schwalbe tyre is on wheel?

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DeanF316 | 10 years ago
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The stem is not negative it is on the correct way. How many of you actually ride a bike rather just blog about them. Far too much colour matching. Saddles stem and blacks should be black. The frame looks like the ISP was an after thought, the seat post top is so badly designed. Ruins what is nice lookling frame. See a Look 696 to see how good a ISP can be designed. Look makes bikes and not marketing. Yes I do have one.

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dave atkinson replied to DeanF316 | 10 years ago
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DeanF316 wrote:

The stem is not negative it is on the correct way.

it is 'negative rise' though, like we say. ie, it points down.

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dave atkinson replied to DeanF316 | 10 years ago
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DeanF316 wrote:

Look makes bikes and not marketing.

that's the same look that brought the 695 aero to the corsica press release suspended from the bottom of a helicopter, yes?

just checking

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Mat Brett replied to DeanF316 | 10 years ago
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DeanF316 wrote:

The stem is not negative it is on the correct way. How many of you actually ride a bike rather just blog about them.

You won't find a better example of irony on the whole internet.

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Colin Peyresourde | 10 years ago
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I can't say that I like the egg shell blue. But that's just my preference. I ride a Madone and would love to try out the Domaine, especially since pot holes are becoming such a fashionable feature of our country lanes these days.

I am curious about the 'negative' rise stems. It does look more aero, but I wonder if it causes a problem physiologically. I would postulate that it requires a good degree of flexibility, but could it affect a riders ability to lay down the power. I can only imagine that the rider has chronic lower back pain afterwards....but if that were true then you'd think they would suffer too much pain and injury to use that position.

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dave atkinson | 10 years ago
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it always amazes me how many people are prepared to log on to say that a pro's bike 'doesn't fit him', as if someone who rides for a living, taking fit advice from someone who does *that* for a living, wouldn't know one end of a road bike from the other.

 39

come on, people.

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Tony Farrelly | 10 years ago
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Vinerman, that's rubbish it's very obviously a Trek Domane. Loads of the pros ride on negative rise stems. Pretty much all the Garmin Cervelo riders on an S5 run one.

I'm sure he wouldn't feel the 25g difference on the Madone… cos he's not riding it, he's on the Domane above. Of course I don't think he'd notice the difference anyway - I was being sarcastic. They could have saved that by painting it differently…

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Vinerman | 10 years ago
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""even in the latter's new 25g lighter Next Generation incarnation.""

Do you want to tell me that he will feel the 25g difference?

still the bike does not fit him,he has to use negative stem. otherwise he will be in armchair position. same bike painted in different color[copied some less famous italian artisan without naming].

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CornishSprinter | 10 years ago
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Those blue bikes along with Belkin's TCR and Propel are easily the nicest looking bikes around IMO.

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bblolwut replied to CornishSprinter | 10 years ago
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i think cav's custom venge looks pretty smart too, but this trek is by far my favourite

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