Bespoke Blog

Five things you need to know about Trek's new Emonda

Trek used the Tour de France to unveil its brand new Emonda, an update on the lightweight climbing and all-round bike it first released a few years ago. Here are five key things you need to know about the new Emonda.

It's the lightest ever Trek road bike

We were blown away when Trek launched the first Emonda back in 2014 with a claimed frame weight of just 690g and the lightest SLR 10 build, with some trick carbon components, coming in at a scant 4.6kg. That made it one of the lightest production bikes ever produced, certainly the lightest Trek since the arrival of OCLV back in 1992. Carbon frames have evolved a heck of a lot.

But Trek has managed to make it even lighter. The new Emonda frame weighs 640g, with a new fork that weighs 313g. Even more exciting if you're a fan of disc brakes but have been put off by the weight penalty of most disc-equipped road bike options thus far, the Emonda Disc frame weighs just 665g, only 15g more than the rim brake Emonda, and lighter than the old rim brake Emonda. The fork, with flat mount and thru-axle, weighs 350g.

There are carryover details from the previous Emonda, including the BB90 bottom bracket, E2 tapered head tube, ride-tuned seat mast, Duotap S integrated into the chainstay and fully internal cable routing compatible with all current groupsets, mechanical and electronic. Trek has trimmed weight with a carbon front mech mount and all the threads are moulded into the frame, even the aluminium dropouts are co-moulded into the frame and fork on the disc bike.

2. It's available with disc brakes

The new news is that as well as rim brakes, the new Emonda is now available with disc brakes. We're seeing more and more disc brake options, originally the reserve of endurance bikes like the Trek Domane, but race bikes like the Venge ViAS and Tarmac are now getting the disc brake treatment.

Key to the minimal weight difference between the rim and disc brake frames is clearly a development of both frames at the same time, rather than simply adding disc brakes on at the latter stages, allowing the carbon layup to be fully optimised around the different braking systems. The Emonda is using 12mm thru-axles front and rear with flat mount caliper brakes.

3. It's stiffer than the old bike

Remove material to save weight and you might expect a decrease in stiffness, but that's not the case with the new Emondo. Trek has worked on the carbon fibre layup and uses a new 700 Series OCLV carbon to improve the stiffness-to-weight. The US company claims to have upped the stiffness in the headtube and bottom bracket. The rim brake version is marginally stiffer than the disc brake Emonda.

4. But it's also more comfortable and takes 28mm tyres

The original Emonda could hardly be described as an uncomfortable bike, but Trek says that in its development it has not only saved weight and increased stiffness, it has made the frame more compliant.

Wider tyres will help eke out more comfort as well, and the new Emondo will take 28mm tyres. The disc version will ship with 28mm tyres, but will probably go a bit wider depending on tyre and rim combination. Trek also states the Emonda Disc opens up the possibility of gravel and adventure riding.

The rim brake bike meanwhile uses direct mount brakes for more reliable stopping power, and it has developed its own Speed Stop Pro weighing just 95g!

4. There's no aero

We're so used to new bikes being launched with accompanying aero claims, but rather refreshingly there are none with the new Emonda.

Trek says making the new Emonda SLR as light as possible was the primary goal for Trek. For that reason Trek has restrained from adding any aero to the frame, so if you want an aero Trek, you're still looking at the Madone. The new Emonda is unashamedly built to be as light as possible, and we admire Trek for that focus.

Interestingly though, Specialized in revamping its Tarmac and shedding a whopping 200g off the frame, introduced aero features that it claims makes the new bike as aero as its original Venge.

5. Size-specific frame design

More mainstream manufacturers are starting to adopt size-specific frame design, once the preserve of custom frame builders like Parlee. The new Emonda has a carbon fibre layup that is optimised across the entire size range, no longer is a size range based on the development of just a size 56cm frame, Trek used advanced analysis techniques, lab and real-world, with the Trek-Segafredo riders, testing to ensure consistent ride feel across all frame sizes.

The Emonda options

The Emonda will be available in two guises, the lightest is the SLR which can also be bought through Trek's popular Project One, and a number of stock builds and H1 and H2 geometries, depending on how aggressive you like your fit. There'll also be the Emonda SL which is built from 500 Series OCLV with a frame weight of 1,091g.