Trek Madone 7 2014 with Zipp 303/404 Review

Posted in: Blog, Cycling | Jun 24, 2014 at 1:55 PM

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INTRODUCTION

You may arrive at this post and be surprised that the website is actually not a cycling site but rather a business/consulting website. My day to day job is an IT consultant but I have fallen in love with bike riding since about 4 years ago. Therefore, I thought of posting some of my cycling activities here.

During these past 3 years I have had the opportunity to ride various bikes for a good period of time. They are:
– Giant OCX 2010
– Giant TCR Advanced 1 2010
– Specialized Roubaix S-Works SL3 2011
– Merida Reacto 909 2012
– Chinese Open Mould Frames 2012-2013
– Specialized Tarmac S-Works SL4 2013
– Trek Madone 5.9 2014
– and finally Trek Madone 7 2014 which is my current bike

I still keep my Roubaix S-Works as a backup and is actually used by my wife but the rest I have sold. I’m the sort of a guy that likes to just have one ultimate bike for everything; that is from commuting to sportif events, etc.

How I ended up with Trek Madone 7 in the end was a long story. My Tarmac was stolen and bla bla bla so I get a replacement cover from the insurance and after an extensive research I decided to get the Trek Madone 2014.

NOTE: I have only owned the bike for about 2 weeks. Therefore, a long-term review is still coming.

So anyway, on this post I would like to share with you my initial thoughts over these past 2 weeks of my latest weapon. I will also compare it with the other bikes I’ve ridden previously.

UPDATE

Long term review has now been posted. See this article below:

http://www.tfsconsulting.com.au/trek-madone-7-2014-long-term-review-long-hill-ride/

MY RIDING PROFILE

– Never race
– Daily commute of about 40km a day then weekend rides ranging from 60-130km
– Height: 170cm
– Weight: 72.5kg
– Flat speed: 32-35kmh @ 150-165bpm

TREK MADONE 2014 SPECS

Size: Small 53.4cm top-tube
Stem: 90mm Bontrager XXX
Wheels: Zipp 303 Firecrest 2014 front, 404 Firecrest 2014 rear
Crank: 170mm
Groupset: SRAM Red
Handlebar: 420mm Bontrager XXX Aero
Seatpost: Bontrager RXL
Pedals: Speedplay Frog Titanium
Shoes: SIDI Drako Carbon SRS Venice
Helmet: Giro Ionos
Bottle cages: Bontrager XXX
Tires: Bontrager R4 (came with the bike) which has now been replaced with Gatorskin. More on this later.
Brake pads: Swiss Stop Black Prince
Weight: 6.8kg including pedals and bottle cages

MY REVIEW

On Trek Madone 7 2014

Purchase and Build Experience

I built it through the Project 1 website. Zipp wheels were obviously not available from the website so I sourced them separately. My initial reaction when I went to Project 1 website was, “Dang..this thing is expensive”. In all honesty, I previously would like to get Canyon instead because of their value for money; but since they didn’t ship to Australia, and when I went to Europe I didn’t visit Germany (ie. where their factory is) then I get the Trek. There are some other top of the range bikes that – with the same specs – cost $2K less than the Trek such as Focus, Canyon, Lapierre, Giant and some other ones. But I simply couldn’t get my eyes off the Trek. It just looks beautiful and made in America. So I thought, “OK then…this will be the bike that I would keep for a long long time”. Hence, the purchase.

The way it works is, Trek does not build the bike but rather they would send all the parts to an LBS then they get to build it. So you would surrender your fate to the LBS =O I went through Bike Force Joondalup for the purchase. Customer support is very friendly and by reading some reviews off Google, it seems that people are generally happy with their experience. From the date of purchase the bike was shipped from Trek after about 30 days. Apparently they needed to custom build the frame, paint it, etc. Once it was shipped the bike arrived within a week!

Once it arrived, Bike Force Joondalup just get onto it straight away which I love! Some other LBS would take few weeks to build your bike ie. it’s not a priority for them. But not with BFJ. The bike was built and ready for a pick up on the next day. So on the day of the pick up I planned to commute from BFJ to my work place in Perth CBD. The distance was about 30km. I was dropped off by my wife then I get to ride my ultimate weapon to the office…yay!

Initial 30km

The road from Joondalup to Perth was undulating. It has some 8-10% inclines for about 200-600m long. It has some descends and flats but no long hills. My initial impression was: the bike is forgiving. I would say that the comfort level is between Roubaix S-Works and Tarmac S-Works. My Tarmac was harsher than the Madone hands down. So, does it mean that the Madone isn’t as stiff as the Tarmac? Don’t get it wrong! When the road goes up, that’s when the Madone truly shines. Oh I wish I can put it into words….the bike just wants to dance. It’s super stiff meaning that there is no lost energy. Every pedal stroke takes you upward. Standing or seated doesn’t matter…in fact, compared to the other bikes I’ve ever owned, the Madone gives the best sensation while standing during climb. Some other bikes I’ve owned felt duller especially the Chinese moulds and Roubaix. Because of the longer wheelbase, the Roubaix kind of drags you back while climbing.

In terms of the feel of the bike, my Roubaix feels pretty “thin” and “skinny”. My Tarmac feels “beefy” especially on the down-tube area. The Madone just feels perfect. You will never lose contact with the bike nor the road. I would say that this is the best bike I’ve ever owned. The Merida Reacto was a great bike too but because it was an aero-shape bike, the rear feels heavy especially during climb. But not the Madone…oh man…I definitely put my money into the right bike.

Descending on Madone was very stable too. It points to the direction that you point it to. My Roubaix on the other hand was very twitchy on descend.

The Bontrager R4 was great too. Very supple and fast. It has very low rolling resistance.

Sram Red groupset is also very crisp. I have used Dura-Ace DI2 on my Tarmac but didn’t quiet like it to be honest. I prefer mechanical groupset instead. The Sram Red is truly my favourite. Smooth when riding and crisp when switching.

On that day I didn’t experience any rear brake rubs as experienced by other Madone owners/testers.

You can say that all these amazing feelings I experienced on the Madone was due to the fact that the bike was brand new…and that’s true! Now that I’ve owned it for about 2 weeks there are some gotchas that you need to be aware of.

My 2 Weeks Review

Now that I’ve owned the Madone for 2 weeks, there are some things that make the Madone imperfect. Well, there is nothing perfect in this world anyway.

In terms of riding experience ie. stiffness, comfort, etc they’re all still the same as my first day. No doubt, this bike shines the most when the road goes up or down. Super stiff, wants to dance and very stable on the descend. On flat it is not as harsh as my Tarmac. On some of the hard surface I ride on daily, I have to stop pedaling with my Tarmac because it’s just that harsh but not with the Madone. Obviously the Roubaix is the most comfortable but the Madone will do it for me.

So the first bad thing I want to talk about is the Bontrager R4 tire. I got a puncture on the rear wheel only after 110km into it. Was very disappointed. I saw a fairly large cut. This never happened with my other tires. At least they normally hold for 500+ km.

The second thing is the rear brake rub. In these 2 weeks I have had 1 week worth of rains and yes debris build up on the rear brake pad quicker than if the brake would have been located at the top. Due to the distance between the pad and the wheel that is pretty close, the debris simply rubs on it. You can feel the rub as soon as you put in power by simply standing on a hill or sprinting. Then as debris build up more and more, it simply just rubs all the time even on flats.

On one of these rainy days I actually got a puncture after about 30 minutes into the ride. I’m not sure if it was because of the rub or not but one thing I can tell you is: when I checked my rear wheel I saw the water surrounding the wheel was bubbling. I’m not joking. That’s when I realise that it could have probably been because of the rub that cause heat build up – especially on carbon wheel – which then punctured the tube. I had to then take off one of the brake pad spacers out so that the space distance between the pad and the wheel is a bit bigger. The space setter on the rear brake was actually located so close to the crank and that didn’t help either. I can never reach it with the allan key I have unless I took off my crank….this is just crazy.

The other thing I’m still struggling with is to ride the Madone hands-free. I don’t have any problem with my other bikes but not the Madone. Maybe I’m not used to it yet or probably the stability is affected by the wind due to the deep 303 rim at the front? I’ll keep on trying and see if I will eventually succeed.

On Zipp 303 Firecrest Front and 404 Firecrest Rear

This is the first time I own an expensive wheelset. Normally I would buy Chinese open-mould wheels. I’m not a big fan of deep dim and anything above 35mm is normally too deep for me. So Zipp 303 and 404 have always been out of equation for me. Deep rims are more prone to side/cross wind (which is the case most of the days here in Perth, expect 20-35kmh cross-wind daily) and are also heavier even though you may get aerodynamics advantage out of it. I like climbing and I’ve ever had a 60mm Chinese carbon wheelset and was quiet heavy.

But this time I changed my mind.

The reason why I get the 303 and 404 is because they are quiet light. Plus, with the new Firecrest shape Zipp says that it’s not prone to side/crosswind. So I thought with all the benefits I get plus the extra aerodynamics advantage, I took the plunge.

The wheels I’m comparing to are Mavic R-SYS SL 2011, Dura-Ace C35 2012 (came with the Merida Reacto I used to have) and Chinese open-mould carbon wheels.

These Zipps definitely do not disappoint. They are fast and more comfortable compared to the C35. Compared to the C35 the Zipps definitely transmit less vibration to your body. The most comfortable wheelset I’ve ever had however is the Mavic R-SYS SL. Although, the Mavic is the least aerodynamics. I hate riding them during windy days…just felt so slow.

The Zipps are lighter than the Chinese open-mould carbon. On climbing I didn’t feel any drags at all while on the Chinese open-mould – could probably due to the weight – I felt as if I was pulled back a little bit. I don’t feel any heavier than the Mavic R-SYS SL either even though the R-SYS are few hundred grams lighter.

Braking is good too especially when combined with the Swiss Stop Black Prince. On the rainy days they stop as immediate as if it is on summer days. These Zipps has a fairly large braking surface too so tuning it to your bike will not be so hard.

What I love the most about these wheels is the fact that changing tire is a lot easier! Dang…I have to say this is probably the easiest wheelset I’ve ever owned to change tire on! Even though they are deep rims (45mm for 303 and 56mm for 404), changing tire is just easy peasy!

CONCLUSION

Hands down the Madone – despite its “flaws” with rear brake rub and the rear brake setting – is the best all-around bike I’ve ever owned. It’s definitely the bike I’m looking for. All these times I’ve been looking for a good all-rounder and now I’m satisfied to ride on this bike.

WHERE TO GO FROM HERE?

I still want to do a long hilly ride 130km+ with at least 1500m elevation to further test the bike.

PHOTOS

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