2021 Madone gets OCLV 800 carbon, a 450-gram saving and a T47 bottom bracket
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Trek Madone Project One Designer: Abstract (Image credit: Trek)
Trek Madone Project One Designer: Palmarès(Image credit: Trek)
Trek Madone Project One ICON: Sweet Gold Leaf(Image credit: Trek)
Trek Madone SLR 9 in Matte Onyx Carbon(Image credit: Trek)
Trek Madone SLR 9 in Navy Carbon Smoke/Viper Red(Image credit: Trek)
Trek Madone SLR 9 in Navy Carbon Smoke/Blue(Image credit: Trek)
Trek has today launched the latest new addition to its range, announcing a significant update to its Madone range, the company's best aero road bike.
For the 2021 model, Trek has given it a diet to the tune of 450 grams. It has also been given Trek's seemingly-now-go-to T47 bottom bracket standard, along with an update in colour palettes and additional Project One themes.
Along with the launch of the new Trek Emonda last month, Trek unveiled OCLV 800, a new carbon fibre technology that had been over two years in the making. At launch, Trek claimed OCLV 800 to be 30 per cent stronger than OCLV 700.
Thanks to this increase in strength, Trek has been able to use less overall material to achieve the same shape, stiffness and durability. The result for the Emonda was an approximate 60-gram saving. For the Madone, this means a weight saving of 80 grams for the frame alone.
Coupled with the opportunity to spec the new Madone with Bontrager's new Aeolus RSL 37 wheelset and Aeolus RSL bar/stem – both of which also came alongside the Emonda launch – and a lighter weight paint scheme, Trek claims the weight savings add up to 450 grams.
Trek is clear to point out this is an update, applying its latest technologies to the brand's aero platform, rather than an altogether new Madone. Therefore, the frame shares the exact same silhouette as the current model. This means that, from a frameset point of view at least, the 2021 Madone is aerodynamically equal.
The other update comes at the bottom bracket. T47 isn't a new concept by any means. Originally conceived back in 2015, the technology made its way into the Trek lineup in 2019 when it was used on the Crockett. However, instead of adopting the standard as-is, Trek applied a minor change that sees the shell width increased by 1mm to allow Trek's factory tools a better purchase on the splined edges.
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T47 has gained plaudits for its wide-ranging compatibility, ease of serviceability and the generally creak-free nature of a threaded system, so the move will be widely praised among Trek fans. With the Domane launched in July of 2019, the Emonda more recently, and now the Madone, today's announcement sees all of the top Trek road bikes now committed to T47 threaded bottom brackets.
The 2021 Trek Madone SLR lineup
The new OCLV 800 model will, of course, be limited to Trek's range-topping Madone SLR, available in the following models:
Josh is Associate Editor of Cyclingnews – leading our content on the best bikes, kit and the latest breaking tech stories from the pro peloton. He has been with us since the summer of 2019 and throughout that time he's covered everything from buyer's guides and deals to the latest tech news and reviews.
On the bike, Josh has been riding and racing for over 15 years. He started out racing cross country in his teens back when 26-inch wheels and triple chainsets were still mainstream, but he found favour in road racing in his early 20s, racing at a local and national level for Somerset-based Team Tor 2000. These days he rides indoors for convenience and fitness, and outdoors for fun on road, gravel, 'cross and cross-country bikes, the latter usually with his two dogs in tow.
