Dropped seat stays and updated cockpit differentiate old from new
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New Trek Speed Concept spotted at the Critérium du Dauphiné(Image credit: Getty Images)
The bike was ridden by all riders within the Trek Segafredo team(Image credit: Getty Images)
The redesigned chainstay is the most noticeable difference(Image credit: Getty Images)
However the bike gets a redesigned headtube cluster too(Image credit: Getty Images)
The frame's stickering confirm this is a Trek Speed Concept(Image credit: Getty Images)
A silhouette of the bike shows off the top tube's amended profile(Image credit: Getty Images)
It looks as though Trek has an all-new time trial bike on the way, as during the Critérium du Dauphiné stage 4 time trial, Trek Segafredo riders were spotted aboard an all-new bike from their team's bike sponsor.
Riders such as Ryan Mullen, Julien Bernard and Michel Ries took to the start ramp aboard the new bike, which sees some easily noticeable differences compared to Trek's existing Speed Concept.
Compared to the outgoing model, the most noticeable update is that of the seat stays, which are now dropped even further than before, and eject horizontally from the seat tube, before bending diagonally toward the rear axle, and then bending again to meet the chainstay in a more vertical plane.
The cockpit has also been updated with an overhauled design, with what looks to be a shorter head tube and an all-around tidier finish, with the stem of the base bar protruding horizontally forwards from a cut-out in the head tube, rather than diagonally up. As a result of this, the top tube is also amended, with a deeper profile acting as a fairing behind the head tube.
Usually in this position, we'd be forced to speculate as to the model name of the new bike. For example, just last week, Factor riders took to the final stage time trial of the Giro d'Italia aboard a completely blacked-out version of their bike, leaving onlookers with no clues. However, positioned on the right-hand fork leg, Trek has helpfully marked up the bike with 'SPEED CNCPT'. Curiously, all bikes are also designed with a 00:00:00 timestamp on the seat tube cluster too.
All images of the bike that have surfaced during the stage see the bike fitted with disc brakes, suggesting Trek is committing the new model to disc brake stopping technology. This wouldn't be a surprise, as both Trek and its component subsidiary have long been headed in that direction for its road bikes.
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It also looks as though the team have continued sporting a rear disc wheel from Zipp alongside the Aeolus RSL 75 that Bontrager launched recently. It's long been a badly kept secret that Trek Segafredo typically use a Zipp rear wheel, camouflaged with a large Trek-Segafredo sticker in the absence of anything available from Bontrager. However, with the new bike comes the absence of the camouflage, and it's possible to make out the Zipp logo circling around the cassette.
Here, on the old Speed Concept bike ridden at the Giro d'Italia last week, you can see the different chain stays and the different head tube design (Image credit: Getty Images)
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.
