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Trek Introduces the 2013 Radioshack Leopard Team Bikes

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With the road racing season here in the US quickly approaching, and racing already underway in the Southern Hemisphere, Trek has pulled the annual wraps off their team’s bikes. Under the management of Luca Guercilena, Team RLT has gotten off to a good start with the general classification Teams award at the recent Tour Down Under.

See more of the bikes after the break.

There are a lot of familiar faces in team RLT’s ranks for 2013, as Andy Schleck, Frank Schleck, Fabian Cancellara, Adreas Kloden, Jens Voigt, Chris Horner, Ben King, and many more make up a solid squad.

As the standard road bike for the team, Trek’s 7.9 Madone will help them cover the miles with a unique blend of performance road and aero road, rather than a dedicated aero bike like many manufacturers are trending towards. The  Madones will be equipped with Dura Ace 9070 Di2 drivetrains, and Bontrager Aeolus D3 wheels. The bike is pictured with Bontrager tires, but the team will be racing on Schwalbe Ultremo HT tubular rubber.

The Domane, aka the classics bike, will hopefully propel the likes of Cancellara to a victory after an unexpected crash last season in the Tour of Flanders left him with a shattered collarbone. The Domane still features Trek’s IsoSpeed decoupler, which should help to smooth out the cobbles the Spring classics are known for. More Dura Ace Di2 is found, though with classic road caliper brakes.

Finally, when engaging in the race of truth (can you really say that anymore?), Trek’s team will be on the Speed Concept 9.9. Known for its Kammtail virtual foil design, the wind cheater has integrated brakes and a slick cockpit to shave every second possible.

All of the racers will have full access to all of Bontrager’s DE wheels in 30, 50, 70, and 90mm depths. Supporting the rider’s backsides will be Bontrager’s Team Issue, Paradigm XXX, and RXL InForm saddles. Other parts found on team RLT’s bikes include Speedplay pedals, and SRM Powermeters.

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Pancakes
Pancakes
11 years ago

P1 site has the D/A9K SRM already, but it looks like these guys are still using the 7900 SRM. I guess the rings work ok with 11. Good to know.

Champs
Champs
11 years ago

Another minor niggle about bike staging: especially with compact geometry, pro bikes need slammed stems most of all.

There’s no way Andy Schleck would top his steerer with an awful conical spacer and a 7° stem, and he’s pretty much the opposite of a beast.

Brattercakes
Brattercakes
11 years ago

If only they could bring on Crest Toothpaste as a title sponsor, the color scheme would make sense.

Jason K
Jason K
11 years ago

Brattercakes: You realize that Crest once sponsored a team, right? It was the predecessor of the Coors Light team. Len Pettyjohn, Alexi Grewal, et al. Good times.

Geometrically Speaking
Geometrically Speaking
11 years ago

Speaking of geometry…it looks from these pictures that these Madones could have the same issues as past ones in that the front edge of the handlebar extends vertically past the center of the front hub. This will vary some depending on stem length/angle of course.

While maybe not an issue for 99.9% of the Madone riders, it technically is not legal in a UCI-sanctioned time trial. (Not saying there should or shouldn’t be this kind of rule, just saying there is one). One of the problems with this is most riders don’t know or realize this. And when their bike gets put into a jig at a race it always becomes a last-minute issue.

Not that there are a lot of non-aero UCI TT’s out there, but they do exist.

And not trying to start a flame war on rules/UCI/etc. Just raising awareness is all. For the 99.9% of you out there…carry on. 🙂

Brattercakes
Brattercakes
11 years ago

@Jason K: I knew of the Coors Light team, but didn’t know it was formerly Crest. Thats cool.

However, I still think Crest Toothpaste everytime I see Radioshack/Leopard.

ian
ian
11 years ago

That Domane is gonna be great… who doesn’t want two calipers on their rear wheel.

boo to trek for throwing together photoshop bikes.

Ryan
Ryan
11 years ago

Haha good eye Ian!

topmounter
topmounter
11 years ago

Hopefully the Crest colorway helps to disassociate them from their recent “glory”.

Eric
Eric
11 years ago

The Domane has its brakes in the traditional location. The new Madone has brakes on the chainstays. They may be photoshopped, but that Domane looks fine.

Reid
Reid
11 years ago

Image of the domane does have another set of brakes on the rear wheel just behind the bb.

WV Cycling
11 years ago

If I could scream “MEHHHHHH” any louder, my neighbors would kick my a**.

Valdur
Valdur
11 years ago

in the video 0:28 you can see that the chain is assembled facing the wrong way out

gp
gp
11 years ago

They could release pictures of ACTUAL FRIGGIN BIKES. Not (badly) photochopped images… The dual rear brake on the Domane made me laugh…

carl
carl
11 years ago

@ Valdur – not sure but I thought I read that the 11speed chain is non-directional. However, I work in a Trek shop and we occasionally get new bikes from them installed incorrectly.

Brattercakes
Brattercakes
11 years ago

Check out the hoods… LuLzzz

bc
bc
11 years ago

@Valdur, the chain is 100% correct. The new Shimano chain, as Carl points is, is non-directional.

I'm on a boat
I'm on a boat
11 years ago

The lettering on the madone’s wheels looks photoshop’d as well.
Fonts on the rear wheel are pixelated. Front one not.

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