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New Trek Domane Disc Brake Endurance Road Bike Debuts w/ New Bontrager Affinity Wheels

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2015 Trek Domane Disc brake endurance road bike

The new Trek Domane Disc ushers in the latest road bike stoppers on a bike that was all but made for such things.

The Domane, which we’ve reviewed here, uses Trek’s IsoSpeed coupler at the seat- and top tube junction to separate bumps and vibrations from the rider and create a suspension effect. The bike’s made for the Classics like Paris-Roubaix, with clearance for big tires…and this new version adds spacer for even bigger rubber and fenders than before.

It also adds 15mm and 12×142 thru axles front and rear, but, the rear’s able to be converted to standard quick release thru axles to work with the vast majority of wheels currently on the market. Brilliant!

UPDATED 5/114 – 8pm EST: Pricing, Spec and Wheels tech info added.

UPDATED 5/2/14 – 12pm EST: Correction on thru axles and additional info, including tire clearance added throughout post

2015 Trek Domane Disc brake endurance road bike

The Domane Disc will initially be available in 4- and 6-series trims, which primarily means a difference in quality of OCLV carbon fibers used.

UPDATE: It also means the use of a seat mast design on the 6-series, which Royce Beckon, Trek’s assistant road brand manager says makes a massive difference in overall compliance compared to the 4-series’ standard seatpost design. The 6-series also gets their asymmetric steerer (ovalized just above the crown to be wider side to side than it is front to back, giving it better fore/aft compliance without hurting steering precision), full carbon fiber fork. That’s versus a symmetric standard carbon fork with alloy steerer on the 4’s.

UPDATE: While they mention room for bigger tires in the initial PR, we’ve been told the officially recommended maximum size is 25c in order to comply with CPSC and CE clearance guidelines. That said, you’re free to do what you want (at your own risk), and the pics suggest there’s plenty of room in there.

trek-closed-convert-bicycle-dropouts-convert-thru-axle-to-quick-release

The Closed Convert Dropouts have been used on the Superfly hardtails, and now they make their way to the road, and to the front of the bike but only for the rear. Fork is 15mm thru axle only…which means new road disc wheels from Bontrager. Read on…

UPDATE: The fork also uses the Closed Convert dropout system, allowing for a switch between 15mm thru axle and standard quick release. Even better, the dropout inserts can be used on either side, letting you run the thru axle’s clamp on left or right, depending on your preference. For those new to disc brakes, the skewer/axle on the front is typically inserted from the right so the lever is opposite the disc brake caliper, a switch from standard rim brake setups.

2015 Trek Domane Disc brake endurance road bike

As impressive as the top level Domane Disc 6.9 is, the 4-series is just as exciting for it’s $2,099 price point. So we’ll start with that:

TREK DOMANE DISC 6.9 SPEC

trek-domane-disc-6-9-road-bike-specs

 

Retail on the Domane Disc 6.9 is $7,899.99 and is decked out with pretty much everything you’d want. The upgrade path on this bike is short, and certainly not rushed. And while almost 8K seems like (is) a lot, in this day and age for a top level rig, it’s pretty fair.

TREK DOMANE DISC 4.0 SPEC

trek-domane-disc-4-road-bike-specs

What’s important to note here is that you get an OCLV carbon frame, tubeless ready wheels, the convertible dropouts and IsoSpeed tech with quasi-hydraulic brakes for just $2,099.99. That means a very budget bike that’s entire upgrade worthy as resources allow. The drivetrain would be at the top of our list since it’s apparently how they’re bringing it to market for so cheap: Sora 9-speed. Yes, nine speeds. Remember those?

Now, the bad news: If your local Trek Dealer hasn’t already ordered one, particularly the 6.9 series, word on the street is there will be a slight delay in you getting one of the more common sizes.

BONTRAGER AFFINITY ELITE TLR ROAD DISC WHEELS

bontrager-affinity-alloy-disc-brake-tubeless-ready-road-bike-wheels

Bontrager’s been doing road tubeless for quite a while, and now they have a fresh upper mid-level alloy wheelset to go with the road bikes. The new Affinity Elite TLR Road Disc use their stacked, straight pull spoke system at the hubs with asymmetric placement at the rims for better bracing angles and a stiffer wheel.

The hubs use interchangeable axle caps, with options available separately, letting them run on various bikes. Our guess is they’ll show up on the Crocket before too long. Which brings up an interesting point…this new Domane is their first road/cyclocross offering to get thru axles, but we suspect the ‘cross bikes won’t be far behind.

The rim is drawn from 6061 aluminum and measures 23mm wide (17.5mm internal) and is laced with DT butted spokes. Both are laced with 24 spokes. Claimed weights are 740g (front) and 915g (rear), putting the total at 1,655g. They’re 10/11 speed compatible and a Campagnolo freehub body is available separately. No rider weight limit.

TrekBikes.com

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Elliot
Elliot
9 years ago

Those are a new set of wheels, from what I gather.
Any news on those?

James
James
9 years ago

There’s a new wheelset for them on there aswell! Affinity elite, more than likely tubeless and a wider than average profile, looks like the rhythm elite hub too.

New paradigm RXL there by the looks of it too, bridge the £100 gap between the rl and rxxxl

Takes a lot of things from the Boone, Inc cable routing and looks like the fork too.

I’ll be a fan if more than a handful are brought to the UK!

ElPablo
ElPablo
9 years ago

There is actually a pretty big difference to ride quality from a 4 to a 6 series – I think you missed the change from seat post (4 series) to seat mast (6 series). Makes a huge difference to ride feel beyond the difference to quality of OCLV fibers.

But this is certainly a cool development.

Pmurf
Pmurf
9 years ago

Wow. Not a mainstream brand guy myself but looks like they did their homework. Very nice!

Peter
Peter
9 years ago

It’s the IsoSpeed DE-coupler.

Peter
Peter
9 years ago

With that obnoxious correction out of the way, I’ll say that this looks like a very nice Gran Fondo bike. For my own purposes, I wish they made the Classics Edition geometry a standard feature, as I feel like I’m sitting in a recliner when I’m on the regular Domane. But that probably just means I’m not really the target buyer for this one.

pornitswhatlwouldratherbmaking
pornitswhatlwouldratherbmaking
9 years ago

The future is now!!!

Cycles Galleria
9 years ago

We just finished building one up – very cool…
Adapters for running a QR wheel in the rear are included but the new wheels look hot.

Fattylocks
Fattylocks
9 years ago

So how about an Ultegra build ? Like the dark look .

Gumby
Gumby
9 years ago

forgive me my ignorance, why are the thru axles coming into use more and more frequently?
Also would love to hear more information re: the post / mast (ElPablo) impact on ride quality.
assume mast would isolate rider better then post??
Lastly comments regarding the tubeless wheel tire set up? vs tubes … anyone??

Cycles Galleria
9 years ago

We’ve just built one up – very cool… Comes with all the adaptors for QR too, but the new wheels look solid. Total weight – 7.5kg. (more pics on the Cycles Galleria Facebook)

Ajax
Ajax
9 years ago

And here’s the kicker. 28mm tires? That’s it? Nothing more?

wako29
wako29
9 years ago

Hey Tyler: it is called IsoSpeed…not IsoPulse. And according to their launch info, both the front AND rear are convertible to QR, not just the rear. And just like ElPablo said, the differences between the 4 Series and 6 Series frames lie much more than just the level of carbon used.
All that being said, I’m very excited about this bike. Hopefully these will sell like crazy and Trek will bring discs to more models!!!!

Richard Johnson
Richard Johnson
9 years ago

Get real. $2100 for a budget minded road bike is absurd. Some of us in the real world ride on our own dime. How soon do you want me to upgrade to a thru-axle standard for road bikes? Oh, just for the rear wheel? Gimme’ a break.

Flip
Flip
9 years ago

@Fattylocks – A 5.2 Domane with the new Shimano R685 should ship in August.

Bas
Bas
9 years ago

Yay! Exciting news! Looking forward to supple 30-32mm TLR slicks to go with this beauty

Doug McKibbon
Doug McKibbon
9 years ago

Where is the battery for the Di2 version?

Ajax
Ajax
9 years ago

Dream on Bas. You’re never gonna fit 32s on this fork.

wheel-addict
wheel-addict
9 years ago

Finally, thru-axles front and rear on a disc road bike! I love my Spec Crux Pro Disc, but I often get disc rub from the front when cornering hard (no matter how much I carefully true and align the rotor). Never happens on my mountain bikes with thru-axles. New I should have waited one more year to buy my first disc road bike…

the dude
the dude
9 years ago

Thanks Bikerumor for a good laugh today. And trek. DAnke.

ElPablo
ElPablo
9 years ago

Gumby – just taking a spin with flat pedals on a 4 series vs. a 5/6 series you can tell a noticable difference. The 6 series even feels like you might have to adjust saddle height for sag (a la mtb rear suspension). Certainly a larger impact for that style of bike and imho worth the money upgrade.

Richard Johnson – $2100 for a budget carbon road bike is not bad at all, current entry level carbon road bikes are in the $1400 range but you make concessions from group set, cockpit parts, wheels, ect. Once you hit $2K you at least get to current standards and features (short of Di2) just without the fancy weight weenie bits & considerations. And again just my $.02 and always, imho.

jacob
jacob
9 years ago

Not a big fan of the zip ties on the fork. Why not make it internal like on some I’ve seen. It feels a bit cheap to me. Might be easier to service but the rest of the cables are internal.

Ilikeicedtea
Ilikeicedtea
9 years ago

The comments section are 90% first world bitching.

scentofreason
scentofreason
9 years ago

So I get all warm and fuzzy about this bike and I click the Trek website. And SUPRISE, this bike isn’t on the darn webpage. So I guess I’ll do the usually and just wait until March 2015 when the bike actually becomes available. Oh Christ do I hate this aspect of the bike industry. Hey Bike Rumor, do us a favor, only review products that are actually available to buy at the time you review them….

scott
scott
9 years ago

The Disc Domanes are actually already available. Trek has every size in the 4.0 in stock, and some sizes on the 6.9.

andrew brown
andrew brown
9 years ago

In the uk we have the boardman pro carbon which is an excellent bike , ideal for upgrades and only costs $1400

Casey
Casey
9 years ago

I really hate SORA! Why would they not offer a Domane with the new 11 speed 105 5800 and the new shamano mechanical hydraulic disc brakes?

John
John
9 years ago

Pretty much my dream bike. I’d buy one in an instant if these came in a Di2 Ultegra build. At my level I just can’t justify the Di2 Dura Ace price point. LOL!

@Doug McKibbon: The 2014 Di2 Domanes have been coming stock with internal batteries via seat post mounts. The Di2 Boones came with a new internal battery mount option in the seat tube but just above the bottom bracket. I would like to see the underside of the bottom bracket or the back of the seat tube to see if the Disc Domanes got the same treatment. Hopefully this link works: bikeradar.com/uk/road/gallery/article/exclusive-trek-boone-9-disc-first-ride-review-39503/17/

That said, any guesses on how long it will take for the Boones to get these same thru-axles?

John
John
9 years ago

@Casey: The Shimano ST-RS685 hydraulic/mechanical shifters aren’t due out until August, I’m guessing we won’t see the 6800 or 5800 groupsets on these bikes until then.

Jay
Jay
9 years ago

@John: I am wondering when the Boone will get thru axles as well. They only released the Boone at the end of the US CX Calendar last year and you would have figured it would have been part of the equation. For me that is the only thing lacking.

JP
JP
9 years ago

@scentofreason: The Domane 6.9 Disc is on the Trek website as of a few days ago.

JP
JP
9 years ago

Also, our LBS now has at least one available for sale.

Mel
Mel
9 years ago

Can you have 28cc tires on this new rig?

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