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Trek adds Domane Women’s line, bikes get WSD touchpoints but standard geometry

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Since the late 90’s, Trek has been a proponent of women’s specific designs with purpose built bicycles. Trek WSD as they were called would typically feature specific geometry that was tailored towards women’s fits often with shorter top tubes and reach. Recently though, we’ve seen a trend away from women’s specific geometries towards a standard geometry for both men and women. However, women’s models still exist in the form of frames with the same geometry but gender specific touch points and often smaller sizes available.

Trek adds Domane Women's models, bikes get WSD touchpoints but same geometry
Domane SLR 6 Disc Women’s
Trek adds Domane Women's models, bikes get WSD touchpoints but same geometry
All photos c. Trek

That is the direction that Trek is heading for with an all new Domane Women’s line. According to Trek, their current take on the matter is that “a women’s bike is any bike that a woman rides.” To go along with that, the new bikes have the exact same geometry as the Domane Men’s but include details like different saddles, narrower handlebars, shorter stems, and (sometimes) shorter cranks. You’ll also find smaller sizes depending on the model with some like the Domane ALR 4 Disc Women’s starting out at a tiny 44cm frame while the same bike in a Men’s version starts at 50cm.

Trek adds Domane Women's models, bikes get WSD touchpoints but same geometry

Trek indicates that the new women’s bikes will have the “same high performance designs” as its mens’ or unisex counterparts, but will still benefit from WSD technology. They also acknowledge that these touch points aren’t for every woman out there, but for many women they will offer a better fit out of the box.

By eliminating the Silque and Lexa models and moving to the Domane, Emonda, and Madone Women’s, Trek hopes that there will be less confusion for women shopping for a new bike since the women’s models now have the same name as the men’s. Trek points out that the Domane Women’s line has the same stack and reach measurements as the Silque line before it and that the new options only increase the number of choices women will have for their most popular models.

Trek adds Domane Women's models, bikes get WSD touchpoints but same geometry
Domane SLR 6 Disc Women’s
Trek adds Domane Women's models, bikes get WSD touchpoints but same geometry
Emonda SL 5 Women’s

Along with the changes in touchpoints, most Women’s models will also more color options that are more subdued than the past WSD paint schemes.

Trek adds Domane Women's models, bikes get WSD touchpoints but same geometry
Domane SL 5 Disc Women’s
Trek adds Domane Women's models, bikes get WSD touchpoints but same geometry
Domane SL 6 Disc Women’s
Trek adds Domane Women's models, bikes get WSD touchpoints but same geometry
Domane SL 7 Women’s
Trek adds Domane Women's models, bikes get WSD touchpoints but same geometry
Domane ALR 4 Disc Women’s
Trek adds Domane Women's models, bikes get WSD touchpoints but same geometry
Domane AL 3 Women’s
Trek adds Domane Women's models, bikes get WSD touchpoints but same geometry
Domane AL 2 Women’s

Moving forward, the Domane Women’s line will include four carbon and three aluminum models including the SLR 6 Disc, SL 7, SL 6 Disc, and SL 5 Disc in carbon, plus the ALR 4 Disc, Al 3, and AL 2 in aluminum. Additional women’s models include the Madone 9.5 and the Emonda SL 5, with the Domane SLR 6 Disc and Madone 9.5 both available for customization through Project One.

For more details and pricing on individual models, check out the full line at Trekbikes.com.

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25 Comments
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Henry
Henry
6 years ago

When will Trek release more info about their new gravel bikes? Not the Domane SL 5 & 6 Gravel bikes that barely fit a smooth thread 35…

Chader
Chader
6 years ago
Reply to  Henry

Those bikes are a total stop-gap option to help slow the bleeding that is customers heading elsewhere for a real gravel bike.

They gambled that their existing line had various solutions (which it does in some ways with the Boone, Domane, and to some degree the 720 & 920), but people cross shopping those found the limits and inconsistent match-ups to other brands (Diverge, Slate, etc. and the other great bikes from smaller brands.)

It seems they must be working on a “Real” gravel bike. A base of the carbon Boone (with the front and rear IsoSpeed) with more tire clearance and slightly less steep angles with more wheelbase seems a likely direction. Then they will probably broaden it to include lower priced aluminum variants based on the new Domane ALR.

Seems we could see something around August based on other debuts in the past?

bikesandclothes
bikesandclothes
6 years ago

I thought that the Silque was a WSD Domane??

Bikerhp
Bikerhp
6 years ago

New gravel bike is being released in March of this per our Trek rep.

Chad McNeese
Chad McNeese
6 years ago
Reply to  Bikerhp

That is great, sooner than I was hoping.

VeloKitty
VeloKitty
6 years ago

Why not just allow people to choose their handlebar widths, stem lengths, and saddles?

Chad McNeese
Chad McNeese
6 years ago
Reply to  VeloKitty

It creates a decent hassle at any level (warehouse or LBS) to stock and swap those parts (road bars esp.), so they try to hit the larger average and only swap when absolutely needed.

boom
boom
6 years ago
Reply to  VeloKitty

You can. It’s called Project One.

lop
lop
6 years ago
Reply to  VeloKitty

I don’t know of any stock bike which a customer can select these things before purchase. Changing the contact points is virtually always the result of a conversation between seller and sales person.

JBikes
JBikes
6 years ago

I never understood why women’s frames had respectively shorter cranks. For a given frame size cranks length should be the same sans personal preference. About the only diff I see is maybe thinner bar widths.

Crash Bandicoot
Crash Bandicoot
6 years ago

Lame; hopefully trek puts out something new and as stated this is a stop gap; same geo and layup with some pink and a women’s saddle doesn’t work in 2018.

Shafty
Shafty
6 years ago

Huh? The consensus seems to be, and I’m not sure why it wasn’t sooner, that women rarely need more than minimal fit accommodation. Average female height and reach aside, saddle and bars are about the only things that get changed very often. Proportions far outside the average are rarely served well by mass produced frames anyways, they’ll need a custom frame in those cases. I think their logic of tweaking existing models is sound, since it allows them to put more money into frame R/D, and adjust fit at the component level.

Crash Bandicoot
Crash Bandicoot
6 years ago
Reply to  Shafty

Disagree; I can’t seem to find the article but I think it appeared either here or maybe cyclingtips about the time that Canyon launched their women’s specific line. Essentially it referenced data showing that on average women have longer legs and shorter torso’s than men of the same height and typically put out less w/kg than men of the same height consequently most bikes are too long, too low, and too stiff for the rider weight/power output. In my experience this is true; I know quite a few female bike racers since my wife races bikes; the only ones with normal looking bikes are those are riding womens specific frames (mostly Amira’s which hold their value amazingly well) which allow them to get proper length stems and drop for aggressive riding other than that many are stuck with MTB stems slammed or longer stems a top a bunch of spacers not an ideal situation. Our dollars will be going to canyon when the Amira needs to be replaced; as much as its nice not to have to throw out a saddle there isn’t much value here.

JBikes
JBikes
6 years ago

Isn’t specialized getting rid of their amira line?

lop
lop
6 years ago
Reply to  JBikes

Yes, they’re getting rid of it because they ran the numbers, and other than a few obvious things like hip size, they were unable to find meaningful size differences between men and women, which necessitated entirely new bikes.

Lots of people have been saying this for years, and many of the long held “differences” the cycling industry grasps on to turn out to just be assumptions of inferences.

Technician
Technician
6 years ago

> Essentially it referenced data showing that on average women have longer legs and shorter torso’s than men of the same height and typically put out less w/kg than men of the same height consequently most bikes are too long, too low, and too stiff for the rider weight/power output.

What a load of bull.

Tell that to Trek MTB crew who makes bikes with seat tubes so slack that even Emily Batty has to slide the saddle all the way up to the front. When we take into consideration taller end of spectrum, the situation goes even worse. There’s no way I can comfortably seat on XL sized MT bike with normal saddle position: at the center of the seatpost.

Yeah, longer legs, shorter torso…

Chader
Chader
6 years ago

Crash, my stop-gap comment was only about the silly “gravel” bikes Trek added recently by slipping in a set of tires that barely fit, altering the paint and changing the name of the regular Domane. It’s a desperate step to hold off sales losses until the eventual debut of a proper gravel bike from them.

It had nothing to do with the WSD aspect of these bikes.

GB
GB
6 years ago

I guess women aren’t allowed Dura-ace. Seemingly from their website none of the women’s bikes come with Dura-ace. I guess I’m going to have to go remove it from my wife’s bike.

it'sAARON
it'sAARON
6 years ago
Reply to  GB

Or, you know… maybe it’s not about gender and maybe the product managers are just doing their jobs a speccing what is likely to sell based on the parameters. Sheesh. Your reaction is part of a bigger problem. but rest assured, you’re part of it.

bikerhp
bikerhp
6 years ago
Reply to  GB

You can get Dura-ace, Dura-ace Di2, Red, or Red eTap under Project One.

nunya
nunya
6 years ago

“consequently most bikes are too long, too low, and too stiff for the rider weight/power output.”
That has been my experience with the wife’s bike fit. She currently rides a 2017 Scott Contessa Solace in size 53 which has a 53.3 top tube length but the same headtube height as my Scott Solace 10 in size large (56). Unfortunately Scott had discontinued both the Solace and Contessa Solace for 2018, opting to offer an Endurance version of the Addict, which appears to be nothing more than the men’s frames labeled one size smaller, as the same size 2018 Contessa Addict is longer and shorter than her Contessa Solace.

VeloKitty
VeloKitty
6 years ago

> too stiff for the rider weight/power output

That doesn’t make sense.

1. Men and women weigh the same for a given height.

2. Maybe Jan Heine of Bicycle Quarterly believes that bikes can be too stiff for a given power output, but few people or manufacturers agree with him.

Crash Bandicoot
Crash Bandicoot
6 years ago
Reply to  VeloKitty

Typically a male rider will output a higher w/kg at the same weight of a female rider and consequently will appreciate a stiffer frame at the expense of ride harshness. This is why the Amira is less stiff than Specialized Race orientated bikes in the same price range aimed at male buyers.

JBikes
JBikes
6 years ago

Make sure tend to weigh 10-20lbs more for a given height.

That said, outside a sprint from low speed, trained females probably put out more power than a casual male rider. The whole stiffness thing is marketing imo.

Example: me in a bike store will be directed toward a tarmac. Elite women riding Amira’s put down way, way more power than me. Go figure.

Penny Leistiko
Penny Leistiko
4 years ago

In a statement by Trex, referring to the FX3 Women’s Disc Stagger, what does it mean by “touchpoints that can provide a better fit and feel to women from the start”?

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