# 2008 Madone 4.5



## garbec (Mar 3, 2006)

Anyone have any idea when these will be available? Thanks.


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## Cereal_Killer (Dec 11, 2005)

At the bike shop I work at, we already have a few. Not too many sizes available right now. Just the common, smaller sizes like 54 and 56 I believe. Nice bikes for the most part, except they have no-name brakes.


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## AJK (Nov 1, 2007)

Can you comment on the ride characteristics of this bike vs 5.2? I test rode the 5.2 and thought it was great, but the 4.5 is more than $1500 less. What are the differences that can be felt on the road?


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## uzziefly (Jul 15, 2006)

I didn't even know there was a 4.5 actually.

OCLV white I take it?


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## garbec (Mar 3, 2006)

TCT Carbon I believe.


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## Cereal_Killer (Dec 11, 2005)

Yes, TCT carbon. And for some odd reason, the one I built up had an aluminum insert in the seat tube. Not sure what that's for. As far as comparison, it's probably on par with the old style madone 120. Not as vertically stiff as the new madone 5 series, but close. Weight wise for a 54 was around the high 17 lbs. I actually really like it, because I'm not too wild about the integrated bottom bracket design of the madone 5, nor the internal rear brake cable routing. We've had a few headaches with the brake routing on those, as far as the cable slightly binding on the front insert part. The 4.5 has external routing for this cable. It still has the larger size bottom headset deal, but with aluminum inserts instead of the carbon ones. Overall, very nice, and on par with a lot of other companies top of the line stuff. Except for the brake calipers.


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## kneejerk (Feb 2, 2007)

I've seen quite a few of them. They are a few pounds heavier than the OCLV Madone's. Nothing beats an OCLV frame for smooth ride characteristics. The 4.5 could be a good builder, but comes with heavier stuff. It comes with the same warranty as the other Madone's, you really can't go wrong with either. The 4.5 (TCT) frame is likely a pound heavier than the 5 series frames (black carbon). If I recall correctly the 4.5 in a 56cm size was 18.5 pounds w/o pedals, putting it on par with what a 5200 model used to weigh. 

The new OCLV Madone's are light, stiff and vertically compliant. Probably 2 lbs. lighter than the 4.5 on average.


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## AJK (Nov 1, 2007)

Thanks Cereal and Knee, just the info I wanted.


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## Cereal_Killer (Dec 11, 2005)

Glad we can help. Enjoy! And let us know what you decide on, and give us a review.


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## kneejerk (Feb 2, 2007)

Cerial Killer: thanks for the blog, I always wondered what the normal progression of a diagnosis like that (cancer) was like, way to go in "living strong", hope it's all behind you now.

On the 4.5 Madone's: that Aluminum insert in the seat tube is there to better clamp the seat post, looks like someone's brilliant idea for strength and not so brilliant for weight (as it looks to add some substantial weight to the frame). I haven't seen any problems with numerous internally routed rear brake cables on the new OCLV Madone's, not seeing any issue there. Again, the '08 Madone's are very cutting edge in the integrated bottom bracket and headset bearings directly sitting in carbon fiber shells, as is the carbon fiber fork crown. Trek really has bet the farm here!


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## RkFast (Dec 11, 2004)

Take your "premium" name and bastardize it down to entry level stuff. 

Good move, Trek.


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## Cereal_Killer (Dec 11, 2005)

The 4.5 is far from entry level. While it may not have all the top components as the 5 series, it's still a quality bike. It has better components than my '07 Lemond Alpe D'Huez. The only thing I would change on it would be the brake calipers.

Kneejerk: Thanks for reading my blog. I put it up in hopes that my ordeal would maybe help someone else. Either someone going through cancer, or who doesn't know much about it. Lord knows I knew next to nothing about it until I was diagnosed. Now that I'm a survivor, I have some pretty big plans. It's definitely an eye-opener.


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