# Trek Aluminum



## makeitso (Sep 20, 2008)

Just been poking around trying to figure out the differences between the ZR9000 aluminum and the Alpha SLR by poking around Trek's website and the closest comparison of materials I've found is this

http://www.trekbikes.com/faq/questions.php?questionid=89

But I'm just curious, if the ZR9000 is really any better why did, in the current generation of bikes, remove the ZR9000 (Alpha Red) out of the road bike lineup? Everything I see, outside of the track model, uses the Alpha Black (the SLR) or white (SL) aluminum. Main reason why I ask is that while researching I found a lot of people saying the 2100-2300 series of the last generation ('03-'07 about) the frame was that much better than the 1500 that I ended up picking up. The weird part is that when I went to go test ride the 2.1 and 2.3 Trek's I found them to be quite a bit harsher than my 1500 even with their carbon stays.


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## jsedlak (Jun 17, 2008)

I am not a metal expert or a frame expert, but the different levels of aluminum exhibit different characteristics. It may also be a cost issue for Trek; perhaps the benefit of moving to 7000 series isn't worth the cost. You'd have to ask Trek...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium_alloy

Years ago I had a RC truck and remember that when I was upgrading it to aluminum suspension it was a big deal to get 6061 Al instead of 5k series because of strength issues or something.


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