# My new Madone 5.5 (standard)



## brownhunter (Feb 17, 2004)

Just got this baby Saturday. New 2008 Trek Madone 5.5 (standard, non pro)

My girlfriend and I have been riding for 4 years on Trek aluminum frames. Me, a 2004 Trek 2200, with upgrades in wheels, etc. and she on a 2004 Trek 1500 with better wheels too. Both of those are Ultegra (ish) triples.

AND we're also currently in trainng for the AIDS/LifeCycle 7 ride. We ride every weekend and love the sport, so it makes sense for us to do the big ride finally. Our friends have been wanting us to do so. So we are. Living in the Oakland Hills, and general East Bay riding, we're accustomed to hard climbing and are used to long rides that we relish. We can handle the ALC (we hope!)

Got the call this Saturday during our 60 mile training ride, that the new bike was ready. Made our way from Mtn. View over to Lafayette by 5pm to "Sharp Bicycles"... a great shop that we have a good relationship with... where we bought our old bikes originally (having never ridden road bikes before back in 2004.) We had no idea we'd fall in love with it as much as we have. Anyhow, got fitted out with my new Madone 5.5 by 7pm. I had to ride it home back to Oakland! (took Bart to Rockridge, then rode 3 vertical miles up to our house. After 60 miles, I was shot.)

But I got a ride in Monday for about 33 miles on the new beast from Montclair to Castro Valley and back via Redwood/Pinehurst. About 3200 ft vertical total ascent.

It's amazing... I feel like it defies physics. The Madone really holds a line through technical curves with ease. I've never felt so comfortable and so sure going so fast. I also could get a lot more lean into my curves too. And being a carbon frame, the absorption on rough roads was wonderful. Getting used to Dura Ace was also very nice. The brakes are much more responsive and modulation and light touch was great. Even using brakes through curves here and there, didn't throw the bike off course much. 

Totally in love. (And it looks awesome too!) 

The Bontrager Race Lite wheels are pretty good. My old bike has 2004 Mavic Ksyrium SLs that I upgraded to. The new Bontragers are just about the same weight, having weighed both on my scale. (My new tires may be lighter though...) But the Bontragers are a little noisy over rough "pop corn" road, but are very quiet on nice pavement. They roll very nice. I think I'll stick with them.

My girlfriend will pick up her 2008 Madone 5.2 this week after it gets built. We're both on compact doubles, but she's opting to get a bigger easier gear on the back and will get it fitted out for her. Very exciting.


----------



## NealH (May 2, 2004)

Nice summary review "brownhunter" and, what a great looking bicycle. Congrats to both of you and, reading your post really makes me envious.


----------



## PJ352 (Dec 5, 2007)

Congrats on your new ride! What size may I ask?


----------



## brownhunter (Feb 17, 2004)

I got, and what's pictured is a 58cm. The girlfriend is taller than me!! (so she gets a 60cm)


----------



## PJ352 (Dec 5, 2007)

Wow, I would've guessed a 52 or 54. Looks can be deceiving. You've got a fair drop to the bars. I'm surprised you didn't go for the pro.
If your girlfriend is taller, thus rides a bigger bike, she needs to take the front in headwinds!! :wink:


----------



## WrigleyRoadie (Jan 25, 2002)

Congratz! Great looking bike, even stock. I vote for a red saddle...... 

Have a blast!


----------



## ayvecs (Apr 29, 2007)

congrats on the bike. i am thinking about getting the same bike, but just the 5.2 version, only difference is it will be my first road bike in like 16 years. 

just curious to know what other bikes did you and your girlfriend consider besides trek before purchasing the madone 5.5 and 5.2? 

trying to decide if i should make that jump to the madone 5.2 as i know i want a bike that will be comfortable as well as performance oriented.


----------



## ewitz (Sep 11, 2002)

It's a shame that they stick that crankset on a primarily Dura-Ace bike.

The best part of the Dura-Ace groupset is the cranks/BB/chainrings combination. They are also over 140 grams lighter than the Race X Light GXP/TruVativ Giga X pipe set up that used on your build. I understand it is a significant cost savings to Trek.


----------



## zac (Aug 5, 2005)

ewitz said:


> It's a shame that they stick that crankset on a primarily Dura-Ace bike.
> 
> The best part of the Dura-Ace groupset is the cranks/BB/chainrings combination. They are also over 140 grams lighter than the Race X Light GXP/TruVativ Giga X pipe set up that used on your build. I understand it is a significant cost savings to Trek.


I agree, do you know what crank they use for the triple? Is it D/A?

The weight is not that big a deal, but I haven't heard great things about the Bonty compact and the D/A is about the best money can buy.

BTW to the OP, congrats on your new rides, now get out and ride them! 
Regarding whether pro/performance fit, if what you show in your picture (with those spacers) is a good hand position for you: then the performance fit was the way to go.


----------



## tg3895 (Mar 14, 2006)

Congrats on the new bikes! Best of luck with both.


----------



## Jrmccain (Apr 11, 2007)

*Could feel your enthusiasm..*

Congrats!! Sweet looking ride. Thanks for the detailed report as well.


----------



## brownhunter (Feb 17, 2004)

PJ352 said:


> Wow, I would've guessed a 52 or 54. Looks can be deceiving. You've got a fair drop to the bars. I'm surprised you didn't go for the pro.
> If your girlfriend is taller, thus rides a bigger bike, she needs to take the front in headwinds!! :wink:


The new bike as set up, is taller in the handle bars than what I had on my old 2200. This new leisurely set up is probably better for me in all of my 38 years (kidding). Still, with long rides like the AIDS/LifeCycle where I'm not racing, being a bit more upright is fine by me.

And again, with this setup, taking very technical curves and hills was no problem. I'm not missing anything by being a bit higher up. (Remember too, I could be a real bozo and flip the stem up.) Perhaps the spacers don't look cool, but who cares, I'm comfortable. (And I did have a pretty good fitting at the store.)

One other thing to remember, the pro version has a front chain ring of 53/39, while the performance fit has 50/34. Living in the hills, believe me, having the compact double/easier gearing is much appreciated.

It's also like a car package. You get the best you can at a certain price point. Yah, the performance fit doesn't have the Dura Ace crankset.... but so be it. I'm sure I wouldn't be able to tell much difference anyhow. (beyond fetishizing over the fact that I'd be a complete DA *****..


----------



## brownhunter (Feb 17, 2004)

ayvecs said:


> congrats on the bike. i am thinking about getting the same bike, but just the 5.2 version, only difference is it will be my first road bike in like 16 years.
> 
> just curious to know what other bikes did you and your girlfriend consider besides trek before purchasing the madone 5.5 and 5.2?
> 
> trying to decide if i should make that jump to the madone 5.2 as i know i want a bike that will be comfortable as well as performance oriented.


When I got my first road bike in 2004 (that is the first one since being a kid), and then took off with it and loved it and the sport these past 4 years, I've been wanting a better bike ever since then -- seeing all the carbon in front of me and not having it. I now understand the aluminum versus carbon difference. Wow... carbon is SO plush. At least it is on my new ride. Also, I say go for the 5.2 performance fit and you'll have plenty of comfort. Immediately the bike soaks up the bumps, but you'll also have plenty of space and stem options to dial in a comfortable ride. The Madones are performance oriented, racing machines, but I think they'll satisfy average weekend warriors like me too.

It's a hard decision to settle on a manufacturer. Other models I possibly considered were Specialized Roubaix and Tarmac, Orbea Orca and Opal, and even older Trek Madones pre 2008. But when I looked at the fit and finish of the new Trek and all the comes with it at the price point, its VERY hard to beat. Specialized to me just seems like plastic wow. The Orbeas are goregeous, but even at a higher price, my bike store still thought the new Trek was better.

The new Trek Madone's are gorgeous, getting great reviews, and they ride like a dream. We both took out 5.2s for our test ride and I liked it well enough. I just wanted Dura Ace components (albeit minus the crankset) so I waited until a 5.5 came in (and yah, I like red!) ... And you're right, the 5.2 and 5.5 are the same frame. 

I say get the Trek. Nothing else looks like it right now and all the reviews I've seen are pretty darn good.

The Trek Rep I met at the Tour of California Prologue at Stanford at the Trek display this past Sunday asked me if I got the performance or the pro fit. I said the performance fit, and he said that's what he has and prefers... 

Tyler Hamiltion who my girlfriend and I joined for his California foundation charity ride in 2005 and got to know for that fun weekend two-day ride back then, was also there at the Prologue at the Rock Racing area. Yah, he's bummed out about not being able to race, but I told him I just got a new bike. He asked what I got, and I said "the new Madone" and he lit up and nodded, "that's a great bike." (And of course he rides everything. Not like he's going to insult me, but still it made me feel good.)

So there you have it.


----------



## PJ352 (Dec 5, 2007)

I hope you didn't take what I said (about the saddle to bar drop) the wrong way. I didn't mean to imply that the stem setup looked awkward. It doesn't. It just seemed from the angle that the picture was taken, you had a fair amount of drop. But as another posted (zac) pointed out, with the number of spacers you have, the performance was the way to go. 

It's a great looking bike. Enjoy!!


----------



## brentster (Jul 12, 2007)

Congratulations on the new ride!! Be sure and post a pic of your girlfriend on hers


----------



## spessx (May 29, 2007)

Hi BH,

I'm curious what the weight is on your bike. 

-s


----------



## brownhunter (Feb 17, 2004)

just under 17 pounds.

-Hunter


----------



## CFBlue (Jun 28, 1999)

*Nice*

I'm getting my 5.5 soon. Mine is a comfort fit but is coming with SRAM. I race at a fairly high level but am getting a compact crankset aswell as the races here are full of hills. 

Just noticed in the pictures that your front deralier could do with some adjustment. It looks to be set too high as it it which may lead to a droped chain and poor shifting. Might wanna get that fixed up.

Nice bike.


----------



## brownhunter (Feb 17, 2004)

wow.. thank you.. I've already had the chain drop once on me!! when starting out hard on the large crank. That was probably it indeed.


----------



## brownhunter (Feb 17, 2004)

A couple of updates.

We successfully did the AIDS/LifeCycle in June. The new Madone did a great job and we covered all 545 miles for the 7 days. Was great having the carbon frame for the duration on typical California pot-holed roads. Made the course smoother -- there is a lot of terrible tarmac in California. Tracey (the g/f) loves her 2008 Madone 5.2 and it's been working great for her with all stock parts (minus installing the largest SRAM rear cassette so she can get an 11-28 in there for climbing)

Since getting the bike (my 2008 Madone 5.5), there have been all sorts of front shifting issues. As pointed out, the front derailleur was mounted too high. That was adjusted. But then on a two day ride in May -- an overnighter camping trip - the chain locked up into the derailleur, and I sheered it off, cutting it in half. That was on Saturday afternoon. I had to ride back all of Sunday for 75 miles in the large chain ring (granted a compact double, but I still feel I get some props for that -- Russian River, along the coast south, to Sausalito ;-)

My LBS dealer/Trek replaced the front derailleur, but we also opted on my dime to swap out the SRAM chain with a DuraAce chain. The bike still had the SRAM 11-27 cassette. Shifting greatly improved once the limits were finally adjusted (seemed to take forever to dial that in).

But shifting was getting a little dicey in the rear, post the AIDS/LifeCycle. I did a thorough cleaning of the bike, with new red Verdestein tires, etc... perhaps I messed something slightly up in the rear limits. I don't think so. It just got more touchy with back shifting and would take longer for the chain to settle.

Anyhow, long story short, this weekend, the upgrade bug got me, and with some extra cash (a lot of cash) I upgraded the wheels. The stock wheels for a 2008 Trek Madone 5.5 are Bontrager Race Lites. My main complaint of the ride (besides finally getting the shifting adjusted correctly) has been that of having too much of a "cushy,squishy" feel. It definitely rides like a Cadillac, but I have wanted a little more raw feeling, and responsiveness.

Well, I now seem to have that.

I got the 2008 Mavic SLs (the black rims with the red spoke and hubs). 

I have a pair of 2004 Mavic SSC SLs on m old bike and just love them. It's still fun to ride the older aluminum bike with those wheels. But beyond the instant *bling* of the new wheels on the Madone, I think I got the ride I wanted finally.

It is stiffer, more responsive and I like the tighter feel in the drive train. I like it.. I feel a lot more of the road, but that's okay too. It's a stiffer wheelset (the Mavics).

The hard, high pressure Verdestein tires I'm sure have something to do with that too.

Also, I lost 1/2 a pound in the process (the difference in wheelset weight). The 58cm frame bike w/o saddle bag nor pump nor bottles, is around 16.6 lbs. I wasn't really looking for a weight savings though, but I'm not complaining. Unfortunately this has made for an unfair advantage when riding with the girl friend once again ;-)

Shifting in the rear now is AMAZING. I owe this all to the DuraAce 12-27 cassette I got. Researching AFTER the purchase, realizing it has Titanium cogs... sheesh, no wonder I paid a lot for it. In the end, however, shifting is VERY smooth and I can power up and in a climb with a lot of confidence. I was attacking every hill in a 40 mile ride yesterday and loved it.

I think with the production trim level of the 2008 Madone 5.5, the sore points for me have been:

1) SRAM chain
2) SRAM rear cassette
3) Race Lite wheelset

all on an otherwise all DuraAce machine (minus the Bontrager Race-X-Lite carbon crankset which I like)

I know the bike was packaged that way to meet a certain price point. You get what you pay for.

I'll post a picture of the bike with the new wheelset soon, but you can imagine what it looks like. 

Actually, here is someone else's Madone 5.5 with that wheelset I just googled for:
https://img.2dehands.nl/f/view/32678154.jpg

- Hunter


----------



## hendrick81 (Jun 8, 2008)

"Beautiful bike". I ride an 08 madone 4.5, and love it, so i can only imagine the feel of that beast. Congrats.


----------



## BunnV (Sep 7, 2005)

*Nice*

I was checking out your nice Madone when I noticed your Bontrager chainwheels look identical to my SRAM Force chainwheels.


----------



## andyaa (Mar 5, 2008)

*Minor shifting problems as well*

I have the same bike, 08 5.5 Standard. Almost 1,000 miles on it now. I have had some minor shifting problems as well. The chain has fallen off on the inside from the small chain ring twice. I just had the bike to the LBS Saturday for it's 90 day check up. The chain has fallen off once on my ride Sunday. The rear shifts good. Some hesitation going to the larger gears in back while on the large chain ring. I have made some minor adjustments myself, like trying to keep the front from rubbing on the inside of the front derailleur. I don't think it shifts as smooth as my Trek 1200 triple with Tiagra. That bike was very solid, never had a problem with it.


----------



## daver42 (Apr 21, 2006)

I think I read somewhere that Truvativ/SRAM makes the cranks for Bontrager.


----------



## brownhunter (Feb 17, 2004)

BunnV said:


> I was checking out your nice Madone when I noticed your Bontrager chainwheels look identical to my SRAM Force chainwheels.


I bet indeed that my chain rings ARE SRAM chain rings. 
Certainly looks like that, and it would make sense as the rest of the original cassette and chain were all SRAM.

The Cranks, however still *could* be made by Bontrager. hmm


----------



## slideeslide (Feb 1, 2007)

daver42 said:


> I think I read somewhere that Truvativ/SRAM makes the cranks for Bontrager.


They do and have for a long time. I used to work in receiving at Trek and all the cranks come out of Truvativ boxes.


----------



## Velocitytrap (Jul 17, 2008)

I just picked up a 08 Madone 5.5 (standard) last weekend. I had previously looked at several bikes including a Scott CR1 (very nice ride and was my original choice), Cannondale super six (it felt like I had to put more effort into making it go fast but nice ride as well, 09 Felt F3 (this is what I had heart set on but the ride seemed too rough for me). The last bike I rode was the Madone 5.5 and it was like an extention of my body. The ride was so smooth, it had nice chrisp shifting and weighted nothing (well 16.1 pounds sans pedals). It was more than I wanted to spend but you buy nice the first time and save money by not upgrading later. I haven't been able to put many miles on it yet but I'm very happy with the purchase. I know a lot of people look down on Trek in a "Lance fanboy" sort of way but they wouldn't be so big if they didn't sell a quality product. 


I'm very impressed with the Madone 5.5 and I look forward to passing my first 1000 miles on the bike.:thumbsup:


----------



## brentster (Jul 12, 2007)

I have a Felt F3. Your observation is correct. While its a great bike, compared to the Madone, the Felt's ride is noticibly more rough.

You made a great choice. Congrats.


----------



## brownhunter (Feb 17, 2004)

*New pics with the new bling*

Here are some pics I took yesterday with the new Mavic 2008 SL wheels.


----------



## brentster (Jul 12, 2007)

That is so nice. Great touches.

$900 question: Can you tell a difference riding with the Mavics?


----------



## brownhunter (Feb 17, 2004)

read my earlier post in this thread (starts with "a couple of updates") 
The answer is a big yes!!

I ride quite a bit.... and rode the older wheelset for the duration of the AIDS/LifeCycle.... and yes, the difference is big and I love the new feel much better.


----------



## jhamlin38 (Oct 29, 2005)

Brownhunter...
that's a really nice ride. Why the Mavics? I've always wanted a set of those wheels. I love the fit of that 6.5, but the ride's a bit "disconnected". Do these wheels tighten things up a bit? Perhaps a touch more road feel? 
Does it use the red or black CF?


----------

