# My Trek 6.5 Madone Ride Impressions



## vboy19 (Mar 24, 2008)

Ok, well I have had the bike for almost a month and have put about 200 miles on it. The official weight on the scale came in at 15.07lbs (I'll post the weight pic when I get home). Rough specs:

Full Dura Ace w/crank set
speedplay pedals
Bontrager Race XXX Lite Carbon wheels.

****PLEASE NOTE I AM NOT A PRO AND THESE ARE JUST MY Opinions******

I went on a 50 mile ride on Sunday and it was one of my longer rides where I could really get a route with different terrain, hills/flats/head wind etc. First the bike is amazingly light, when I used to ride/race mountain bikes, I remember it felt as if there was some carrying weight in the rear and with the Madone it feels like there is absolutely no weight when you ride. I upgraded to the Dura-Ace crank and installed ceramic bearing in the BB, and I thought it was one of the better decisions I made. When pedaling the it's super smooth and the shifting is right on. 

The bike feels very stiff while climbing hills and even better on the flats when you get out of the saddle and sprint away. And it is very comfortable on the road which is really nice especially in Chicago where the road are like sh....t.

Overall the bike is amazing, I love it but there are a couple of things I would like to comment about:

-When I am riding in cross winds I find it hard to keep the bike stable. I'm not sure if it's the bladed spokes, or just the fact of cross winds.

-The bike is varies responsive on small quick turns, but I felt on the sharper ones I really had trouble turning. A couple of times I almost overshot the turns. I am not sure if it is just me being inexperienced on the road, but on my mountain bike it was great with all the turns and didn't require too much effort on very sharp turns.

-Bontrager XXX Lite Wheels.... Might have been a wrong choice for the roads in Chicago. Don't get me wrong I love them, but I feel like I really have to watch it on the bumpy stuff and it through off my cadence when I am going 10-15 MPH and hit the breaks to avoid bumps. I was thinking about buying some R-sys wheels later this year, I've seen a couple of people using the in Chicago, are they good for the bumpier roads (in terms of strength)?

-Braking, Could be better, I feel that I have to apply the breaks pretty hard to slow the bike, which could be a reason why I have problems cornering hard.(not a frame issue not blaming trek). The surf face of the rim is carbon and I have Cork pads, and was wondering if its just and issue with breaking on a carbon surface anyway.

-Saddle.. Seems kind of stiff and I am doing the Trek 100 in a week, Do you guys think I just upgrade to a softer saddle? Any recommendations? are gel saddles really more comfortable?

-Tire Pressure, I rode 15 miles on Sunday and checked the pressure on Monday morning and then again on Tuesday. The PSI seems to fall alot, kind of concerning, and I haven't ridded for 5 days so I checked the to see if the tires were flatted out, but they aren't. Is this normal?


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## dpr (Jul 17, 2007)

vboy19 said:


> Ok, well I have had the bike for almost a month and have put about 200 miles on it. The official weight on the scale came in at 15.07lbs (I'll post the weight pic when I get home). Rough specs:
> 
> Full Dura Ace w/crank set
> speedplay pedals
> ...


My comments are in blue.


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## edesros168 (Jan 1, 2008)

Was this bike 15.07 with pedals? Also what size is the bike? I have a Tarmac expert now from 07 and was a little concerned about acceleration compared to the Tarmac. I know it'll be a lot lighter than mine though!


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## davidka (Dec 12, 2001)

vboy19 said:


> -When I am riding in cross winds I find it hard to keep the bike stable. I'm not sure if it's the bladed spokes, or just the fact of cross winds.
> 
> -The bike is varies responsive on small quick turns, but I felt on the sharper ones I really had trouble turning. A couple of times I almost overshot the turns. I am not sure if it is just me being inexperienced on the road, but on my mountain bike it was great with all the turns and didn't require too much effort on very sharp turns.
> 
> ...



I think I can help you with a couple of things here. 

Braking- Try cleaning the rim surface and cork pads with denatured alchohol. There is likely residue on the rim that is making the braking weaker. This combo usually works VERY well in the dry and decent in the wet.

Steering and crosswinds- this could be an effect of the XXX lites too. The wheels are very light and if you're not used to it you may be feeling a reduced gyroscopic stability effect. It is dramatic on the super light tubular version. The R-sys is pretty close to the same weight so they would likely feel about the same but maybe not. On the durability part, the XXX rim is SUPER strong. Nothing out there is stronger, alloy or otherwise. That said, if something does damage the rim, the cost consequence of replacing the carbon rim is pretty high but Mavic's special rims for R-sys and Ksyrium aren't cheap either.It would be wise to get a set of Race Lites or lower cost wheels to use as daily drivers (can't beat a good ol' 32h ultegra hub.alloy rim). This will give you some piece of mind but don't forget to change brake pads when you change wheels.


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## edesros168 (Jan 1, 2008)

Can anyone tell me what this 6.5 pro bike weighs in a 54?


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## zac (Aug 5, 2005)

edesros168 said:


> Can anyone tell me what this 6.5 pro bike weighs in a 54?


Mine with Dura-Ace pedals (the 7800s not the 7810s or the 7850s) , and 38gram plastic cages and a 12-23 Dura-Ace rear, otherwise stock with Bonty tires and tubes is 15.54 lbs. 

It is a size 56.


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## edesros168 (Jan 1, 2008)

Cool cool thank you much I wonder if any how much lighter a 54 may be??


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## zac (Aug 5, 2005)

Not enough to matter. 2" of cable, or a different tube, probably weigh more than the difference. 

Get out and ride
zac


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## cpark (Oct 13, 2004)

vboy19 said:


> Ok, well I have had the bike for almost a month and have put about 200 miles on it. The official weight on the scale came in at 15.07lbs (I'll post the weight pic when I get home). Rough specs:
> 
> Full Dura Ace w/crank set
> speedplay pedals
> ...


You had this wonderful bike for a month and only have 200 miles on it?
Get out and ride more......


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## jhamlin38 (Oct 29, 2005)

i've ridden in chicago for many years. make sure you check tire pressure b4 EVERY ride!
if a bike feels fine on quick turns, but you feel like you're over shooting curves, its probably more the geometry than the tires/traction. This is the difference between a "twitchey" crit bike, and a "stable" and comfortable road frame.
I had a trek that did NOTHING to inspire confidence around corners. It sort of feels like you have to turn and lean twice, just for one turn, rather than one clean fast rip around the corner.


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