Trek Launches Domane
Trek’s Decoupler or what Volagi called a bow or what another fitness company called a Bowflex
As if on queue, after I wrote that John Burke counts his beans wishing Lance was still racing, Trek releases the Domane. It’s a bike for the cobbles that addresses “the problems of increased rider fatigue, rear wheel traction, and power efficiency over long courses with rough pavement, gravel, and cobblestones.” All problems we’ve faced when racing the Tuesday Worlds or lining up for the weekend, office park crit. You can read the PR here and I’ll parse out the marketing terms.
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Domane is Italian – Of course it is and so are cobbles and Spartacus!
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A unique technology called IsoSpeed, a functional decoupler that separates the ride-tuned seat mast from the top tube – they detached the top tube from the seat top, like what Volagi did.
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Unparalleled vertical compliance also increases rear wheel traction over rough surfaces, ensuring that every pedal stroke contributes to greater forward acceleration, instead of bouncing the off of harsh cobbles – more bounce to the ounce!
Remember a few weeks ago, I tweeted…
Meanwhile a Pro is suffering somewhere on 400-yr old roads and the bike industry is still trying to market that as relevant to the consumer.
Decoupling is the new way to get horizontal stiffness and vertical compliance.
When was the last time you raced over cobbles? And there’s a long history of the industry releasing technology for the cobbles that has little relationship to the consumer. Bianchi had full suspension, there’s been front suspension, and of course Zertz! There’s also massive pressure on Spartacus to deliver and have us chant his name. Spartacus has a new domain! Find it at www.softcobbles.com.
Irony isn’t lost either that Trek’s boring e-bikes fall to the background while Specialized’s Turbo comes to the front or the Domane’s IsoSpeed, Volagi-derived gimmick is like a Zertz elastomer.
A hundred years into the bike industry, a couple decades of carbon, and just now they’re detaching tubes from each other? What’s next, leaf springs like the Kestrel? Would’ve been way cooler for Trek to bring back the Flying-V bike or this Trimble.
See more photos lightboxed on G+ and Flickr.