TREK DOMANE SL 6:
Everything A Modern Bike Should Be + Norco Optic C2, Scott Spark RC 900 Team
TThis is the bike most of us should be riding. It's entertainingly sharp and sporty, and smooth, smart and versatile enough for most forms of road riding, paved or gravel.
It's more aerodynamic than the outgoing Domane, with refined tube shapes and new hose and housing routing. Apparently, this saves 12 watts at 40km/h – about one minute per hour.
It has clearance for 38mm tyres, and it has hidden fender mounts and sleek internal storage. There are compliance-enhancing de-couplers front and rear that work well to improve rider comfort and control, and they don’t detract from the bike’s pedalling efficiency or handling.
The steering's light, and handling is precise, but with a mellower edge and more stability than an all-out racing bike. This helps make it one of the best bikes to descend on, as well as a capable all-road bike and even a light gravel bike.
→ordan Roessingh, Trek’s global director of road product, calls it their “most versatile performance road bike ever,” which is the kind of thing you’d expect a person in his position to say. But it’s hard to argue with him when you look over the Domane’s details.
Trek launched the IsoSpeed de-coupler system – which adds to a bike’s vertical compliance by promoting additional flex in the frame tubes – with the first generation Domane. ▶ront IsoSpeed was added to the second
gen Domane, plus adjustable rear IsoSpeed. Both are present on the generation-three Domane.
Trek’s modified seat mast system is also still in place, although the cap now fits inside the seat tube instead of over it, with an internal binder for a sleeker look. The mast top comes in several lengths and two offsets.
Our test bike came with gravel tyres – maybe to show off just how versatile the Domane is – but it normally ships with 700x32mm road tyres. Wider tyres are more comfortable and offer better grip.
And for most recreational riders, 32mm tyres are actually faster: according to Trek’s testing, at speeds under 30km/h they have less rolling resistance than narrower tyres. ▶aster than that, however, and the aerodynamic hit of the bigger tyre becomes a factor, and begins to swamp the rolling-resistance advantage.
The Domane is also the first bike to launch with Trek’s new internal storage system. It’s the same concept as Specialized’s SWAT box: remove the panel under the bottle cage to access the inside of the downtube. Included is a cloth-covered organiser roll with space for a tube, tyre lever, CO2 cartridge and inflator head. There’s also space for a few energy bars or gels. ▲xpect to see this system on more Trek models in the future.
Another new feature is a modified T47 BB system. Trek narrowed the width of the BB shell by 1mm (compared to the T47 standard), then added thicker flanges to the BB itself (0.5mm on each side). This gives the T47 installation tool more material to bite on. It’s a great mod: standard T47 BBs have very thin flanges, and it’s easy to slip a tool when installing or removing one.
▶ollowing a growing trend, Trek has done away with women-specific geometry and model designations in the new Domane line. Instead, they’ve added more sizes, and incorporated some of the build adjustments from previous women-specific models (shorter-reach bars, shorter stems, shorter-reach brake levers, narrower bars, etc.) into the smaller bikes.
It is a touch heavy – about 100g more, compared to the outgoing version – but it doesn’t ride heavy. And there’s so much going on that the extra weight seems worth it.
The bike is quick; extremely stiff at the bottom bracket, with light and precise steering. On the steepest grades, yeah… it’s not as crisp and ethereal as a 6kg climbing bike; but then, it also doesn’t feel like a 9kg bike. Before I found out its weight, I had it in my head that it weighed just under 8kg.
So yes, it’s a bit less sharp than a pure road-racing bike, and it might be a bit heavy, but so am I. The Domane offers a blend of versatility, practicality and performance that no other bike offers currently. It’s the kind of bike we could all use in our life.