If a bike that takes innovative comfort-boosting technology to the next level interests you, then the Trek Domane SLR 6 Disc is going to be right up your street.
In the past few years we’ve seen brands bring their own solutions to the table in the endurance bike market, each purporting to give maximum all-day comfort without losing the essence of a quick road bike. We’ve had basalt-infused seatposts, special carbon layups in frames, helixed tube profiles… even full-on suspension units.
The Domane features Trek’s IsoSpeed technology, which we first saw in 2012 – but the new iteration takes the original seatpost decoupler idea and turns it up to eleven. Instead of a pre-set amount of isolation within the decoupler, now it’s adjustable, allowing the rider to customise just how much vertical flex they want.
Alongside this, a second decoupler has been included at the front end too, inside the headtube, with the aim of balancing the compliance across the bike – a response to criticism of the previous generation which, it was said, suffered from a front end that was just a little too harsh for the rear.
It’s not all about dulling the ride, however. Like any bike that needs to feel at home anywhere, Trek have also paid attention to the key areas for power transfer, where it’s business as usual for a road bike that needs to have a turn of speed up its sleeve. A beefed up bottom bracket area provides the basis for efficient power transfer, and this means that despite the buzz-isolating decouplers, speed is easily come by.
This makes the core of the Domane SLR equally suitable for smooth paved roads and the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders – just as well, having been developed with input from the recently-retired Fabian Cancellara.
In the SLR 6 Disc, this IsoSpeed tech is attached to a 600 Series OCLV carbon frame, while the geometry is pure endurance style, with a sweeping fork and long wheelbase that helps keep the bike’s handling predictable.
There’s more, too. The Bontrager IsoCore carbon handlebars come with a rubber strip installed internally to help isolate road buzz further – and that’s on top of the decoupler that allows greater smoothness over rough roads than the vast majority of road bikes out there today. Additionally, you’ll also find the seatpost itself is a Bontrager model, specifically chosen to work in tandem with the variable decoupler that sits beneath it.
Quite often we find big brand bikes cutting a corner or two in the overall built to meet a price – but there’s nothing of the sort happening here, though the Domane’s IsoSpeed tech does bump the overall price up. For £4,200 you get a full Shimano Ultegra gruppo with the RS805 hydraulic disc brakes and great attention to detail in the choice of rolling stock, too.
Trek know what this bike is meant to be: an all-day mile cruncher. And, this means they’ve chosen hoops worthy of this aim in quality Bontrager Affinity Comps, which themselves feature wide rims to support up to 32c tyres. This disc bike actually comes with 32c tyres, so you get plenty of grip and comfort to further Domane’s versatility.
Our experiences when reviewing the bike in 2016 lead us to feel that the Domane SLR Disc is one of the smoothest riding bikes on the market today, while still able to produce a smart turn of speed when the hammer goes down. If a racier version takes your fancy, then you can always opt for the Pro Endurance geometry version that Spartacus himself rode in his final season.
And, if we’re totally honest, if the Domane is good enough for him then it’s good enough for us.
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