How did we build the lightest production road bike in the world?
By paring away grams and stripping away conventional thought.
Our goal for the Émonda project was to build the lightest production road bike in the world.
It was just that simple.
January, 2012, Waterloo, Wisconsin.
This was the birth of the Émonda.
This was the opportunity at the ground level to discuss the benefits of an overall lightweight project.
We place a very high value on professional rider input.
They’re taking our products to the extreme levels.
The idea of the 10-pound bike had been thrown around for quite a while.
This could be within our reach.
We didn’t know how hard it would be, we didn’t know how long it would take.
We were close enough now that we thought,
why not just go for it?
May, 2013, San Diego, California.
Émonda faced the rigorous ride test program in Trek’s history.
This was the point at which we had the complete bicycle in the lightweight configuration.
We started with ride quality meaning how a bike handles,
how it feels in the corners, how it accelerates, and its very soul.
We tested with strain gauges,
we tested with accelerometers,
we had fully instrumented versions of the bike.
Iteration after iteration of testing was performed with Trek Factory Racing riders,
our in-house experts, and other pro-racers
to determine the perfect carbon laminate and ride characteristics
for each Émonda frame size.
October, 2013, Bergamo, Italy.
We took the next generation of the prototype to Italy
to test with Markel Irizar and Fränk Schleck.
The goal of the test was to look into some of the optimizations
that we’ve made based on previous rider feedback.
Some changes in mold,
some changes in carbon fiber content focused directly
at increasing stiffness to weight balance.
Overwhelmingly, the riders agreed that the optimizations were working.
We were honing in on the perfect balance of stiffness to weight.
Going into the final stage of production, we wanted to make sure that every single detail was re-checked.
May, 2014, Mallorca, Spain.
It is the most important thing for us, the feeling on a bike.
It’s close to perfection.
After 30 months of testing,
and countless prototypes,
we bring you Émonda.
Ten pounds of pure performance.
Every detail of the Émonda line,
from frame design to each and every component choice on each model, serves the same audacious goal.
To produce the lightest production line of road bikes ever offered.