8/17/14 5:17 PM

Who said the Trek Domane was overbuilt in the front end and unpleasant to ride? Obviously the back end is compliant but having a overbuilt front end ruins the bike, no?

Last edited by dfcas on 8/17/14 5:49 PM; edited 1 time in total

8/17/14 5:28 PM

"overbuilt front end ruins the bike"

A guy 'Steve' today on a Domane said he stopped riding his Madone soon after getting the Domane. He specifically said the front end was brutal. Did not ask year or level of the Madone. I have also read reviews on the Domane stating the front was too stiff, but wondered if that is comparatively to the pseudo suspension effect.

8/17/14 5:50 PM

Heres a link to the thread where Brian talks about the front end being harsh. Maybe the stiffness craze has gone too far.

http://www.cyclingforum.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=10810&sid=3a1a47503dcdb23a1bc120f85c6d3867

8/17/14 6:03 PM

He was running 25C GP4KS on wide rims, did not ask about tire pressure.

What size bike does Brian ride/was the Domane ?
EDIT: from thread, [I was riding a 58cm frame.]

Steve looked at the rear wheel on my bike and noticed the 7403 Hub on the last wheel I built with the HED c2 belgiums and said "why are you using such an old hub?" He had boutique wheels of course.

I lifted the back of the Scott and gave a very slight soft spin on the wheel, which continued spinning for about a minute before I put the wheel on the ground still slowly spinning. I said, "that's why" ;)

How is that for life long? Well, longevity anyway.

Last edited by Sparky on 8/17/14 6:57 PM; edited 1 time in total

8/17/14 6:50 PM

Madone
adonem
donema
donmea
domnea
domnae
Domane

8/18/14 5:14 AM

...though they wouldn't let me run my normal 72-73 psi that I use on the front tire with narrow rims. I would guess that they were probably around 80 psi. With the wider rims, there's more air volume, so 70 psi would probably have been comparable to what I run with narrower rims.

I have ridden a Madone too and it's definitely very stiff, but it's more balanced front to rear. The Domane feels like two different bikes.

Another interesting thing that I noticed but didn't mention before is that the saddle height feels as if it changes. On the flats, it felt OK, but on climbs it felt low and on descents it felt high. The only thing I can think of that could account for that is that the seat tube is flexing considerably under my weight (~174# at the time) and moving as my weight shifts forward and backward with the terrain. This might also account for why the bike never felt quite right, despite the fact that all of the static measurements were set the same as my personal bikes.

Overall, it's just not the bike for me.

Last edited by Brian Nystrom on 8/20/14 5:15 AM; edited 1 time in total

8/18/14 8:32 AM

...don't forget also NOMADE.

8/18/14 1:54 PM

The suspension effect of different sorts of seatpost devices and seat tube structures can have very different motion effects at the saddle.

I once had a 1st-gen thudbuster suspension post that used a single pivot under the front portion of the saddle, so naturally the saddle tilted back in response to spike loads. I didn't like it much, but later versions used a parallelogram that at least kept the saddle level, though it moved downward and backward.

The Domane seat tube mechanism allows mild rearward saddle tilt and a rearward motion going along with any downward yielding, which in theory keeps the seat height more of a constant distance from the bottom bracket. The flex occurring lower down on the seat tube limits the tilt changes to the saddle for any given amount of vertical yield.

The telescopic suspension posts seem like a good idea when the spring pre-load force is high enough to prevent motion except over bigger hits. The saddle always stays level, and doesn't move much front-to-back under the rider.

Front suspension fork linkages have also used different axle travel path trajectories to limit the affect of vertical pedaling loads compressing the suspension, and even handlebar stems with single-pivot suspension gave way to parallelogram mechanisms that didn't rotate the handlebars in the rider's hands.

Last edited by dddd on 8/18/14 5:09 PM; edited 1 time in total

8/18/14 2:32 PM

Newly insane.

nm.

8/20/14 7:42 AM

When I saw it I just moaned.