Flat-out race bikes aren’t exactly my cup of tea, but I seem to end up with the occasional older one, and I wondered what I would make of it. ( it’s N + 1, but the price was too good to pass up ).
- The rustic look, finished bike..
The Trek Madone was ( is ) their sporty carbon race model, though this one is early, and probably well ‘superseded’ by now .. you know, lighter, faster, stiffer, more speeds, bacon slicer disc brakes, and all of that Jazz.
I think it’s around a 2005 build, and apart from the usual consumables, ( pads, cables, rings, chain, tyres, tape, etc., phew, they all add up ), the only problems I could see were the perished hoods on the Ultegra 6600 levers and the horribly corroded alloy spoke nipples, looking like broken teeth, on the Bontrager bladed spoked “Race-lite” wheels.
Alloy nipples and salt air..
Those machine-made paired-spoke wheels were light, but too specialised in their construction to be worth my while repairing. I only really managed to save a skewer ! Spoke tension was high, and the spoke key destroyed most of the rotted nipples with the remainder still welded to the spoke threads…
Which also brings me to some speculation about carbon frames. While steel and even aluminium can be melted and re-used, or crumble slowly into dust, what happens to a carbon frame over time ? Will it stay in landfill for 1000 years, or is there another use for it ? Road base ?? Hmm.
I don’t know, I don’t buy new bikes now, but surely the best use for decent bike frames is to look after them and keep using them as actual bikes for as long as possible.
- This here’s no country for old Madones ..
I guess the biggest obstacles to long carbon frame life would be impact damage, long term ultraviolet damage to resin, or fatigue or corrosion of the metal parts such as the drop-outs that are bonded to the frame. The rear derailleur ‘hanger plus drop-out’ is one piece so I assume that a bent hanger would write off the frame ( but I don’t know that for sure ! ).
The bike has an attractive looking Shimano 6600 10 speed group set ( really though, I’m happy with only 7-8 rear speeds, and those 8-speed chains do last longer ). Tyre clearance is restricted to 25c max., typical of the era.
Despite the plain ‘stealthy grey’ colour, I find its naked carbon weave appealing, although that too seems to have been a 2000s ‘thing’, and out of fashion nowadays.
At least the chain set pre-dates the ‘own brand’ moulded chain rings of the newer Shimano stuff, and the Hollowtech II set-up was easy enough to disassemble to remove the old chain rings.
I’ve replaced the somewhat hooked chain rings, and the old chain was stretched to well over a millimetre on my chain checker ! Luckily I had some lightly used 10 speed bits I could fit along with the new chain. The bottom bracket bearings run very smoothly, so I left them alone.
- Ha – you would hardly know it was a heretical riser stem ! The bag will also carry a small powerbank for my ageing Garmin 520.
As the Madone cockpit was designed with a low front end for a racing crouch ( and I don’t ride that low ), I fitted a Ritchey adjustable riser stem which doesn’t look too heretical ( to my eyes at least ). There’s no indication of frame size, but the top tube is around 56cm. Seat tube measurements are ambiguous ( virtual ? ) on this kind of bike.
The only 6600 hoods I could find at a decent price were purple ‘Hudz’ brand, if you were wondering .. they’re growing on me.
Well, it’s a bit heavier now than it was, what with 36 spoke H Plus Son rims, but as it’s still much lighter than most of my bikes, then why should I worry ?
Is it a classic yet ? I don’t know, but it rides quite nicely, even with 25mm tyres.
Happy Re-Cycling !
a new recyclist 