Anyone ride a Trek Domane? Impression please

[veggieburger]

As my body and back slowly start to get older, I'm coming home more often with a sore back. I realize there are multiple things that might cause this, but the crappy roads around here certainly don't help.

I'm just dipping my toes into researching endurance/sportive bikes...a little more upright, a bit "softer", but the tech behind the softness concerns me. On the Domane, is this something you feel on smooth pavement? Is there any bob or movement under hard sprinting or in-saddle climbing? Once I get 20 miles from home, things really start to smooth out, and I don't want to feel like I'm riding a suspension-lite bike on smooth tarmac.

Anything you think a large, heavy rider would want to know about....or 5 stars all the way around? Thanks!

[jamesdak]

Well I'm sure the tech has improved now. But I did a long test ride on one a few years ago. On the rough chipseal I ride I did not find the Domane to offer a more comfortable ride than several of my old steel bikes. It was still harsher. I even put my saddle, and wheels/tires on it for the test ride to give it an honest chance. Maybe they are better now....

[Jaybee]

I’m not in the market, but since I was at my LBS for service yesterday, I took a couple test rides, including the 2020 Domane. It’s an amazing bike. The IsoSpeed just takes the edge off, you can’t really feel it move under power. You expect a pothole edge or chattery section to have a certain feel and there’s just less of it. This is in slight contrast to the Diverge I tried out, where I was able to generate some motion in the stem shock thingy climbing out of the saddle. That felt a little strange and though it also mutes the hits and chatter I’m not totally sold on the feel yet.

[Tony]

I rode a 2018 Domane sl7 size 54, 25 GP4000 tires for a while. I thought it was one of the smoothest carbon bike I've ever rode

[eddief]

my last bike was a Domane and my current bike is a Roubaix. yes, we have a lot of really crappy roads here. i think both bikes over the years have used some tech to smooth things out and i believe both approaches do that to some degree. my Domane was a few years old so only had the the seat tube thingy to handle the smoothing. i never felt that it affected my ride while climbing or "sprinting." just thought the ride was a bit smoother.

my 2019 Roubaix has CG-R elastomer seatpost and of course the Future Shock under the handlebars. i'd say the same thing about those tech features. a little smoother and no obvious negative effect on the ride.

one thing to watch out for if you are comparing these two is the geometry. in retrospect the geo on the Domane is my strong preference due to more relaxed seat tube angle. i always feel like i am sitting on top of the Roubaix and i prefer to be back and down a bit more and that's how i felt on the Domane.

i'd say fat tires and lower psi is probably your best bet. i will be trying 35mm tubeless on one of my bikes to see if that is holy grail.

[commonguy001]

I have a 2020 SL6 and don’t find it spongy or soft but do find it super comfortable. It’s as efficient as any other road bike I own IMO which includes a Vamoots and a Black Mtn Cycles Road (older version, not a disc or road plus).

Super happy with it on both smooth and beat pavement. Even does well on unpaved sections.

[b33]

I have the older Classics version - we have bad roads and while I like the look of the bike (long and low and looks great for a 62cm) the ride to me wasn't all that great. I did pick up a KOM on a gravel section, but I'm not sure it was the frame. If you could get one a deal it's good, full retail there are many, many other rides I would consider least of al steal.

[Michael Maddox]

I've had two...a 2016 SLR 9 and a 2019 SLR 9 Disc. The suspension, as mentioned above, "takes the edge off." Make sure you get the version with the rear decoupler, then leave it in the middle and you'll probably never change it. I don't.

With the disc version, you can also run 32-35mm tires at lower pressures, which is magic.

Will be riding 32s at Paris-Roubaix in April.

[John H.]

I rode a 2020 Domane SLR a week or two ago.
I thought it rode great- solid and road bike like.
Take really big tires in its new version. Plus in my book.
However, I was surprised at how heavy it felt when I picked it up. It weighed over 19 lb with Dura-Ace DI2 and carbon wheels- Maybe the guy had a gold bar in the down tube trunk?

[GScot]

I have a 2018 SL 6 with the front and non adjustable rear isospeed. Love it, mine is the rim brake version and it takes 30s no problem. 32s would possibly work but would require low pressure or opening the brakes a bit extra for wheel swaps.

I ended up with this after an elbow injury that resulted in loss of arm extension that was great enough to change my bike fit a bit. I tried the soft front gravel bikes like a Diverge, Slate, Lauf, and a Roubaix. In the end for a road bike I liked Domane best as it has enough give in the front to take the edge off but otherwise does not feel any different than what I expected from a road bike. Replaced a Look 585 which also had a great ride but as it was on the upper end of my previous fit range I sold it after my fit changed.

[Tony]

Originally Posted by John H.

I rode a 2020 Domane SLR a week or two ago.
I thought it rode great- solid and road bike like.
Take really big tires in its new version. Plus in my book.
However, I was surprised at how heavy it felt when I picked it up. It weighed over 19 lb with Dura-Ace DI2 and carbon wheels- Maybe the guy had a gold bar in the down tube trunk?

I put the above stock sl7, rim brake on a scale with two ti cages and xtr pedals and it
was 17.09 lbs

This is not correct, I forgot that the bike was weigh after I replaced the rear hub with an Carbon ti rear hub.

[benb]

I have a 2016 version before the ISOSpeed was changed to be adjustable and the front was changed to have the shock absorbing headstock. I've still got less than 10k miles on it cause it's a "sunny day" bike but I've rode it > 150 miles in a day over some pretty nasty courses.

Mine comes in right around 17lbs with carbon bottle cages. My bike is a rim brake 5-series OCLV but was built from a frameset. It has Ultegra but almost everything else is non-Trek except the Stem.

These bikes have a super stiff bottom bracket.. you will still feel the rough roads through your legs.

I find the ISO Speed is amazing for certain kinds of hits on rough roads. It is especially effective for vibration. "Scarified pavement" from road construction is one of the more amazing things to ride over on these bikes. It nearly erases all the vibration from the saddle. You end up riding differently than normal bikes.. on normal bikes I'd be trying to unweight the saddle a little more, on the Domane I end up trying to weight the saddle more because that's the contact point with the least vibration.

I would not say the ISO Speed is going to stop a sore back though. That is still way more fit dependent. Bars/Saddle not quite right and the bike will still make your back sore just like any other.

If you are really noticing the ISOSpeed moving with pedaling IME it's an indicator fit is not right.

I have never really wished I had disc brakes on this bike. It's still a road bike, not a gravel bike.

[Johnny P]

I have a 2012 Domane and really like it. It fits me well and the ride is quite smooth. A bit better than my Titanium Serotta.

[ElvisMerckx]

I've got a 2018 SLR. The geometry matches my customs so I thought I'd give it a try -- and also because: 1) I was intrigued by DM brakes, 2) it was available with ghost logos, and 3) I got a super sweet deal on it.

It took some trial and error to get the rear ISO speed to feel just right -- but that's the beauty of a frame like this -- it can literally be dialed.

It has a few negatives, ie, wonky rear brake cable routing out of the TT and a sometimes creaky front ISO speed, and a non-threaded BB, but other than that, it rides beautifully.

I won't claim it will help anyone's back (nor will Trek), but it definitely smooths the rough stuff. All in all, it's a badass bike.

[benb]

The internal cable routing in the front of the bike on my Domane is creaky... it could be that it's the cable routing and not the ISOSpeed stuff since I don't have front ISOSpeed.

You can just get off the bike and put your hand on the stem and turn the bars back and forth and hear the housing creaking.

The tube sections are so big it amplifies any little creak.

I am not sure if the newer SLR models have this but mine also has the chainstays open at the back. They are BIG chainstays... and since they are open in the back if you hit a big bump it makes a very distinctive loud noise.. nothing wrong but it's weird at first.