Burke told the audience in a lavish replica Sarcar watch presentation at L.A.’s Frank Gehry-designed Disney Concert Hall. “It’s absolutely amazing, way beyond where anybody else is in the tri world.”The Speed Concept is loaded with aero solutions like wheel-skewer levers that tuck behind the frame, fully hidden brakes, virtually no external cables, and a stowage compartment called the DraftBox that forms a faring behind the seatpost and seatstays to further enhance aerodynamic efficiencty. (No, that one’s definitely not UCI-legal.Trek’s main design innovation, spotted on prototypes last summer at the Tour de France, was to square off the trailing edge of each tube on the frame.
Where the cross sections of most aero tubes follow a traditional, teardrop airfoil shape, the tubes on the Speed Concept start out like an airfoil but end in a replica watch gift blunt, squared edge. (See images below.) This design, called a Kammtail, is already in wide use in the automotive industry, in high-end sports cars (think Lamborghini) and high-efficiency hybrids (think Prius). Trek claims that, especially at the lower speeds of cycling,
Trek has brought out a full line. At the top of the line stands the 9 Series bikes, which are full carbon and include a unique, integrated, and fully replica Technomarine watch adjustable aero stem/bar solution. Prices will range from $5,500 to $8,500Next down the line comes the 7 Series. Though the event was held in conjunction with the Tour of California, there were no Trek-sponsored road racers.Burke pointed out that Trek’s lowest market share is in the triathlon category. That segment has seen 30 percent growth over the past five years, and Burke said there are now 1.2 million triathletes in the U.S. alone.
