Ugly Betty Takes on the Trusty Trek Queen

ABOUT the Great Balkini 

There’s a new girl in town, Trek has completely redesigned its Madone series carbon fiber frame that carried Lance and the Postal/Discovery teams to seven consecutive Tour de France wins from 1999-2005.

My current ride is from one of those years. Decked out with brilliant credentials and the best components, it’s better than I’ll ever need. The arrival of the new Trek finds me at the brink of an epiphany of sorts. This is the first time I don’t want the latest and greatest. Lance made a living on the bike I ride, so what more can I desire?

Lance’s legacy lives with Trek as well, so they wisely kept the Madone name, but with a radical new frame design that is causing quite a buzz in the sport and the industry. For openers, this new Madone finished first and third in this year’s TDF and Discovery won the overall team title on it.

Trek is the last major manufacturer to jump on the sloping-top tube bandwagon that uses marginally less material, thus saving a tiny bit of weight. In theory a smaller bike is more rigid and easier to handle, but we’re talking tiny here. That’s old news. What’s radical is its massive bottom bracket and its oversized and tapered head tube/fork front end. Many think the latter will become an industry standard.

Beefing up these areas to eliminate flex and increase stability generally leads to a harsher ride, but not in this case. Saving that itty-bit of weight while doing makes this all but revolutionary for professional riders. Its other immediately noticeable feature is an extended seat tube that is also more rigid and saves a bit of weight over a conventional seat post.

Less weight is always cool, but the advantage of better power transfer is huge. To pros and other super purposeful riders it’s the Holy Grail. To the rest of us, the promise of getting to speed more easily, staying there longer, and all the while conserving energy is why racing bikes aren’t just for racing.

The Epiphany

Normally I’d be champing at the bit to join the revolution, but am finding it difficult to let go of the elegance of a diamond frame for something that looks like a girl’s bike. I always tell prospective buyers, at the risk of losing the sale, not to buy a bike if they don’t like the look or color, because they won’t ride it. Friends don’t let friends buy ugly bikes.

Trek’s Wisconsin built 5 and 6 series carbon framesets are their best with the 6.9 Discovery Team Bike the Ferrari of Trek’s line. It retails for $8,250, but is not yet available to the public. From all reports it is the real deal and there is a waiting list a half-dozen deep at Gus’s replete with deposits.

The slightly heavier 5.2 are currently available at Trek dealers. It doesn’t come with the panache of a TDF-winning frame, but should ride about the same. For $3,200 it comes nicely equipped with a Shimano Ultegra group, just one step down from the lighter, better finished and better looking Dura Ace that I’m familiar with.

For me, the black and white paint scheme is strike one. Strike two is a borderline call. The 5.2 is heavier by about 200 grams, and that doesn’t mean much except for bragging rights. Strike three however is an unhittable Josh Beckett fastball. I just don’t like the sloping top tube look. Sorry. Can’t get past that.

Still this Ugly Betty is almost the same bike as its stratospherically priced brother. I’m certain it will ride every bit as well. I do my best to explain that to anyone who will listen. This is also a brilliant way to save $5000, something I’m guessing you don’t hear at a Ferrari dealership.

The Road Test

I tell all this to the purposeful rider with the checkbook sticking out of his back pocket. He’s unimpressed, and says $3,200 is a pretty expensive bargain. But instead of hanging the bike back up – I buy it. I’ve never ridden it. I can always sell it later. I am a victim of my own sales pitch.

It’s also hard to leave the queen of my fleet behind as I head out for my first ride on Ugly Betty. We set out to rediscover Kittery together. In the first two minutes, just across Barter’s Creek, there is a short steep uphill. On Queenie my rear brake when closed is set a hair too tight and the rear wheel chirps just the tiniest bit on steep climbs. On Betty there’s no chirping, and her rear brake is closed -- something I didn’t notice until after the ride. It was then I realized Queenie has a bit of wiggle in her and Betty has zero.

The Maine seacoast is relatively flat, although a few hills get in my way. Not so on this bike this day. The increased rigidity helps me zip over lumps that too often slow me down. That’s hardly scientific, but it’s not rocket science. More fun simply generates more energy. Since that first ride in mid-July, I’ve put 1,500 miles on Betty, and still this frame-set offers an amazing ride. Betty offers a combination of responsive and super smooth that all riders are after. It was three weeks before I got back to Queenie. The upshot -- Queenie is a great bike and will always be drop dead gorgeous, but Ugly Betty is better. Queenie has since been relegated to museum duty.

The final test came in Bar Harbor where long climbs and fast descents are around every corner. At close to 200 pounds, I weigh too much to be a good climber, but almost enjoy it. Going uphill on Betty I’m able to set a harder tempo, turning more rpm’s in bigger gears. Thankfully nobody’s keeping score. Downhill, heavier is good, and Betty descends as if on rails. The new front end is so stable, I wound up carving turns down Cadillac Mountain faster than good sense dictated, slowing down only when passing cars.

Strangely, Ugly Betty seems to be getting better looking. The paint scheme seems to lend motion, and other riders comment on how sleek and fast she looks. I’m not about to argue. When the Tour de France ended Trek revealed the race had been won on this very same 5.2 frame all dolled up as a 6.9 including the decals. So I’m still on a TDF winner. That feels good. The Ultegra equipment works flawlessly and I now know for sure I don’t need anything better. So there goes another epiphany. Will I dump Betty when the models arrive? Stay tuned.

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Copyright (c) David Balkin 2007. All rights reserved.