Cross kids were riding gravel on 33's before it was cool. 45s are plenty for most. Bartley is the only gravel road I avoid on 38's. I like that it comes stock with the integrated bars.
I would say that Trek hit the mark for weight. My 2023 SLR was ~19 lb. with Red/Eagle XX1 Mullet build and light wheels. Frame weight was greater than 1200 grams.
Lots of complaints about 45mm tire clearance, but it's on par with the new Canyon Grail, Ostro Gravel, Supersix Evo SE and other race-focused bikes from the big brands.
We're sad because we thought that was the gravel race bike of the past and that surely they'd have gotten the memo by now. Different strokes for different folks I guess. Depends a lot on where you live. I just think it's funny that the "race" gravel bikes don't support the ideal tire size for the biggest gravel race in the world.
@@graemehill Not just the one race, but really any gravel race except for stuff like strade bianche... The slower you go, the lesser the downsides of wider tires, so for anyone that's not a pro or elite racer bigger tires are even more of a no brainer. Except for maybe the new 40 mm hutchinson caracal race. They have an impressively low rolling resistance, lower than i.e. thunder burts or race kings. Those tires are faster than a lot of mid level / endurance road tires!
I agree on the old bike and I love mine (2020) for its versatility and hoped I'd get a new checkpoint with bigger tire clearance (so far that applies for the 2025 CP) AND a faster, racier geometry (which they went back on, closer to the 2020 model, actually)
I just watched Trek’s demo on this bike and their bag setup looks exactly how yours ended up looking. So is it possible that they intended to have that gap. That gap is in their promo. *I don’t like it either.
Well done nice video, good on you for calling them out on the lack of tire clearance, couldn't agree more about it already being outdated and expect the next one to have this issue resolved. But honestly, they could have done the aero tube thing with the Checkpoint and limit their SKU's. Seems they are now trying to move the Checkpoint in a different direction/market. Personally, I'm quite happy with my Gen 1 Checkpoint with Ultegra group set for racing, none of this small chain ring size bikes are coming out with now, yeah, it's a little heavy but hasn't stopped me winning races in my small world. I am surprised that you had the tippy toes issue, didn't they lower the BB drop? Even when you are riding out of the saddle it looks quite high to me.
@@bicyclestation was a great year for it. Hope she makes the second attempt. This was my first Leadville. I watched one of your videos on the Cervelo ZFS 5 a month back. I actually ended up getting one and changing some things on the build. Got her down to 23.4 lbs with a dropper and it being a 120 build. So that was my Leadville bike and I loved it! Was able to record a few snippits, and make a little video too. Dropping 3 lbs off my last bike really made 10k feel not so bad.
Please try the new supercaliber with flight attendant it is maybe the fastest xc bike I have tried it feels more snappy and supportive then the s works but not as good of massive enduro drops here in Europe
I think that’s why the majority of people who prefer the epic. We’ve sold like 40 epic 8s and 2 supercaliber gen 2s. I don’t think it’s a bad bike at all. I just don’t think it even comes close to the versatility of the epic 8.
Nice review. I agree it’s odd that SRAM limit the new XPLR to one cassette option. As you say, a mullet / MTB derailleur solves it, except they are still 12 speed. SRAM should simply offer a mullet 13 speed XPLR long cage option. …And anyone complaining about the 700c 45mm tyre clearance, just needs to get some 650b wheels, which are better for 50mm tyres anyway IMO.
Thanks for this video, can you please give me your thoughts on my scenario - I ordered the same frame and also the sram 13 speed groupo. However, I am inbetween putting a 2x di2 groupset on it instead… after some time on your build, would you have more versatility with a 12 speed 2x ultegra di2 or do you like the sram 1x 13 speed? Trying to save my ass time with brake cable routing. I think this could be a great bike to have a road set of wheels to travel with…
Interested to see how the lower models are, I was just checking out the crux and allez sprint with 32 or 34 as an everyday / everywhere bike. I was also looking to get a single ring set up. Def won’t be spending 13k on a bike anytime soon! Got my synapse set up as my full Time commuter after I get a second bike that has a little more speed and is snappier.
Thanks for the video. Is the bike good climbing? I know you mention the gearing not being up to your hilly area ride but how did the bike feel climbing? Any other Feedback would be greatly appreciate on how you feel about the bike beyond the tire clearance issue. Thinking about buying one Thanks!!
Yea they are outdated from the jump with this one. The bikes still really good but I know we’re gonna start seeing massive tire clearances on bikes coming up
@@bicyclestation Most races I'm interested in I would need 50 at least and a suspension fork, I'm thinking to go drop bar MTB for those. Most of the stuff I ride in Marin, CA 45 is a no go unless you have a flat rate at the local hospital
i didn't want a top bag for aero reasons and didn't want a full length bag either so wat you have is about where i arrived to store a phone and other junk for quick daily rides. idk top tube gets in the way imo.
I think trek is not drilling the holes correctly on bikes, my checkpoints top tube holes don’t align with my top tube bag but it fits perfect on my buddies Grizl
it already looks outdated We have bikes released more than year ago with clearance for 50c tires. worse than that is the Giant Revolt not being UDH compatible... 🤔
@@bicyclestation more aggressive fit. Moving from a SWorks Tarmac SL8 - hoping to replace it with something that can handle gravel (with two wheelsets) and be solid on road rides
This bike is so pretty but I think they really missed the mark on tire clearance and pricing. Their are plenty of us “commoners” who race or ride a lot of gravel and want a racier setup but with big tire clearance and can’t afford an 8k bike.
I’ll admit, I didn’t watch the video all the way through when I posted the comment. But, I didn’t mean that to come off as negative if it did. Sarcasm is hard to convey over a UA-cam comment. You pointed out a good amount of negatives (and positives) about the bike. Which, I, and I’m sure many other of your viewers appreciate. I like hearing your shops honest opinions good and bad. That’s why I’m a fan of your channel. Keep the videos coming.,
Haha naw you’re good man! I appreciate it. I agree with you that they are generally the touchiest bike company lol. They are trying to be supportive of what we’re doing to I wanna make sure they get credit for that. Even if it makes them uncomfortable at times.
Why do you remove the cassette in such a dangerous manner, you can simply sqeeze the tools together withou any risk of hurting yourself and need much less force in the end.
@@bicyclestation Just have the whip and cassette tool next to each other and squeeze it. Having it at 9 and 3 o clock can end badly if it slips and you have less leverage.
So at the start of the video you both said at 45mm tyre clearance the bike will be out of date by ‘25 and ‘26. By the end of video this issue was forgotten !?
I got the bike on 6/13 and had a turn around a 30 min video in two days to hit the launch date haha. Yea it’s definitely a first impression situation. We’ll follow up in the future with more content
Come on. It’s a race bike. This bike and 45s is more than enough for racing. Most gravel races have plenty of tarmac. Skinny tires are faster rolling on tarmac. Pros are still running 40-42 tires on the majority of Gravel races. Not every race is Unbound…
I see a majority of pros racing big tires. And you can’t to that with this bike. On the bike that fit big tires you can still run 45s. This bike is limited. I agree with you on a personal level. Like I ride 45s most of the time. But I’m trying to make an honest video and I think they missed the mark on the tire clearance.
@@bicyclestation I have a garage full of tires, I love my 47s to ride on, but they are not faster than my 40s on anything fast, long climb, sprints. I hear you, but just buy the Check Point. If Trek decided to go to 50 tire clearance on this bike, the frame would need more rear end reinforcement, therefore get heavier. Then going to 50 clearance would compromise running the biggest drivetrain systems/chainrings the pros want to race on
Shop - www.thebicyclestation.com/
With that 45mm clearance thats the best Endurance Road bike. 🚴♀️
The bag should fit on a 3k bike too.
Cross kids were riding gravel on 33's before it was cool. 45s are plenty for most. Bartley is the only gravel road I avoid on 38's.
I like that it comes stock with the integrated bars.
Holy, I first thought that was a typo when I realized they just dropped a new gravel machine, thanks for the video :)
that bike is awsome for sure
I would say that Trek hit the mark for weight. My 2023 SLR was ~19 lb. with Red/Eagle XX1 Mullet build and light wheels. Frame weight was greater than 1200 grams.
I just ordered some bontrager bottle holders from you. Didn't realize it
Great review
Lol, 45mm tire clearance and that bag!
The Checkmate SLR 9 will replace my Domane and my Boone. A true do-it-all bike. The 13 speed RED XPLR AXS has similar range to the 2x11 GRX Di2.
Yeah, similar range but half the gears. Very fun. 2 by for me all day.
Get the Pedro's pro chain whip. It is amazing. And the park tool cassette tool with the 12mm axle blue nipple thingy
45mm tire clearance??? wow Trek why?
Lots of complaints about 45mm tire clearance, but it's on par with the new Canyon Grail, Ostro Gravel, Supersix Evo SE and other race-focused bikes from the big brands.
They are all behind though honestly 😅
We're sad because we thought that was the gravel race bike of the past and that surely they'd have gotten the memo by now. Different strokes for different folks I guess. Depends a lot on where you live. I just think it's funny that the "race" gravel bikes don't support the ideal tire size for the biggest gravel race in the world.
@@graemehill Not just the one race, but really any gravel race except for stuff like strade bianche... The slower you go, the lesser the downsides of wider tires, so for anyone that's not a pro or elite racer bigger tires are even more of a no brainer.
Except for maybe the new 40 mm hutchinson caracal race. They have an impressively low rolling resistance, lower than i.e. thunder burts or race kings. Those tires are faster than a lot of mid level / endurance road tires!
I’m interested in the vittoria torrenos y’all have in the garage sale. But is a 700 tire the same as a 29”.?
Yes, they both fall under ISO 622 rim size
I agree on the old bike and I love mine (2020) for its versatility and hoped I'd get a new checkpoint with bigger tire clearance (so far that applies for the 2025 CP) AND a faster, racier geometry (which they went back on, closer to the 2020 model, actually)
I just watched Trek’s demo on this bike and their bag setup looks exactly how yours ended up looking. So is it possible that they intended to have that gap. That gap is in their promo. *I don’t like it either.
Well done nice video, good on you for calling them out on the lack of tire clearance, couldn't agree more about it already being outdated and expect the next one to have this issue resolved. But honestly, they could have done the aero tube thing with the Checkpoint and limit their SKU's. Seems they are now trying to move the Checkpoint in a different direction/market. Personally, I'm quite happy with my Gen 1 Checkpoint with Ultegra group set for racing, none of this small chain ring size bikes are coming out with now, yeah, it's a little heavy but hasn't stopped me winning races in my small world. I am surprised that you had the tippy toes issue, didn't they lower the BB drop? Even when you are riding out of the saddle it looks quite high to me.
It’s simultaneously lower bb and taller standover lol. I think it’s so they can fit all the bags.
Whatever happened to Chase's road to leadville series?
Derailed by busy life and injury unfortunately! She's been in pt for the injury. Leadville is still on the radar but just couldn't make it this year.
@@bicyclestation was a great year for it. Hope she makes the second attempt. This was my first Leadville. I watched one of your videos on the Cervelo ZFS 5 a month back. I actually ended up getting one and changing some things on the build. Got her down to 23.4 lbs with a dropper and it being a 120 build. So that was my Leadville bike and I loved it! Was able to record a few snippits, and make a little video too. Dropping 3 lbs off my last bike really made 10k feel not so bad.
Please try the new supercaliber with flight attendant it is maybe the fastest xc bike I have tried it feels more snappy and supportive then the s works but not as good of massive enduro drops here in Europe
I just don’t understand what advantage it has over like the epic 8
It is a lot stiffer and feels more explosive when you put power down after 950watts it just feels so much better than the epic 8
I think that’s why the majority of people who prefer the epic. We’ve sold like 40 epic 8s and 2 supercaliber gen 2s. I don’t think it’s a bad bike at all. I just don’t think it even comes close to the versatility of the epic 8.
Nice review. I agree it’s odd that SRAM limit the new XPLR to one cassette option. As you say, a mullet / MTB derailleur solves it, except they are still 12 speed. SRAM should simply offer a mullet 13 speed XPLR long cage option. …And anyone complaining about the 700c 45mm tyre clearance, just needs to get some 650b wheels, which are better for 50mm tyres anyway IMO.
Thanks for this video, can you please give me your thoughts on my scenario - I ordered the same frame and also the sram 13 speed groupo. However, I am inbetween putting a 2x di2 groupset on it instead… after some time on your build, would you have more versatility with a 12 speed 2x ultegra di2 or do you like the sram 1x 13 speed?
Trying to save my ass time with brake cable routing.
I think this could be a great bike to have a road set of wheels to travel with…
Correct me if I'm wrong but, that isospeed is not adjustable right? So what is the purpose of the horizontal Allen bolts?
So you can service it. Your right it’s not adjustable
Interested to see how the lower models are, I was just checking out the crux and allez sprint with 32 or 34 as an everyday / everywhere bike. I was also looking to get a single ring set up.
Def won’t be spending 13k on a bike anytime soon!
Got my synapse set up as my full
Time commuter after I get a second bike that has a little more speed and is snappier.
How do you deal with the dust falling down the fork, when you cut it facing up?
Thanks for the video. Is the bike good climbing? I know you mention the gearing not being up to your hilly area ride but how did the bike feel climbing? Any other Feedback would be greatly appreciate on how you feel about the bike beyond the tire clearance issue. Thinking about buying one
Thanks!!
45 tire clearance??? NO WAY ON EARTH, what was Trek thinking.. that's checkmate for me not in a positive way :)
Yea they are outdated from the jump with this one. The bikes still really good but I know we’re gonna start seeing massive tire clearances on bikes coming up
@@bicyclestation Most races I'm interested in I would need 50 at least and a suspension fork, I'm thinking to go drop bar MTB for those. Most of the stuff I ride in Marin, CA 45 is a no go unless you have a flat rate at the local hospital
I think if you need to go bigger than a 45mm due to terrain, you would probably be better off on a drop bar Mtb rather than put 50s on it.
Look up a jamis renegade c1 ( new one ) . Courious of your thoughts compare to this . Similar geo and frame weight alone is lighter.
i didn't want a top bag for aero reasons and didn't want a full length bag either so wat you have is about where i arrived to store a phone and other junk for quick daily rides. idk top tube gets in the way imo.
Great video ,what is the name of bar type please ?
Godandfamouns pizza bar tape
@@bicyclestation Thank you 🙏
Weren’t the wheels Bontrager?
I swapped them for my zipp wheels
I was just referring to your point that Bontrager was absent now.
Oh I misread what you said.
The wheels are older and I bet when they update their wheels they will be trek
I think trek is not drilling the holes correctly on bikes, my checkpoints top tube holes don’t align with my top tube bag but it fits perfect on my buddies Grizl
I was soo sold on the sram xplr red but I need something good for climbing
Ben Delaney's bag looked just like yours on his review bike. I think they're just badly designed. The Canyon Grail bag is way nicer.
Dang. It’s unacceptable in my opinion. The frame is painted to match the bag. It’s disappointing to hear that.
@@bicyclestation Yeah, I saw the paint line and laughed a bit at them copying that from Canyon before I noticed the poor fitment.
What issues? With bbinfinite?
Just some customer service issues.
CS BBs are all the same, only thing that changes is the grease they use, all around or long lasting.
I’m interested in the wheelset, just sent you an email. Great video!
it already looks outdated We have bikes released more than year ago with clearance for 50c tires. worse than that is the Giant Revolt not being UDH compatible... 🤔
Mate vs MOG - what say you?
Interesting weight as wheelworxrob here on UA-cam weighed his M/L frame at 7.45kg without bar tape or sram battery
Trekmate
650B the world.
Ima be honest 45mm is an instant deal breaker, I don’t even wanna watch the rest of the video. This bike is MID af just for that reason alone
Same here
Who is Ima?
For 11k€ it needs to be perfect and future proof. 45mm is not that
yep, for 11k it should fit 50s
Wheelworxrob put 50’s on it LOL . Look at his you tube channel. It’s tight but he did it. But yes 45 limit is an issue.
Melee or Fray or Checkmate for all-road bike (95% road)
What’s your fit preference. The fray has a really tall stack. That’s probably what I’d base my decision on.
@@bicyclestation more aggressive fit. Moving from a SWorks Tarmac SL8 - hoping to replace it with something that can handle gravel (with two wheelsets) and be solid on road rides
Nice! Get that vs Aspero video up fast pls! I have a good offer for a used '21 with carbon wheelset and need to decide quick...
This bike is so pretty but I think they really missed the mark on tire clearance and pricing. Their are plenty of us “commoners” who race or ride a lot of gravel and want a racier setup but with big tire clearance and can’t afford an 8k bike.
Your trek rep is not going to like this video 😂
That would be counterproductive. I made a 30 minute ad for them. I bet he likes it.
I’ll admit, I didn’t watch the video all the way through when I posted the comment. But, I didn’t mean that to come off as negative if it did. Sarcasm is hard to convey over a UA-cam comment.
You pointed out a good amount of negatives (and positives) about the bike. Which, I, and I’m sure many other of your viewers appreciate.
I like hearing your shops honest opinions good and bad. That’s why I’m a fan of your channel.
Keep the videos coming.,
Haha naw you’re good man! I appreciate it. I agree with you that they are generally the touchiest bike company lol. They are trying to be supportive of what we’re doing to I wanna make sure they get credit for that. Even if it makes them uncomfortable at times.
Why do you remove the cassette in such a dangerous manner, you can simply sqeeze the tools together withou any risk of hurting yourself and need much less force in the end.
What are you talking about?
@@bicyclestation Just have the whip and cassette tool next to each other and squeeze it. Having it at 9 and 3 o clock can end badly if it slips and you have less leverage.
The gap in the bag looks annoying
So at the start of the video you both said at 45mm tyre clearance the bike will be out of date by ‘25 and ‘26. By the end of video this issue was forgotten !?
What was it forgotten? I spend like a whole minute or two talking about it and how I think it’s outdated.
@@bicyclestation Obvious reminder you’re shooting from the hip, but yeah will wait for full reviews to start dropping
I got the bike on 6/13 and had a turn around a 30 min video in two days to hit the launch date haha. Yea it’s definitely a first impression situation. We’ll follow up in the future with more content
Idk why Trek keeps producing those Bontrager bar/stem. 100 mm reach??? BRUHHHH
they got rid of the emonda for this? lol
nice talk... you can still find something valuable on YT 😅
Who the eff is buying $13,000 gravel bikes? 😂
Actually a lot of people surprising
Probably people who are a whole lot faster than you Noah!
Dentists
In the scheme of things, bikes are cheap. Compare with cars, children, wives, etc.
Come on. It’s a race bike. This bike and 45s is more than enough for racing. Most gravel races have plenty of tarmac. Skinny tires are faster rolling on tarmac.
Pros are still running 40-42 tires on the majority of Gravel races.
Not every race is Unbound…
I see a majority of pros racing big tires. And you can’t to that with this bike. On the bike that fit big tires you can still run 45s. This bike is limited. I agree with you on a personal level. Like I ride 45s most of the time. But I’m trying to make an honest video and I think they missed the mark on the tire clearance.
@@bicyclestation I have a garage full of tires, I love my 47s to ride on, but they are not faster than my 40s on anything fast, long climb, sprints.
I hear you, but just buy the Check Point. If Trek decided to go to 50 tire clearance on this bike, the frame would need more rear end reinforcement, therefore get heavier. Then going to 50 clearance would compromise running the biggest drivetrain systems/chainrings the pros want to race on
Check out the enve mog or that prototype allied able. Both bikes accomplish drive train and big tires
@@bicyclestation My buddy tried a SRAM wireless 2x setup on his MOG and it wouldn’t fit. I don’t know man
What was the set up?
Gravel *yawn* please do Madone G7 vs G8
What do you mean?
@@bicyclestationthat was supposed to say G7 vs G8 would love to see a comparison like the G7 vs SL8 you did
Oh yea we’re working on that