Trek have debuted an all-new carbon cyclocross bike called Boone for team riders Sven Vanthourenhout, Katie Compton and current world champion, Sven Nys in his home town of Baal, Belgium. While expectedly lighter and more efficient than the company's current aluminum Crockett, the addition of Trek's fantastic IsoSpeed seat tube 'decoupler' should make this bike remarkably smooth and comfortable too.
Of all the features Trek has included on the new Boone, it's the IsoSpeed 'decoupler' at the seat cluster that is far and away the most significant. By allowing the seat tube and top tube to pivot relative to each other, the top of the seatpost is thus free to flex down and back far more than would normally be allowed with a more rigid connection.
It's dramatically effective on the Trek Domane endurance road bike and should pay even bigger dividends on a bumpy cyclocross course where the softer ride would allow riders to stay seated longer and continue to put down power while other riders might be forced to stand and coast.
Trek has also borrowed the Domane's fundamental fork design, which features more forward-swept blades than typical and dropouts that reach rearward to allow for more flex.
New Trek signing Sven Nys won his first race aboard the new Boone
Other features we speculated about earlier have now been confirmed. These include a tapered 1 1/8-to-1 1/2in steerer tube with drop-in bearings, a wide-profile BB90 bottom bracket that allows for greater chain stay separation and increased mud clearance, quick-release axles front and rear, a chain stay-mounted caliper for disc-equipped models, convertible internal cable routing, the company's excellent 3S integrated chain catcher, and Trek's long-standing integrated no-cut seatmast design.
That last feature brings a pleasant surprise: a supposedly "weather sealed" frame that will presumably allow owners to power wash at will without having to worry about frame and cable contamination.
Meanwhile, dual bottle braze-ons and hidden fender mounts should prove handy for training rides while the molded-in rear housing stop and crown-mounted front housing stop on cantilever-equipped bikes should make for chatter-free braking.
Geometry is carried over wholly intact from the aluminum Crockett down to the last millimeter, meaning bottom brackets that are substantially lower than Trek's aging Cronus platform (65-70mm of drop instead of 62-64mm) for a more stable feel, shorter chain stays, and – finally – true size-specific steering geometry to maintain consistent handling characteristics regardless of frame size.
Trek will build the new Boone using its 600-series OCLV carbon fiber tubing. Trek has yet to announce claimed frame weights but based on some feedback we received from company representatives, somewhere right around 1,000g is a safe bet – helped in part by new carbon fiber rear dropouts.
Trek will offer the new the Boone in five complete models in the US – three with cantilever brakes and two disc variants – with prices ranging from US$2,839.99 to US$6,299.99. Framesets will be available in both disc and rim brake-specific versions and will cost US$2,299.99.
UK customers, on the other hand, will only see the Boone 5 Disc (£2,400) and the rim brake-specific frameset (£1,750) for now.
via BikeRadar.com http://www.bikeradar.com/road/news/article/new-trek-boone-carbon-cross-bike-for-nys-and-compton-39416/?CPN=RSS&SOURCE=BRGENHOME
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